Chiltern Nemeton Grove
Grove Policy Statement
• The Grove cannot be held accountable for the conduct of any individual attendee at our ceremonies and events. (this Includes unwanted sexual attention, disrespectful behavior, nudity and obscene language that is stated as unacceptable below). Therefore we ask that members who may bring along friends or family to kindly inform them of our Grove Policy and Disclaimer.
• The Grove is cannot be held accountable for the health and safety of individuals at our ceremonies and events. All attendees must take personal responsibility and appropriate measures to ensure their own security and wellbeing.
• The Grove cannot be held responsible for the supervision of children and young adults (Under 18s) and thus any children or young adults attending our ceremonies and events must be supervised by a parent or responsible adult. If parents trust an adult within the Grove and that adult member takes responsibility for an under 18, this is acceptable but only with a letter of permission from both parent and temporary carer.
• The Grove cannot be held responsible for the supervision of vulnerable adults attending our events therefore any vulnerable adult attending our ceremonies or events must be supervised by their designated carer.
• We ask that attendees refrain from attending ceremonies intoxicated and if conduct is disruptive or potentially hazardous you will be asked to leave on that occasion.
• Illegal drugs are not acceptable in any of our ceremonies or events.
• We ask that all attendees of our ceremonies and events seek permission of all people attending when wishing to take photographs or any audio and video recording.
• On permission being granted to record the ceremony or event, we reserve the right to enquire after the intentional use of said recordings. All images and audio captured of the attendees of the ceremony remain the copyright of their owner. Additionally any part of the ceremony that is recorded and is original to the a member or members present, including song, dance, poetry, writing or any other form of artistic expression or otherwise will remain the intellectual property of that individual or the grove and may not be reproduced without permission.
• We ask that attendees do not bring any ritual daggers or swords to our ceremonies as this may offend some members and the spiritual philosophy of our relationship with spirit.
• Any attendee who acts in any abusive or discriminating behaviour in regards to ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age or disability will not be tolerated and you will be asked to leave or may not be welcome to come again.
• Attendees are responsible for protecting the ecology of our places of ceremony, in that all litter is cleared up before we leave and that all offerings that remain are biodegradable and have no impact on the well-being of the habitat or landscape.
• By attending any of the Grove’s events or ceremonies you are bound by the policies and disclaimers mentioned here. Should these be transgressed at anytime, the Grove reserves the right to ask the offending party to leave, in some cases this may result in termination of your membership to the Grove and associated electronic groups.
• Should you be distressed in any way as a result of your experiences at a grove event, you are welcome to request support from a trio of designated Soul Friends, who will be able to signpost you to appropriate sources of support or impartial help and advice, as well as ensuring that your feedback is heard (only if requested by you) by the wider council of Soul-Friends.•
Grove disclaimer
The Grove does not take responsible for the actions or conduct of those who attend our ceremonies and events. All attendees whether organisers, members or visitors must at all times take responsibility for their own actions, conduct and all health and safety considerations. As stated in the Grove Policy Statement, we have a policy of both ethical and safety considerations and it is important that these are adhered too. Should these terms be transgressed the Grove leaders (Council Members or Grove Druid) have the right to ask you to leave and have the right to terminate your membership and right to attend future events organised by the Chiltern Nemeton Grove. Children are very welcome in the life of the Grove where appropriate however parents or responsible adult carers must take full responsibility for their own children. If any of the above is not agreed to then we ask that you do not attend the Grove events.
Welcome to the Chiltern Nemeton Grove and to the Way of the Oaken Heart FAQ
Q: What is the difference between the Grove and the Way of the Oaken Heart?
A: The Way of the Oaken Heart is the way we do druidry, and the Chiltern Nemeton Grove is where we do it.
Q: Where is the Grove?
A: Well, it’s a community rather than a place, and it’s a bit of a movable feast. We meet once a year at an Annual Grove Moot to decide on the locations for our ceremonies, which are held in wide-ranging locations, mostly out of doors, across the Chiltern region. The details of our ceremonies are posted well in advance on the Grove’s Facebook group and this websites events page..
Q: Do I have to be a member of the Grove to come to a ceremony?
A: No, our ceremonies are open to all who agree to abide by our Code of Conduct. If you would like to meet some of us before coming to one, check out our Grove coffee morning events on the first Sunday of the month which most of them are at Tiki’s cafe, Hemel Hempstead.
Q: Are your events accessible to disabled people and people with limited mobility?
