Our Mission
Avalon Center's mission is to promote spiritual growth and philosophical insight through a rigorous academic curriculum in nature-based spirituality modeled upon the ancient Celtic bards, ovates, and druids. Through residential and distance-learning programs combining work and study, the Avalon Center for Druidic Studies seeks to create an intentional community dedicated to druid lore, sustainable living, and the sacred in nature.
Druid Philosophy
The druids of old were the intellectual leaders and educators of their tribes. They were historians, lawgivers, poets, prophets, wizards and healers. Modern druidry looks to the myths of the ancient Celts and the accounts in classical and medieval literature to inspire a spiritual path that is connected to nature and the arts of imagination. It embraces both scientific and mystical knowledge. Druidry teaches the wisdom of the trees, stones, animals, the wonder of river, lake, mountain, and sea. Nature and spirit are not separate, but intertwined and mutually dependent. The world is an enchanted place, human and non-human equal and one.
Bards, ovates, and druids may be men or women. They are walkers between the worlds, cultivating creativity and inspiration, interpreting dreams, visions, and oracles. They seek to create a sustainable life of communion with nature. Because druidry is the Way of Nature, it complements many other spiritual beliefs and practices -- pantheism, polytheism, monotheism, panentheism, or deep ecology.
Students and faculty at Avalon Center are welcome to practice any spiritual path they desire in addition to druidry and to seek their own understanding of the Divine and of nature. Practices which are not compatible with druidry include disrespect, intolerance, dishonesty, hubris, and domination. Druidry is a way that includes reasoned discourse and debate in a search for truth in all its forms. It is neither dogmatic nor aimed at "conversion" to any set of beliefs. In this respect it is a very open and welcoming path. Its common requirements are love and reverence for all beings.
Modern druidry's openness to speculative thought and its devotion to the human imagination makes druidic studies a broad field of knowledges and practices. It includes the study of imagination and spirit in literature, poetry, music, history, ritual, law, arts and sciences, and in natural history. It differs from traditional academic fields in being informed by a central concern with the connection of the human and non-human worlds. Druid philosophy opposes pollution and short-term exploitation of the land, water, and sky at the expense of its long-term viability. It positively promotes a relationship of love for the Earth as the central tenet of its ethics. It promotes the integration of learning with sustainable living and permaculture as the expression of this ethic.
Magic - The Arts of Imagination
Avalon Center acknowledges that the human mind and spirit can influence the world through ritually directed intention. At ACDS a foundation of spiritual and mental disciplines is taught in order to develop each student's understanding of human and natural energy systems. Methods are taught which derive from many magical and healing traditions, including witchcraft, alchemy, astrology, ceremonial magic, Eastern and Native American spiritualities, and the lore of the Celts. Students can pursue study in herbology, the making of potions, oils, and amulets, talismanic magic, invocation and evocation of spirits, divination, and augury. There are courses in the history of magic and its relationship to the broader culture, as well as courses in magical ethics and philosophy.
Several departments of the Center offer courses in the Western magical tradition as an important context for modern druidry. Druidry today is part of that magical and mystical tradition. Its ancient practitioners engaged in magical practices which we should today characterize as both "low" and "high" magic. That is, on the one hand, healing, protection, and blessing, and on the other hand the pursuit of enlightened understanding of the Natural world, including the Otherworlds of spirit.
This does not mean that there is no room for science at Avalon Center. On the contrary, all understanding is respected and valued. It is one of the tasks of druidry to heal the rift that has been artificially created between "naturalism" and "supernaturalism." At Avalon Center, spirit, soul, and synchronicity are all considered to be part of nature, not separate from it. At the same time, we foster critical thinking about all claims of divine revelation and anecdotal accounts of magic. We seek the magic in science and the science in magic.
