Druids In Cars, Going To Festivals

While headed home from a Dedicant Oath rite, we started talking about what it was like to move on from our current roles in modern Paganism, whether those moves were due to life changes, vocational changes, or just coming to a place where it was time to move on. Mike Bierschenk joins Revs. Avende and Dangler on this discussion again, and we our conversation goes a bit everywhere, but it was a good chat. Find us on Facebook, connect with us at Threecranes.org, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

Today, on the way out to a Dedicant Oath Rite, Rev. Avende and Rev. Dangler travel with Mike Bierschenk on the way out to State College, and chat on a topic we've been meaning to get to for a while: what does it mean for us when our deities are jerks? Myths and legends are full of some really awful things that the spirits do to each other, to humans, and even to animals and plants. How do we navigate those waters? Content Note: You've read the stories about deities and how they interact with others. This episode doesn't stray too deeply into specifics, so we aren't sure a trigger warning is necessary, but we are talking about deities behaving poorly, so be aware. Our audio is a little odd on this episode as we figure out how to mic up three different people in the car, but we're hopeful it comes through well. Sorry if it's a little unbalanced or quiet, but we should have that fixed next episode; it was a good conversation, but we only have one source, unfortunately. Find us on Facebook, check us out at Threecranes.org, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

Happy Samhain, friends! One of the great traditions we have as a Grove is that we keep an Ancestor Box. This is a simple box that has been with us for 20 years now, receiving new ancestors and bringing them into our shared community of ancestral family, and becoming a part of who we are. Today, because we were driving home from the Cantlos Druid Moon rite where we opened the box, we reflected a bit on how we interact with it, what's changed in two decades, and the ways we've found to keep the "stuff" in the box connected to their stories. Check us out on Facebook, read more about us at threecranes.org, and find out more about Druidry at ADF.org.

On our way out to a Druid Moon rite, we took a moment to chat about a festival Rev. Avende had been to recently: Harvest Nights! Long one of our favorite festivals, Rev. Avende had made the trip without Rev. Dangler this year, and so you can listen along as he hears all about what he missed. Find us on Facebook, check us out at Threecranes.org, and learn more about Druidry at ADF.org.

Today, Rev. Avende and our Grove Bard, Mike Bierschenk, travel out to Harvest Nights and bring you along in the car with them, as they discuss the role of the Bard in Three Cranes Grove, ADF, and in ritual in general. Both have served in the role for our Grove, and both have brought their own magical touch to the work. Find us on Facebook, check us out at threecranes.org, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

We continue our conversation from our previous episode with how we do magic for others: how we decide what sort of magical work to do, who to do it for or with, and how we divide out our magic by audience and type of work. We also talk about magical work for hire, and the boundaries we set around that. Find us on Facebook, check out our Grove at ThreeCranes.Org, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

After Summerland, we're back! Today, we talk about sympathy and contagion in magic: the idea that things that are alike can provide access to each other, either through being alike or containing the essence (Greek: ousia) of a thing. We chat about them as subsets of attraction, referring to the Laws of Magic outlined in Real Magic. We talk a little bit about joss money (AKA "hell notes" or "hell money") as an example, but the majority of this discussion grows out of the need for Rev. Avende to provide access to religious and magical support in their new role as a prison chaplain: how can we provide services to incarcerated individuals, particularly in light of the restrictions that are imposed on them. Rev. Dangler floats his notion of "magic as access" here, probably for the first time publicly, so what you're hearing in the last half of this episode is really an initial oral argument for that definition, and we expect there's more to come on that as it develops. A couple of things get mentioned in this episode, including a collaborative whiteboard image of Epona that we painted in the pandemic, and the Flame of Hope experience in an airport, which we've previously mentioned. Find us on Facebook, check us out at threecranes.org, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

Today, we're off to Summerland, and we hope you will be too! We're looking forward to more new content with new friends there! Last week, we recorded an episode on the way to the Dublin Irish Festival for our annual Sunday Druid Service, and recorded a bit with Mike Bierschenk afterwards to review the service and our experience. If you want to watch the service, you can do so here: 2023 Druid Sunday Service. We also talk a bit about things new and old in the ritual, as well as unexpected last minute changes. Mike used a new cosmos creation script as well, which you can find on his blog. We're also making a switch for better accessibility on this episode: we're moving to mono instead of stereo sound, which should aid both people with hearing differences between their ears, and people who just like to listen to a podcast with one earpod in. Either way, we hope this is helpful to a lot of folks, and it'll be our standard going forward. Do let us know if anything weird happens on your end! As always, find us on Facebook, check us out at threecranes.org, and learn more about Druidry at ADF.org!

The Summerland Festival is next week, August 17-20, 2023, near Yellow Springs, Ohio! As of publication, you can still register! This week is the final of five episodes we recoded back-to-back about "Managing the Magical," or how we do magical work in certain sections of our rituals. We'll talk about what we consider the "big magical workings" in ADF ritual, the history behind those sections, and how they came to be part of our liturgy, before diving deeply into how we actually do these ritual parts. This week is all about "The Working," which sounds ominous and important: how we do it functionally, and why we do it in ritual. The five episodes are: (Re)Creating the Cosmos (July 13) Opening the Gates (July 20) Taking the Omen (July 27) The Return Flow (August 2) The Workings (today) Find us on Facebook, check us out at ThreeCranes.org, and learn more about Druidry at ADF.org.

