The Live Oak Circle:
The Druid Voice of New Mexico
Editors - Niall Robin Lockhart.
$10 for 5 issues. I was given the Autumn 98 copy of this magazine by the editor.
A wonderful man who moved to New Mexico but, it came out during our conversation,
used to go to the same secondary school as me in Haywards Heath, Sussex! He
now runs this very well presented and scholarly magazine, which is affiliated
to The Sandia Mountain Grove of Druids.
It is obvious from the first page that their Druidry originates from the 'Celtic
Reconstructionist' angle. The featured articles include: part two of a scholarly
look at the Tain Bo Cuailnge, a historical exploration of Emain Macha (the capital
of Ulster), a study of the Gundestrup Cauldron and a scathing review of John
Matthew's The Druid Source Book. All well worth the subscription fee, even if
you are not based in the United States. My one grumble is a personal one. I
have room in my life for both the 'Celtic Reconstructionist' Druidry of this
type of publication which is strongly focussed on 'history' (if it isn't in
Celtic Mythology, then it isn't real Druidry), and 'Revivalist' Druidry, ie.
the teachings of Iolo Morganwg, which, although not historically 'correct' have
a great deal of inspired 'Truths'.
The review given to Matthew's The Druid Source Book really annoyed me. It includes
the paragraph, "The remainder of the book - over 300 pages - is then writings
from the past few hundred years about Druidry or modern contributions to the
body of Druidic tradition by writers such as Iolo Morganwg. This is, to say
the least, extremely disappointing. Yes, it is very helpful to have in one place
the strange ideas of those who thought the Druids were the lost tribe of Israel.
Yes, it is useful to know the outdated scholarship of John Toland, Edward Davies,
P. W. Joyce and Lewis Spence. But no, it will not do for a Druid Source book.
The selection makes the book more of a history of weirdness in the name of Druidry
rather than a source book of Druidry itself". The review then goes on...
"The book even reproduces Colin Murray's Four Celtic Fire Festivals as
the final text. It appears as a definitive last word, when it, in fact, exemplifies
and compounds the errors and fantasies of the previous centuries". I found
this attitude very restricting and labelling. Does this mean that anything modern
Druids do, if not linked to Irish or Welsh mythology, is in some way only play-acting?
That modern Druids, unless they take the words of myth as gospel cannot move
forward to create a Druidry that is alive and well and free? I love mythology
and inspiration, but if mythology becomes a textbook of experience, a dogma
to restrict, then I don't want to know. I've seen what happened with the Bible.
Apart from this little moan the publication is thoroughly recommended.
The Live Oak Circle is available from:
2400 Rio Grande Blvd. N. W. Suite 193, Alberquerque, NM 87104-3222, U. S. A.
.