daven@davensjournal.com Druid's Magic Daven daven@davensjournal.com Mon Mar 10 10:53:21 2003 I thought this may be of interest to the membership here.*p**p**br*Lesson 12: Druidic Magick*p*First things first, Druidism is a way of life, not a magickal practice, *br*nor a religion. I know that almost every religion out there claims this, *br*but Druidism is this. You cannot separate the philosophy from the *br*spirituality from the magick without invalidating the way of the Druids.*p*(One asside that is a personal gripe of mine, the pronunciation is Keltic, *br*with a hard C sound, not Seltic with a soft C. It's Celtic like Chaos.)*p*This lesson will show you the tools the Druid uses, it will bust myths, *br*and it will give you the truth about the Druids (or as much of the truth *br*as we know and can figure out). We are daily discovering more things *br*about the Druids, and we are constantly looking for more and more *br*information on what the rites and practices of the Druids were.*p*One thing I must stress in this lesson is THIS IS NOT AN ECLECTIC PATH. *br*This is the spirituality and the way of worship of the Celts. You can *br*call upon Juno if you want, invoke the Archangels, call upon Arthur and *br*Merlin if desired, but DO NOT call that "Druidism". Call it an eclectic *br*path that is influenced by Druidism. This is the problem with a lot of *br*the Druidic paths out there these days, they made up their own junk and *br*decided it was "real" Druidism and they started writing books and teaching *br*their path as the real thing.*p*We will start this lesson with a short (for me that is) history lesson.*p*No, the Druids did not build Stonehenge. It was there when the Druids *br*first showed up on the scene. Most of the information we have about the *br*Druids is from the enemies of the Druids, namely the Romans and the Roman *br*Catholic Church. We have Caesar's account of the Druids in "The Gallic *br*Wars" and his correspondence to the Senate while he was attempting to *br*conquer the Celts.*p*Mary's aside &ast; The Catholic missionaries took what they found, learned as *br*much as possible, converted it from the stories of the pagans to stories *br*of Catholic Saints (Brighed comes to mind immediately.) and pronounced *br*everyone Catholic. By winning over the rulers of a place ("more power in *br*&ast; your &ast; hands my lord, &ast; we&ast; would never seek such a thing.") They *br*claimed that all the "subjects" of said rulers were converted. I realized *br*this is turning into a rant so I'll be quiet now. Back to your regularly *br*scheduled program &ast;*p*But let's start correctly. Back in the pre-history, there came peoples *br*from the Steppes of what is now called Russia. These peoples migrated all *br*over Europe and Asia. In some cases, they were called the Goths *br*(including the Visigoths, Ostrogoths and so on), the Belgae, the Germans, *br*the Jutes, the proto-Danes, the Magyar and many other ethnic peoples. The *br*group that would be called Celts appeared on the scene sometime in about *br*700 BCE and started migrating to the West, settling in Gaul (France and *br*Spain), Germany, and going over the sea to England. The Spanish Gauls *br*invaded Ireland many times and took over from the natives there, called *br*the Tuatha de Dannan and the Firbolg (whom the Tuatha de' conquered). *br*(The Russian Steppes seemed to be a genetic hotbed, and quite a few ethnic *br*peoples got their start in this area. The Norse and Classical Greek, *br*Afghans and Indians as well as what is listed above.)*p*More can be found at http://ragz-international.com/celts.htm .*p*This time period seems to be the time that the Red Book of War, the Táin *br*Bó Cúalnge, the Mabinogion and other Irish/Welsh mythic cycles are set in, *br*the very beginning of this integration. I'm not going to go into every *br*nuance and aspect of those stories, although a major portion of Druidism *br*is the stories and myths along with the History.*p*(These cultural comments are important to understand what Druidism was, *br*since you litterally cannot seperate the spirituality of the Druids out *br*from the culture of the Celts. The culture is infused with the *br*spirituality completely, as in Native American beliefs and life, and the *br*spirituality has many aspects of the culture reflected in it's structure. *br*It would be like trying to separate the Kaballah completely from Judiasm.)*p*The most current archeological thought has the Celts appearing in England *br*and Ireland sometime around 400 BCE. Their civilization was based on the *br*tribe and village. There was a clan Chief and under him was the warrior *br*class. Under that were the artisans and crafters, the support structure *br*of the tribe, in addition a powerful chief would encourage other *br*chieftains to become his "clients", thus increasing his status in the *br*region. Standing outside all this was the Druid. Things persisted this *br*way for quite some time, although Ireland's social structure and political *br*structure changed over time and became quite monarchial and rigid. There *br*were 5 kingdoms of Ireland, each "owned" and ruled by a Righ or King. *br*Under each Righ, there were the Chieftains, heads of the different *br*families who would make alliances with the Righ in exchange for help and *br*protection from enemies.*p*Now, nothing was free. For this, the Chief was expected to supply their *br*own troops, food for the warriors, space for them to live and so on. It *br*was also the custom for the Chief to buy the loyalty of his followers and *br*the people he protected. The political structure was in a sense *br*electoral, for if the Chief lost the favor of the people through old age *br*or poor judgment, he could be replaced, often without a war. The rulers *br*held power by the tolerance of the people.*p*Where did the Druids fit in this structure? They were outside it *br*completely. The Druids were untouchables in many ways. They were not *br*loyal to a specific clan, chief or person, they were loyal to the land and *br*each other. They were advisors and helpers. They taught and educated *br*people in many things like herbs and astronomy. Because their life was *br*dedicated to the service of others, they were granted multiple powers that *br*(we hope) they took care not to abuse. They were the lawmakers and sat in *br*judgment of many.*p*Each of the Righs also owed their loyalty to the Ard Righ or the High *br*King, who united all of Ireland under them. Druids were there to advise *br*him as well, and they were also developing a structure of their own *br*order. There was the Arch Druid, the head of the entire Irish order of *br*Druids. He was (apparently) elected to the position by the body of Druids *br*and was supposed to be THE expert in every aspect of druidism, although, I *br*suspect, most often he was just the best politically.*p*Generally the Arch Druid advised the Ard Righ, along with a council of *br*Druids to do things like interpret the laws and keep the history. There *br*were colleges established for the education of new Druids, and much of *br*what we know about the political structure of Ireland and the Druids is *br*because this was written down centuries after the fact. There are clues *br*in the mythology and the stories told, such as the stories of CuChulainn *br*and the Welsh Mabinogion. There are clues in the laws from that time, as *br*written by the Brehons (the Druidic group who made the laws and passed *br*judgment on people, like the modern American Judicial system).