The Clan

The Celtic Clan of the Tribes

Winston Churchill
"It is no use saying, 'We are doing our best.' You have got to succeed in doing what is necessary".

Introduction

Do you hear the call of the the Goddess & Spirits of Nature

Does it feel right to you that everything has spirit, to which we are kin?

Does reincarnation make sense to you?

Do you still believe in magic and find beauty in the natural world around you?

Do you wish that you could be more actively involved in celebration with people just like you?

Would you stand up for your right to believe as you do, in freedom and without predudice?

Do you act with honour and try to be the best you can become?

Do you wish, as in ancient times, that each of us belonged to a tribe where all are respected and free. We do

You don't need to be a Druid, or a Witch, or have a lable or a title to be Clan

Clan means 'family'

We are the Celtic family of the tribes, the children of this goddess of land we call our home.

We hear the call

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Imagine:

Summer Solstice 20xx the crowds gather around stonehenge, this year will be special:

In the distance the rumble of drums beating tribal rhthms that excite and awaken the heart, is this a memory of some past life, my heart knows something I cannot quite grasp!

The sound builds, coming closer, 1000 drums in a column made of 50+ tribes from all over Albion, banners billowing on the wind, come over the hill in into view. Great names sketched into our bones like Iceni, Sulure, Brigantii...can be seen together as not since 2000 years before when Rome enslaved us. There are chieftans, Celtic warriors, Druids in white, green and blue, ladies with flowers in their hair, the shaman, wiccans, healers, musicians and families of the Clan. The people of the Goddess are here!

In the last few years this group have spoken as one, their system of faith is now respected in law, their voice of good sense speaks out to the world. They honour each other and the earth, they have woodlands and circles all over the country as sacred space, they have summer camps and festivals, where each teaches and shares gifts with the other. They are family, they are the Clan.

To build anything you must first dream of it. Think it through. Then DO IT.

If you gave a resounding YES to the questions above, and your spine tingled in affirmation of the rightness of this dream, you are one of those who is already a Celt in your heart. Your beliefs are the beliefs of the ancestors and you walk in their footsteps with love for this goddess of land. Will you help make this happen?

Why must we do this?

Divided, we will not be able to speak with one voice to teach the world how to respect nature, we will not be able to have our beliefs recognised alongside other systems of faith recognised in law, we will not see the path we follow discussed in religeous education at school, we will not be able to procure and protect wild land for our sacred use protection and enjoyment, we will remain ineffective as the natural world, and traditions we love, are destroyed around us. Many pagan groups are being poisoned by those who do not believe, and who do not understand the ancient wisdom, and by bickering.

The Clan is to be a movement for those who believe in the old ways, who believe that the Celtic Pagan path should be shared with truth, respect, equality and honour. In the Clan each family group, order, grove, covern, circle of friends, individual, witch, wiccan, shaman, healer, warrior, bard, ovate, Druid; each that is willing to swear to a code of basic conduct and of honour based on equality and mutual respect is welcome and equally respected.

Families belong to the tribes, taking name and inspiration from the Celtic tribe of the area of land which nurtures them and is their home, all the tribes, make up the Clan. We are the Celtic family of the tribes, the children of this goddess of land we call our home. WE ARE ONE PEOPLE.

The clan is being founded now, its constitution carefully created to allow access to all the Celtic faithful as equals never again to be divided, or taken away from the true path by bad leadership petty differences and ignorance. Individuals and existing groups will be able to join the clan without loss of individual identity but it will involve signing up to shared values and code of conduct.

If this is your dream, please be patient, the Clan will be open to you very soon, and will then be yours to shape.

How has the idea come about?

A coversation between Frank and the Tim Sabastion last year in which both Druids briefly discussed their regret to each other that without the Tribes, the Druids who by nature will always be few in number, had no people to serve and so lost focus and also the ability to muster larger groups when needed. Also the Celtic Pagan faithfull are scattered individuals and small groups mostly, which in isolation from each other could not speak up for common needs and enjoy belonging to a greater whole, a family. Tims dream, shared by Frank was to re-establish the tribes of our land.

Tim sadly died recently from illness, leaving for tir na og at a time when divisions within the Druid community were threatening to pull the tradition to an all time low.

The wider pagan community looked on in horror as Druids tore into Druids and aired our disagreements on open forums. This became known in the cyber community as 'the druid wars'. CoBDO was also under attack, so the effectiveness of the Druid Council to resolve this matter internally was seriously limited. Many Druid groups and pagan friends withdrew from shared activity to stay 'well out of it'. A few Druids, supported by our families of Wiccans, Shamen, Healers, Pagan musicians and Stag lords joined together to raise the energy of celebration at Stonehenge and to meet the challenges of Solstice and the new7wonders project working as one. This worked very well. It became blatently obvious that even as we follow seperate paths, we belong together, and work well together as one people. Many of the issues dissolve away when we acknowledge that we are separate traditions, and many groups with varied gifts, but are all equal and of 'one people'.

The Dolmen Clan, based in Dorset who are actively involved in positive paganism, have been structured and working well as a mixed community for many years. The Druids have their own groves, the Witches their own covens and moots, the Staglords gather in the forests and the hedge followers of the goddess all do their own thing, but they come together as one people, one family, for jointly supporting one another and sharing in celebration. It is a very happy and healthy community. While the Dolmen has leaders, these serve the community and do not place themselves above anyone else. The community is the heart of the group, not the leaders. Group decisions are arrived at by the whole group, all being equal.

One of the reasons that the Clan is not being rolled out immediately is so that we may learn from the Dolmen Clan and consult with other interested groups and individuals as how best to make this work and use their expertise in constructing something that we can all sign up to. Something that can last and be vibrant and honouring of our ancestors and the great land that nurtures us.

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Click on the link below to establish which Celtic territory you reside in, this is your tribe.

Tribal Map of Britain - Simple - Around 50AD