We are so excited to announce our Friday night workshop series for 2022!
These magical workshops are being offering by some of the awesome Druids of the GMDO. They are an opportunity to get inspired, to learn, and grow to become wiser, more aligned and righteous humans in this time of great change.
We gratefully accept donations in the realm of $5-30 for each workshop. All proceeds from these workshops go into our Druid School scholarship fund to keep our transformational training assessable to all. There will be a basket to put your donations. If writing a check, please make it out to GMDS.
Unless otherwise noted, each workshop will run from 6-8pm. Please arrive on time!
Go here for directions to Dreamland.
Druid students who will be continuing into the training weekend do not need to preregister.
If you are coming for just the Friday night workshop, please pre-register by sending an email to school@greenmountaindruidorder.org.
These workshops precede regular Druid Training weekends. Our Druid students will be in attendance and continuing on to their weekend training. For this reason, we ask non Druid students to please head home soon after the workshop has ended.
All workshops will be outdoors or under a canopy.
The Classes
May 6th
Ancestral Healing with Carolyn Hooper and Fearn Lickfield
As Druids and earth revering people, how do we honor both our blood ancestry and the ancestors of this land we now call home? How do we connect
authentically and eventually become well woven ancestors to this land and to our lineages? In this introductory class we will explore the rich tapestry of the ancestors who surround us. We will learn what steps we can take to build right relationship with them and to begin a process of healing, starting with our own blood. This will be a potent evening of exploration thru several modes; didactic, discussion, journey, and ceremony.
May 20
The Druid story with Fearn
What is the story of the Druids? Who were they? What did they believe? Where did they learn and practice? How did they become oppressed, silenced, and killed? What does this mean for those of us on the Druid path today? This workshop will be a time of collective re-membering. Much was lo
st of the original oral tradition, but the spirit of Druidry has stood the test of time and is growing stronger than ever. Fearn will share some key pieces of the story of Druidry from past to present. We will explore the waves of invasion, oppression and genocide that almost wiped out the Druids and witches of western Europe. We will journey to an ancient temple to reconnect with the land and spirit of our ancestors. We will discuss ways we can re-member the wisdom of the past, while evolving Druidry as a living tradition into the future.
June 10th
Anti-Racism Dialogue & Embodiment Circle
Facilitated by Rae Carter, a white bodied anti-racist educator and communication navigator. Rae is a co-creator with EmpowR, a container for personal, organizational, and cultural transformation centered in equity and belonging.
June 24th
The 3 Cauldrons – with Auntie Bear and Fearn
In this time of deep unrest and environmental crisis, we must dig deep to re-member our roots, our gifts, and find the courage and support to restore our relationship with Nature. Join us in sacred space and take a journey into the grove of the Druids to discover the power of AWEN- the divine Spirit of Inspiration. We will connect with our innate gifts, our wise hearts and our awesome power to transform.
We will delve into the 3 Cauldrons, the 3 Rays of Love, Wisdom and Power, the 3 realms of Earth, Sea and Sky, and many more levels of meaning. For each Cauldron, Ray and Realm we will explore the gifts and challenges, and offer tools and practices for healing on the personal and planetary levels.
Connect, open, release, invoke, inspire, empower, transform!
July 8th
Water as the Sacred Essence of Life with Nancy Wright
Water is the essence of life. This workshop will explore deep awareness of and meditational practices to deepen water connectedness. The goal is to increase our appreciation of water and strengthen our role as water keepers. Please bring a small amount of water from your home creek or lake.
The Rev. Dr. Nancy Wright is an Ovate in the GMDS and the Pastor of Ascension Lutheran Church, S. Burlington VT. Her parishioners created an interfaith watershed stewardship handbook based on 7 month’s learning about, testing for pollutants, and worship near and in water. The handbook is free to download at www.vtipl/resources.
July 22nd
Song Leading for Druids with Lily Jacobson
Singing together with other people can be connecting, healing, and incredibly fun. It can raise and transform energy. It can be a wonderful way to bring people together, and it can be a powerful part of ceremony. But most of us have probably also had experiences of it falling flat and not doing any of these things. Many people also bring self-consciousness and pain, after being told (usually as a child) that they couldn’t or shouldn’t sing, that can make it harder to fully participate in singing.
Aug. 12th
Grief Ritual with Hazel “Coal” Turrone 
Around the world, grief rituals have been an intricate part of communal practices to support health and connection – giving space to release what is held individually and collectively. Here, in our culture, grief is generally only given a small window of acceptance at funerals and memorials. Yet, grief is an intimate partner in the dance of joy. When space is created to allow grief to move, it supports deep healing, liberation of old patterns, and a greater capacity to enjoy this life in our bodies.