*p*There are, however, very few documents that detail the Druidic *br*organization from the Druids themselves. A great deal of what we know *br*comes from documents sent to Rome by Caesar and written down by Pliny in *br*their compilations and reports. A lot of them, therefore, are slanted to *br*show the Druids as evil amoral creatures who willingly go out and capture *br*hundreds of their own people and bloodily sacrifice them on altars to *br*strange and evil gods who demand blood.*p*However, by crosschecking these documents with accounts written from *br*centuries later by Christian Monks and the legends we have, we discover a *br*LOT of good facts. In this lesson we will look at some of the facts *br*discovered by the modern Druids, Celtic Reconstructionists and historians.*p*1) The Druids practiced blood sacrifice. Yeah, this is the big one. *br*However, it is not nearly as prevalent nor bad as was told to Rome. The *br*style of blood sacrifice that was practiced was like the sacrifice of the *br*Shamans and the witches. It was used for magickal purposes (remember the *br*previous comments on the amount of energy released in a death?) but more *br*often it was used to prove to the Gods that there was a desperate *br*situation going on and gain their attention.*p*Here's an example of a possible type of Druidic blood sacrifice: There is *br*a drought going on in the land of a specific tribe and everything that can *br*be done to alleviate this has been done, to no avail. Prisoners captured *br*in the most recent skirmish with another tribe or tribes might be offered *br*a chance to redeem themselves from the perceived cowardice of allowing *br*themselves to be captured by pleading the case of their captors to the *br*Gods. The severity of the situation would dictate how many people would *br*be sacrificed. A very severe situation would demand several people be *br*sacrificed.*p*More than likely, the captive would be taken by the victorious warriors *br*and used as a slave, abused and so on, until death ensued. According to *br*what we know of the "honor" structure of the Celts, this was a disgrace to *br*the captured warrior. Their participation in sacrifice would allow them *br*to die an honorable death and go to the Gods, instead of dying a death in *br*slavery which was considered dishonorable. Since most Celtic spirituality *br*was focused on living an honorable lifetime, this was of prime importance.*p*This would also allow a death of dignity and honor, rather than one of *br*humiliation. Don't think that simply because the prisoners were being *br*sacrificed that they were tortured, they were not. The general attitude *br*of the sacrifices was "what good would it do to make the sacrifice *br*suffer? It means their soul would be confused and be unable to take the *br*message to the Gods." So the Sacrificers were very skilled in death, both *br*dealing it and their understanding of it. They also had an understanding *br*of the death process from the perspective of the Shaman, and the journey *br*the soul took once released from the body.*p*In some cases, the sacrificers could have seen themselves as doing a favor *br*to those who were trapped in a body and unable to die. It could be seen *br*as common (I have no evidence of this, so it's supposition) that a *br*sacrificer could be called upon to release a dying person.*p*Don't think that tribe members were not used as a sacrifice, because they *br*were. In fact, sometimes the Druids themselves were sacrificed to the *br*Gods. There could be no greater magick than this. There is one body that *br*was uncovered in the bogs of England and it shows all the marks of having *br*undergone the "triple death" of blunt force to the back of the skull, *br*garroting, and being stabbed in the jugular. This article may shed some *br*more light: http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/celtic/22papers/jones.pdf *br*you can also search the net using the listing the "Lindow Man".*p*Nor were people the only things sacrificed. One ritual for the diviner *br*(Druid tasked with oracular vision and scrying and prophesy gifts) was to *br*lie on a white bull's hide for a period of time, and enter a trance. It *br*was believed that the spirit of the Bull would bring the diviner a vision *br*of the future and it was given a special weight. This was ALWAYS done on *br*the New Year, and at other times during the year as needed. This was the *br*most powerful means of prophecy available to the Druid. Now, the hide had *br*to come from someplace, and usually a white bull would be raised *br*specifically for this purpose, the bull would be sacrificed, the meat *br*eaten and the bloody hide would be slept on.*p*It's logical to assume at this point that if a bull can be sacrificed and *br*humans can be sacrificed, then other animals can be sacrificed as well, *br*but the archeological evidence is not very clear about this subject.*p*One interesting ritual sacrifice is the harvesting of the mistletoe on the *br*night of the Sixth Moon. In this rite, according to Pliny the Elder, the *br*Druid climbs the tree that the Mistletoe grows in and cuts it with a *br*golden sickle. Then two white bulls are sacrificed to the gods. I would *br*assume that the Druids also thanked the Gods for the Mistletoe and thanked *br*the tree for its gift. These links will give MUCH more information on *br*this.*p*http://www.danann.org/library/herb/mist6.html*br*http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/hermann.moisl/sel248/pliny.htm*br*http://www.imm.org.pl/bird/antyk.htm About half way down the page *br*under "Pliny, Natural History"*br*http://www.sassafrasgrove.org/seasonal/mistletoe.htm*p*2) There were multiple classes of Druids. Sometimes for those reading *br*about the Druids, it can get confusing to those to hear that a Bard was *br*treated as a Druid, a Brehon was a Druid, and a Cainte or Fildh were *br*Druids. But once you know the structure, it's obvious.*p*A Druid was trained for at least 20 years before attaining the title of *br*Druid. During that time, if you had accomplished 12 years of study, you *br*were a Bard, because that was what had been studied up to that point, the *br*history, stories and songs of the Celts. Yep, you were spending the first *br*55% of the study time you had to go in this course in JUST absorbing the *br*lore and history.*p*This sounds excessive, but the children of the Celts had similar *br*structures of study for ANY life path one chose. Additionally, think *br*about your own life for a while. How many years did you take to learn *br*what our Western Culture told you were critical for your existence? *br*(Here's a hint, you were in school when you did this) Twelve years you *br*said? Hmmmm sounds right to me.