Strange & Surreal: My First Druid Ceremony at Winter Solstice
Are Satanists really conducting terrifying rituals in the woods?
Being an open-minded journalist, tasked with interviewing a couple of Druids, I felt compelled to attend a ceremony and experience Druidry for myself. After all, I had a lot in common with these unusual characters — in particular, a strong environmental agenda and a general feeling that I didn’t fit into conventional modern society.
So I dragged my long-suffering husband, Vic, along to our first Druid ceremony on a woodland hilltop in wintery Buckinghamshire on December 22 to celebrate the Winter Solstice. We were both donning snow trousers, wellies and multiple layers of socks and jumpers, so we thought we were suitably attired to stand in the woods in the middle of winter and call upon the spirits of the earth. Not so!
As the others pulled in we felt distinctly under-dressed. Long velvet robes appeared and the group looked like something out of Stanley Kubrik’s notorious film, ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ about a mysterious underground cult.
We stood there awkwardly, while our companions jovially dragged their robes through the muddy puddles. We wondered if it would be rude to change our minds and make a hasty exit!
