Druids In Cars, Going To Festivals

Episode 47 - Tools, Their Uses, and How We Work With Them

Do you need to have tools to do our work? What kinds of tools should you have? What kinds of tools have we always heard we'd need, and never found a use for?

 

We discuss making tools, trading tools, and the types of tools that we work with. We talk about how we choose how to create tools, and our processes for that creation.  Of particular interest in this discussion is the co-creation of our bell branches at Summerland 2019.

 

 

[If you can't see the image of the sickle and bell branch discussed in this episode, visit us on Podbean to see this description with the image.]

 

If you're looking for tools of your own, you can always swing by The Magical Druid's new online shop. Check out more from us out on Facebook, drop by our website, and for more information about Druidry, check out ADF.Org.

Episode 46 - Funerals & Death Experiences

Another content warning this week, where we talk about the process of working funerals, including some discussion of funerals for pets, children, and miscarriages. It's not the bulk of the episode, but it's not insignificant.

How we wish we were going to Trillium this year, but we're not, alas. This is another episode from recording on our way to Harvest Nights Gathering last year.

We often say, "Priestwork is marrying and burying people," so today's episode is the other side of the coin from last week. We talk about the planning process, the variety of types of people we have to manage these passages for, and how we navigate the experience.

It's worth noting that this episode is a lot about how we have experienced our role as Priests, rather than about the functional aspects of writing funerals, though those come up as well. We also talk about options for what you can do if you're away from the funeral, or if the funeral for your loved one was problematic for you.

Melissa Hill did the ritual work that is mentioned around Rev. Avende's cat. She does amazing and powerful ritual and artwork, and you should find her on Patreon.

Find us on Podbean, at threecranes.org/podcast, or on Facebook; consider donating in support, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

Episode 45 - Weddings: Scripting & Stories

First, a quick warning: we know a lot of folks have had to postpone weddings in our current situation; this episode is very much about the joy of creating, planning, and working weddings, so we want you to know about this episode's content, since it can be pretty fresh for some folks. That said, though this was recorded before our current Stay-At-Home life, we did talk about how to manage people who cannot be present at a wedding, whether because they are ancestors, or perhaps they are unable to come (around the 29:30 mark). We hope you're able to join us for the full podcast now, or in the future.

Informal weddings where things are decided 10 minutes before the ceremony, Welcome to Night Vale-themed weddings, and traditional white weddings: these are all things we've done! We talk about what it was like to do some of the fun weddings we've done, how we manage to come up with a script, and how we manage some of the archaic customs that have been given to us over the years.

We talk about ways to make handfasting cords (and people to buy them from: check out The Pagan Peddler or The Magical Druid) and how to "block" a handfasting, plus other modules that you can add to your own weddings and handfastings. Blessing cups, omens, destroying and retrieving rings, and many more ideas come up from our experiences. We also talk about how to manage patriarchy and women-as-property traditions, as well as how to take lore and pull it into a wedding ritual (speaking specifically of Beowulf and Enright's exploration in his book "Lady With a Mead Cup").

This is a bit longer than our usual podcast (we have a lot to say on this subject, it seems), but it all fit nicely as one episode.

As always, find us on Facebook, support us at threecranes.org/donate, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

Episode 44 - How Do I Pagan Better?

There are lots of things that we can all do to improve our work. Rev. Avende and Rev. Dangler tackle some of their own internal critiques and bounce ideas off of each other. They discuss what they feel they can get better at in ritual, and offer solutions to each other as well.

Recorded on the way to Harvest Nights Gathering in 2019 (and dealing with tolls along the way), we are back in full swing for the festival season, even if the festival season is mostly delayed due to Stay-At-Home orders. We're here for you, though, and we're gathering ideas for how to make this a bit easier for everyone.

And remember, both Rev. Avende and Rev. Dangler are building content to help you stay connected. Feel free to reach out, or find their Patreons: Rev. Avende | Rev. Dangler

Wanna help with gas money? Ship us a donation at threecranes.org/donate!

Find us on Facebook, and learn more about Druidry at Threecranes.org, or adf.org.

Episode 43 - Season 3 Intro: An Essential Mission

You may have heard by now that most of the early season festivals have been cancelled, including the Trillium Gathering, where we usually start our season.

Well, it turns out that even though we can't actually go to festivals, we recorded a large number of episodes on the way to Harvest Nights Gathering late last year. So, we have a back catalog from a simpler time that we can all enjoy listening to during this rather difficult period.

This intro was recorded during a mission to obtain the constituent parts of a garden for Rev. Avende, during which we maintained our social distances and respected the space of others. But we happened to be in a car, going to a place, and so we were able to record this short intro to the coming year.

We're both doing a lot of work to help bridge the physical gap, from a recent Spring Equinox Rite on Facebook Live, to Zoom rituals and individualized works on Facebook and Patreon. We talk about some of that work in the podcast episode today.

If you're looking for our Patreons, you can find them here: Rev. Avende's Patreon | Rev. Dangler's Patreon

If you're interested in donating to Three Cranes Grove, ADF, while we all get through this together, you can do that at threecranes.org/donate.

Festivals will start again (we're still hoping Summerland Gathering will be on in August, though it might look different than it has in the past), and we'll be back on the road together eventually. This podcast, so far as we can tell, will continue. Our hope is that by starting to put out episodes a little early, we'll all get a bit more time together, and a bit more joy in the work.