*p*After that, the Druid went on to learn other skills; the Brehons (law *br*givers) would spend the next three years learning the legal code of the *br*Celts. Believe me, they needed this time. Their legal code was about as *br*complex as the legal code of America. It was based around a couple *br*principals: every person had worth inherent to their being, and that any *br*crime could be forgiven if that worth could be paid. This was the concept *br*of "honor price". Simply put, the greater your standing in the *br*overall "tribe", the more personal value you had.*p*Most of the value came from your contributions. Let's say for a moment, *br*that a farmer had been killed by a warrior of the tribe in retaliation for *br*some slight. The Brehons would hear the case. They would determine that *br*the farmer had a value of 2 cattle and the warrior would have to pay 2 *br*cattle to the family of the farmer. This is an example, the actual *br*Brehons has a very complex method of determining a person's worth and once *br*determined it was not open for debate. So long as the warrior could pay *br*the honor price of the farmer he has slain, he would not be punished *br*further.*p*This code also assumed that those outside the tribe they were in were non-*br*people. If, for example, I were a member of the Iceni, all other Iceni *br*were people to me and the laws. A Cumhaill who was captured in a raiding *br*party was not only a non-person, but also a slave. If he was beaten to *br*death, the person doing it would owe nothing to his family members of the *br*Cumhaill. After all, he's "one of them", not "one of us" and thus he has *br*no worth. I may have to pay the OWNER of this slave for the work he will *br*not do now, but the Cumhaill and his family can't bring a protest about *br*ill treatment, someone in the Iceni clan must do so. This is one reason *br*why banishment from the clan was such a HUGE penalty, because it severed *br*all ties to a group and made the person so sentanced into nothing, no *br*family and made sure that he (or she) was outside all the protection of *br*the laws. It also explains why a slight against a member of the Cumhaill *br*by a member of the Iceni usually led to an armed conflict, this was the *br*only way to gain satisfaction.*p*It goes on. http://www.unet.univie.ac.at/~a8700035/celtlaw.html is one *br*resource, http://ua_tuathal.tripod.com/testdefault.html is another, along *br*with http://szabo.best.vwh.net/brehon.html , and there are many more. One *br*site I found is a continuation of a site I first became a druid on, *br*http://www.ancientworlds.net which has a whole section devoted to the *br*historic study of the Druids and the Celts, along with a section where *br*Brehon scholars of today talk about the Brehonic laws in the context of *br*the Celts. It's a serious site, even though there is a LOT of role-play, *br*I leaned most of what I know from this site and sites like it.*p*The final title is the Druid. After passing through the preliminary *br*stages of Bard and Brehon, the title of Druid was achieved. Generally, *br*this level of Druidry was concerned with understanding the magick and *br*spirituality of the Celts. They could still specialize in certain aspects *br*of Druidism, much like a college professor of History could specialize in *br*a time period, culture or even a certain aspect of history. And once *br*again, there were different jobs a Druid could do. A Druid who felt a *br*call to politics could advise the Righ or Clan Chief, or they could decide *br*if they didn't like politics to "minister" to the needs of the people in a *br*village or area.*p*There were different titles for the specialties, one of which was the *br*Cainte, or Magickians and Ritual Experts. I learned that those who were *br*masters of an aspect of Druidic practice were called Ollamhs in some *br*recreation groups, which is where I earned my title of Ollamh Cainte, or *br*professor or master of magick and ritual. I have a good friend who earned *br*the title of Ollamh Fili, Master of Song and History, what a Bard *br*eventually grew into, another who was an Ollamh Sencha, or Master (in her *br*case mistress) of the Healing Arts and so on. (This was what we used on *br*AncientSites, not what actually was used in the past. I must make that *br*clear.)*p*3) There were three groups of Celts; the Gauls, the Irish and the *br*Britons. Each had different cultures, customs and ways of doing things. *br*However, the Druids were able (for the most part) to move from one group *br*to another. It was uncommon, but it was possible. Most often, the Druids *br*of the Gauls (France, Spain, Portugal, some of Italy, some of Germany) did *br*not associate with the druids of Briton (England and part of Scotland, the *br*Islands of Anglesey and Mann, and Wales) and Ireland (where they *br*eventually migrated to Scotland). The time period of the Druids was *br*approx 450 BCE to approx 100 CE at which point, the influence from Rome *br*became too great. While Ireland was never conquered by Rome, and *br*Hadrian's Wall ( http://www.hadrians-wall.org/about.htm ) cut England off *br*from Scotland, the cultural and religious conquering was very thorough. *br*Patrick didn't drive all the snakes out of Ireland, he drove all the *br*Druids out, or so it's said. Some legends equate the Druid of the Celts *br*with the Snake of the Old Testament (since they are both evil...) and THAT *br*is what Patrick drove out. ( references: *br*http://heaven.beautyscastle.com/news/vol7/page6.html and *br*http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11554a.htm ) However it is a known fact *br*that Patrick was captured in a raid and made a slave to a Druid, and *br*learned the ways of Druidism and used that knowledge to undermine and *br*disintigrate the religion of the Druids MUCH later in his life.*p*I should probably add a note here: The Celts covered an area that was *br*HUGE. Think the entire continent of Europe and parts of Asia at the *br*height of their culture. Even given that, it was a bloodline and a *br*genetic group, not only a culture. And each region, the Gauls, the Irish *br*and the Brittons, were different with different customs and language and *br*religious/spiritual practices. While there was some transfer between the *br*regions through the Druids, that was pretty much it. There was even a *br*difference between the Northern Guals (made up of the French/Germanics) *br*and the Southern Gauls (Spain/Portugal/Italy). There was combat between *br*the clans and the tribes, but they pretty much stayed in their region. *br*There is only one story I can think of where there was cross-regional *br*activity, and that is ONLY because Brittain and Ireland are so close to *br*each other and it resulted in ALL of the human life on Ireland being wiped *br*out (at least, that's how the myth goes). Being Celtic is not a matter of *br*having red hair, and in fact, Hitler's vision of the Arian race is pretty *br*close to what the typical Celt was back in the time we are talking about. *br*Read "The Gallic Wars" by Caesar sometime and pay attention to his *br*description of the main people.