ULTRA VENEFICIA BOOK OF SPELLS

1 Druid History

Druids

In the harsh environment of Northwestern Europe came a different type of wizard from the Middle Eastern biblical mages of antiquity. Desiring to tame or at least temper the ferocity of their environment, these wizards became students of nature; ritualists of flora and fauna. These wizards, known as Druids among the Celts, Picts, and Gauls, and Spae-workers and Vitki among the Norse and Teutons, wielded ritual magic geared toward the taming of the elemental forces of nature to ensure the continuation of their race. Many of them were master healers, skilled in the knowledge of herbalism and of magical healing ritual. Unlike the biblical wizards such as Aaron, Samuel, Solomon, and Jesus, whose purpose was to lead masses of people, the druids and their ilk shied away from leadership roles, performing a more supportive or "staff" role in the organization of their tribal culture. Also unlike the great biblical wizards, quite often druids and spae-workers were female instead of male. Indeed, druidic magic relied heavily upon the feminine energies of the Earth and Nature, rather than the masculine energies of pure Spirit employed by Elisha and Solomon.

Bards, (known as Skaldr among the Norse and Teutons) were wizards skilled in the use of magic through music and poetic form. As entertainers, they were superb; as wizards, they employed the magic of the spoken word, rhyme, tempo, cadence, and melody to weave their powerful spells. A bard had to know three things: how to make people laugh, how to make people cry, and how to put them to sleep (often to escape from persecution).

Among the Norse, spae-workers were classified by the gender of the magic involved. Galdr-workers invoked the masculine, outward, proactive energies, symbolized by the runes, and most often were men, although there were female runic vitkis as well. Seith (Seidhr)-workers invoked the feminine, receptive energies of nature, and was involved in shamanic travel (astral projection), shape-shifting, and soothsaying. Females were most likely to be seith-workers, although a few males also practiced the art. It is rumored that Odhinn taught Freyja the arts of Galdr, and she taught him the arts of Seith. In order to do this, each one had to ritually "become" the other gender for a period of time to be able to grasp the mysteries. For the uninitiated and unenlightened, this was considered to be a point of derision, against nature, and thus spae-workers were often shunned and feared, or made jest of.

Druidic magic was very ritualistic and heavily steeped in ceremony. Rituals were performed at specific ceremonies, especially those having to do with the lunar and solar cycles. The changing of the seasons was an especially important ritual period for the druids, as was the middle point of each season. For a society heavily based on agriculture and hunting, their magic was geared towards the planting, harvest, and hunting cycles, seen in the festivals of Imbolc (Disting), Lammas (Loaf-Fest), Yule (Jul), Eostre (Ostara), Samhain (Winternights), Beltane (Walpurgis), Mabon, and Midsummer (Litha). Minor rituals were held at the new and full moons, and at important events during the year (birthing and death rituals, etc.) The new and full moon rituals occurred roughly every 14 days. The new moon ritual was considered the "inbreath" cycle of nature, when the energies flowed back into the Earth. The full moon ritual worked with the "outbreath" cycle, when the energies flowed from the earth back to the spirit. The two-week period of time involved for each cycle was called a "fortnight," (14 nights), and to this day, this is still a time reference used by the British.

Believing (correctly) that the Earth had meridians of power on its surface called "ley lines" or dragon currents, the Druids used massive standing stones known as dolmans (flat table rocks) and menhirs (vertical stones) embedded in the earth as points of energy concentration. This is not unlike the process of acupuncture used for ridding the human body of disease and ailment.

Druids were also schooled in practical magic. They employed magical herbalism on a regular basis, as well as work with magical symbols such as runes and oghams (pronounced OY-ams), carved on wood or stone. The oghams and runes functioned as alphabets as well, because the druids believed that the true essence of magic was carried by the word; the essence of thought transmitted through language. Each one of the oghams represented a tree energy, which could be tapped upon by the druid by the use of focussed concentration.