Celticism and Religion
Some modern druids practice Druidism as a religion, while others prefer to see druidry as a philosophy of life, a way of being in nature distinguished from institutional churches or a canon of spiritual teachings based on holy books or prophets. At Avalon Center, the old and new ideas of druids are viewed in the context of the Western philosophical and magical tradition and the history of ideas. For many, druidry is equivalent to wizardry but represents the particular virtues of ancient Celtic cultures as they existed prior to conquest and assimilation by the Roman Empire. Druid ethics and reverence for nature, and the worlds of spirit, are seen by many as a cultural treasure that is being rediscovered after centuries of persecution and marginalization. Many students at Avalon Center are motivated by a desire to embrace the spiritual wisdom of their Celtic heritage. Others, who have no traceable Celtic lineage, nevertheless seek to devote themselves to this proud and wise tradition, feeling a deep affiliation with it. Avalon Center does not aim to teach a "restored" Celtic paganism or to restrict druidry to the Iron Age. Rather, the Center encourages students to branch out and study druidry in relation to the past, present, and future, and to find its philosophical connections to other spiritual paths.
The Mighty Ones
Druids recognize the reality and existence of many spiritual beings. For the ancient Celts the natural world was suffused with spirit-beings who were sometimes visible and always active in and through the natural world. Unlike the classical Greek and Roman philosophies, druidry does not make a strict division between nature and a "supernatural" realm. The druidic Otherworlds are multiverses of spirit that interpenetrate, inform, and direct the visible world of nature much as the strands of Celtic knotwork interlace to form a whole pattern. Those beings usually called gods or goddesses are, in the Celtic mythos, often more like the heroes of Greek literature, directly involved and acting through human life on Earth rather than removed to Olympus. Moreover, there is historical evidence for hundreds of Celtic deities, often local spirits of river, mountain, or well, bespeaking a belief system of an animistic sort rather than a formal temple cult and official pantheon.
The Faerie Folk, called the sidhe in Irish and by many other names in British and Norse lore, are joined by many spirit animals such as dragons, wyverns, and unicorns to populate the astral dimensions of the cosmos. When it comes to the inspiration of spiritual beings, the imagination was allowed to be free-ranging, unfettered by dogma.
While druidry could hardly be taught without exploration of these traditions, nevertheless students at Avalon Center are encouraged to seek out their own contact with the spirit world in their own way and when they feel ready to do so. While truth is an important concept to druids, we do not believe there is one truth forever and for all, especially in spiritual matters.
While druidry is often considered among the "goddess-centered" traditions, its divinities and spirits are extremely diverse and numerous and its philosophy often includes monism, the belief in the connection of all things into a unitary whole. Some modern druids join Celticism with the Christian faith; others pursue Eastern religions or work with esoteric traditions within the broader scope of the Western Way.
Within a modern ethos of materialism and positivism, one is inevitably asked, are such divinities and spirits real or imaginary? At Avalon the question is re-framed to examine the power of intersubjectivity to shape reality. The world of the druids is not rigidly divided into "real" and "imaginary" with the latter term rejected and equated with falsehood or delusion. Druidry seeks to understand the truth of the imaginary and its reality, as much as the truth and reality to be found in the more tangible world. Here, as elsewhere, individual vision and experience is valued and respected alongside tradition.
Programs
Course offerings at Avalon Center are divided into several departments. The curriculum followed by students is not structured around "major subjects" or traditional disciplines, as in most colleges. Instead, Avalon offers a general druidic studies program called the Awenydd program, and more advanced programs tied to the roles of bard, ovate, and druid. Students may choose to focus on bardic or ovate studies to pursue those roles within their local grove or in their personal career. Those who feel called to teach druidry and magic may continue with work toward the title Ollamh in Druidic Studies. Within each program, students are required to complete certain core courses and a number of electives distributed among the departments. This allows all our students to have a shared foundation and the freedom to pursue their own particular talents in more depth.
Awenydd Program - Scholar of Druidic Arts
Awen is Welsh for "poetic inspiration" and an Awenydd is the designation we use for one who is beginning in druidic study. This program is designed to be completed in one year of full-time study or two years of half-time study. Upon completion of the Awenydd program, graduates will receive a certificate as a Scholar of Druidic Studies. Though preparatory, this program is not intended to provide students with the equivalent of a regular liberal arts baccalaureate degree from a four-year college or university. It is a specialized degree intended to permit students to pursue the academic study of druidry and magic for their own philosophical development and to serve their communities. The SDA program is also intended to provide a solid foundation for advanced work.