*p*4) Modern Druidism is NOT the same thing the Druids of old times *br*practiced. Because of the lack of writings from the Druids themselves, *br*and the fact that MOST of what was written down was preserved centuries *br*after the last free Druids disappeared (in this case meaning Druids who *br*were not being hounded by Rome or Catholicism), we have no clue what the *br*spirituality of the Ancient Druids actually was. There are hints and *br*clues in the documents of the times, hints in the writings of their *br*enemies, hints in their mythology and so on, but it leaves holes in our *br*knowledge. So, for the most part, Druidism of today takes what we DO *br*know, uses what is hinted at, fills in with logic and archeology and *br*research and creates the parts that are still missing from whole cloth. *br*But just because this is what we have to do, even though we don't know *br*exactly what was believed, that does not mean that we are not close in *br*what has been practiced in the past.*p*We have some information preserved in mythologies and one document *br*called "The Colliloquy of Two Sages" in which one Druid talks to another *br*(possibly an apprentice) and they discuss what a Druid needs to know to be *br*considered a Druid. Many scholarly papers have been written on this *br*subject, and a look at this is beyond the scope of this lesson. Suffice *br*to say it's occult (hidden) enough that unless you are already familiar *br*with many of the principals in this document it's easy to miss the key *br*points.*p*Basically what you have is three main branches of modern day Druidism. *br*You have the OBOD (Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids), which was created *br*in the mid 1800's as a gentleman's society. It was known at the time as *br*the "Ancient Druidic Order" at the time, and the OBOD eventually broke off *br*from them to become what we know now as the OBOD. *br*http://www.druidorder.demon.co.uk/druid_history.htm The OBOD's site is at *br*http://www.druidry.org/ *p*You also have the most well known Druidic organization in America, the *br*ADF, or Ar nDraiocht Fein (translated to "Our Own Druidism") which was *br*started by Isaac Bonewits. You can find their site at *br*http://www.adf.org/core/ and Isaac Bonewits' site at *br*http://www.neopagan.net . There was a problem with some political aspects *br*of the ADF and Isaac retired from the ADF with the title "Arch Druid *br*emeritus" in honor of all his work in creating and running the ADF for so *br*many years. I will let you follow the links and read the stories of both *br*these organizations right from them. Here are a few relevant articles you *br*may also be interested in by Bonewits himself. *br*http://www.neopagan.net/Contents.html#PartTwo (By the way, you may be *br*most familiar with Mr. Bonewits' work in the "Advanced Bonewits Cult *br*Danger Evaluation Frame" that has been republished all over the net and in *br*many books. It's pretty much the standard for evaluating whether or not *br*an organization is a cult or not these days. I recommend to you that if *br*you do not know this document, look it up at *br*http://www.neopagan.net/ABCDEF.html )*p*Then we come to those groups/people who have studied Druidism *br*independently and have come to some conclusions that don't necessarily *br*agree with the groups listed above (like yours truly) or who have had some *br*dogmatic differences with the parent groups and left to start their own *br*group reflecting that which they believe (like the Henge of Keltria *br*http://www.keltria.org/index.html ) or who have done some independent *br*study, come to some conclusions, shared those conclusions with others and *br*created their own tradition of Druidism (like http://www.irishdruidry.org/ *br*and his the founder's personal site *br*http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/1741/ and The Summerlands at *br*http://www.summerlands.com )*p*There are other orginizations in the UK and Europe currently, and *br*unfortunately I don't know enough about them to tell you what they are *br*like. My best suggestion is to ask around online if you are in that *br*geographic area. However, this was shared with me by a reader: "arguably *br*LAW (Loyal Arthurian Warband) has the highest political recognition, *br*possibly the BDO - British Druid Order is more recognisably active and of *br*course the Welsh/Cornish culture Eisteddfod are also well recognised even *br*though not what neo-pagans would call Druids." Eisteddfod is an anual *br*poetry/singing competition held in the UK in the Druidic style, but other *br*than that, I can't tell you much.*p*(I should mention here that in each of the sites I recommend above , I *br*know the founder/administrator/Arch Druid personally and have had many *br*discussions with them, or someone I know knows them personally. For *br*instance, I have had a few discussions with Isaac in the past, I have had *br*quite a number of discussions with Dark Owl and Searles O'Dubhain and I *br*know TopazOwl (second in command of the Henge of Keltria) pretty well. I *br*have not had the honor of speaking on an intimate basis with Mr. Phillip *br*Carr-Gomm (of the OBOD), although DarkOwl knows him on an intimate level *br*and advised me that he is a nice man to speak with. Please understand *br*I'm NOT name-dropping, but in some cases it's very much a matter of "who *br*you know" and this is one of those cases. Each of these people and *br*organizations have been around for a long time, and these organizations *br*influenced much of modern Druidism. The organizations themselves reflect *br*the personality of their founder/leader and I'm telling you that all these *br*can be trusted to give you the best information they have, unlike SOME *br*people like Douglas Monroe. But that's a whole separate issue. )*p*In each of these cases, these groups and people are not fooling themselves *br*into thinking that they are practicing as the Druids of the Celts *br*practiced, but that they are trying to recreate the spirituality of the *br*Druids as best as they can in modern times. That's an important factor to *br*look at as some groups and organizations will try to have you think that *br*they are the direct descendants of Merlin or the High Grand Order of *br*Druids from 100 CE or that they have found a book written by the Druids in *br*Latin which describes their belief system....*p*All I can say to those claims is Caveat Emptor (let the buyer beware). I *br*am not going to say that they are lying, but there have been several cases *br*of books that were claimed to be written by the Druids and were later *br*proven as forgeries. Do some research and ask questions of those groups *br*and people you trust to know who's who in the druidic communities. The *br*Druids and such groups are small enough as a community right now that *br*almost everyone is known to someone else or information on that person is *br*easy to come by. But don't ask me, I'm just a Witch who knows a lot about *br*Druidism. ;-)*p*5) Women were Druids. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/1741/62.htm*p*I know that in most people's minds they see the Druids as men who wore *br*long white robes and who had long white beards, but that's not the only *br*Druids that were. Women were druids as well, fully capable of doing all *br*the rites of Druidism and fully trained. They underwent the 20 years of *br*training and used the magick just like their male counterparts. One of *br*the most famous accounts of females in Druidism is the attack on Anglesey *br*by the Romans. In one section, the chronicler was writing about "wild *br*women running back and forth in front of the army, enraging it and casting *br*their fell spells" which proves that there were women welcome in the ranks *br*of Druidism. ( source *br*http://www.celtica.wales.com/hanesfa/celtiaid/pennod4/p33.html )*p*This would also make sense when you look at the Gods. Dianecht was the *br*physician of the Tuatha de Dannan, and he was a skilled healer. He killed *br*his son (Minach) for being a better healer than he was, and his daughter *br*found growing on her brother's grave 365 herbs that would make man *br*immortal, showing that the goddesses were healers too. ( *br*http://www.omphalos.net/files/myths/DIANMYTH.TXT ) That the contribution *br*of the female was not overlooked nor was it disparaged like would happen *br*in later years and the coming of Christianity.*p*Before we move on to Magick, I want to recommend two fictional books to *br*you that illustrate a lot of what I'm talking about. The first is "Red *br*Branch" illustrating the Irish Warrior culture as seen in the myth of *br*CuChulainn. The other is called "Druids" which looks at the Druid order *br*and spirituality from the perspective of the High Druid of Gaul during the *br*Gallic Wars. Both of these books are by Morgan Llewellyn and can be found *br*on Amazon.com at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-*br*/080410591X/qid=1039108760/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/102-1895645-4246532?*br*v=glance&s=books*p*Okay, enough clearing up of Misconceptions of Druidism, on to the part you *br*have patiently been waiting for, the Magick of the Druids.*p*I am going to have to warn you here, be careful. There are aspects of *br*this practice that will look familiar, but other aspects are VASTLY *br*different. For instance, there are sections of Druidism that are VERY *br*shamanistic in nature, but as I showed you before the Dhuile is so *br*different from any elemental system that modern NeoPagans know that it's *br*easy to get lost. So, let's take this one element at a time.*p*Awen/IMBAS. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/1741/artofinsp.htm*p*These are the same thing, just in Welsh it's Awen and in Irish it is *br*IMBAS. This is literally knowledge from Illumination or channeling. When *br*the Druid is in a meditative state, they can receive visions and *br*information from the Gods, directly instructing them in what they need to *br*know. It can be about anything from the properties of an herb, to the *br*song a plant will grow to, to what weather the Clan will have tomorrow to *br*anything else that is necessary. To receive this was considered a great *br*gift, a special attachment to the ALL, and was seen as a mark of high *br*favor. In fact, one of the most flattering compliments I have EVER *br*received was when DarkOwl read my poem on the Dhuile ( *br*http://davensjournal.com/TD.htm ) and him calling it pure IMBAS.*p*However, this was NOT just "open the head up and pour the knowledge in" as *br*some seem to think, there was a lot of work to be done beforehand to *br*encourage this state.*p*For instance, in that poem, it was not just &ast;BOOM&ast; and it was there, *br*completely written and proof read, or not the Gods taking control of my *br*body and writing it themselves. I did have to know what I wanted to do, *br*how I wanted to say what needed to be said, the basic overall structure *br*and the rules for poetry.*p*In the case of that poem, I knew I wanted a poem to instruct in the *br*Dhuile. I wanted one that would capture what the Dhuile sets were in the *br*stanzas and I wanted it to be a pneumonic device for students to have to *br*learn the dhuile. I wanted it to have the sets of dhuile in the first *br*line, and have the rest describe what they were. And I had to have them *br*arranged so that in the first line they were Internal, External and *br*Directional in that order, so the "columns" of Dhuile were consistent.*p*After that, I wrote the first line, and relaxed the control I had on my *br*mind and let the words flow. I did some tweaking to them afterwards, and *br*I simply let them flow out of me, as though I was the vessel they were *br*contained in or like I was a funnel.*p*It is a trance of sorts, in which your mind is still present, but it gets *br*out of the way enough to allow whatever is needed to speak through you to *br*do so. It's like interpreting tarot card spreads after you have been *br*doing it a while. You may pull out the Two of Pentacles (juggling too *br*much) and put it in the "past" in a Celtic Cross spread, then pull out the *br*Eight of Swords (trapped in the situation and helpless) and put it in the *br*present position and finally put the Two of Wands (choice between the *br*spirit and the material) in the "final outcome" space. While each of *br*these cards mean something specific and the position they are in means *br*something specific, seeing them in this order may prompt a reader to *br*say "In the near past you felt that you had too much to do and that you *br*were getting overstressed, while now you feel that you are trapped. Don't *br*worry, the end says that the choice is yours to make between your mental *br*and spiritual being and your physical one." An experienced reader in the *br*throes of Awen may say "I see that you got into a situation recently where *br*you felt you were doing too much with too little. You now feel trapped by *br*this situation and that any choice you make is a bad one. But let me ask *br*you this, is it better to be worried about what others will think, or what *br*you need to survive? Your ship is coming in, and I would advise you get *br*out of this relationship you are in that has you trapped an unable to do *br*anything. You are helpless now, but you have the ultimate power to make *br*the choice between what you actually DO need and what you THINK you need."*p*The first reading anyone can read out of the pamphlet that comes with the *br*deck. The second is true IMBAS, in which seemingly unrelated information *br*simply springs into your mind, and you find yourself speaking it without *br*knowing quite why, and subsequently freaking out the person you are *br*reading for. But you still had to know what each of the cards meant, you *br*had to know what they meant in the context of the reading and in their *br*positions, and how they related to each other. But that extra little *br*something kicked in and started you mentioning information that is *br*relevant to the situation, but which is not found in the books of tarot *br*cards.*p*That is IMBAS and Awen at its finest.*p*How do you know that you had that kind of experience? The same way you *br*know that energy is moving around you. For me, my hair on the nape of my *br*neck stands up and I get goose bumps all over my body when Awen comes on *br*me. And it doesn't matter whether or not I have written something and am *br*re-reading it or if someone else has written it, it's all the same *br*feeling. It's the way I use to find the truth in what I have read or *br*heard.