Welcome to Woodland Bard School

Introducing Ivy.

Woodland Bard Sunday 13th October @ 6pm

Paid subscribers will receive a FREE link the Saturday morning before the event (please contact me if not received)- no need to book below.

Our Live sessions include story, poetry and meditation accompanied by gentle shamanic drumming. This month we shall explore the Ivy ogham and revisit and explore further the epic tale of the of the battle of Maige Tuired and the birth of Bres, son of Elatha and his reign.

All are welcome.

Welcome to the Woodland Bard School 1998- 2024

Jonathan is a spell-binding Bard with a phenomenal memory, and his empathy, enthusiasm and presentation were outstanding. Unwind in the Woods course participant

A really warm welcome to our ever-growing mailing list and a heartfelt thank you for your continued support. I thought as we approach nearly 4,000 readers it would be good to touch base with you all.

Our Woodland Bard School has been in operation since 1998 starting from a caravan and a plot of land in Pembrokeshire, Wales where I started my first initiative to grow and plant wild flowers and trees part funded by the Prince’s Youth Trust.

I work as a woodsman, Shamanic practitioner, naturalist and bushcraft instructor. For over twenty years I have been a professional storyteller and speaker, trained in Bushcraft, Woodcraft and Expedition Leadership. Over the last 30 years I have researched and studied the folklore of the natural world of the British Isles running many workshops exploring the deep spiritual practices rooted in the sister islands of Britain and Ireland. My practice is based on full inclusivity working with trauma, mental health and wellbeing.  If you can get to Brighton I do offer one to one sessions.

For the past seven years I have had the great privilege to train with Caitlín and John Matthews on their Walking between the Worlds Shamanic programme (more details below) who both provide rich offerings here on Substack, simply click on their names to know more. The training has deepened my connection even further to nature and my ancestral lands.

What the Woodland Bard School offers:

Our most up to date articles and recordings you will find here delivered direct to your inbox. Our articles cover a range of well-researched articles and practical knowledge on ecology, botany, Irish mythology and our sacred landscape.

Paid subscribers will have access to all the recordings and articles created so far and in addition to the articles will receive a link to our monthly online Woodland Bard Session which includes story, poetry and meditation accompanied by gentle shamanic drumming. The sessions are followed by an in-depth article on the session and a recording of the meditations and the themes that we explored.

Much of my work is outside and in-person and although the online resources are designed for a continued support in a nature-based practice my hope is they are stepping off points :

‘…to fly into the woods and meadows in wild enthusiasm, I feel like shouting this morning with excess of wild animal joy.’ (John Muir)

To support this work and to feel an excess of wild animal joy unplug from all networks and soak up the bounty of nature whether in a city park or vast wilderness and when you need a hand you can access our emails or if you able join us on a course. Our articles encourage a minimum time online and will not be found on social media networks.

Walking between the Worlds Shamanic Training

Shamanic Training Courses

I am very excited to be co-teaching with Tish Marble on the Foundation course which enables students to proceed to the next level of the Walkers Between Worlds Shamanic Training Programme with Caitlín Matthews and other teachers.

The training is profound, meticulous and rooted in the Sister Islands of Britain enabling students to journey, heal, quest and arbitrate along the ancient paths of wisdom, gathering spirit allies. - Highly Recommended.

The course will be in the beautiful grounds of the Sustainability centre, Hampshire, in the South of England on November 2025 and February 2026. Take both weekends to qualify for further training. The course has been booking up fast so get in touch to secure your place.

For further details please email Tish at : ravenswoodshamanics@gmail.com

The course is also being run in Ireland and Oxford by highly experienced tutors, please see details below:

15-16 March and 13-14 Sept 2025 WALKERS BETWEEN THE WORLDS 35rd Oxford Foundation Course in Celtic & Ancestral Shamanism with John Matthews and Wil Kinghan.

For further details please email : janedmay@btinternet.com

14-16 March 2025 and 19-21 Sept 2025. WALKERS BETWEEN THE WORLDS 2nd Irish Foundation Course in Celtic & Ancestral Shamanism with Margot Harrison, and Kait Curtis.

For further details please email : Kate Curtis kaitcurtis@icloud.com

Many blessings to all our readers and I hope the articles and recordings continue to support and inspire you to connect to our one and beautiful world.

Tenacious Ivy

 Ivy Hedera helix ( Latin)  Gort (Ogham) 

Greenest of pastures is Ivy.
Greener than grasses, sweeter than pastures due to it’s associations with cornfields.
Pleasing oil, corn.
Size of a warrior.

Book of Ballymote 1391

Ivy warns us if difficult times approach but also to rise above them and search for the ultimate truth through a more focused approach without restricting and binding us to any one concept.

To love Ivy or not seems to be a big question, it seems to have a sinister deadly reputation alongside a positive deeply loved one.

‘Gort’ its Gaelic Ogham name originally meant ‘green field’ and early Celtic nature poetry speaks of its enduring quality, growing green and fresh amongst the highest canopies of the trees. Further works associate ivy with pleasing oil and sweet grasses, a plant that warns us of dangers and gives us direction and insight.
Ivy became a Christmas decoration hung on doors, beams and fire places protecting the house from malicious spirits that cause havoc at this time. In Scotland Ivy was said to protect cattle and their milk from harm and in Shropshire cups were made from the lower stems of ivy which were used to give milk to infants and therefore protect them from whooping cough.

However the other side of ivy cannot be denied as early scholars describe it as ‘size of a warrior’ as its thin wiry stems grow into trunks and climb to the greatest heights.

Does it restrict, bind and suffocate its host? As early as the 3rd Century BC Theophastrus declared ivy an evil plant that harmed its host, yet the latest research has backed the romantic Celtic poets and the later Bishop Munt of the eighteenth century who praised it with great devotion. The research has shown that ivy will only grow on large canopy trees and dominate them when they are already dying back even demonstrating that if the tree should recover the ivy will pull back therefore proving a harmonious symbiotic relationship with its host!

It's verdure trails
The Ivy shoot
Along the ground
From root to root;
Or climbing high
With random maze
O'er elm and ash and elder strays,
And round each trunk
A net-work weaves,
Fantastic and each bough with leaves
Of countless shapes, entwines and studs
With pale green blooms
And half formed buds.

extract from a poem by Bishop Richard Mant,1776 -1848

Our ancestors could not deny the incredible tenacious, raw survival qualities of ivy. It was used as a penalty for the farmer bringing in the last harvest as it was bond around a figurine then given to the farmer as a symbol of ill luck.

The ivy that I truly love has autumn greenish-yellow flowers that secrete  an abundance of nectar pollinated by wasps and flies.  Birds feed upon the late berries when food is scarce and especially the holly blue butterfly caterpillars feed upon its leaves.

Medicinally a brew of fresh leaves boiled in vinegar will soothe a stitch or headache and the leaves freshly picked can be used to clean wounds and sores. The leaves and berries powdered can be used as a snuff for blocked noses and stuffy heads.‘

Join us to explore the wonder of the natural world and the deep mythology of our sacred landscape.