Druids In Cars, Going To Festivals

Episode 30 - The Druid Elevator Pitch

ComFest is one of the largest events Three Cranes Grove, ADF, does all year. It's a local music/beer/arts/hippie festival here in Columbus, Ohio, and our Grove hangs out to meet people and enjoy the summer (or roast in its heat, depending on who you talk to). There's not another generally public event where we see quite so many people who fit squarely into the "target audience" of modern Druidry.

Part of what makes this event interesting is that in seeing so many people, we have to condense down what "Our Own Druidry" is, and several of us have developed an "elevator pitch" to describe Druidry in about 30 seconds or so. Today, you'll hear us call on several Grove Members, our two ADF Priests, and the Heartland Regional Druid to give their short description of 3CG, ADF, and modern Druidry.

Guests giving their Druidic elevator pitches are (in order of appearance): Shawneen, Corbin, Midnight, Michael, Thexalon, Jan.

Find us on Facebook, check out threecranes.org/podcast, and learn more about modern Druidry at adf.org.

Episode 29 - Interview with Sara Mastros & The Orphic Hymns Grimoire

As we took our camps down at Wellspring 2019, Rev. Avende took a moment to interview Sara Mastros, who has an upcoming book, "The Orphic Hymns Grimoire." The interview is fabulous and well worth listening to: we learned a lot just from asking the questions!

Check out her site and (pre)order her book! You can also follow the project on Facebook.

You can catch up with Sara:

• July 27 - Hills & Rivers Fest in Bethlehem PA
• Oct. 6 - Greater Pittsburgh Pagan Pride
• Nov. 15-17 - Changing Times, Changing Worlds, Ellenville, NY
• Apr. 9-12 - Sacred Space / Between the Worlds joint conference. Hunt Valley, MD.

She also offers this hymn to Hermes:

I sing of High Hermes, beloved worker of wonder,
First of the Pleiades conceived while she dreamed of bright Thunder.
All-powerful game-master, lord of the dead,
true-thinking foreteller of what lies ahead,
Code-cracking con-artist, jail-breaking the shibboleth,
killed peacock-eyed Argos when you bored him to death.
Winged-sandaled human-friend, fast philanthropic prophet,
rejoicing in racers and instructing pick-pockets.
You spin hermeneutics like you’re spitting hot rhymes,
You’re the father of fraud, rearing up lies.
But that same trickster offers genuine peace,
Blameless, irreproachable machine of surcease.
Corycian luckbringer, blessed loquacious one,
Comrade of the worker and those under the gun,
Employing clever rhetoric, venerable friend,
Pray for your initiates when our lifetimes end:
Boast about our work and our charismatic rhymes,
Memorialize our memories for future lifetimes.

Find us on Facebook, check us out at threecranes.org/podcast, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

Episode 28 - Cryptids, UFO's, and Our Weird Druidry

Sometimes, Druidry is full of weird experiences, and we're no exception. In this episode, we talk about weird things we've seen, odd experiences, and even the occasional cryptid story we've encountered in our lives.

The natural world holds a lot of wonder for us, and things at the edge of our understanding, including the border of the supernatural are fun to talk about and discuss, especially when prompted by the odd things we might see on the drive.

(This was a very unplanned topic, resulting from seeing something odd on the horizon.)

Visit us at threecranes.org/podcast for info and transcripts, find us on Facebook, and learn more about Paganism and Druidry at adf.org.

Episide 27 - Obstacles on the Dedicant Path

Obstacles on the Dedicant Path

The Dedicant Path (DP) is the basic study program offered by Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship (ADF), and while it's a fairly basic introduction to Druidry, it's not necessarily easy.

We talk about our own experiences with the program, how the program has changed and improved, what the common stumbling blocks are, and strategies to get around them. We also talk about new ways to look at the Nine Virtues and how to approach some of the requirements creatively.

You can read their respective Dedicant work on their websites: Rev. Dangler | Rev. Avende

You can also take a look at an article by Arthur Shipkowski (who wrote the lyrics to our theme) on this topic, too, on the ADF website.

Visit us at threecranes.org/podcast for info and transcripts, find us on Facebook, and learn more about Paganism and Druidry at adf.org.

Episode 26 - Vending At Festivals

Today, we're not in a car, but we are at a festival! Rev. Dangler sat down at the 2019 Wellspring Gathering to interview The Pagan Peddler about her experiences vending at festivals, and describes some of his own in the process. At the same time, Rev. Avende sat down to do another interview, which you'll hear in early July.

One of the really nice things about this episode is you can hear some of the background sound that you'll hear at a festival: birds in the background, folks breaking camp, and the wind in the trees. It's a nice break from the road noise, we admit.

You can find out more about the shops mentioned below, which isn't an exhaustive list of the vendors at Wellspring at all. They're not sponsors of the podcast (and didn't pay for placement), they just happen to be mentioned, and they carry cool stuff we think you might like. You can find them at festivals or online.

The Magical Druid - Website | Facebook | Etsy

The Pagan Peddler - Facebook | Etsy | Patreon

Balticsmith - Website (Etsy) | Facebook

Finally, we have some exciting news coming up in the very near future about our podcast. It's not changing so much as it is improving; we're looking at new ways to deliver content and make it easier to support the podcast while removing some limitations on our creativity. In the meantime, if you'd like to donate, you can do so at threecranes.org/donate.