*p*Anyhow, the next means of magick of the Druids was the Dhuile. *br*http://davensjournal.com/EotD.htm*p*In this tool, it is very much "as above, so below". The cosmos is *br*mirrored in us, and in the Sea. The three primary elements of the Druids *br*were the Sky, the Land, and the Sea. Those three realms are where *br*everything is at, from the Stone to the Face to the Clouds. The full list *br*is here:*p*Internal External Directional*p*Face Sun *br*South*br*Mind Moon Inwards*br*Blood Sea West*br*Breath Wind East*br*Head Sky Above*br*Hair Green World Outwards*br*Flesh Land Below*br*Bones Stone North*br*Spirit Clouds Through*p*This is probably one of the most confusing sets of elemental associations *br*that there is, and I don't understand it yet. But this is also one of the *br*most mystical when used properly. I'll be honest, because I know of and *br*can use it, does not mean that I understand it. I have not used this *br*system completely enough to fully be comfortable with the Dhuile. When I *br*use it, most often I use it like a codebook, with long laborious *br*translation. But there are aspects to it that relate around and to other *br*parts of Druidic spirituality, as we will see in a few moments.*p*"The Three Cauldrons" *br*http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/1741/threecauld.htm*p*This tool of Druidism is one of those things that you go "huh?" about, but *br*once you understand what the Three Cauldrons represent, the beauty of it *br*is obvious.*p*The best way I can explain the Cauldrons is by saying that each Cauldron *br*represents a "body" in Buddhism. Zen Buddhists believe in three bodies, *br*the physical body, the mental body (intellect) and the soul or spiritual *br*body. Freudian Psychology also recognized these bodies with the Id, Ego *br*and Superego. This explains the Cauldrons also. I have also heard the *br*Cauldrons described as being the Celtic system of chakras. I have also *br*related these to the path of Self-Actualization.*p*In brief, there are three cauldrons in each of us, The Cauldron of Warming *br*(physical), the Cauldron of Vocation (mental and intellectual) and the *br*Cauldron of Knowledge (spiritual). The Cauldrons turn at different times *br*in our life. All the Cauldrons go from inverted, mouth down, to on it's *br*side to mouth up. The Cauldron of Warming is the only one that is upright *br*from birth, which is obvious since the physical is working from the first *br*moment of life.*p*It's important to note that the Cauldron of Knowledge CANNOT be turned *br*upright until the Cauldron of Vocation is turned and filled. It's not *br*enough to turn the cauldron; it must be filled as well. For instance, I *br*cannot logically turn the Cauldron of Knowledge (spirituality) until I *br*have knowledge to put that spirituality to work. I cannot logically gain *br*knowledge unless my body is at its peak performance.*p*If I were to put this visually I could use this:*p*/\ Warming /\ Vocation /\ Knowledge Time before birth*br*V Warming /\ Vocation /\ Knowledge Just after birth and for the *br*first few months of life*br*V Warming < Vocation /\ Knowledge When learning starts (as you *br*can see, the Vocation cauldron is on it's side, in preparation to be *br*turned upright)*br*V Warming V Vocation /\ Knowledge Time in School, studying some *br*part of life skills*br*V Warming V Vocation < Knowledge In the middle of a religious *br*epiphany (baptism, Seminary, holy ecstasy)*br*V Warming V Vocation V Knowledge What most humans would be *br*striving for during their lifetime.*p*However, it is also possible for these cauldrons to spontaneously rotate *br*around and empty by life experiences, such as death or sadness, or other *br*events.*p*/\ Warming V Vocation < Knowledge Physical illness, such as *br*disease or so on. The knowledge is still there in the Vocation Cauldron, *br*but the Cauldron of Knowledge has rotated because while the body is sick, *br*you can't give your full attention to the spiritual.*br*V Warming /\ Vocation < Knowledge This could be an example of a *br*catastrophic event, like loosing your home, winning the lottery, or *br*something that makes you stupid for a while.*br*V Warming V Vocation /\ Knowledge Death of a loved one, in which *br*it makes you forget your training and grieve for the unknown. The *br*knowledge you gained is still there, waiting for you to remember it, but *br*you can't use it because the Cauldron of Knowledge is overwhelming the *br*Vocational Cauldron as well as the Warming Cauldron with the grief.*p*In each of the above events, you can re-focus on the areas of your life *br*that the cauldrons relate to and turn the cauldrons again.*p*This is an email discussion I had with DarkOwl about the Cauldrons. He *br*told me that each of the Cauldrons related directly to one of the Dhuile, *br*and this is what I found out. Mind you, this is what I felt, and he told *br*me that this is pretty close to what he uses in his training classes and *br*it was pretty good for coming off gut impulse. He said that the major *br*difference is that the directional associations were different in his *br*tradition (which he teaches for free, as opposed to those traditions that *br*ask for outrageous fees).*p*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*p*Okay, working on impulse here. Don't know how close it will be. *br*Basically I "asked my Center" what the answer to these were, and got *br*responses. Here is what I got.*p*Vocational Knowledge Warming*br*Internal External *br*Directional*p*Face (V) Sun (K) *br*South (W)*br*Mind (V) Moon (K) Inwards (W)*br*Blood (K) Sea (W) West (V)*br*Breath (W) Wind (K) East (V)*br*Head (K) Sky (V) Above (W)*br*Hair (W) Green World (K) Outwards (V)*br*Flesh (W) Land (V) Below (K)*br*Bones (W) Stone (K) North (V)*br*Spirit (K) Clouds (W) Through *br*(V)*p*Some of these I have reasons for, here are those:*p*Internal = Vocational These internal qualities relate to the Mind and *br*the Inteligence.*br*External = Knowledge Taking note of these usualy doesn't happen until *br*one is very advanced and realizes that they all have a spirit*br*Directional = Warming These are some of the first things that are noted *br*by us, that here is different from THERE and up and down are different.*p*Face: One's personality is on the Face. If one can control the face, one *br*is an actor. Of the Mind, discipline and will.*br*Sun: The Sun is a God, understanding and LIGHT of the sun have been *br*likened to IMBAS and Awen all the time, the light bulb moments.*br*South: As a direction, we general want to go toward where it is warmer, *br*which is a bodily need.*br*Mind: DUH, of the mind.*br*Moon: Mother and nighttime, holding secrets, knowing when to hold secrets *br*and when to be gentle.*br*Inwards: Some of the first things we learn is to listen to our body, *br*pain, gurgles in the stomach, our mother's heartbeat.*br*Blood: Our blood is the essence of ourselves, the distilled essence of *br*us. That is why it is a spell component. All that is us, reduced to a *br*physical form.*br*Sea: IT was our birthplace.*br*West: It is the land of danger in some myths, but because it can be *br*guarded against, that is something a thinking person can do.*br*Breath: You need breath for life*br*Wind: Wind carries all that is spoken on it to us, as Math was able to *br*know, a very Awen trait*br*East: Beginning place, sunrise and the start. There is you, and there is *br*the start.