by Searles O'Dubhain
At the spring equinox of 2005, Searles O'Dubhain posted the introduction to a larger work on Ogham divination. It is an unusual document: part autobiography, part theological statement, part invitation. Searles traces his path to Druidry through three stages — youthful dreaming and second sight, the discovery of shamanism and Transcendental Meditation, and finally the genealogical vision that connected him across time to his Irish ancestors at Cnogba, the chambered cairns of Newgrange.
He names three parents for his knowledge. The first is the Dreamtime — the realm of Otherworldly instruction he entered as a child. The second is the Not-World (An t-Saoil Uile, or Annwn) — the dark womb of creation he entered in deep meditation, where knowing replaces thinking and answers outnumber questions. The third is the silence of the Druids themselves, preserved not in books but in the living lineage of the Filidh of Ireland.
The document closes with a series of aphorisms that punctuate each movement of the narrative: "A Druid must see all of reality: the dreams, the visions, and the perceptions." These are not formulaic but hard-won — the condensed teachings of someone who has spent decades walking the path they describe.
This post was written for a community that Searles knew was confused about what the Druid Way actually meant. He answered by giving himself — his history, his visions, his defeats, his fire.
It seems to me that there is a lot of confusion about the Druid Way nowadays. Perhaps this confusion comes from seeing or discussing it only in part rather than while in union with it? At this time of the equinox (which is special to me and my family) and with the hope that a better introduction to myself and what I see as the Druid Way will foster positive discussions of our mutual experiences, I am here providing the introduction to a work of mine on this path.
Before we begin our walk along the Druid Way to discover the realms of Tree Wisdom and the Circles of Song, I'd like to introduce myself to you more completely by recounting some of my personal history:
This work represents the imbas that illuminated the darkness of my threefold ignorance, to borrow a phrase from the life of Angus Mac ind Oic. My imbas experience had three parents in much the same way that knowledge is the offspring of the three Druids of Partholan. Its first parent in knowledge was the child of my youthful dreams, which I struggled long and hard to master. With ever increasing control, I was able to direct the activities of my dream-time and to create worlds in which to play and learn. It was during this time of dreaming that I first became aware of Otherworldly consciousness. At times, during my dreams, I found myself being instructed and taught to the vast amusement of my "instructors." Dreams became a struggle between my always rebellious spirit and the guidance of these other beings. It was also during this time that I experienced several accidents and illnesses which were themselves coupled with Otherworldly experiences and periods of "second sight." During these times of sickness and travail, I would sometimes be in a separate reality, foreseeing the events of the near and distant future.
A Druid must see all of reality: the dreams, the visions, and the perceptions.
My adventures in the Dreamtime soon found themselves competing with my more formal education in the public schools. I dived into my secular studies with the excitement of a kid in a candy shop. Knowledge of the world and society was very fulfilling and rewarding, yet something was missing from the hallways of secular education. This lack of completeness within secular education caused me to seek beyond the ordinary for knowledge of a more esoteric nature. It was during my research into other forms of knowledge that I discovered the rudimentary techniques of shamanism and meditation. Shamanism described the more formal ways of the Dreamtime and the Otherworld of my youthful experiences. It also showed me a way to overcome social conditioning to more fully perceive all of reality. Until then, I had resisted having conscious visions as something that was perhaps abnormal. Transcendental meditation introduced me to Yoga and ways to control the breath, the heartbeat and the mind. As I gained control of my body, mind and spirit, through meditation, I began to experiment with ways of changing reality. At the same time I was questioning the teachings of traditional religion. I was seeking truth.
A Druid must know the inner self and must reconcile tradition, perception and contradiction.
No matter how strongly I reasoned, and no matter what the initial assumptions and conditions were, all attempts at deducing a purpose to reality and a central control of it were doomed to becoming circular arguments. I despaired of ever finding a true solution to this matter. My only successes were in making my circles larger and larger before they turned back upon themselves in endless loops. It was within the quietness of meditation that I encountered the second parent of this work on Ogham divination. As I lay calling out into the darkness of my mind, I folded my perceptions back, one upon one another. I collapsed my reality until it was no longer around me. It became a black sphere of being and existed completely within my mind's eye, until I could see all parts of it simultaneously. It was then that I met my guide. A being of shining golden flecks of light came to me out of the darkness and pulled me into its center. This center of darkness is the 'Not-World' that is sometimes called An t-Saoil Uile or Annwn in Celtic tradition. It is the dark womb of creation that connects to all parts of reality. When one is within the Not-World, creation can occur and journeys can be accomplished to anywhere that the mind can conceive. Awareness is no longer limited by neural capacity and information is no longer limited to memory alone. The mind is re-united with its greater self and communication is a series of "knowings" rather than word sequences or symbols. Knowing replaces thinking and answers outnumber questions. The "Not-World" is the second parent of the knowledge found within this book. It taught me about the flows of imbas and connected me across time and space to the knowledge that creates.
A Druid stands at the crossroads of the worlds.