Have you registered for the Summerland Festival August 17-20, 2023, near Yellow Springs, Ohio? You should! Come meet us! This week is the fourth of five episodes we recoded back-to-back about "Managing the Magical," or how we do magical work in certain sections of our rituals. We'll talk about what we consider the "big magical workings" in ADF ritual, the history behind those sections, and how they came to be part of our liturgy, before diving deeply into how we actually do these ritual parts. This week is all about the Return Flow (in all its parts), how we do it functionally, and why we do it in ritual. The five episodes will be: (Re)Creating the Cosmos (July 13) Opening the Gates (July 20) Taking the Omen (July 27) The Return Flow (today) The Workings (August 10) Find us on Facebook, check us out at ThreeCranes.org, and learn more about Druidry at ADF.org.

Have you registered for the Summerland Festival August 17-20, 2023, near Yellow Springs, Ohio? You should! Come meet us! This week is the third of five episodes we recoded back-to-back about "Managing the Magical," or how we do magical work in certain sections of our rituals. We'll talk about what we consider the "big magical workings" in ADF ritual, the history behind those sections, and how they came to be part of our liturgy, before diving deeply into how we actually do these ritual parts. This week is all about taking omens, how we do it functionally, and why we do it in ritual. The five episodes will be: (Re)Creating the Cosmos (July 13) Opening the Gates (last week) Taking the Omen (today) The Return Flow (August 3) The Workings (August 10) Find us on Facebook, check us out at ThreeCranes.org, and learn more about Druidry at ADF.org.

We're a month out from Summerland! Consider coming out to the Summerland Festival August 17-20, 2023, in near Yellow Springs, Ohio! This week is the second of five episodes we recoded back-to-back about "Managing the Magical," or how we do magical work in certain sections of our rituals. We'll talk about what we consider the "big magical workings" in ADF ritual, the history behind those sections, and how they came to be part of our liturgy, before diving deeply into how we actually do these ritual parts. This week is all about good gatekeepers and their attributes, how we work with them, and the mechanics of opening the Gates... along with how we manage the origins of this ritual process. The five episodes will be: (Re)Creating the Cosmos (last week) Opening the Gates (today) Taking the Omen (July 27) The Return Flow (August 3) The Workings (August 10) Find us on Facebook, check us out at ThreeCranes.org, and learn more about Druidry at ADF.org.

Important Announcement! The Trillium Spring Gathering is back in 2024! Some more details in the episode, but check out the website, and join us early next year! Also, you can check in with us in person sooner at the Summerland Festival in August. This week is the first of five episodes we recoded back-to-back about "Managing the Magical," or how we do magical work in certain sections of our rituals. We'll talk about what we consider the "big magical workings" in Druid ritual, the history behind those sections, and how they came to be part of our liturgy, before diving deeply into how we actually do these ritual parts. The five episodes will be: (Re)Creating the Cosmos (today) Opening the Gates (July 20) Taking the Omen (July 27) The Return Flow (August 3) The Workings (August 10) Find us on Facebook, check us out at ThreeCranes.Org, and learn more about Druidry at ADF.org.

Today, Rev. Avende reviews their experience at the Wisteria Appalachian Summer Solstice festival in southeastern Ohio. They discuss their favorite workshops, including one on bone throwing by one of the owners of Moon Bees Apothecary and Spiritual Supply in Wisconsin, and a little about open and closed systems of divination. Then, it's on to ritual work and spaces, people that they met, and experiences with queer safe spaces and the amazing drumming circle. You'll also hear some ideas we hope to carry forward into our own Summerland Festival, coming up in mid-August. (Registration is open, friends! Come see us!) For some pictures and a full write up, check out Rev. Avende's written review of this festival as well! Stay tuned to the very end to hear about our plans for transporting hooch across state lines, and the promising return of the Trillium Gathering next year! Find us on Facebook, check us out at Threecranes.Org, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org!

A couple of weeks ago, we got to record with friends old and new in the barn at the close of the Wellspring Gathering, 2023. To our great delight, we were able to connect up with Collin from The Crone's Porch, a pagan discussion podcast much like our own, and record a small crossover episode. We also have Jacque (who has been on before) and Stephen with us, providing their perspectives as well. As always, we have a few linear notes and links for you to check out! Crone's Porch Podcast; find them at @cronesporch on Instagram and @croneporch on Facebook, or wherever you listen to podcasts! Jan's previous version of the workshop they did at Wellspring  (And Jan's Patreon, if you want to support their work and see more work like this) Summerland Registration is open! Consider coming out and seeing us!  Check out Lammas Fest as well! As always, you can find us on Facebook, check us out at Threecranes.org/podcast, and learn more about Druidry at ADF.org.

