Older News - 2008

Alban Eiler;
Members of the group attended the Equinox sunrise at Stonehenge and we were treated to a great sunrise although it was a bit misty and quite chilly with a nice frost on the ground it was a lovely morning after the main ceremony we took part in a raising ceremony with Arthur Pendragon and members of LAW. We held our ceremony for the Spring Equinox in Victoria Park on Sunday 22nd March. We were blessed with some nice sunny weather and the Ostara Hare (AKA Mike) made an appearance and handed out Eggs.

Winter Solstice At Stonehenge:
Our ceremony for Alban Arthan took place on Sunday December 21st  at Stonehenge after we witnessed the ceremony in the centre of the stones we proceeded to the heel Stone where we performed our ceremony for the winter solstice and celebrated the rebirth of the sun, we were blessed with good weather for the time of year and had a large group of friendly people and it was nice to see old friends and see some new faces. The ceremony started a bit chaotic because of the rush to start because we had to vacant the site at 9am but it soon settled down and was a lovely uplifting ceremony with Priestess Xowie undertaking full priestess duties for the first time, There is a slideshow of pictures HERE there is also an extra selection of pictures on our facebook page and a short video on youtube. Thank you to everybody who made it a great ritual.

Ritual In The Park for Samhain 2008:
There is a slideshow of pictures HERE Thanks to Allen for the pictures.

Autumn Equinox Ritual:
Our ceremony for Alban Elfed/Autumn Equinox took place on Sunday September 21st  in the grounds of Portchester Castle with permission of English Heritage, we were blessed with lovely sunny weather and a good crowd of people attended. Sarah, Archdruidess of Berengaria order raised a new pendragon to her order and we had Cool Banana playing some songs for us after the ceremony. Thanks to Trevor  for taking the pictures and there is a Slideshow of images HERE  We feature in the latest druid network newsletter available HERE (pdf file - adobe reader or equivalent)

Summer Solstice 2008  at Stonehenge:
We took part in the Sunset ceremony with Mr Somers and CoBDO.  King Arthur Pendragon also performed the raising of Archdruid and Archdruidess.  It was good to meet everyone there and although it rained throughout the night, a good time was had by all. There are photos in the gallery and a short youtube video here

Druid Network Affiliation:
We are now a Druid Network Affiliate order, details HERE, we are listed in the directory and have our own page on the affiliate orders section of the Druid Network Site.

Beltane 2009 1st Anniversary

We held our Beltane ritual on Sunday May 3rd, this time we were at a new location at Southsea. It was a nice relaxed ceremony in the sunshine we were also celebrating the anniversary of our first public ceremony. Thanks to Kimberley and Alana who stood in as Priestesses for the day, to Mike for undertaking Oak King/Greenman duty and to Robyn for being our May Queen. We crowned the May king and Queen who then re-enacted the Beltane love chase, we also performed the Ancient Rite of the union of male and female. Towards the end of the ceremony we had a bardic reading from Mike who read out his piece for Beltane. After the ceremony we proceeded to the Barley Mow where we were treated to a huge barbecue.

Summer Solstice - 21/06/2009

The Genesis Order of Druids and friends held a  Summer Solstice Ceremony on top of Portsdown Hill overlooking Portsmouth and the  Solent, we had a good gathering of people and also performed a handfasting,  welcoming a new member into the group and also promoting our priestess which was  a complete surprise to her as we did not tell her beforehand. On the whole the  event went well with the sun shining down upon us for most of the  afternoon except for one small shower. During the ceremony we managed to gain  quite a large interested crowd and even a bus load of pensioners stopped to  watch with the coach driver (trying) to give a commentary on the proceedings.  After honouring the mature sun and the return of the Holly king to take  sovereignty over the waning half of the year we handfasted Becky and Pat in what  was a lovely ceremony which ended with the obligatory jumping of the besom after  which I recited a poem for Sol and the circle was opened then most of us  proceeded to the nearby public house for refreshment. Picture Slideshow Here

Lughnasadh - 02/08/2009

Our ceremony for Lughnasadh took place on top of Portsdown Hill, we had a nice group of people some old friends and some new friends who were attending their first ceremony. Our priest Mr Nick did a lovely recital of John Barleycorn and I read out my poem for Lammas, we also had our year and a day students reading pieces honouring  Lugh the ripening light and the mature earth. After the bread and mead was passed round the circle the ceremony was closed  most of us  proceeded to the nearby public house for refreshment. Picture Slideshow here

Alban Elfed - 20/09/2009

We held our Autumn Equinox ceremony at Portchester castle with permission from English Heritage. We welcomed our new Guardians of the Gate and met many new friends, there was music from Nick and Trevor and a few people recited poetry.

Alban Arthuan 22/12/2009

We celebrated Alban Arthuan (winter Solstice/yule) at Sunrise on 22nd December  at Stonehenge, it was a magical landscape with the snow covering. We also celebrated the raising of Julie, Evelyne and Mike. It was a lovely morning and the atmosphere was really good. We met lots of familiar faces and also made some new friends. It was a nice end to 2009 and we look forward to 2010 with renewed energy. Below is a few video presentations from Yule and another showing the year that was 2009.

Ostara 21st March 2010

We celebrated Alban Eiler on Sunday 21st March. Our ceremony took place at Childrens Wood Field where we had the altar decorated with Spring flowers and eggs symbols of the season and new life. This is a time of balance where the darkness and light are equal and we gave thanks for all the abundant new life that is abound throughout the land. During the ceremony we had the initiation of four new members, we welcome Kimberley, Alana, Womble and Sally and hope you can gain wisdom and learning from us as you travel along your spiritual path.

Alban Hefin/Summer Solstice

Our ceremony for the Summer Solstice took place on Sunday 20th June at Childrens Wood Field we were blessed with a lovely sunny day and a nice group of people attended the ceremony. After we had finished some of the group traveled to Stonehenge to celebrate the Solstice during managed open access.

Cotswold Order Of Druids Summer Solstice Ceremony at Stonehenge 26/06/2010

On the Saturday following the solstice, Our Archdruidess and myself were invited to attend the C.O.D. private solstice ceremony at Stonehenge. We arrived on site at approx 11am ready to proceed to the stone circle for the start of the ceremony at 12am, as usual we were running on druid time. It was a very warm and sunny day at Stonehenge and there were many tourists looking on as we proceeded to and from the circle. I would like to thank the Cotswold Order and pagan society for a very enjoyable day and for inviting us, here is a few pictures from the event. (Picture copyright remains with the original photographer)