*br*Head: The location of the brain, and thus the seat of our consciousness.*br*Sky: The patterns of life can be seen in the patterns of the sky, the *br*birds, clouds and so on. Contemplating it can lead to wisdom*br*Above: As above, so below, first principal of magick and life in general*br*Hair: The seat of our strength, as in Sampson and some other*br*Green world: The Green world is us made large. All that is in the Green *br*world is reflected in ourselves.*br*Outwards: Noticing that there is another place other than in your mind, *br*is the start of learning*br*Flesh: Um, Warming? Am I close.?.?.?*br*Land : The land supports us and nourishes us. It has it's own life *br*and life cycle. We can take advantage of that.*br*Below: The underworld, the place where we can be and learn from those who *br*have passed through before.*br*Bones: The framework, the scaffolding which keeps us erect.*br*Stone: There are times when being stone is not a fantasy. It is a state *br*that Buddhists strive to be at times. Solid and grounded, empty, *br*immortal. Spirit*br*North In the North, good things dwell. Spiral Castle, Arianhrod, Santa *br*Claus. One can gain knowledge by going there and coming back.*br*Spirit: This one should be obvious.*br*Clouds: Clouds are made of water and dust. They are not of the air, they *br*dwell in the air. They are made by the Earth and us.*br*Through: We seek to pass through, that is when enlightenment happens, *br*when knowledge is gained. NOT wisdom, but simple knowing.*p*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*p*The next major tool in Druidic magick is the Ogham. Don't make the *br*mistake and think that the Ogham is like the FUThARK runes, which has a *br*method of divination built around it, it's not. *br*http://glenavalon.com/ogham/ogham02.gif*p*The Ogham was used originally as a writing script. They used it to mark *br*boundaries and to advertise things like "Cathbad makes good combs" *br*and "This sword belongs to Keith". At some point, the Druids took this *br*script and associated each letter with a specific tree, who's qualities *br*they admired. With this association, the basis for a set of divination *br*runes was laid. Note this is different from the FUThARK runes in which *br*the writing was all that existed and modern scholars tried to make a *br*divinatory system out of it.*p*I can't say that I use the Ogham to divine with, I generally use omens and *br*IMBAS to forecast the future, however, Searles at The Summerlands gives a *br*course in Ogham Divination twice a year. The fee is nominal, and *br*basically covers the cost of the book used in the course. While I have *br*not taken it yet, I hope to one day. *br*http://www.summerlands.com/crossroads/daireclass_promo/Sign%20up%20now.htm*p*Next are the Gods and Goddesses of Druidism*p*Please understand something, the deities of the Druids are critical. You *br*cannot call yourself a druid if you remove the Celtic Gods from the *br*picture. It would be like trying to describe color to someone who had no *br*sight from birth, who had absolutely nothing to hang your description *br*of "red" on. The flavor of Druidism changes vastly if you try to *br*substitute other deities for the Celtic Gods.*p*The Gods were pretty much unique to the different clans. They had their *br*own patron deities, and they had their own names for the different *br*deities, which is why you find that Brigid is spelled four different ways *br*in Celtic Mythology. The goddess of Fire was important to the region, but *br*they had their own name for Her. It was not until the Catholic Monks *br*started compiling the deities into a mythological concordance and *br*collecting the stories together that they started reconciling the deities' *br*names.*p*The two links following are compilations of those appearing in mythology, *br*which is assembled by Mike Nichols. One is the list of deities and people *br*for the Irish, and the next is for the Welsh. Unfortunately, Caesar did a *br*good job in Gaul and we have lost the mythology of those people, except *br*what Caesar and Pliny assembled which is slanted terribly.*p*http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/7280/concord.html Irish Myth *br*Concordance*br*http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/7280/welsh.html Welsh Myth *br*Concordance*p*Verbal magick*p*One last component of Druidic magick is the spoken and written word. *br*Consider this for a moment, the Bards are a grade of Druid, and their *br*magick is through the songs of the tribe. The Bards know the histories *br*and so on of the group and they share those with those that they meet. *br*Because of this, the people talked about in stories never die.*p*Also consider the power the word had now. If I said to my boss, "Stick it *br*up your ass", I would probably be fired pretty fast. However, if a doctor *br*said the same thing about a suppository, it would probably be considered *br*crude, but accepted as instructions on how to use the medicine. Think of *br*how many flame wars have been started online by one person taking what *br*another said amiss and deciding to be offended. Think about how often *br*plainly spoken words are misconstrued to be an insult, and conversely how *br*often insults are missed by some who don't quite understand the context *br*it's said in.*p*Words can be powerful magick. I'm speaking about the same things that *br*make a strong woman into a dependant hurting person without leaving any *br*visible scars and the same thing that can build confidence up to a point *br*where the world can be conquered. Think about how in a diplomatic *br*situation that a war can be started by a single misunderstood statement.*p*These are all well-known effects of words and writings, so is it any *br*surprise that the Druids use it all the time? Consider this satiration:*p*~~~~~*p*> I was just wondering has anyone gone to their local churches or*br*> communities and educated people about the Wiccan religion and the danger*br*> of doing spells with no knowledge of how and why to do it? Like a goddess*br*> or god invocation, and what it means to do an invocation. Or the*br*> unforeseen consensequences that doing spells can cause? The law of*br*> returns, ending a spell and closing a circle correctly. There are alot of*br*> young people drawn to doing witchcraft that don't properly research or*br*> have the knowledge of what they are setting into motion. I am thinking*br*> about doing it because there are people who are interested, but want*br*> privacy, and not getting proper guidance from the massive contradictory*br*> internet about where they should start. So they jump right in and end up*br*> doing something unknowingly, like inviting then trapping a spirit in the*br*> house, without proper knowledge of what they did and how to fix it. And*br*> how to keep it from happening again.*p*<FULL RANT MODE>*p*What makes you think that we have not been doing this all this time? Many *br*of us have been trying to educate the public about the dangers/rewards of *br*magick, it's just that you fluffy canars don't seem to get the point. Let *br*me illustrate for a minute...