We set a record for how fast Rev. Dangler can break Rev. Avende's composure on this episode! But the topic was a great one, where we got to speak about unconventional tools and challenge how we thought about the physical things that aid us in the work that we do for the folk. Find us on Facebook, check us out at threecranes.org, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

A listener question today comes in, asking, "Is there a place for me if I just want to 'show up' to ritual?" And of course, our answer will surprise nobody. We talk a bit about what it means to "just show up," to be part of ritual without taking a part. What is the expected level of participation, and can we make space for it in our Groves and in our broader work? And, if you want to just go to ritual, what do you need to do to make sure that remains an option in your local community? What sort of discipline is it, when you are "just showing up?" Of course, it was interesting to have this discussion on the way to a Druid Moon rite that no one had actually said they were going to show up to, but in the end, people did show up to ritual that night. Find us on Facebook, check us out at threecranes.org, and learn more about Druidry at ADF.org.

"Good leaders spread everything, from wealth to work." Talking about the commitments we make as clergy and leaders in our work, we turned on the recorder so others could sit in. We spoke about how burnout impacts us, and how we avoid it (when we're able to). In particular, a lot of our discussion talks about our responsibility as current leaders to create space for new blood and how to deal with the parts of our work as leaders that just don't feed us (spoiler alert: it's delegation, boundaries, and trust). Interested in that short video about trust that Rev. Dangler mentions? You can find it here: "One Weird Trick All 3CG Officers Know!" Looking for a way to contact the ADF Mother Grove with an idea or to apply for a role? Do that here! (For those curious, yes, Rev. Dangler took on the name tag project.) Follow our podcast on Facebook, find out more about our Grove at threecranes.org, and learn more about Druidry at ADF.org.

We're on our way to the Wellspring Gathering this week and working hard on getting new content, so you get a bonus episode! This week, it's all about roadside divinatory attractions you can find throughout the North American travel landscape, inspired by our visit with a Zoltar machine in a travel plaza in upstate New York. Of course, there are pictures and videos worth looking at here: from each of us receiving our fortune from Zoltar to the creepy dog in Lucas, KS, and The Magical Druid's own divination dispenser, you can find pics and vids in a small Google album... and maybe we'll add more to it soon enough! Send us your favorite roadside divinatory attraction at druidsincars@threecranes.org! We're also including a small gallery of the attractions mentioned, which you can check out on Google Photos. Preparing to make your own trip to a festival? Consider the Summerland Festival in Yellow Springs, Ohio, this August 17-20, 2023. We'll be there, and we'd love to see you, too! As always, follow our podcast on Facebook, find out more about our Grove at threecranes.org, and learn more about Druidry at ADF.org.

On our way to the Three Cranes Grove, ADF, annual liturgical planning meeting, Rev. Dangler hit Rev. Avende with a random question when they got in the car: do you set goals for your ritual year? We talk about what we expect on the planning side of things as we get into it, ways we look for balance, and things we want to look back on and consider as we move forward. We might have gotten a little ahead of ourselves since this would have been great content for the actual meeting, but hey, at least we recorded it (and we would have gotten kicked out of the library before we finished the meeting if we'd added these 17 minutes to the in-meeting discussion)! Are you interested in one of our rites? You should come! As you'll hear in this episode, we're working hard to become more and more welcoming, to provide space for everyone, and to craft language and work that is as inclusive as possible. Find out more about our Grove at threecranes.org. You can also check us out in person during the festival season at Summerland in August! Follow our podcast on Facebook, and learn more about Druidry at ADF.org.

Last week we talked about how Rev. Avende and Rev. Dangler were trying to plan out a trip to Greece; this week, we circle back to the trip that Rev. Dangler and his wife took, and how they managed the space between good planning and good luck to find ways to encounter the things they wanted to do on that trip. Rev. Dangler's wife joins in as a special guest to detail her perspectives on the trip as well. Some of the things we mention on the trip can best be illustrated by looking at photos of the experience, we suspect. Confluentia, goddess of the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle Rivers Drachenfals, or "Dragon's Rock," as seen from the late night photo taken while sailing the Rhine. The Vinegar Tasting outfits they had you wear at Doktorenhof, and the shrine to the Vinegar Mother in their cellar. The view of Mt. Pilatus from Lucerne, Switzerland. The Statue of Artio (Facebook comment thread with several photos in it) Wellspring is just a few weeks away, and we hope to see you there, or perhaps at Summerland in August! Festivals are a great chance to get out and see others and learn from your fellow Pagans, and we can't recommend them enough! Find us on Facebook, check us out online, and learn more about Druidry at ADF.org. See you soon!