Magister of Bardic Arts
Bards at Avalon focus on the spiritual dimensions of the creative arts. They study the literature and myths of ancient and modern Celtic cultures, Faerie lore from many countries, and the Arthurian legends. In addition, Bards study modern music and poetry as it relates to the bardic tradition of teaching wisdom and history through the medium of word and song. The bardic studies curriculum also branches out to other forms of creative expression and art. The bards study Awen, the Divine Imagination and Inspiration. The mysteries of circle, square, triangle, and the Four Elements are key aspects of the mystical side of bardic training. Bards practice performing and composing for the eight seasonal festivals and many other rituals intended to develop their powers of concentration, memory, and visualization -- skills upon which all transformative work is based. Music, word, and art are the heart of bardic studies, including studio arts and drama. The Master of Bardic Arts (MBA) program is intended to prepare students to fulfill the role of Bard in their local groves, to serve the tribe as storytellers, artists, and historians, keepers of lore and creators of traditions.
Magister of Ovate Studies
Ovates or vates in ancient Celtic society were healers, seers, and sacrificers whose talents included walking between the worlds to contact the spirits, deities, ancestors, and Fair Folk. It is also thought that ovates may have comprised the pheryllt, experts in the apothecary's art and the arts of alchemy. At Avalon Center, ovate students don green robes to build upon their knowledge of legend, myth, and the Elements in practical sciences. The ovate studies program includes tree lore, herb lore, and the magical uses of the ancient ogham signary. In addition, systems of divination and mystical tree-symbolism from outside the Celtic tradition may be studied, including astrology, tarot, Qabbala, and practices from North America, China, Japan, and India. In this program students are expected to study broadly and also focus on a specialization, such as healing, divination, augury, herbcraft, and visionary practices. The ovate program is intended to prepare students to fulfill the role of ovate in their local grove, and to serve others in the capacity of healer, augur, and shaman.
Ollamh in Druidic Studies
Students who wish to carry on their studies at Avalon to the doctoral level assume the white robes of the druid. They may pursue more advanced subjects in magic, language, philosophy, and history but primarily the Ollamh program is dedicated to developing leadership skills as a, teacher, researcher, advisor, counsellor, mentor, and judge. The Ollamh of Druidic Studies program is intended to prepare the student to lead a grove and to teach bards and ovates. It may also prepare scholars to pursue advanced solitary work in service to community, nature, and the Divine. It centers upon the production of a substantial original work of scholarly or creative writing, or an artistic body of work.
How We Teach
Avalon Center provides experience with druidic arts as well as book-learning. Students participate actively in rituals and meditations, as well as work with plants, trees, and animals. Discussion of readings is carried on in congenial settings, whether on-line or on the lawn, with active participation by all students emphasized. Drama and art are often employed alongside writing and oral discussion as means to explore a course's subject matter. Student performance is evaluated on the basis of knowledge learned and also on personal journals kept to record the student's own spiritual growth and attainment. Obviously, it is not easy to objectively measure spiritual achievement or enlightenment. What is evaluated is the student's ability to express and discuss his or her own experiences, to examine beliefs critically, and to seriously engage the ideas presented. The intention is to connect creatively with the world of spirit in nature, not merely to memorize a body of traditional formulas.
It is worth noting that Avalon Center is not a druidic or magical order, nor does it teach a particular religious practice. Its teachings are not uniform, nor are they intended to represent a single tradition, lineage, or initiatic current passed down from master to student. ACDS is founded on an open academic model of learning and teaching that fosters rigorous examination of beliefs, free thought, and experimental validation of claims. It is not a place for uncritical wishful thinking or for secrecy. We aim to create and maintain academic standards of the very highest quality in keeping with the demanding standards of our ancient druid ancestors and the bardic colleges of old.
At present Avalon Center for Druidic Studies is not an accredited college. We will, over the course of the coming years seek accreditation; however, this process is a long and arduous one. As a small, highly specialized institution, ACDS is not likely to compete with private and public colleges and universities offering the full range of subjects and academic training. Avalon is intended to be a creative and spiritual retreat center, a place for learning while being in the world, a collegium in the original sense of the word, a gathering place of seekers.