I’ve been taught that grief is the greatest gift to our ancestors. When we feel the grief our bodies carry (and that our lineages have been carrying for thousands of years), we are metabolizing the trauma that our people were unable to digest. This liberates them and thus allows us greater access to reconnect to the strengths and medicines of the ancient ones whose memories whisper in our bones and blood.
This ritual is an invitation. There will be no expectations about how grief shows up or moves through you. You are welcome to arrive with all that you are and all that you carry and simply be present in whatever capacity you are able in the moment.
Please plan to arrive early. We will ‘close the doors’ after our initial introduction (perhaps 5-10 minutes in) to support the container.
Aug. 26th
The Colloquy of the Two Sages: An Ancient Tale for Modern Druids with Mary Kay Kasper
There is an ancient tale of a confrontation between the esteemed Druid Ferchertne and the recently graduated student Nede. The Colloquy of the Two Sages is one of the most culturally important texts within the Druid tradition and a highly suggested study for modern Druids.
In this workshop, we will explore this key piece of mythological writing and its role as an initiator of Druids. Taking this tale, we will envision how this model of questioning can be adapted and utilized to gain insight and knowledge to our own connection with the spirit of the land and our personal development. How to gain a deeper initiation into our role as a modern Druid.
Sept. 9th
The Wheel of the Year: Softening the Edges of Linear Time with Carolyn Hooper
The Wheel of the Year, as we know it now with its eight festival days, is so much more than a calendar. It invites us to drop into alignment with the rhythms, seasons and cycles of Nature and of the Earth on a deeper level, restoring ourselves into the web of connectedness. In this class we will work with Wheel to better understand its multidimensional potential, and how, as a guide that bridges the gap between lifestyle and spirituality, it becomes a container for nurturing our resilience.
Sept. 23rd
Power of Prayer with Fearn
When the outer world feels uncertain, we are called inward to find deeper meaning, connection, and faith. What is the role of prayer in crisis? Does it actually make a difference?
We will explore answers to some of the oldest questions of the spiritual path; What is your relationship to the Divine? What is prayer? What is it for? How do you pray when you are not religious? When god is not a person?
Fearn will share her understanding and practice of prayer as a Druid. We will discuss some forms prayer can take. We will explore prayer as an offering, as a divine dialogue, as a force for healing, as courtship, devotion, faith, and love for the world.
This will be an engaging talk that will give you tools and inspiration to build a personal, authentic prayer practice.Find your way, your words, your unique relationship with the Divine, and change the world.
Oct. 7th
Dreaming Back to the Earth: Encounters with the Alchemy of the Dream as a Path to Ecological Remembering with Mary Kay
Dreams are nature alive in us. They invoke a curiosity to explain their mystery and uncover the wisdom, guidance, and hope we know they can offer. In wandering the dream landscape, we discover they can speak to the story of who we are, where we have traveled, how we
engage the world and what keeps us from embodying our true selves. They connect us to the larger community and offer guidance in navigating the past, present and future. They assist us in understanding our traumas, fears, gifts, grief, joys, and loves, and t
hey offer wisdom regarding our physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual selves. If we choose to work with our dreams and the guidance they offer, a shift in our consciousness can open us to healing and wholeness.
And the more intimately we observe the dream we discover that it also speaks to the collective experience that is the Earth’s dream, dreaming us awake to Her. Whether we awaken to the memory of a moment, feeling, or full narrative the dream invites us back to relationship with the soul of our being and kinship to all of life.
Join me in conversation about the radical concept of relational dreamwork and through a blend of ritual, instruction, experiential shapeshifting, expressive arts, and dream practices dive into the dreamscape stepping into its threshold to uncover wisdom and guidance. No prior dreamwork experience is needed. Please bring one or two recent dreams with which to work.
Oct. 21
The pursuit of Wisdom with Steve Gerard
It seems reasonable that a Druid, particularly in the role of judge or peacemaker would want to pursue wisdom, but the concept can be a bit slippery. What exactly is wisdom and how does it develop? Can a person consciously develop wisdom, and if so, how does one go about doing that?
This brief workshop will be a mix of reflection and discussion to clarify what we mean by Wisdom and how one might intentionally pursue the development of wisdom
Bring a journal and something to write with.
Nov 4th
Into the Cave with Auntie Bear: Cultivating peace in your winter cave
Winter is coming. Now is a good time to begin clearing the clutter, transforming your cave into a cozy and supportive environment for a peaceful hibernation. What are you ready to let go of in your mind, heart and home? What kind of things do you want to stock your cave with that will fuel and feed your soul during the dark time of the year? In this class we will light the fire of inspiration to create a peaceful winter space where we can watch the stars and stir the seeds we want to birth come spring. We will also take a journey to explore the Druid’s Prayer of Peace, and greet the peace within ourselves. So bring a mug, a comfy blanket, your journal and gather around the fire for a cup of tea with Auntie Bear.