Early last year, Rev. Avende and Rev. Dangler discussed the process of planning a trip in the not-too-distant future to Greece to tour some sacred sites. During the chat, they also talked about other trips they've taken, and upcoming trips that are on the horizon. Some items that come up during the discussion that are worth linking include: The Nautes Pillar MJD saw in Paris' Musée de Cluny [video link] An upcoming trip for MJD and his wife up the Rhine [commercial link] A little Mercury Prayer written after an encounter at the Museum of the Siene [Tumblr link] The view of Cape Sounion [image link] The book "Pagan Holiday: On the Trail of Ancient Roman Tourists" [Amazon link] Stuttard's "Greek Mythology" and "Roman Mythology" books [Amazon links] Next week, we'll be out of our car, but we'll see how that trip Rev. Dangler planned with his wife panned out. Find us on Facebook, check out ThreeCranes.Org for more about us, and ADF.org for more about Druidry.

When we think about rites of passage, we usually think about how they impact the person who experiences the passage directly, rather than the community around them. In this episode, we talk a bit about what it's like to be a part of that community, and explore a bit about how we've experienced rites of passage, and the observations we have about how they've influenced others... as well as ourselves. We recorded this episode on our way to a houseblessing for Anagantios, our Stay-At-Home Druid Moon in February of 2022. Find us on Facebook, check us out at ThreeCranes.org, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

We're back for Season 6! At our Anagantios Druid Moon in 2022, we recorded this episode about the advice we would give to ourselves when we were our younger Pagan selves. It turns out our advice is actually still pretty relevant to us these days. We also brought advice from a special guest not in the car, which we gathered at Harvest Nights 2021. If you have advice for your younger Pagan self, we're collecting that advice! Record it and send us a link to the recording at druidsincars@threecranes.org, and we might feature your advice on a future episode! Find us on Facebook, check out our Grove at threecranes.org, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org

One of the things about recording a podcast is that you find yourself passing milestones on the journey, and today, we managed to get in our 100th episode! We talk a bit about how rites of passage have figured into our working life as podcasters, as members of a local Grove, and as individuals, and what it feels like to move through them. Most importantly, we look forward, because what comes on the other side of such a rite is impossible to know until you've crossed the threshold! If you're interested in Summerland, Pre-Registration is open through August 12th (closing very soon!), but you can also register at the door for the event if you'll be camping and are willing to manage food yourself. It'll be a great festival, we know, and we're so looking forward to it. Find us on Facebook, and find out more at threecranes.org. Learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

Druidry is not drudgery, and there is an element of joy to all of the work that we do with and for others. We speak of Rev. Dangler's initiatory experience, where joy was gifted to him as a tool of his work. Rev. Avende speaks of joy in their flow experience of ritual. We speak of the difference between joyfulness and happiness, and our aim to use the flow and the joy to bring connectivity to the folk. Our next episode is Episode 100! What are we going to do? We don't quite know yet! See you next week, and find out with us! The Summerland Gathering is happening August 18-21, 2022 (accepting registration shortly)! On the west coast, look out for Beyond the Gates in early September! Theme by Mike Bierschenk. Check out his Bandcamp for more awesome music! Find us on Facebook, help us keep the lights on with a donation, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

Today we're talking about what Druidry is, and discuss the impacts of using the word "Druid" as ADF members. Spoiler alert: Rev. Avende hates it. We talk about the terms we could use instead, working both forward from our base practice, and backwards from the terms we have available. If you've ever been annoyed by the way ADF Druids use the word "Druid," this episode is for you. You may also want to check out our first season "Space Druidry" bonus episode. If you have a better word than anything we came up with (or if you like one of our words a lot), we'd love to hear from you. Drop us a line at druidsincars@threecranes.org and tell us about it! The Summerland Gathering is happening August 18-21, 2022 (accepting registration shortly)! On the west coast, look out for Beyond the Gates in early September! Theme by Mike Bierschenk. Check out his Bandcamp for more awesome music! Find us on Facebook, help us keep the lights on with a donation, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

How do you find nature to put in your nature religion? We look at both the mundane and the spiritual aspects everyone has access to, consider that ancient Pagans didn't find a deep issue with lack of access to the "natural world," and talk about how we bring a bit of nature into our practice in visible and useful ways. The Vegetarian Epicure [Amazon link] Rev. Dangler's office "passage tomb" [Facebook photo]  We know you're looking for festivals to attend, because why wouldn't you? The Summerland Gathering is happening August 18-21, 2022 (accepting registration shortly)! On the west coast, look out for Beyond the Gates in early September! Theme by Mike Bierschenk. Check out his Bandcamp for more awesome music! Find us on Facebook, help us keep the lights on with a donation, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

Because of the way that ADF is structured as a pan-Indo-European organization, it's entirely possible to come to ritual at your local Grove and experience ritual in a culture you're unfamiliar with, or (if you're clergy or an initiate) be asked even to write a ritual for others. We'll talk a bit about how we research and write the rituals as ADF Priests first, and then talk a bit about how we, as attendees, approach a ritual where we are strangers to the spirits that are honored. For "Circles of Concentration" work, see Rev. Kirk Thomas' paper on the topic. The Summerland Gathering is happening August 18-21, 2022 (accepting registration shortly)! On the west coast, look out for Beyond the Gates in early September! Theme by Mike Bierschenk. Check out his Bandcamp for more awesome music! Find us on Facebook, help us keep the lights on with a donation, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

