Interview with the Bard Debby Flavell

Debby initiated as a Bard of the Order of the Oaken Heart with the Chiltern Nemeton Grove on the Spring Equinox Rite 2017

1 What does Grove Community mean to you?

I love being able to share the Wheel of the Year ceremonies with like minded

souls, who are following the Druidic Path. The fun, laughter and sharing

mean a lot to me. There is so much talent and the music, poetry and songs

shared so freely is wonderful. Unfortunately I live some distance away from

fellow members of Chiltern Nemeton Grove. If I lived closer I would be able to go to

the coffee mornings, moots and the pubs after the ceremonies. This makes

it difficult to get to know everyone better.

2 How does your spiritual path impact on your home and family life?

I have been on a spiritual path for many years. So you could say that I was

already pre-formed when I met my husband. My children (now grown up)

have been exposed to my spirituality since birth. This hasn’t prevented

them from thinking I am a ‘mad hippie’. Of course I take this as a

compliment. There was a tiny issue when my daughter met her future

husband. He is a ‘bible reading Christian’. He was very wary of me

initially….can’t think why. We had many discussions and one day I said to

him ‘Elijah, you and I ultimately believe in the same things, we just have

different names for them’. After that he was able to relax. We have a great

relationship and a year ago provided me with the most adorably cute

grandson in the whole wide world. I am not biased of course. Your Grove

3 Tell us a little about your bardic journey in the Grove

I loved being able to offer to the Grove stories, poetry, prayers…and erm a

chant. The chant was a real challenge. I am not known for my beautiful

singing voice and I don’t play an instrument as such. I was really nervous,

totally out of my depth, but with support did it!

4 A little about your relationship with nature spirits​

Hares are sacred to me. I am lucky enough to see them most days,

especially in spring and summer. Not so often in the colder months. I feel

privileged every time I see them and to have them in my life. I love the deer

and have had some amazing experiences of trust and curiosity with them. I

feel a close connection with the landscape and often sing my ‘Earth Song’ as

an offering of love and gratitude to the land.

I have formed a close connections with two trees in particular. One is a very

old Beech. I call her the Mother Tree. She has patiently listened to my

troubles when I was going through a difficult time. She listens to me when I

tell her how grateful and joyous I am about life. She has no choice of

course. I believe she is totally non-judgemental and gives her love and

support freely. I have also got a Black Walnut tree that I connect to on a

daily basis. I spend time thanking him for all he does for us and the

creatures whose lives he supports. I thank him for providing oxygen for us

to breath. For years he has had some sort of blight on his leaves although

his walnuts are abundant each year. The love I receive from him is

incredible. This year his leaves are 99% blight free. He thanked me the

other day for healing him. Once I would have dismissed this as fantasy on

my part. However I am on the Ovate Grade now with OBOD. There is a lot

of work with trees. Part of the teaching is not to dismiss your intuition or

thoughts that pop into your head. I hope this doesn’t sound like it is

coming from a place of over inflated ego. I actually feel incredibly humble. I

have never shared this before.

5 A little about your relationship with ancestors

My Mother’s side was English and Irish. My father was of Scottish

ancestory on both sides. I have a strong affinity with Scotland, especially

the Outer Hebrides. My Great-Grandfather came from Edinburgh. In 1875

he left for Australia. He was a great adventurer and I would love to have

known him. He was married twice, his first wife gave him 7 children. After

she died he married an Australian midwife called Sarah, my Great

Grandmother, when he was in his 60’s and went on to have 6 children with

her.

From age 4 to 11 I lived in the Australian Outback. I loved the sparkly rocks

and soil, the empty creek beds we used to play in. I loved the navy blue sky.

There was no pollution there, at night the sky was ink black and star

studded. The birds were raucous and the flies were annoyingly abundant! I

remember feeling connected to that amazing landscape, the sky and the

stars. There were no limits to how far we could wander. We were totally

free.

However I feel at home here in the UK and love the local fields, woods and

the Thames which is only a field away from where I live. The Hambleden

Valley has amazing energy and every day I remind myself how lucky I am to

live where I do.

6 A little about your relationship with deities, such as Mother Earth

Until a few years ago I had never aligned myself with a deity. I was looking

for a Celtic Goddess. So I was surprised that it was Hekate who finally

caught my attention. She had been tapping me on the shoulder for several

years. Her dominions are the Earth, Sky and Seas. I view her as Earth

Mother. She is a complex Goddess and very keen on self development. Over

the last few years I have also struck up a relationship with Lord Pan.

I sense Chiltona as a young Goddess full of fun and laughter. Maybe it is

because Nemeton Grove is like this. There is part of me that wonders if

Chiltona is one of Hekate’s faces.

7 How does your spiritual life impact on your political, environmental and

life style.

I have never really considered myself as a political person. However I am so

disturbed about what is going on in our world, I feel that changing. I vote

Green in the hope that one day we will have people running the country who

understand that we only have one home. I despair of our species, I suspect

one day we will wipe ourselves out. I am horrified that our politicians think

fracking is ok! This really scares me. Our beautiful home will replenish

herself and become whole again, once we have gone….as go as a species we

will.

8 What gifts you have experienced by doing also the OBOD Bardic programme.

The OBOD Bardic Grade was fantastic. The course has been re-written

fairly recently I believe. I learned so much on this journey. I loved every

minute of it. The gifts were many, but the main gift was that everything I

have done in my life lead me to Druidry. For 30 years I have taught yoga.

For 30 years I have worked with natural therapies, each qualification

leading on to another qualification. All supporting each other. Everything

came together when I started walking the Druidic Path.

I am now working with the Ovate Grade. I am finding this more challenging

as I sometimes feel overwhelmed with the amount I have to learn. There is

no pressure or hurry to finish. So I am enjoying my feeling of being Lost in

the Forest and aimlessly wandering around at times.