NOD News

The New Order of Druids is affiliated with The Druid Network (www.druidnetwork.org) since 2006. Today, we have received the following announcement from TDN, which we would like to share with you.

It is with great pleasure we announce to the membership that at a meeting of The Charity Commission on the 21st September The Druid Network was accepted as a charity that furthers religion. This is the culmination of many years of hard work, the Charity Commission did not grant this lightly and questioned all aspects of druid practice, belief,coherence and the public character of The Druid Network (whether TDN is beneficial to the public).

What this means is that Druidry is now accepted as a valid religion under English Charity Law. This gives Druidry equal status with other accepted religions in all areas including the workplace; a huge step and cause for great celebration.

Further details will be given on the website once registration has been completed.

Phil - on behalf of The Trustees.

Please be aware that the main NOD administration will be on vacation from August 10 to 15. After August 16, we will try to get back to you.

During this time, support tickets directed to membership administration, general questions and webmaster will not be responded to until after August 16.

Support tickets for the College Coordinator and Oran Mor e-zine will still be monitored. Please make sure that, when filling out a support ticket, you choose the correct department.

Also an important note: when seeking help regarding the website, college, courses, membership, etc... please DO NOT use the private messenger or email member system on the website. Please go to "Contact Us" to use the support ticket system, where we will be able to help you much faster and more efficient!

Thank you.

We are happy to announce that the Grove of Dana - Online Druid College, now has "specialisation courses" available.

Specialisation Courses are additional courses (aside from the standard Bardic/Ovate/Druid Course) that are available only to Upgraded Members. Each of these courses come with a mentor who will guide you through your assignments.

The current Specialisation Courses available are the Celtic History Course, and as of today also the Celtic Gods & Goddesses Course.

To sign up for either of them, go to "Druid College" and follow instructions.

We are happy to announce that a new version of the Druid Course has now been made available.

While the old Druid Course was intensive in itself, its format was very difficult to maintain for students and mentors alike. A new Druid Course is now available, which provides the necessary reading material already without the need of buying or borrowing books. That doesn't mean that students should not go beyond the course material, we always encourage everyone to read as many books on the subjects as they are able to and feeling up to.

This announcement concerns specifically the Druid Course. If you are currently taking the Bardic Course or Ovate Course, nothing will change for you. The Druid Course is only available to students who have succesfully completed the Ovate Course.

Particular thanks go out to Maya for writing the course, and Elke for editing.

Stay tuned for more news - new specialisation courses are soon to be added as well! The Celtic History Course is already available to all Upgraded Members!

The website of the New Order of Druids has been running for some time now, using the webhosting-provider Priorweb. But their most recent news overjoys us, because Priorweb has now switched for a full 100% to green energy! We gladly share with you their message:

We are proud to announce that our products and services are now running for 100% on green pwer. Additionally, we are happy about the efforts we do every day, to reduce your environmental footprint. For this reason, we have created a new page on our website, which you can find at http://www.priorweb.be/eco.

We are happy to announce that the new website of NOD has been launched! Aside from the new look, we also present new features: the chatbar on the bottom of the page (once you're logged in), better integration of the Druid Blogs into the site, logging in is possible using username or email address, and last but not least: the Activity Wall that will enable you to stay up to date on what your friends say and do!

If you are on Facebook, we invite you to join the new Facebook group for the New Order of Druids.  You can find it at this URL:


http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=359180900290

Don't forget to invite your friends to join our group too, and help our community grow!

We would also like to remind you that the New Order of Druids has a profile on Myspace.com to which you can add yourself:

http://www.myspace.com/neworderofdruids

Thank you for your support!

We would like to announce some fundamental changes in the "Grove of Dana" online Druid college of the New Order of Druids.

Due to a recurring shortage of volunteering mentors, we were forced to reorganise the way in which we offer our free courses in the college. The changes as explained below, are effective immediately.

If you wish to enter the Bardic Course, you will henceforth be directed to the "Bardic Course" forum (under the category "College Campus") where you will be able to post your written work, discuss it with the mentors (moderators) and fellow students like an actual "classroom".  You will also be able to discuss the written works of other students, thus making it possible to learn from each other in the process. More practical information can be found in the Bardic Course forum.

We still offer the service of a personal mentor who guides you throughout the course. However, this service is only available for our upgraded members as of today. Upgraded membership with N.O.D. starts at 29,97 euro per year and serves to cover the expenses to keep this website up and running for you. It is sufficient for you to get enrolled in the Bardic Course during your upgraded membership, you will be able to continue with a mentor even after your upgrade expires, so long as you remain enrolled (by logging into the course at least once every 60 days).

These changes only affect the Bardic Course and (in the future) the Ovate Course and Druid Course! The Bardic YOUTH Course remains available with mentor for free members!



Transition students arrangement

To make these fundamental changes as smooth as possible, we have built in a "transition" arrangement which will still allow a certain number of students to remain within the Bardic Course with a mentor.  Any student who has turned in at least two assignments to date, remains enrolled in the Bardic Course and is allowed to continue the course with mentor, without the need to upgrade. However, if you get unenrolled after an inactivity of more then 60 days, you will no longer be able to benefit from this transition arrangement.

In the Ovate Course, all current students are allowed to continue their course with their mentor.

If you are already an upgraded member, you should also remain enrolled of course. Keep in mind that the old enrolment key will no longer work to re-enroll.

We thank you for your understanding, and if you have any questions then do not hesitate to contact the College Coordinators, Bran and Myrddin, on the Support Helpdesk.

More Articles …

  1. NODCast - the Podcast of N.O.D.
  2. Bardic & Ovate Course now also available in book form!
  3. N.O.D. now also on Myspace.com!
  4. N.O.D. 5 years ANNIVERSARY
  5. New poetry book "Spirit of Dán"
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