Have you ever felt that you were in over your head with this whole ritual-and-magic thing? Do you feel like an "imposter" about to be found out? We all have, but it can seem like it's a lonely place to be. You might be surprised that, even with all the experience and work under their belts, Revs. Avende and Dangler both deal with it on the regular, too. We talk a little bit about what our own notions of "being an imposter" looks like, the ways that we personally combat those feelings within ourselves, and how we can help others work through these feelings organizationally and together. Looking for festivals? The Summerland Gathering is happening August 18-21, 2022 (accepting registration)! On the west coast, look out for Beyond the Gates in early September; and in Canada, check out Three Rivers Festival June 9-12, 2022! Theme by Mike Bierschenk. Check out his Bandcamp for more awesome music! Find us on Facebook, help us keep the lights on with a donation, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

On the way home from Wellspring, though they were not driving together, Rev. Avende and Rev. Dangler stopped at a rest stop and caught up to remember the event. Held each Memorial Day weekend in northeast Ohio, The Wellspring Gathering is also the ADF annual meeting and this year, site of our Archdruid reinstallation and an ADF Initiation. We got to meet new people and visit with old friends, and try out new camping gear.  The Bards of Three Cranes Grove, ADF, played quite a lot of music at the bardic night, and we even gave our own little workshop based on this podcast (with material forthcoming this season)! A couple of links to people we mention to add to your listening pleasure: John Beckett's "Under the Ancient Oaks" [Homepage | Patheos Blog] Bohemian Hobbit Studio [Facebook | Instagram] This one's short, but it's a good review. We've still got plenty to pull out as we go forward this season! The Summerland Gathering is happening August 18-21, 2022 (accepting registration shortly)! On the west coast, look out for Beyond the Gates in early September; and in Canada, check out Three Rivers Festival June 9-12, 2022! Theme by Mike Bierschenk. Check out his Bandcamp for more awesome music! Find us on Facebook, help us keep the lights on with a donation, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

Today we're chatting about the things we do with our hands and bodies during ritual, focusing on gesture and posture in particular, and how we've developed them for use in our personal and Grove-centered work. We'll also talk about how they connect with trance and prayer a bit. We're definitely back on the road (in fact, you are listening to this as you drive out to Wellspring with us, right? because that's where we're going today!). This year, we're going to be working hard to find more voices to bring onto the podcast to increase both our diversity, and our connections. We hope you'll join us for as many of this coming year's festivals as possible, in person if you can. There has never been a safer, more welcome chance to connect with your fellow pagans and Druids. Just this morning, we're on our way to The Wellspring Gathering May 26-30, 2022, and The Summerland Gathering is happening August 18-21, 2022 (accepting workshop proposal and registration)! On the west coast, look out for Beyond the Gates in early September; and in Canada, check out Three Rivers Festival June 9-12, 2022! Theme by Mike Bierschenk. Check out his Bandcamp for more awesome music! Find us on Facebook, help us keep the lights on with a donation, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

Today, we talk about how we've made group ritual work, including some tips about both online rituals and in-person rituals. We've had a lot of different strategies over the past 20 years here in Three Cranes Grove, ADF, and exploring what worked and what didn't as we've been planning, and what to do when things go wrong (on either a large scale, or a small one). We also talk about how to follow a lead in ritual, the benefits of trusting your fellow ritualists, building enthusiasm, and Rev. Avende's work that they call, "Performing the Bardic Lasso." 3CG Bookends Beltane 2020, honoring Gobnait, the Gaelic lady of the bees [script] We hope you'll join us for as many of this coming year's festivals as possible, in person if you can. There has never been a safer, more welcome chance to connect with your fellow pagans and Druids. Consider, for example, The Wellspring Gathering May 26-30, 2022 (next week!), and The Summerland Gathering August 18-21, 2022 (accepting workshop proposals and registration)! On the west coast, look out for Beyond the Gates in early September; and in Canada, check out Three Rivers Festival June 9-12, 2022! Theme by Mike Bierschenk. Check out his Bandcamp for more awesome music! Find us on Facebook, help us keep the lights on with a donation, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

CW: This episode discusses pet loss and grief surrounding it. One of the strange things about owning pets is that they become an integral part of our lives, our practice, and the spaces we inhabit. And, with limited exceptions, we may be with them for their entire lives, but they are only with us for a part of ours. Both Rev. Avende and Rev. Dangler have lost pets, and both have had to find ways to work those pets into their own religious lives, and those of their families. We spend a lot of time chatting about that aspect of our work during this discussion, as well as memorial prayers Rev. Dangler's Prayer for a Departed Pet - Tumblr | Facebook  Rev. Dangler's video Prayer for A Pet Crossing Over (#PrayerADay 2019) Rainbow Bridge Poem We hope you'll join us for as many of this coming year's festivals as possible, in person if you can. There has never been a safer, more welcome chance to connect with your fellow pagans and Druids. Consider, for example, The Wellspring Gathering May 26-30, 2022 (open for registration), and The Summerland Gathering August 18-21, 2022 (accepting workshop proposals and registration)! On the west coast, look out for Beyond the Gates in early September; and in Canada, check out Three Rivers Festival June 9-12, 2022! Theme by Mike Bierschenk. Check out his Bandcamp for more awesome music! Find us on Facebook, help us keep the lights on with a donation, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