*p*I'm teaching a class online in magick and part of the course requires the *br*student to be familiar with different schools and philosophies of magick. *br*So far, I have been teaching this class for about 9 months and I'm only *br*half way through it. This is an enormously complex subject and you can't *br*learn it by sitting in the Circle with your HPS and chanting for a bit. *br*You cannot call yourself a witch because you make one potion of relaxation *br*bath salts successfully ONCE. You don't know everything when you walk *br*into someone's home and ask a benevolent ghost to leave. When you have *br*walked into a house and forcibly ejected a malevolent spirit bent on *br*destroying the occupants of the house and you have kept it from coming *br*back, when you have successfully conjured the elemental ruler of Air, made *br*him obey you and had him assign one of his dukes to be your personal *br*servant, when you have cast enough spells to bring money to you that you *br*realize that the Threefold return and the Rede are simply known as "cause *br*and effect" THEN I will let you call yourself a mage and a witch. Until *br*then you are a fluffy canar, and depending on the severity of the *br*affliction you may even be a fluffernutter.*p*Has it occurred to you that 90% of humanity doesn't WANT us sticking our *br*nose into their business on a regular basis? Has it occurred to you that *br*a Christian being told that by praying to God that he's casting a spell *br*doesn't WANT to know that, even if it is true? Has it occurred to you *br*that you would be so totally insulted and you would go immediately *br*into "persecuted witch" mode if a Jew came in and corrected your *br*pronunciation of the chants Gardner added from the Key of Solomon, and *br*that you would be ready to hit something if a Catholic Priest decided to *br*teach you how to conduct a ritual correctly? Has any of this crossed your *br*puny pea brain? No? Why not?*p*Could it be that according to you, it's good and correct for you to stick *br*your nose into everything in the universe, but no one better stick their *br*nose into yours? Guess what.... THAT'S CALLED KETTLEITIS IN MOST PLACES.*p*Oh, and by the way, can I watch as the Goddess slaps the crap out of you *br*for breaking the Rede? How you may ask? Causing harm to these people by *br*going in and condescendingly telling these people what they are doing *br*wrong with spells and such you are causing so much mental trauma to them *br*that you deserve to be bitch-slapped by Kali or the Morrigon. I want to *br*watch it. After all, this could be their way of learning, through trial *br*and error.*p*And what makes you think you are qualified to tell them that their spells *br*are wrong in the first place? Don't you fluffy canar realize that most of *br*the spells you are going to be "correcting" came from the RCC in the first *br*place, or at least from those who were members of the RCC? In fact, there *br*are several Popes and Cardinals who were rumored to be magickians that *br*could blow away those like Crowley. Did you know that Elphias Levi, one *br*of the huge magickal minds of the 19th Century was a Catholic Monk for *br*most of his life? Ever heard of the Grimoire of Pope Honorous III? Do *br*you even know who Elphias Levi was?*p*In short, fluffy canar, you are doing to them what you have accused them *br*of doing to us for centuries. Besides, if the infestation of the ghost is *br*too severe, they can always call in an exorcist to drive it out. Yep, *br*there is a whole section of the RCC that deals with JUST driving out *br*malignant spirits that infest people and places, the difference is that *br*they actually STUDY the problem before leaping in and deciding that THIS *br*is the problem. Ya know, like they do some experimentation and actually *br*use Occam's razor to see if there is another explanation before chiding *br*the occupants of the house for summoning a spirit they can't control.*p*Ever walked into a chapel? Ever felt their Wards? What?!?!? You don't *br*even know what a ward is? Then how does that qualify you to chide these *br*people for miscasting spells they don't know how to control? They seem to *br*be better magickians than you.*p*In short, silly fluffy canar, back the hell off and cast the beam from *br*YOUR eye before touching the mote in theirs.*p*</RANT MODE>*p*~~~~~~~~~~*p*I wrote that rant in response to the post quoted above. It was on a *br*private list I'm a member of specifically for ranting about fluffy members *br*of the Pagan community (also called the canar community to differentiate *br*it from those pagans who are Hindu, Buddhist and so on. For a full *br*definition please see http://www.ourpinkhouse.com/kern/canar.htm ) the *br*quoted section was posted for ridicule, and I decided to do the rant. *br*It's very satirical and made to be scathing and quite flaming in nature. *br*But it was also a private satire for those who agreed with the general *br*content of the rant. (Basically I was preaching to the chior on this one, *br*everyone on the list agreed with the general content of the rant.)*p*And this is only one example of satire, now imagine this same thing set to *br*music and spoken in the public square by every bard that was in *br*existence. This was a magick that literally ruined reputations and caused *br*some to commit suicide to get it to stop. At a time when a person's *br*reputation was everything, it was a deadly power to be able to publicly *br*ridicule them.*p*Lastly, please read this review of the 21 Lessons of Merlin if you have *br*not already. It just goes to show you that even if you call yourself a *br*Druid, it does not mean that you actually are a Druid. *br*http://davensjournal.com/21LoM.htm*p*These are some of the better references I have in my "Favorites" folder on *br*Druidism. Each of these work when I copied them here, so if something is *br*not working, wait a while and it may be working later.*p*http://indigo.ie/~legends/tain.html Táin Bó Cuailnge - The Cattle Raid *br*of Cooley*br*http://www.lysator.liu.se/religion/neopagan/druidism.html The Druid *br*Archive*br*http://witcombe.sbc.edu/earthmysteries/ EARTH MYSTERIES Introduction*br*http://www.egt.ie/celtscript/ogfont.html Clófhoirne Oghaim Ogham Fonts*br*http://vassun.vassar.edu/~sttaylor/Cooley/ Complete Cattle Raid of *br*Cooley, Irish and English*br*http://www.belinus.co.uk/folklore/Homeextra.htm Celtic Folklore - *br*original Celtic Folklore, Legends and Lore*br*http://www.adf.org/homepage.shtml Ár nDraíocht Féin_ A Druid Fellowship*br*http://accessnewage.com/ARTICLES/MYSTIC/DRUIDS.HTM Who Were the Druids*br*http://www.geocities.com/irishdruid/ DarkOwl's Druid Grove*br*http://www.neopagan.net/ Isaac Bonewits' Homepage*br*http://www.taliesin.clara.net/merlin.htm Merlin's Voice*br*http://camelot.celtic-twilight.com/mabinogion/index.htm The Mabinogion*br*http://www.pantheon.org/mythica.html The Encyclopedia Mythica*br*http://www.summerlands.com/ The Summerlands*br*http://www.maryforrest.com/mythology/index.html#celtmyth Celtic Myth - *br*Irish and Welsh*br*http://members.aol.com/lochlan2/lebor.htm The Lebor Gabala Erren*br*http://www.ucc.ie/celt/publishd.html List of Published Texts at CELT*p* http://davensjournal.com/HML12.htm 207.65.28.2