A: Some are, and we are beginning to scout out more accessible locations. We would value input from anyone with accessibility concerns to help us make our ceremonies more inclusive.
Q: I don’t have a car, and some of your events are in the middle of the countryside. What options do I have?
A: It is often possible to arrange a lift from fellow Grove members – please communicate your needs by commenting on the Facebook events page.
Q: I don’t have Internet/Facebook. Is there any other way to contact you?
A: We don’t have fixed premises or a budget for print publications, but please feel free to show up at a coffee morning (Tiki’s, Marlowes, Hemel Hempstead on the 1st Sunday of the month) and make contact that way. You are welcome to ask a friend or relative who is on Facebook to join the Grove group on your behalf and download the information for you – members have done this in the past. Facebook is the only way that we can effectively communicate large amounts of detailed information, and discuss arrangements.
Q: How much does it cost to join?
A: There is no membership fee, and our ceremonies are offered free of charge to all who abide by the Code of Conduct. However, if you decide to become more involved with the Grove’s activities, please be aware that the Grove depends on its members being willing to contribute time, energy and low/no-cost offerings (eg baking a loaf of bread, brewing mead, making floral or other offerings, offering lifts, wisdom & creativity, or sharing teachings and other skills) to make the ceremonies and other events a success. Very occasionally we may club together informally to pay for a venue or similar expense, but contributions are only ever voluntary.
Q: What is the Way of the Oaken Heart?
A: It is our way of practising Druidry. Anyone wanting to learn more may request a set of Foundation teachings from our Grove Druid Paul Sandford. However, they will also need to be prepared to host the teachings in their home or other suitable location, because we don’t have physical premises. The upstairs room at Tiki’s is often available to use free of charge, if you can’t host it at home.
Q: What do your members believe in?
A: We don’t have a set of beliefs that you have to subscribe to, just the Code of Conduct. Our ceremonies and practices have been adopted by people of other faiths, people who identify as pagan, and people of no particular faith. You are free to revere whichever deity/deities you choose, or not to believe in any deity, as long as you don’t try to impose your beliefs on others. Some of us revere the Goddess, others the God & Goddess, some are drawn to specific deities like Brigid and Cernunnos, and some the Mystery of Life or the Universal Force. We are committed to interfaith activities, and we welcome curious members of other faiths who may just want to come along to find out more about our Animistic form of Druidry. In our ritual form known as the Oaken Heart Way we hold a space to make offerings to the Nature Spirits, Ancestors and Deities, this is a Orthopraxic ritual structure than a Orthodoxy of belief. The Oaken Heart Way for those who wish to train in this pathway is rooted in a Celtic inspired Animistic neo-pagan Druidry and branches out to a spiritual pluralism. Many of the Grove members express their spirituality in a Polytheistic and Pantheistic way which is shared by many Neo-Pagan Traditions.
Q: Do you appropriate Native American or other forms of indigenous spirituality?
A: We really hope not. We don’t sell ceremony, teachings, or ‘spiritual advancement’ of any kind, and our practice within the Grove is based on the Celtic cosmology of Land, Sea and Sky. We don’t ‘smudge’, do ‘sweat lodges’, ‘sun dances’ or ‘medicine wheel’. Neither do we practice core shamanism (Harner). Some of our ideas about the soul and our place in the cosmos stem from Irish bardic sources, but we are not strict reconstructionists (eg metal is involved in our fire-making/flame-lighting), and we do practice a form of animism/guided visualisation that is based on building a strongly imagined connection to the realms of land/nature, the ancestors and deity via the central image of the Oak Tree. To a large extent, we are having to re-imagine our practice as we go along. Having said all that, we are aware (courtesy of the New Age Frauds and Plastic Shamans website) that white privilege can often be blind. If anything that we do is in any way disrespectful to any native/indigenous tradition, we vow to apologise, change it, and educate ourselves further.
Q: What’s the point of it if you’re not offering spiritual advancement?
A: If you stick around and get more involved with the Grove, there is no guarantee that you’ll ‘advance’ at all, just be asked to take on more work! While some of our members may be involved in other practices, and you may, at times, feel ‘healed’ by what we do, we don’t claim to heal anyone. We can’t offer you enlightenment, either. Just a way of celebrating what is already there with a community of like-minded others, who may or may not have some wisdom to share with you. The community is what it’s all about. And we’re not just ‘spiritual,’ either. We are also developing our approach to eco-activism, as a way of making Druidry meaningful and useful in the wider world. We also have interfaith activities and social/musical events going on.