Today we're chatting about our portable altars, and what we take with us when we head out on the road (or even when we're just out and about close to home). We discuss the physical things and the spiritual things we bring with us, how we use them, and how they help us. As the conversation evolves, we begin to speak about our prayer lives as well, and how being on the road impacts those things. Rev. Dangler's Altoid Tin Travel Altar (Image) The Shop Altar at The Magical Druid #PrayerADay Bonus Episode We hope you'll join us for as many of this coming year's festivals as possible, in person if you can. There has never been a safer, more welcome chance to connect with your fellow pagans and Druids. Consider, for example, The Wellspring Gathering May 26-30, 2022 (open for registration), and The Summerland Gathering August 18-21, 2022 (accepting workshop proposals and registration)! On the west coast, look out for Beyond the Gates in early September; and in Canada, check out Three Rivers Festival June 9-12, 2022! Theme by Mike Bierschenk. Check out his Bandcamp for more awesome music! Find us on Facebook, help us keep the lights on with a donation, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

Today, we're taking a look at the (most intentionally) silly rituals we've done. We cover a lot of ground, and there are a lot of links worth looking at here to give you an idea of what we're talking about, so here's our list of resources for this episode (mostly) in order of appearance/mention in the episode. The Jimmy Buffett Ritual: Text "Beach House On The Moon" (the song) on YouTube The Jimmy Buffett Oracle The Rush Oracle "Dressed Up As Freyja (Goin' Down to Jotenheim)" by Art Shipkowski Rev. Avende's Potato Prayer Rev. Avende's Garnish Prayer Rev. Avende's "How To Write and Invocation" "Hey You Old Guys" Ancestor Prayer (turns out this was just an in-person prayer, not written) Rev. Henderson's "Rainbow Connection" filk (Rob asks us to remind folks that this filk has an extra verse, compared to the original) 2005 3CG 'Soulstice' Ritual (with death metal) Erisian High Mass Script Animal Crossing Rite Livestream Ritual Bloopers Episode: Episode 13 - Ritual Bloopers and Fails, with Rev. Melissa Ashton, Rev. William Ashton, Rev. Lauren Mart, Rev. Kirk Thomas, and Rev. Jan Avende.  We hope you'll join us for as many of this coming year's festivals as possible, in person if you can. There has never been a safer, more welcome chance to connect with your fellow pagans and Druids. Consider, for example, The Wellspring Gathering May 26-30, 2022 (open for registration just this moment), and The Summerland Gathering August 18-21, 2022 (accepting workshop proposals and registration at just this moment)! On the west coast, look out for Beyond the Gates in early September; and in Canada, check out Three Rivers Festival June 9-12, 2022! Theme by Mike Bierschenk. Check out his Bandcamp for more awesome music! Find us on Facebook, help us keep the lights on with a donation, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

We've eased back into the festival season by attending the Harvest Nights Gathering in late 2021, and it's worth talking about how good it feels to be back with our fellow Druids in the woods. A small festival has a lot of flexibility, and we were able to get back into the work in a joyful way. Over the last two years, we've done a lot of festivals virtually, and there have been a lot of missing pieces from that; being in the physical presence of other humans magnified what has been missing for the past two years, giving us a chance to really think about and reflect on the joy of the work we get to do at those festivals. We also got to do full group ritual with no tech and no cameras for the first time in about two years, and we get to reflect on that experience as well. Check out the hand-made fire-scrying cards Rev. Avende made at the festival! We hope you'll join us for as many of this coming year's festivals as possible, in person if you can. There has never been a safer, more welcome chance to connect with your fellow pagans and Druids. Consider, for example, The Wellspring Gathering May 26-30, 2022 (open for registration just this moment), and The Summerland Gathering August 18-21, 2022 (accepting workshop proposals and registration at just this moment)! On the west coast, look out for Beyond the Gates in early September; and in Canada, check out Three Rivers Festival June 9-12, 2022! Theme by Mike Bierschenk. Check out his Bandcamp for more awesome music! Find us on Facebook, help us keep the lights on with a donation, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

