quarterly news Naturally some of us love the winter; some of us find it exceptionally hard. The darkness can be a Imbolc glorious embrace of quiet, calm and stillness, with an opportunity for long evenings of candlelight, hearth fires, and the intimacy of close family and 2008 friends, yet for others it is a desolate time without sufficient sunlight, when energy is low and the wider community is too quiet. One of the benefits of studying Druidry is the way in which its teachings guide us not to fight the seasons, but to ride their currents in peace. Celebrating the darkness, at Midwinter we start to bring more light into the house once more, honouring and acknowledging the turning of the solar tide. For most of us, nonetheless, the time just before Imbolc is one that drags. The longest, coldest hours of the night are those before dawn, and when we are sat up watching for the sun, our souls can shudder with doubts as to whether it will A Druid flag flying over Loughborough Town Council, Dec '07 ever rise again. Waiting for the dawning of the new cycle can be as wearying. But when the first Interfaith snowdrops appear there is such wonder, such joy. The crocus leaves pushing up through concrete You may recall in the last newsletter one of our and paving is always awe-inspiring. We are still a members, Marianne Timms, was seeking long way from the first scents of spring, but in membership of her local SACRE (Standing these tiny signs we are reassured that life, warmth, Advisory Council on Religious Education). We're growth will indeed return. delighted to be able to tell you that her application If your address or contact For The Druid Network, we are also moving was accepted and she has been co-opted onto details have changed, please through a time, with great dreams, hopes, ideas for Warwickshire SACRE. Her first meeting is in let us know by updating your the new cycle, slowly, quietly making the first February and she of course attends with our details on The Druid Network steps towards manifesting these into practical wholehearted best wishes! site at http://druidnetwork.org action. With our ongoing work with the Charity Following just a little behind is Boar (Andrew), or by writing to the office at Commission, the Welsh Eisteddfod, SACREs and who is now approaching his own local SACRE. the address below. perhaps our own TDN conference, there is much to Boar is currently completing his training to look forward to in the growing cycle of 2008. We become a secondary school RE teacher, and will The Druid Network wish you very many blessings for the new year. have all the skills necessary to bring Pagan insight Quarterly news is printed { Emma Restall Orr (Bobcat) into the curriculum. on 100 per cent recycled We're also aware of Pagan folk outside TDN paper. Office Manager who are making similar moves. We celebrate these I've been doing the job of Office Manager for TDN endeavours, which can only help to bring honour Do you need this publication for nearly two months now. It's been a challenging to and understanding of Paganism and Druidry, in an alternative format? but exciting time. I turn on my computer each and dispel the fears that mainstream folk often For more details, please email morning wondering what I'll face today! have. Updates on this important work will be [email protected]. So far I've spent a lot of time on the phone uploaded to the Interfaith pages of the TDN sorting problems, I've filed lots of paperwork and website. have learnt more about the ethics of printing than I On a similar note, we were tickled, um, green thought was possible! to see Loughborough Town Council fly a Druid I've found that most of the things that I PO Box 3533 flag over its town hall this winter solstice! The expected to be difficult, really weren't.The Whichford thrice encircled gold on green awen will be raised Network is a fantastic resource for people with Shipston on Stour there at solar festivals. Although some Druid folk questions. It's just finding the right person to ask! Warwickshire The role has brought me to meet a group of have reservations on this particular design, it is CV36 5YB dedicated and professional people who've shown certainly one more example of acceptance within England me, and people who have asked me for help, a society of our tradition and much to be welcomed. http://druidnetwork.org great deal of care and consideration. In the next Kudos go to Mark Graham, who as Chair of month or so I hope to bring some of the projects I Loughborough Council of Faiths has worked to TDNQ Editor: Dan Carpenter have started to a successful conclusion. achieve this success. [email protected] { Marianne Timms, Office Manager { Bish, Interfaith Web Coordinator quarterly news http://druidnetwork.org (http://druidnetwork.org/en/view/news), to which any Affiliated Groups and Groves member of staff can contribute, together with the addition of During the last few months the final changes have taken RSS (which allows direct access to news without having to place to Affiliated Groups and Groves. Due to various visit the website) now provides an immediate way of staying personal commitments and relocation, Morgan Rhys Adams up to date with important developments both in the has stepped down from the role of AG Co-ordinator. She community and on the website. keeps her valuable and long-standing connection to TDN, Another successful development was initiated by Susan but the area of Affiliated Groups and Groves has now been Warren in her as capacity Order of the Yew Adminstrator. This taken over by myself. I'd like to thank Morgan for the work resulted in the development of the Yew Project Pages, which she has done in connection with TDN and groves in the past, allow Order of the Yew members to create their own pages and more especially for the inspiration she gave which (http://druidnetwork.org/en/yew/members/yew_members/projects prompted me to become involved in the first place! - only accessible to Order of the Yew members). These pages Hopefully most of you will have seen the last two issues allow members to talk about about projects that they have of the AG Quarterly Newsletter; if not you will find them at undertaken as a part of their commitment and dedication as the following URL: expressed in their Statement of Dedication http://druidnetwork.org/en/affiliatedgroups/newsletters (http://druidnetwork.org/en/yew/members/statements/index.html). As an example of the items we try to include, here's a This initiative offers an excellent model for future poem by Avey from The Oak and Feather Grove: developments. For example, members could be offered the opportunity to create their own pages about their own sacred Gentle, unknown leaf sites or about their local patch, or indeed about any area, The sun has darkened you aspect or experience in Druidry that would be worth sharing. And now time curls at your edges The most recent development was initiated by Bryn Worrying away your soft sheen. Colvin as the Druid Directory Coordinator. Asking that The time for your dances has ended excellent question 'surely there is a better way of managing And now the fall to rest is before you this?' (otherwise known as 'can't we get the computer to do Return to Earth, your mother the work?'), we are now in the final stages of transforming Embrace and lay at one with her. the directory pages into a resource that will be much easier to You will be called again use and maintain (see Bryn's article below for her own To be drawn, up and out with the sunlight account). This again provides an excellent model for the One story among a lifetime of stories future development of resources on the site. Live it to your best and in the telling, be true. We are now working on a major upgrade of the website For you will dance again and when this happens, you probably won't notice anything In the breezes of summer immediately! However, it will put us in an even better And with your soft shine position to develop the site in interesting ways. This will Show the joy of your spirit include the development of a new look and feel to the site { Avey, The Oak and Feather Grove (though the current style will remain available), so if there are any members out there eager to get involved in the world The next Groves Newsletter will be sent out at the Spring of website styling and CSS, please get in touch! Equinox, all contributions will be welcome and need to be Very best wishes for the new cycle! submitted by March 7th. { David Orr, Web Manager ([email protected]) Blessings of Winter { Lynda Ryder, Affiliated Groups and Groves Directory This Autumn, David Orr suggested that I should consider Website transferring the directory to a database. As some of the Community Driven Development directory pages are large to the point of being unwieldy, the It only seems like yesterday that we were taking our first idea really appealed. As the directory has grown, the web tentative steps with the 'new' web software, drupal page layout has become cumbersome and difficult to search (http://drupal.org) for the Druid Network website, yet it has through. now been running successfully for 15 months.