NOD News

We are proud to announce that as of today, the "Ovate Youth Course" has officially been launched!

The Ovate Youth Course is an immediate follow-up to the Bardic Youth Course, which must be completed first before enrolment is possible. Naturally, the Ovate Youth Course is also written to be aimed toward children and teenagers, although adults are welcome to take the course too, of course. The course is entirely free of charge, but you need to be a registered member of the New Order of Druids (which is, as you know, also free), and you need to log in at least once every 60 days. If you already registered an account in the Grove of Dana college, you can use this same account to join the Ovate Youth Course (as well as any other courses).

The Ovate Youth Course is based on the same system as the Bardic Youth Course, which makes it a self-paced course which works with assignments. This doesn't mean that the student is expected to write tons of text in essays, and we have kept essays to an absolute minimum, giving more attention to creativity and experience.

It is possible to see a preview of both the Bardic Youth Course and Ovate Youth Course here:

Bardic Youth Course:
http://college.druidcircle.org/previews/byouthpreview.pdf

Ovate Youth Course:
http://college.druidcircle.org/previews/OYC-preview.pdf

 


We are happy to announce that today, we have launched a new course by the name "Becoming Aware".  Most people spend their lives cocooned within themselves with a never ending litany of words going on in their minds to the point where they lose sense of the world around them. This can create feelings of isolation, yet it is mostly self imprisonment. This course is designed to bring you awareness of the world around you by simply re learning how to use the senses and how to listen to the messages they bring.

This course can be taken separately from any of the other courses (you don't need to have completed another course first).  We do recommend that, if you are taking any of our Druid courses, the "Becoming Aware" course will be a worthy supplement, and it will also help build up a vital connection.

The "Becoming Aware" course is only available to Upgraded Members. This also means that students in this course will be assigned a mentor who will guide them through the course. If you are not an upgraded member yet, check out this URL to find out what the benefits are of an upgraded account:

http://www.druidcircle.org/nod/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=67&Itemid=415

You can enrol in the "Becoming Aware" course right away at this URL (make sure you are logged in first):

http://www.druidcircle.org/nod/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=29&Itemid=27
(scroll down until you see "Becoming Aware Course" and click "Join course with mentor" on the right)


We would like to give special thanks to Kirsten Ellis aka Karayana, former NOD Council Member and founder of "Indigo Readings". Kirsten is the author of this course and will also be your mentor upon enrolling.  You are invited to check out her own website as well at: http://www.indigoreadings.co.uk/

Dear members,

You may want to know that a new series of courses has been added to the Grove of Dana online Druid college: the Celtic Polytheism Courses.

Celtic polytheism, sometimes known as Celtic paganism, refers to the religious beliefs and practices of the ancient Celtic peoples of Western Europe prior to Christianization. In these courses you will study general Celtic history, philosophy, seership studies, environmental studies, and practical exercises. Currently, this series of courses contains a first and second year.

The Celtic Polytheism Courses are only available to Upgraded Members and come with the guidance of a mentor. For more information, make sure to check out the "Druid College" tab on the main NOD website, where you will find that the courses overview layout has been given a thorough facelift as well.

To conclude, we would like to thank Maya for writing these courses and for making them available to the New Order of Druids!


Over the past years, many of you have been asking about an option in where you can set up your own local NOD group, to meet with fellow members of the New Order of Druids, organize seasonal group rituals or discuss the courses. Until now, such a group has only existed in Antwerp, Belgium, but it has always been our intention to spread our wings further than that. And today, the moment you've been waiting for has arrived at last!

We are proud to announce the new option of starting your own "Nemeton"!

The word Nemeton is our term for a local group (or "Grove") of people. In fact, we offer two formulas for you to choose from: a Nemeton and Vernemeton. The first is a group closely linked to NOD, and only available to Upgraded Members. The second option, the Vernemeton, is mainly intended as a more loose affiliation with already existing groups (though new groups can apply too), and free for all members to apply.

If you'd like to know more about the various possibilities and requirements, please check out our website at this link:

www.druidcircle.org/nod/index.php?option...w=article&id=136

You will find that the details are greatly explained on the above webpage, but if you still have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us! If needed, we will also assist you in setting up your Nemeton, and for Upgraded Members we also offer a Nemeton Course!

