We are delighted to announce that the sixth Dragon Rise camp will take place from Wednesday 7th August to Sunday 11th August 2019 to be held at the glorious Druid-owned Wildways on the Borle – the site of our fourth camp, and where we hope to have found a permanent home.
The Untamed Heart
With a host of furious fancies
Whereof I am commander,
With a burning spear and a horse of air,
To the wilderness I wander.
Have you ever been an outsider? Have you ever wanted to be truly wild?
In a dream, a dark-blue-skinned woman appears, fierce, cunning, and wise. She whispers, “There is a place beyond this village, beyond the known. Some are driven there through injustices, some drawn by their very natures, and others still are called there by the more-than-human world. This place you might call the wild. It is both inside and outside of you”. You now remember the green bloods and the rocks and the stones and the rolling hills. Can you hear their call?
You run away into the wild green and the black. You know that the heath and the forest are full of terrors, and the meres and pools are inhabited by spirits – there are tree-people; the sylphs of air and undines of water, dryads and the ancestral dead; the shape-shifters; wights and marsh beings and some that simply look like mist – yet still you go. What makes you run? What are you afraid of? What are you running towards?
Feet stepping into the forest, you are far from alone in this landscape of spirits – some friend, some foe – and others still indifferent to the human- all very much alive. After a while you sense you are being followed. You try to hide but still something follows. Finally you call for help and then immediately a being appears. They ask a riddle and tell you to wait and think before answering. They will ask for the answer later. If you are wrong there will be a price. Can you trust them? You agree and, eventually, the being consents to be your Ally and a compact is made.
The Ally shows you; how to make talismans and fetishes; the songs of entry to the land; how to be stealthy as the wild ones are; how to make offerings to your ancestors; how to camouflage yourself and warns you to make sure you partake of no stranger’s hospitality (lest it bind you). The Ally explains the importance of cunning. They are your Guide and they take you to meet monsters, gods and spirits, shapeshifters and hags.
2019 Call for Teachers
We would like to invite applications for Teaching team members. We are looking for both Full Teachers and Student Teachers, we especially encourage applications from UK & European teachers since we are committed to building up a strong core of local teachers, but please don’t let that stop you applying from wherever you are in the world! We are looking for applications form those who are skilled in teaching magical arts to children and mixed groups as well as those that can offer mentorship to student teachers and to community members. We are open to student and new teacher applicants from all those who have not already committed to teaching a camp in summer 2019.
Please apply via the Reclaming Teacher Database making sure that your application is up to date and send us a letter of intent introducing yourself, your skills and what calls you to offer yourself to teach to Dragon Rise Camp by 21st September 2018.
In order to keep camp accessible for as many as possible, we try and keep costs as low as possible, thus Dragon Rise Camp does not pay teachers or organisers. We do offer a travel stipend that should cover most travel costs within Europe and perhaps further afield.
If you have any questions about our upcoming camp, or teaching please contact us at dragonrisecamp@yahoo.co.uk.
