2024 Workshops, Talks, and Other Activities
“Connnections: Druidry and the Web of Life”
2025 line up will be added at a later date
Water Is Life—We Are Water
Janina Fuller
If the earth was formed by the slowly building accretion of dust and rocks around a molten core, how and when did nearly three-quarters of its surface come to be covered with water? Where did the earth’s water come from, and how does it cycle in and out of the atmosphere, the waters and soils of the planet, and our bodies? If not for water, who or what would we be? This presentation will enlighten, deepen and transform our relationship and intimacy with water: water as mystery, gift, source, teacher and companion of our physical bodies and of the past, present and future. We will be invited into a new experience of our own watery nature as we will explore the modes and pathways that water uses to bind us through space and time.
As a lifelong observer of the natural world Janina enjoys nothing more than weaving her experiences—both real and imagined—into stories. She joined OBOD as a freshly minted Bard in 2023. Drawing from both her biology background and personal experience, Janina is the author of The Gecko in the Bathtub: Encounters with Marvelous Creatures, as well as a Natural History blog and a collection of short stories, “Little Bits of Fiction,” at www.janinamariefuller.com.
Janina Fuller
If the earth was formed by the slowly building accretion of dust and rocks around a molten core, how and when did nearly three-quarters of its surface come to be covered with water? Where did the earth’s water come from, and how does it cycle in and out of the atmosphere, the waters and soils of the planet, and our bodies? If not for water, who or what would we be? This presentation will enlighten, deepen and transform our relationship and intimacy with water: water as mystery, gift, source, teacher and companion of our physical bodies and of the past, present and future. We will be invited into a new experience of our own watery nature as we will explore the modes and pathways that water uses to bind us through space and time.
As a lifelong observer of the natural world Janina enjoys nothing more than weaving her experiences—both real and imagined—into stories. She joined OBOD as a freshly minted Bard in 2023. Drawing from both her biology background and personal experience, Janina is the author of The Gecko in the Bathtub: Encounters with Marvelous Creatures, as well as a Natural History blog and a collection of short stories, “Little Bits of Fiction,” at www.janinamariefuller.com.
Guided Meditation
Kate Kane Laborde
Sitting in the woodlands of Tickfaw State Park, you will be guided through an in-depth meditation, exploring the
connections with the ancestors and working with the elements in the presence of the native flora and fauna, all while finding peace and harmony with oneself.
Kate is a native Louisianian who enjoys the company of all and sharing all the natural beauty her state has to offer. When not working as an accounting assistant, she enjoys music, going camping, and spending time with her immediate and grove families. She is an Ovate in the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids.
Kate Kane Laborde
Sitting in the woodlands of Tickfaw State Park, you will be guided through an in-depth meditation, exploring the
connections with the ancestors and working with the elements in the presence of the native flora and fauna, all while finding peace and harmony with oneself.
Kate is a native Louisianian who enjoys the company of all and sharing all the natural beauty her state has to offer. When not working as an accounting assistant, she enjoys music, going camping, and spending time with her immediate and grove families. She is an Ovate in the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids.
A Web in Balance
Gabrielle Batz Roberts
“Come with me on a journey exploring the web of life...a place where magic and mundane intersect. Where even the most magical object is ordinary and the most mundane object is magical.”
When the mundane world is weighing heavy on us, we can easily lose sight of the magic that is all around us every day. Let’s sit together and let our inner bards play and imagine how even the most mundane of things is really magic in the making.
Gabrielle is a long-time Ovate in OBOD, with the whimsy of a cheeky Bard. She is a self-proclaimed “Druid of the Sea,” living in a place where the land and the sea intersect (Florida in the mundane world). Her time is spent raising a minion, managing a cluttered home, and basking in the sun at every opportunity.
Gabrielle Batz Roberts
“Come with me on a journey exploring the web of life...a place where magic and mundane intersect. Where even the most magical object is ordinary and the most mundane object is magical.”
When the mundane world is weighing heavy on us, we can easily lose sight of the magic that is all around us every day. Let’s sit together and let our inner bards play and imagine how even the most mundane of things is really magic in the making.
Gabrielle is a long-time Ovate in OBOD, with the whimsy of a cheeky Bard. She is a self-proclaimed “Druid of the Sea,” living in a place where the land and the sea intersect (Florida in the mundane world). Her time is spent raising a minion, managing a cluttered home, and basking in the sun at every opportunity.
The Cauldrons of Poesy
J. Michael Rollins
“What then is the root of poetry and every other wisdom?”
The Cauldrons of Poesy is a 7th Century poem written by Amergin White-Knee. In it, he talks of three cauldrons: the cauldrons of warming, motion, and wisdom.
It is said that if a poet can learn to connect with all three, they will have the power to create great poetry. But it isn’t just the poet who can benefit from connection to the cauldrons.
The cauldron-connected individual will be connected to their own health, to others and the natural world, and to spirit, deity, or higher self.
The workshop will provide a general understanding of the three cauldrons, how they function, what “moves” them, and how to work with them through guided visualizations.
A guided meditation/visualization will focus on the middle cauldron of the three—the one that connects to others. the land, and nature.
Michael is starting his ovate grade with OBOD after being a member since 2020, as well as having been a dedicant with Ár nDraíocht Féin since 2018.
J. Michael Rollins
“What then is the root of poetry and every other wisdom?”
The Cauldrons of Poesy is a 7th Century poem written by Amergin White-Knee. In it, he talks of three cauldrons: the cauldrons of warming, motion, and wisdom.
It is said that if a poet can learn to connect with all three, they will have the power to create great poetry. But it isn’t just the poet who can benefit from connection to the cauldrons.
The cauldron-connected individual will be connected to their own health, to others and the natural world, and to spirit, deity, or higher self.
The workshop will provide a general understanding of the three cauldrons, how they function, what “moves” them, and how to work with them through guided visualizations.
A guided meditation/visualization will focus on the middle cauldron of the three—the one that connects to others. the land, and nature.
Michael is starting his ovate grade with OBOD after being a member since 2020, as well as having been a dedicant with Ár nDraíocht Féin since 2018.
The Ethics of Eating in an Interconnected World
Jacob Pewitt Yancey
To quote one of the great philosophers of our time—chief marketing officer of fast-food chain Rally’s—“you gotta eat.” Unfortunately, things get a lot more complicated, and somebody is going to get hurt. This workshop is not a sales pitch for any particular way of eating or an attempt to convert you. Instead, it’s a discussion of the probably false assumptions that underlie most ways of eating that are available to us and an attempt to get you to think more deeply about the way that we most directly interact with this interconnected world: bringing it into our own body. Topics to be discussed include animism, anthropomorphism, purity, capitalism, hunting, and more.
Jacob is a member of the Ovate grade who lives in the mountain west of the United States. He has been a member of OBOD since around 2015.
Jacob Pewitt Yancey
To quote one of the great philosophers of our time—chief marketing officer of fast-food chain Rally’s—“you gotta eat.” Unfortunately, things get a lot more complicated, and somebody is going to get hurt. This workshop is not a sales pitch for any particular way of eating or an attempt to convert you. Instead, it’s a discussion of the probably false assumptions that underlie most ways of eating that are available to us and an attempt to get you to think more deeply about the way that we most directly interact with this interconnected world: bringing it into our own body. Topics to be discussed include animism, anthropomorphism, purity, capitalism, hunting, and more.
Jacob is a member of the Ovate grade who lives in the mountain west of the United States. He has been a member of OBOD since around 2015.