We're back, and we think the festival season is too! Our first episode was recorded at the end of last year's (super short) festival season, on our way out to Harvest Nights in October... so when we talk about the fall color, this is why. Trillium didn't end up happening this year (it's usually where we start our season), but we're starting our season around the time of Trillium anyway for tradition's sake, in the hopes that we'll have that event again soon. We decided to start with this episode because, with the new year and new festivals coming, we thought some insight into how we prepare our workshops might help you, our listeners, create your own workshops. One of the joys of the festival season for us is being able to go and teach, and we think everyone (including you) has something of value to offer our community. So please, as you listen, think about what you could share with your community, and with us. Are you looking for a festival to present at? Our Grove's Summerland Gathering is accepting presenter applications! We cannot express how amazing it would be to meet you in person! Resources we mention during the discussion include: Writing Evocations Workshop: You can watch the video on how to write evocations on YouTube and check out their page for the workshop as well. Rev. Avende's Workshop on Crafting Workshops: we may not have video of the workshop, but we do have the handout! You can find it on Rev. Avende's website, under "Five Lights of *Ghosti: The Gifts You Bring" Rev. Dangler's Healing Workshop video You can find full-color, full-sized versions of Rev. Dangler's cheat sheets for divination systems here: Elder Futhark Runes | Ogham | Greek Alphabet Workshop tiers for our Patreons: both of us have a similar $5/month tier for workshops and learning. You can sign up for either of our items here: Rev. Avende | Rev. Dangler The Rev. Avende-led Pan-Pagan Theology Panel If you'd like to see questions and answers from a college class presentation, Rev. Dangler posted a recent one to his Patreon, if you're a subscriber. Finally, if you'd like to see Rev. Avende and Rev. Dangler on a recent Zoom panel, you can find a Clergy Tea Time panel on the ADF YouTube page. We're so excited to be back! Theme by Mike Bierschenk. Check out his Bandcamp for more awesome music! Find us on Facebook, check us out at threecranes.org/podcast, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

How is a magical working like a baking show? Our Star Magicians delve into the questions around "follow the recipe" magic, and how they substitute ingredients and work in old spells. We cover simple rules on how to identify ways to substitute for hard-to-find (or impossible-to-find) magical components. Find us on Facebook, check us out at threecranes.org/podcast, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

We take an autumn detour to the Brushwood Folklore Center, a spur-of-the-moment change in plans that brought back memories and reminded us that yeah, sometimes we give ourselves good advice. We'll describe a lot of the space, but sometimes it helps to see pictures. Check out images of the icons in the space, the Taranis Altar, and the Blue Boat Shrine we mention. If your podcast app doesn't let you see embedded photos in the show notes, hit up our main page at druidsincars.podbean.com, or pop into the Google Photos album of the side-trip for the full view. Reminisce with us as we enjoy our memories of years of camping, ritual, and experience in western New York State, returning to an old friend and sacred site.

This week, we chat about a commonly-requested topic: how we live our lives as Pagans, and what the lifestyle looks like to us. Part of that is just how we live our lives, and the decisions that we make that seem quite mundane: how we speak to and rear our children, how we interact with the world around us, and even how we travel. We talk about our visits to the Nashville Parthenon, and about a map of publicly accessible Pagan statues all throughout the US that resides on the Three Cranes Google account. Also, get a load of us, practicing our own advice when a surprise thought leads us down a different road than expected, quite literally... making this Part One of a two-part episode all of a sudden. Tune in next week for our escapade on our detour! Find us on Facebook, check us out at Threecranes.org/Podcast, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

We're back on the road, going to a festival, meaning that your friendly, chatty Druids are back in the full swing of the work. We recorded enough episodes to finish out the rest of the season on our way to Harvest Nights, and to provide a head start into next season as well, so get ready for regular episodes to return starting this week until the break! This week, we're talking about what it's been like to do hybrid rituals (partially private and in-person, partially public and over web conferencing software). Back in Episode 70, we described what we thought it would be like, and this seemed an opportune time to think about the experience and reflect a bit together on it. So many thanks to Charter Oak Grove, ADF, in Connecticut for putting together such a wonderful weekend in person. It was amazing. Find us on Facebook, check us out on threecranes.org/podcast, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

Did you know that one of our co-hosts, Rev. Avende, has published a children's education book? They did! It's called Kindling Sparks: A Religious Education Program for Young Pagans, and it's been available for a bit now through Rev. Avende's Patreon, and it's now been released as a book! Today, we interview Rev. Avende and talk about the process of bringing this program to life; it's development in early 2020 through today, and the path it's taken through testing and community work. You can pick up a copy of Kindling Sparks through Garanus Publishing on Lulu, at The Magical Druid, or wherever fine books are sold! You can also find their first book, The Spiraling Sun: A Winter Solstice Liturgy at The Magical Druid. Find us on Facebook, check us out at ThreeCranes.org, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org!

Finally on our way to and from a festival, even it it was virtual, Revs. Avende and Dangler are on their way out to the site of our broadcasted Summerland Unity Rite for a Druid Moon, and they spend some time discussing how they balance the religious and magical lives they lead with their mundane lives. They also get stuck in traffic at a tomato festival, because, well, what's life without a little unplanned weirdness. Summerland was great, though all online. If you're interested in a great online festival experience, we'll recommend Beyond the Gates, a festival happening over Labor Day weekend, and you can still register and see their presenters! Our next in-person festival, if everything works out, will be Charter Oak's Harvest Nights. It would be really great if we could see you there, probably masked, but we're anxious to have it be in person again. Check us out on Facebook, find us at ThreeCranes.org/Podcast, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