The third parent of this work is the silence of the Druids themselves. They did not write their knowledge in words, nor did they trust to books for education. A Druidic student attained wisdom through verbal exchange and repetition, observation and experience; discipline and mind expansion. The existence of even one Druid was a guarantee that all Druidic knowledge was still retained and available to be taught and learned. Some think that no Druids or Druidic teachings survived the twofold onslaught of Roman legions and the later legions of well-meaning Roman Christian priests. In the case of the legions, Druids were slaughtered without quarter at Mona in 61 CE. Only those who were elsewhere survived within isolated pockets, as resistance continued in the hills of Western Britain and Scotland.
Fortunately for us and for Dráíocht, the Romans never invaded Ireland in force. It is there that we find the best preserved information about Druidic practices within the traditions of the Filidh. In the centuries that followed, the new wave of Christianity swept into the British Isles promising a fulfillment of spirit in this life and the next to those who would convert. The Celtic people, as a continuation of their existing spirituality embraced the spiritual message of Christianity. It was woven into their tales and traditions to the point that stories such as the "Quest for the Holy Grail" were developed and the ancient Celtic deities were granted sainthood, while Brighid was said to have fostered Christ himself into the family of the Gael. Worship and honoring of the Old Gods continued in many Celtic lands even after the conversion to Christianity was said to have succeeded. The Tuatha Dé Danann became known as fallen angels who stood apart from those of Heaven or Hell. Many of the priests who ministered to the people recognized these dual ways. Priests who could provide spiritual aid and comfort in both the new and the old ways became known as 'Crane Clerics.' These Crane Clerics were a continuation of Druidic ways within the body of the Church. In a sense, some of these clerics became the new Druids though they also had to serve both the Church and the ways of the people, as well as the spirit of the land.
A Druid is a creature of spirit, inhabiting a physical body, with a mind that has achieved clarity of insight.
As I traced my genealogy through several wars of independence and through hundreds, then thousands, of years of antiquity, I discovered the origins of my people within their burial mounds on the Plain of Brega within the chambered cairns of Cnogba. It was here that I discovered the roots of the darkness that became O'Dubhain. The dark well of our origins seemed to be marked by the passage of the Equinoctial Sun as it passed from the eastern entrance to the west within the hill of my ancestors. In this journey of my spirit's vision beyond time and space, I beheld its many folded nature in the basin of the Nine Dúile and the dark waters of their baptism. Considering these ancient origins and images, my sense of ordinary reality continued to shift as the past unfolded within my mind's eye. In one of these visions, I was taken to the Battle at the Ford between my ancestor Ferdia and his foster brother Cú Chulainn. That was where the stone breastplate of Ferdia was shattered by his bright brother's three-pronged spear, the Gae Bolga. It was also within these visions and traditions that I discovered the symbolic language of the stones, from old to new. In a sense, I discovered stones that can speak, as well as stones that can cry out, and stones that can bear witness. Each of these stones is shaped by its purpose and covered with symbols. It was within these stone symbols that I once again beheld the gateways to the knowledge of bright stars and dark groves. The symbols upon the stones marched forward through the years until the first of the Celtic Wise recognized their speech. These symbols and marks became known as Fionn's wisdom and were recorded upon stone and wood. In the Ogham, one such structure of wisdom and symbols is known as Fionn's Ladder. It was upon such a ladder that I discovered the progressions to wisdom of the Druids and it is under the ridgepole of their house that I will attempt to define it within this book. There are many doorways to knowledge that travel beyond our ignorance. It is to these doorways that we will apply the keys of the Ogham.
A Druid dares to explore beyond darkness and ignorance.
I have opened each of these doorways to knowledge with its own key and its sacred song. I have discovered new knowledge and new doorways to knowledge beyond knowledge, as well as wisdom upon wisdom. Each step has provided access to a family of steps, as each leap brings understanding to another side of knowledge. The courage to open each door must be gained from the need to seek the truth that is hidden from the world. Such work is not suited for the timid or the shy. One must be on fire with the quest for truth. The most fearsome adversary that will be met within this darkness is oneself and one's shadow. Death's dark eyes see truly, yet life's warmth awaits us beyond the edge of darkness. If you are one who seeks truth beyond fear and Life beyond Death, then come step into my darkness, a world beyond fears, a Not Place of Making, an unmaking of worlds, a creation of others. The fire that lights your way must become a Seeking of Truth. Without that light, there is only darkness and fear. I am Searles O'Dubhain. I have met myself within the outer darkness of the unknown and I have found myself within the Inner Light of Imbas. Come into the Ogham and journey beyond Fear.
A Druid travels the ways of creation using the truth of knowledge as a guide to wisdom.
I trust that this introduction gives one a better understanding of who I am and what I mean by the Druid Way.
Colophon
Written by Searles O'Dubhain and posted to alt.religion.druid on 26 March 2005, at the spring equinox. This text is the introduction to a larger work on Ogham divination that Searles was writing at the time. Searles O'Dubhain was a practitioner and teacher of Celtic Druidry and founder of The Summerlands. This document remains one of the most complete personal accounts of the Druidic path available in the Usenet archive.
Preserved from the Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Original Message-ID: [email protected]
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