Q&A with Ellen Evert Hopman discussion
How do you define your Spirituality?
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I find it very hard to define my Spirituality. I had a good friend asking me this very question a few months ago and I had a hard time figuring out what to say.I suppose my best definition would be a search for balance and synchronism with myself and the natural world. I see the three realms of Land, Sea, and Sky all around me. The Triads in almost everything I do. My Patroness is The Morrigan so within my daily practice I see both the Darkness and Light of the World. I strive to interact with Nature on a personal and Spiritual level, and am currently working on ways to integrate my practice more fully into daily life.
As of yet I haven't been able to buy any of your books. It's on my list of books to buy as soon as I have some cash to spend. I believe having access to your books would help me immensely. I have always preferred my lessons told in story form. I find I can integrate the information much better that way.
I look forward to reading them!
Mod
While its always best for an author if you BUY the books, don't forget options like inter-library loan. Your local library should be able to get my books if you ask. I hope you will start with the novels (Priestess of the Forest and The Druid Isle) as these are a very easy way into the material. However, for deeper study please see my non fiction works such as A Druids Herbal of Sacred Tree Medicine. There are excersizes in there for the aspiring Druid and plenty of lore and medicine about trees. A Druids Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year will give you herbal details and also outlines for seasonal celebrations and ways to celebrate life passages such as hand fastings, funerals and child blessings. Thank you so much for posting here!
Ellen Evert Hopman
PS I just got word from Llewellyn that they have accepted the third book in the Priestess of the Forest series. It should be out in 2012 and hopefully the three novels will one day be a boxed set!
Your books do a wonderful job of reconstructing a vision of what life may have been like for a Ban-Drui (woman druid), particular one skilled in healing and herbal lore as seen in Priestess of the Forest and the Druid Isle. The format of training and initiation seen in the Druid Isle was fascinating. I truly enjoyed reading about "fictional" Druidic training programs, as the Forest School and Innis nan Druidneach school could serve as templates for modern day programs (or at least I can wish- I would love to send my child to one :). What I also find fascinating is the degree to which you note the cultural functions a ban-drui served: opening and closing major gatherings, acting as judges, advocates, ambassadors, educators to the children of noble-born, etc in addition to the healing and mystical responsibilities they are most often associated with. For me personally, these roles are fascinating because of the profession(s) I am drawn to and have been a part of (education, healing, law). Often times fictional portrayals of druids are of old men with strange powers. I enjoyed reading your saga of women who must deal with the socio-political, environmental, and physical aspects of their path- in addition to the mystical.
With regard to your non-fiction titles, they are an important part of my library on herbal uses (medicinal and spiritual). They also serve as guides for practices and plants to include on High days along the wheel of the year (solstices, equinoxes, Samhain, Oiemelc, Beltane, Lughnasad). I have found on more than one occasion that when seeking a natural remedy I feel a personal prompting to use an particular plant for a purpose I don't normally associate with it. I'll grab one of the Druid's Herbal books to check whether that use is listed. Your books have been excellent for learning new remedies/magical uses and double-checking information I receive by imbas (inspiration).
With regard to how I define my spirituality, I consider myself a Celtic Reconstructionist who also practices curanderismo. As I have a spiritual practice that emanates from two distinctly different parts of the world, I try not to syncretize or otherwise mix the practices, perhaps with the exception of herb lore that would overlap. There are certainly elements that they share- showing respect for and calling upon Ancestors, skillsets in herbalism and healing, mindfulness of seasonal cycles, communicating or shifting consciousness beyond the veil, etc that are found in numerous native practices around the world. However, I think that Mesoamerican curandero/a practices have an element of shamanhood that isn't similarly present in Celtic Reconstructionist practice.
I think that is important to note as a reconstructionist practitioner that I don't claim that my practices in curanderismo or druidry exactly match the practice of indigenous or historical practitioners- I recognize that mine is a modern reconstruction that will incorporate some practices and yet not include others. I don't use hallucinogens, for example, nor do I do animal sacrifice. While I recognize that these practices have been historically relevant, I choose practices that resonate with my character and are appropriate for my time and locality. I suppose that's the funny thing about contemporary reconstructionist practices- while we may pore over what history, archaeology, and folklore can tell us about these practices, we have freedom in determining what resonates for us and are not forced into roles based on gender, ethnicity, etc. I certainly appreciate that freedom.
PS- How exciting that the third installment in the Priestess of the Forest series is in the works!
Mod
Ellen
Mod
A nice review of A Druids Herbal of Sacred Tree medicine came out in Sagewoman this month. I'd love to hear from anyone who has tried the tree excersizes mentioned in the book!
Ellen
SageWoman
BBI Media, Inc.
www.witchesandpagans.com
REVIEW:
As a practicing herbalist, I am always on the lookout for books rich with
herbal lore. The problem is that most books are either medicinal or magical,
and when they're both, the information therein is not always especially
helpful. Enter Ellen Evert Hopman, whose book, however, is a thorough and
complete look at both. Hopman is not only an herbalist but a Druid
priestess, as well and she obviously has a keen intuitive sense of tree
medicine that she couples this with Druid lore (as well as Native American
lore). Sacred Tree Medicine traces through the Druid Ogham Tree alphabet,
giving the symbolic, liturgical, poetic, medicinal, and spiritual aspects of
each sacred tree.
Though there is focus on herb lore, the Goddess is given plenty of
attention, too. Hopman teaches her reader how each sacred tree assists in
spiritual practice and which face of the Goddess it represents. I had the
most fun taking this book to the forests by my home, identifying trees and
sampling their offerings. The book closes with a section on the Druidic arts
including magic, tools, festivals, and divinations. This gives the reader
the opportunity to put her newfound knowledge of trees and magic to
practical use.
Hopman is an incredible resource for all of us seeking to take our health,
medicine, and spirituality into our own hands. Sacred Tree Medicine deserves
a place on the shelf next to her other guides of magical and medicinal lore.
I am looking forward to our conversation. I'd like to start by asking how you define your Spirituality? And how do my books fit in to your quest? Feel free to expand the topic, veer off into the bushes, whatever!
Ellen Evert Hopman