Find us on Facebook, check us out at threecranes.org/podcast, and learn more about Druidry at threecranes.org or adf.org.

Episode 25 - Extemporaneous Prayer Challenge!

Do you wonder how an ADF Priest prepares for and creates ritual prayers in a seemingly "off the cuff" sort of way? Rev. Avende and Rev. Dangler talk a bit about their process, and each also creates three extemporaneous prayers to different deities.

We agreed in advance: no preparation or editing in post allowed! You get the full extent of our inspiration during the prayers.

The godden we pray to are as follows:

• Rev. Dangler - Uṣás, Vedic goddess of Dawn
• Rev. Avende - Uṣás, Vedic goddess of Dawn
• Rev. Dangler - Esus, Gaulish god from the Nautes Pillar
• Rev. Avende - Hestia, Greek goddess of the Hearth
• Rev. Dangler - Agni, Vedic god of Fire
• Rev. Avende - Anāhitā, the Avestan Mother of Waters

(We both like Uṣas a lot.)

Ride along with us as we head to and from the various festivals. This one was recorded at the Trillium Spring Gathering 2019.

Find us on Facebook, check us out at threecranes.org/podcast, and learn more about Druidry at threecranes.org or adf.org. Send show ideas to druidsincars@threecranes.org or drop us a line on Facebook. And, of course, if you'd like to donate, you can do that at threecranes.org/donate. We enjoy spending time with you.

 

 

Episode 24 - Wellspring Review

On the way home from Wellspring 2019, Rev. Dangler gave a solo review of the event, providing a quick recap of the weekend along with a short preview of things to come. This is a short episode, but we wanted to get one out in a timely manner.

In the early part of the review, Rev. Dangler offers his prayer to the Shining Ones from the reinstallation of Rev. Jean "Drum" Pagano as ADF Archrdruid. Here's the text of that evocation:

From deep in the dark, cool earth,
A shining light arises.
It brings the voice of underworld rivers
Burbling to the surface.
When we speak oaths, you carry them.
Hear our voices, Shining Chthonic Ones!

From growing green and living city,
A shining light awakens.
It brings the joy of new hope and promise
To fulfillment.
When we speak praise, you grow it.
Hear our voices, Shining Ones of the Land!

From firmament of stars and dawn’s first fingers,
A shining light descends.
It brings the order of the cosmos into focus,
Lighting our way.
When we speak truth, you lift it high.
Hear our voices, Godden of Order and Cosmos!

Shining Ones, Accept our Offering!

Wellspring happens each Memorial Day Weekend near Cleveland, Ohio. You should consider joining us in the future.

Find us on Facebook, check us out at threecranes.org/podcast, and learn more about Druidry at threecranes.org or adf.org.

Episode 23 - Magic That Works

Magical healing, magic to improve a mother's milk, cheese-magic for conception, magic for a toddler's tooth-tiger teething troubles: we've got practical experiences with magic that has worked in our lives, and we love to share those experiences!

Dig through a few ancient texts for solutions to modern problems with us. You never know what you'll find!

We're at Wellspring this weekend (Memorial Day weekend), and we hope you'll come find us if you're there, too. We're intending to record, so if you've got a hot topic and want to record with us, find us and sit down for a minute!

If you're interested in the cheese spell from this episode and it isn't showing up in the show notes on your device, you can find it at the end of the descriptive post on our Podbean site.

Find us on Facebook, visit us at threecranes.org/podcast, or learn more about Druidry at threecranes.org or adf.org.

Depending on how recording goes, we may not release an episode for the last week of May. If we don't, expect us to pick up again the first Thursday in June!

And don't accept cheese from strangers, kids.

Episode 22 - Am I Good Enough For This?

We all sometimes have questions about our worth, whether we are new to Paganism or old hands. It doesn't really matter how long you've practiced or what you've accomplished, sometimes, you second-guess yourself.

Today, we talk a bit about our experiences with not feeling like we're good enough to do the work, popularly called "imposter syndrome," and how we meet it, manage it, and experience it.

So, join us as we travel from festival to festival. We'd love to have you as part of our conversation.

Find us on Facebook, visit us at threecranes.org/podcast, and learn more about Druidry at threecranes.org and adf.org.

Episode 21 - The Oracular Spectacular!

Welcome to the Oracular Spectacular!

Revs. Avende and Dangler chat about a seership group Rev. Avende is part of here in Columbus, Ohio. Called "The Oracular Spectacular" and dedicated to bringing divination to the public while sharpening their own skills, the crew have a unique working process that is open to all.

This episode is a crossover episode from another podcast called The Pagan Gumbo Podcast. Working out of The Magical Druid, the shop co-owned by Rev. Dangler, we talk about broad Pagan topics and have a lot of fun with a larger cast and no road noise. This episode is a dyed-in-the-wool Druids In Cars episode, though, so you'll be used to those things.

We hope you enjoy. Find us on Facebook, check us out at threecranes.org/podcast, or learn more about Druidry at threecranes.org or adf.org. You can find out more about Pagan Gumbo, The Magical Druid, and Nui Cobalt Designs at their respective sites, too.