We sit down to discuss the sorts of things we seek out when we travel: the weird religious sites, the haunted tunnels, and the wonderful hospitality of our friends. And, of course, there's an off-the-cuff prayer to the Spirit of Couch Surfing, a solid contestant for patron of this podcast. We recorded this not in cars, but during a local, non-Pagan travel event we were both involved in. But there's way more to come. So, find us on Facebook, check us out at Threecranes.org, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org. --- For those curious, Rev. Avende's prayer, "Upon Encountering the Murder Ghost" from the #PrayerADay Project, Nov. 9, 2018: Hermes Diactorus, Guide of Souls, As we traveled tonight through the dark, Sleet bouncing off the windshield,  Reflectors marking the road few and far between, I thank you for traveling alongside us.  Hermes Diactorus, Guide of Souls, For holding the ghosts at bay as the fog rose about us, For keeping the shades back as we sped beneath the underpass, For maintaining the boundary and keeping us safe from those spirits who wish us harm, I thank you for traveling alongside us.  Hermes Diactorus, Guide of Souls, Carry those spirits onward to peace, Remove them and their malevolent intentions from this world.  Hermes, I thank you for your important work. 

Today, we took a listener question from an OBOD listener who wanted to know our take on the differences between spirituality and religion. We start with some dictionary definitions and work our way through our own experiences. This discussion sort of takes off from some of the ideas about orthopraxy in our previous episode, so you might be interested to tune in there as well, though this episode certainly stands alone. If you want to hear more about this idea that "Practice Begets Belief," you can find a 2012 podcast MJD did with BT Newberg over at Naturalistic Paganism. (Fun historical note: this was MJD's first experience on a podcast.) Find us on Facebook, check us out at threecranes.org, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

Today, we get a new vocabulary word in "orthoskhesis," a word meaning "right relationship" (versus "right belief" with orthodoxy, or "right practice" with orthopraxy). We talk a bit about how we might use this in the way we think about Druidry and Paganism in general, and about how we can be not only in a right relationship, but also in a wrong relationship (spoiler alert: it's mostly "can I set healthy boundaries?"). If you're interested in the Greekies mentioned toward the end of the discussion, you can get a look at them at The Magical Druid. Find us on Facebook, check us out at Threecranes.org, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org!

Two weeks ago, in Episode 75 (s4Ep8), we spoke a bit about the sensory experiences of our work as it related directly to our stoles, sickles, and other physical items we work with; last week, we went through a Dairy Queen drive-thru and had a tasty episode. Today, we wanted to dive deeper into how we experience ritual in a very physical, sensory way. We walk through the Five Senses we learned as kids in school (touch, hearing, seeing, taste, and smell), and then we also talk about three additional senses that are less well-known: our vestibular, interoceptive, and proprioceptive senses. To help us in our discussion, Rev. Dangler's wife, Maggie, joins us as our in-house expert to help us build a language around our experiences. Tonight, we're Druids in Lawn Chairs Sitting Adjacent to a Fire (no new theme songs this week, though), with a longer-than-usual podcast episode (48 minutes!), but we really had a good time on this one, and had some great experiences coming around to new understandings on our topic. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did. And maybe you'll hear the owl in the background, too. Find us on Facebook, check us out at threecranes.org, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

Today, we take a special break and do a special trip suggested by one of our listeners, and we talk about how we retained our sanity and practice in a global pandemic. There's a lot of chat about tech, ritual and work, and building physical connections in the absence of physical presence. We even talk about some of our favorite Patreons, like DandelionLady, Firesighted, and TheLatestKate (and of course you can also check out Rev. Avende's and Rev. Dangler's as well). We also talk about how we've navigated the reopening process as a Grove and as individuals. If you're interested in the set of Reopening Workings from MJD that he sent out, you can find them on his Patreon. You can also check out the trailer and the stream of Rev. Avende's Animal Crossing Rite and see how we managed that. Special thanks to Mike Bierschenk for our re-written theme for this specific episode. Find us on Facebook, check us out at threecranes.org, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org!

We took a week off and (virtually) attended Wellspring last weekend, and we had a good time. But we're back! Learn the secret of the Stoles of the Priests of ADF, and why we do the weird things we do with them in ritual when a new priest is ordained. Then, hear us absolutely fail to recall some prayers we speak before every right because we don't have our stoles with us. We talk a little bit about how our physical actions inform our religious work and expression, and about what it's like to work with a sickle as a Druid. You can watch Rev. Avende, Rev. Castner, and Rev. Crawford receive their stoles, along with the toning process, on our YouTube channel to get a feeling of what the ceremony looks like. Find us on Facebook, check out threecranes.org/podcast for more Druids in Cars, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.

We answer some reader mail this week, discussing how we find comfort in the work we do, seek creativity, and come back around to the ways that we worked before the pandemic. How do we manage projects, what processes have we fallen out of (and back into) during the pandemic, and what ways do we see forward as things trend back toward some definition of "normal?" If you want to check out the Virtual Wellspring event this year, you can find it and register at http://stonecreed.org/wellspring Find us on Facebook, check us out at threecranes.org/podcast, and learn more about Druidry at adf.org.