As always, follow us on Facebook, listen to us on Podbean, and learn more about Druidry at threecranes.org or adf.org.

We're here for you. Stay safe, stay home, and stay (virtually) together.

S2 Bonus Episode 3 - A Festival Code of Conduct - Beginnings

If you've never been to a festival, it's the time of year to start planning your season out. Whether you make it to just one festival, or you make it to a bunch like we do, it's good to know what you're getting into.

This year, Three Cranes Grove, ADF, is picking up the mantle and hosting the Summerland Gathering near Yellow Springs, Ohio, on August 13-16, 2020. If you've been riding along with us for a while, you'll know that we're big on consent, inclusivity, and cooperative work. So, before we put up any registration pages, we began developing a code of conduct for organizers, presenters, and participants.

But of course, we have to build it first!

After our first in-person meeting to work out the Code of Conduct, Rev. Avende and Rev. Dangler chatted about the process the Grove is going through, how it felt to engage, and what it's like to workshop a code like this.

We're not done, but our start was promising, and we thought there was plenty of value in sharing our conversation.

There are a few festivals mentioned in the introduction, so here are their links:

• ConVocation (Detroit, MI) - Feb. 20-23, 2020
• Pagan Fire Seminars (Columbus, OH) - April 4, 2020
• Trillium Gathering (Cross Junction, VA) - April 16-19, 2020
• Summerland (Yellow Springs, OH) - August 13-16, 2020

Summerland doesn't have a direct registration page yet, but you'll know when it does. Also, Pagan Fire Seminars will have a remote attendance option!

We hope to see you soon. Consider subscribing at https://druidsincars.podbean.com/ or wherever you get your podcasts. If you want to subscribe to our YouTube feed, that'd be awfully cool, too: youtube.com/3cgvideos

Learn more about us and our podcast at threecranes.org/podcast and learn more about Druidry at adf.org

S2 Bonus Episode 2 - 360 Video and Tech In Ritual

What is it about talking about technology in ritual that makes us do weird things? I dunno, but come and (literally) ride along with us this time!

While we're usually audio-only, on our way to Harvest Nights Gathering in Connecticut, we decided to try something new. With a 360 camera in our back seat, we experimented to see what it might be like to sit and listen in. With the topic of tech in ritual, this seemed like an obvious opportunity to try something new and different out.

You can check out the 360 video (and even put on a VR headset and watch as if you're in the car with us!) on YouTube! (You can also navigate the 360 video with your mouse pointer, or on a phone by moving the device in full screen.)

The video carries the same audio podcast episode, so you won't miss anything if you watch this instead of listening to the pod, or vice versa.

Find this episode on our YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/Mj4FzQVFDhk

Consider subscribing at https://druidsincars.podbean.com/ or wherever you get your podcasts. If you want to subscribe to our YouTube feed, that'd be awfully cool, too: youtube.com/3cgvideos

Learn more about us and our podcast at threecranes.org/podcast and learn more about Druidry at adf.org

S2 Bonus Episode 1 - Initiateness vs. Clergyness

Here's a slightly special bonus feature: you can watch the conversation from a camera on our dash as we drive out to the Harvest Nights Gathering in Connecticut in October 2019. Check out the video on the 3CG YouTube page... and maybe consider subscribing, because there's another video we're also working on to release shortly!

In this episode we talk about the similarities and the differences of being an ADF Initiate and an ADF Priest, how the direction we came at each role affects our experiences, and how those experiences manifest in our daily work and lives.

This is one of the (many!) requested topics we received at the end of last season.

The video is the same as our podcast episode, so you won't miss anything if you listen to this instead of watching the video, or vice versa.

You can, of course, subscribe for a lot more content on our YouTube channel. We do all sorts of neat things there.

Learn more about us and our podcast at threecranes.org/podcast and learn more about Druidry at adf.org

Episode 42 - Season 2 Conclusion

We're at the end of Season 2, but we have plans for hiatus and Season 3! We'll tell you all about them, and give you an idea of what it's been like for us to do this podcast for the past two seasons.

If you have ideas for future episodes, please send them to us, either via our Facebook page or via email. We really want to hear about what you're interested in, and we'll try and hit as many as we can on our trips. Plus, the trip we're taking to Harvest Nights next week is a pretty long drive, and we'll have our recorders!

If you're looking for a great festival to start the year with, consider the Trillium Spring Gathering, an ADF festival in Northern Virginia. We'll be there, and the first episode of Season 3 will land on the Thursday most of us will be traveling to Trillium, so give a listen while you drive!

Learn more about Druidry at adf.org and check us out at threecranes.org.

Episode 41 - Social Media Resources, Diversity, and Work

One of our big things in Three Cranes Grove, ADF, is that we love to create. After Rev. Crystal Groves' discussion of marketing and social media strategies at Trillium 2019, we had a discussion about the creative process, what it means to connect people to others, and what it's like to produce the words for the really hard things that happen in our lives.

We also talk about ensuring that people approaching Druidry are able to see themselves as valid, joyful participants in Druidry.

If you're interested in Rev. Avende's book, "The Spiraling Sun," you can find it on Amazon or at The Magical Druid. While Rev. Avende works on that Greek Oracle book (hint, hint), you can check out another awesome project that was just released, "The Hearth Keepers Way: An ADF Hearth Keepers Guide!"

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