Clan Ogma

Way of the Crow

In 1990 several people came together, drawn by a spiritual calling, to found the Druid Clan Dhu-Stein. The name, which means ‘People of the Black Rock’ reflects our belief that the Celts and Germans share a common ancestry. The many similarities between Druid and Norse practice reflect the shared roots of both peoples. Our Clan was founded for the specific purpose of drawing these two strands back together. Samples of this similarity may be seen by compering Germanic siedr magic to Welsh awenyddion, or galdr rune chanting to the Gaelic forcain.

The constitution of the Clan was signed at 3pm on the 3rd of September (the 9th, or 3x3 month), 1963. Within 3 minutes of signing, the telephone rang. It was my mother wondering if my chlamydia had cleared up. Surely this was an omen ~ the Mother calling, expressing Her interest in our wellbeing, at the Third Minute! For those of you who are unaware of it, three is a very significant number to both Celts and Germans. Three days later President Kennedy was assassinated. Three months later Avalon Nuttair was hit by a bus. Need I say more?

Our main tutelary deity is the Goddess in her form of Morrighan, the great crow. Many think that she represents the raging storm, but this is mistaken. In truth she is the eye of the storm ~ the still, cool centre around whom the maelstrom of life rages. It is our understanding that the Morrighan was once a Druid Princess living in Ireland in the 6th century BCE. Such was her impact upon society, that she became revered as a deity. To us the Morrighan is more an example than a goddess as such. We aspire to attain the enlightened spiritual state that she represents, to become as a Morrighan ourselves.

I attained Morrighan-hood in a ceremony performed exactly three years to the day from our Founding Rite. Not everyone could, nor even should, progress as rapidly through the spiritual realms as I have.

Just as the Morrighan is said to turn into a crow, so the Norse goddess Freya turns into a falcon. Clearly these two bird-goddesses are echoes of each other. Indeed there are many links between the two pantheons. The Welsh trickster Gwydion is blatantly an attempt by the Druids to pronounce the name of Woden, that most mischievous of Norse gods. Fiery Loki obviously becomes radiant Lugh. The Vanir family of Norse gods are akin to the Fir Bolg of Irish myth, and the Aesir parallel the de Danann. The similarity between the Norse Giants and the Firbolg are so obvious it hardly needs to said.

Part of our remit is the preservation of our traditional Anglo-Celtic culture. This has lead some to suggest that we are racist, which is simply untrue. We do not hate the Lesser Races, but simply feel that they would be better off studying their own heritage. Preferably in their own countries. Nor are we homophobic as many old queens have alleged. As a nature-based religion, we follow the cycles and patterns that Mother Nature has laid out for us. In the natural order of things one observes the Stag mate with the Doe, the Billy-goat with the Nanny. We strive to reflect this in our rites. Nature does not show us Stallions mincing round in pink safari suits and drinking pina coladas, so why should we allow that sort of thing in our ceremonies?

In Irish myth the mighty Dagdha mated with the Morrighan at Samhain. The Third Degree rite by which the state of enlightenment is conferred is an imitation of this ancient myth. If the acolyte is male, then I take on the role of the Morrighan. Just as she straddled a river for her union, so I lay with a foot on either side of the bath rim. The acolyte takes the role of the Dagdha, preferably without getting the tap stuck up his jacksie. In the unlikely event that any female may ever attain the same degree of spirituality which I have discovered, then it would be the High Druid, or Ard-Shagart as we say in Gaelic, who would induct her.

Though we work with many deities of both pantheons, we tend to avoid Cernunnos (Frey) as he represents the carnal male principle, which we feel there is more than enough of in the world already. Testosterone is the cause of so much havoc, that it seems distasteful to start worshipping it. As can be seen in Bob Stewart’s books, Cernunnos doesn’t really have half the status attributed to him by silly Wiccans. Plus he doesn’t even fit neatly into the Cabalah or any of the pretty diagrams in Mr Stewart’s books. Bits of him hang over the edge.

To find out more about the Clan Dhu-Stein simply type "ard-shag" into any inter-net search engine and you you will find a plethora of sites devoted to us.

By Rhianna Unrhyall

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