About Our Work
As an antidote to Balor’s poisonous eye of Irish mythology that killed anything he looked at, The Druid Eye works to deeply honor and restore spiritual and mythic life. Rooted in the ancient Celtic mystery traditions, our work is a contemporary expression of Druidry that intends to form a doorway into a fuller life in harmony with the earth and with the world soul.
Reestablishing a spiritual and mythic worldview is an essential task as we move into a new era of human psychospiritual evolution. Our work aims to support this transition and provide a foundation for re-inhabiting authentic relationships to self, other, and world. All of our work is aimed at nurturing an integrated dialogue in a polarized world that falsely separates masculine and feminine, spirit and matter, humans and earth, and many other forms of false dualities.
The overarching goal of our work is to help our customers come into better alignment with the will of their soul, their connection to the web of existence that is the anima mundi, known in the druidic tradition as the Oran Mor, The Great Song. We see this as a sacred dialogue, and we strive to provide a container for this dialogue. All of our work is done jointly, allowing the sacred feminine and the sacred masculine to infuse all we do. This is the world soul in action, a balancing of energy, and is the path to healing – the antidote to Balor’s poisonous eye.
All of our work is based on the following assumptions.
The Hieros GamosThe Hieros Gamos
All of our work, whether readings or crafting of ritual tools (and even this about text!), is done jointly. In this way the Hieros Gamos - the sacred marriage - brings the divine feminine and the divine masculine into all we do. This is the world soul in action, a balancing of energy, and is the path to healing and soul retrieval and integration. Art credit: "The Lovers" card from the Druidcraft Tarot
Life is a Symbolic and Sacred DialogueLife is a Symbolic and Sacred Dialogue
All of our work intends to help you align with will of your soul, which is inherently aligned with web of all existence, the Oran Mor. Within the archetypal and symbolic language of Soul are messages from the otherworlds. Archetypal symbols encountered in various divinatory forms (such as tarot or astrology) invite us into a dialogue with the world soul and toward a fuller expression of our potential. The challenge is to understand the symbolic nature of these events and to understand the message within. Our readings are about understanding and dialoguing with these symbolic messengers. We can fully inhabit this dialogue by both engaging these symbols and also through the expression of our Self through ritual. Through various forms of archetypal readings and the crafting of ritual tools, our aim is to help inhabit that sacred space free of the distractions of modernity and find the deep serenity that comes from becoming aware of and re-connecting to our unity with the world soul. Art credit: "2 of Cups" card from the Sacred Circle Tarot
Shamanic, Alchemical, and HarmonicShamanic, Alchemical, and Harmonic
Our readings are shamanic.
We use various divination tools in conjunction with shamanic journeying. Thus, our readings are a process, not a matter of sitting down for 15 minutes and interpreting the symbols based on their traditional meaning. Our reports are not cut and paste compilations of what someone else says; they are reports of our shamanic work. While we can provide a traditional reading, we feel this is not sufficient, nor the true meaning of divination. Symbols can’t always be interpreted on the basis of a standard cultural understanding; they change over time, and especially within individual context – the traditional symbols do not always mean the same for everyone. In our readings, we work closely with what is in direct communication with the spirits – the archetypal symbols of soul and world. We do take traditional meanings into account, but only after we have journeyed to the otherworld and worked with the spirits to receive the true message of the reading.All of our readings are symbolically alchemical…
…in that they unify opposites. Both of us are involved in the reading and as such they all touch into the divine feminine and divine masculine, uniting them in a new form of intuitive reading. Additionally, our readings work with spirit and matter. The result is a fuller, more nuanced reading.All of our readings are harmonic.
They are aimed at providing a foundation for you to move closer to alignment with the deeper purpose of the universe as embodied in your life. Some of the methods we use include archetypal astrology (different from traditional astrology), ogham, the runes, and synchronicity or other significant experiences and images in the natural world. Many of our readings combine two or more of these. The divination process depends on the tool used and the type of reading, but usually takes 5 – 7 days. After the reading, you will receive a detailed report of all aspects of the reading. Art credit: "The Ancestor" card from the Wildwood Tarot
Anima Mundi – The World SoulAnima Mundi – The World Soul
All of our lives unfold within an interconnected web of all that is. This web is known by many names, such as the anima mundi, or world soul. In the druidic tradition, we know this as Neart or the Oran Mor (Great Song). Understanding this and engaging in dialogue with the web of existence is a large step in healing the perceived split between psyche and matter, and can therefore improve our embodied and psychospiritual health and well-being. Our readings and ritual tools are effective means to enter into the symbolic dialogue with the constant stream of events occurring in the world soul. Art credit: "The Psyche" card from the Chrysalis Tarot
About Us
In our efforts to work toward these goals, we bring our many years of combined practice in the druidic and shamanic traditions together. We are both members in the Ovate grade of the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids, and together, we operate the Silver Branch Grove, a druidic and shamanic seed group of the OBOD. We are also members of the Grand Rapids Druidry meetup on meetup.com.
Casey AlainaCasey Alaina
For Casey, the world is interconnected and alive. Reading the patterns of this vast web of existence, hearing the subtle and strange and wonderful music of the spheres, and sharing her discoveries with those willing to listen are, for her, deep wells of joy. She strives to combine vitality, compassion, and wisdom into a richness that characterizes all of her work. While formally grounded in the realms of science and embodied wellness, her goal is to holistically unite physical and psycho-spiritual methods of healing work. Her lesson to live by: “As above, so below”
James FilleadhJames Filleadh
As a part of his continuous engagement with his own soul journey, James is committed to helping others in theirs. This takes many forms. From ecological to artistic to philosophical to divination, James is active in all forms of druidic practice. Degreed in Philosophy and Archetypal Human Science, he is a poet, a photographer, a nature guide and spiritual ecologist, an archetypal mythologist, and a PhD student in depth psychology. He has been a druidic practitioner for two decades, engaging the symbolic layers of soul in the Great Song, the soul of the world, ever striving through mystical experience to uncover and integrate Soul's messages through divination and interpretation of archetypal symbolism found in in the natural world, oracular tools, dreams, and synchronicities.In line with a long family heritage of druidic and spiritual practitioners, his motto is: “follow tradition until the spirit tells you not to!”