Please be aware that the current requirements to start a Nemeton or Vernemeton can be changed over time, as we try to improve our Nemeton formulas along the way. If you have any suggestions, you are more than welcome to let us know about them!

We look forward to see the first NOD Nemetons in the world rise up from the ground!

We are happy to announce that the new Druid Specialization Course is now available. The purpose of this course to explore the soul-image, your dán. This independent, self-designed course structure allows for students to continue their druidic studies in a direction of their choosing. Focus is on embodying dán in creative ways and the course requires that all students complete a Service Project.

This course is only available to Upgraded Members, and you are required to have completed the Bardic Course, Ovate Course and Druid Course respectively, before you can enrol into the Druid Specialization Course.

Special thanks go out to Maya St. Clair for writing and setting up this course.

dragonskeleton

NORTH WALES - An authentic skeleton of what scientists admit "must be the dragon of myth and legend" has been unearthed by archaeologists in the Snowdonia region.  The bones are dated to be about 2000 years old, which rules out the possibility that these are dinosaur remains.  The Red Dragon has been the symbol of Wales since unrecorded time, and this discovery is now giving a boost to Welsh national pride, with their symbol actually being based on an actual historical creature. 

"We've always considered them to be mere mythical creatures and nothing more," says Prof. Dr. Fisher of the University of Bangor, "we always assumed their myths to be based on dinosaur remains that ancient people might have unearthed.  This discovery tells us that the creatures aren't mythical, they actually existed at one point."

But the discovery of this dragon skeleton raises more questions than answers for the scientific world.  Scientists are now investigating the possible cause of death for this dragon, in order to determine the reason why its species might have gone extinct.  It is not ruled out that so-called "Dragon Slayers", medieval Christian knights such as the legendary St. George, may have been responsible for wiping out the dragon species from the earth entirely.  Scientists are now also more interested in investigating the Loch Ness monster story, as more dragon remains are hoped to be discovered at the bottom of the famous lake in Scotland.


For more information and closer pictures, click here.

We would like to wish you a Happy New Year, and our best wishes for a spiritual 2011 to you all!

The year has already started with a positive note, and we are happy to announce that we've been able to make a contribution to help the preservation of Mother Earth and her beautiful nature -- and it's all thanks to you!

In the Spring of 2010, we announced that we would be donating 5 EUR for each member that pays for an Upgraded Membership, and for each year (so that's 10 EUR for those who upgrade for 2 years). Additionially, we made this new policy apply as of January 1, 2010, so that anyone who had upgraded that year, but before the policy was introduced, would also contribute -- we thought it was only fair!

Yesterday, we have calculated the total and donated it entirely to The Nature Conservancy at http://support.nature.org/goto/neworderofdruids 

The total amount which we donated for all Upgraded Memberships of 2010, was no less than 300 EUR or $390 USD!  A big thank you to everyone who contributed by upgrading their account on NOD!  You have not only helped NOD, but also Mother Earth!  The Nature Conservancy is an organisation intent on preserving nature and Mother Earth in various parts of the world, and we've helped make that possible now!

You can see the proof of donation for yourself at this URL:
http://support.nature.org/goto/neworderofdruids 

You will also see on this page, that our yearly goal is set to $500 USD, of which $390 is now already filled in.  We hope to reach this goal by the end of 2011 with free donations (aside from Upgraded Memberships), which can be of any amount that you choose, small or large.  We only need $110 more to achieve this goal -- will you help, even if it's only with a bit?  Go to the above URL and click "Make A Donation". More information can also be found on that page!

Of course, it is without question that we will continue this policy throughout 2011.  So every member that upgrades their account to a 1 year or 2 years Upgraded Membership, will automatically contribute to the yearly donation to The Nature Conservancy at www.nature.org.  Learn more about the benefits and pricing of Upgraded Membership here:

http://www.druidcircle.org/nod/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=67:upgraded-membership&catid=3&Itemid=85 

Thank you again for your support! 

More Articles …

  1. Bardic Youth Course - now available in Dutch
  2. NOD Nemetons
  3. NOD Nature Donation Fund expanded
  4. Acceptance of Druidry as a Religion
  5. Vacation of main administration
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