What do you think?
Rate this book
Spirits of the Sacred Grove: The World of a Druid Priestess
Modern Druidry is a fast-growing spiritual tradition. Far from being wrapped in a veil of secrecy, it is celebrated openly, in the sunlight of a meadow or a shady forest glade. This is a very personal journey through the seasons with a modern female Druid, which reveals Druidry as an accessible and compelling spiritual path that offers great potential for healing and self-empowerment.
237 pages, Paperback
First published November 15, 1998
26 people are currently reading
246 people want to read
About the author
Emma Restall Orr
20 books69 followers[from Wikipedia] -- Emma Restall Orr is a British neo-druid, animist, priest, poet and author. She worked for the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids in the early 1990s, becoming an Ovate tutor. In 1993 she became joint chief of the British Druid Order (BDO) staying until 2002. Together with the Order founder Philip Shallcrass, she developed the BDO into one of the largest and most influential of its time. Feeling the system of Orders too limiting, in 2002 she created The Druid Network, which was officially launched at Imbolc 2003.
Since the late 1990s she has organized the largest annual gatherings of Druids and those interested in Druidry, first at The Awen Camp with Philip Shallcrass, then since 2001 The Druid Camp with Mark Graham. In 2004 she founded Honouring the Ancient Dead. Since 2004, she has been involved with PEBBLE (The Public Bodies Liaison Committee for British Paganisms) encouraging positive and productive interaction between modern British Pagan groups and British government departments, and other institutions.
Over the course of her life in Druidry she has been on numerous television and radio programmes in Britain and around the world, featured and quoted in the print media and on the internet.
She is daughter of Robin Restall, renowned ornithologist, writer and artist. Her brother is Matthew Restall, history professor and writer.
Since the late 1990s she has organized the largest annual gatherings of Druids and those interested in Druidry, first at The Awen Camp with Philip Shallcrass, then since 2001 The Druid Camp with Mark Graham. In 2004 she founded Honouring the Ancient Dead. Since 2004, she has been involved with PEBBLE (The Public Bodies Liaison Committee for British Paganisms) encouraging positive and productive interaction between modern British Pagan groups and British government departments, and other institutions.
Over the course of her life in Druidry she has been on numerous television and radio programmes in Britain and around the world, featured and quoted in the print media and on the internet.
She is daughter of Robin Restall, renowned ornithologist, writer and artist. Her brother is Matthew Restall, history professor and writer.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 19, 2014
Emma Restall Orr writes really well - her descriptions are vivid, so that you feel you're there with her. She goes through the cycle of the Druid year, from Samhain and back to Samhain again, but also talks about weddings and rituals for a girl to become a woman, and for a woman at the end of her child-bearing years looking forward to life after the menopause. It's not a "How To..." book - she recommends a proper training course for those who are interested in becoming a Druid, but it does give an insight into the belief system, as well as being an enjoyable read.
January 9, 2015
I received a copy in exchange for a fair & honest review.
Spirits of the Sacred Grove has also been published under the title "A Druid Priestess", although this title is far more fitting for the beauty contained within. From the beginning, the reader is taken on a journey. We are brought into the world of the author, the world of the modern-day Druid. This is no dry recitation of history or list of dos and don'ts. This is a book to be experienced, not read. It is a journal full of passion that engages the soul.
I have had this on my wish list for a long time under it's past incarnation. It wasn't something I was greatly anticipating - I had simply thought it might be of interest. When I received the opportunity to review this, I didn't realize that it was one & the same. Once I discovered this nice little surprise I decided to curl up and read his long-awaited book. I never dreamed I would be pulled into it int he way I was. I had expected it to be an interesting look at Druidry that I would slowly read. Instead I was pulled into her life as she traveled the Wheel of the Year. It was difficult to put it down!
Within this book you will find a lyric journey - part lesson, part story, part telling of her life. Each page is brimming with wisdom. It is a book that I cannot recommend enough. I know I will be pulling it out often, sometimes to study, sometimes to step into her experiences with her Grove, and sometimes for inspiration for my own spiritual path. In the short time I have had this, it has already become an invaluable asset. I can only imagine the treasure it will become in the future.
Spirits of the Sacred Grove has also been published under the title "A Druid Priestess", although this title is far more fitting for the beauty contained within. From the beginning, the reader is taken on a journey. We are brought into the world of the author, the world of the modern-day Druid. This is no dry recitation of history or list of dos and don'ts. This is a book to be experienced, not read. It is a journal full of passion that engages the soul.
I have had this on my wish list for a long time under it's past incarnation. It wasn't something I was greatly anticipating - I had simply thought it might be of interest. When I received the opportunity to review this, I didn't realize that it was one & the same. Once I discovered this nice little surprise I decided to curl up and read his long-awaited book. I never dreamed I would be pulled into it int he way I was. I had expected it to be an interesting look at Druidry that I would slowly read. Instead I was pulled into her life as she traveled the Wheel of the Year. It was difficult to put it down!
Within this book you will find a lyric journey - part lesson, part story, part telling of her life. Each page is brimming with wisdom. It is a book that I cannot recommend enough. I know I will be pulling it out often, sometimes to study, sometimes to step into her experiences with her Grove, and sometimes for inspiration for my own spiritual path. In the short time I have had this, it has already become an invaluable asset. I can only imagine the treasure it will become in the future.
October 26, 2015
Book journeys I believe this is the first incarnation of Emma Restal Orr's book - it was republished as Druid Priestess, and then re-published a second time as a Pagan Classic, by Moon Books, where it's reverted to the original title, and found a new cover. I've tagged all three versions of the cover for clarity. Emma Restall Orr is person featured on the Druid Priestess cover, not a model.
The original paperback version of Spirits of the Sacred Grove can occasionally be found second hand, as can Druid Priestess, but the most recent version is also available as an ebook, which hasn't previously been an option.
The original paperback version of Spirits of the Sacred Grove can occasionally be found second hand, as can Druid Priestess, but the most recent version is also available as an ebook, which hasn't previously been an option.
March 4, 2015
I believe Orr was trying to enlighten us about modern Druidism, but all I got out of this were vaguely psychotic images of her communing with fairies and tree spirits while transforming into birds and animals. Sorry, Emma, you lost me.
January 18, 2021
I’ve had this book on my shelf for a couple of years and while it took me a while to get to, I can honestly say that I will be revisiting it time and again.
Emma Restall Orr takes her reader on a unique journey through the Wheel of the Year, beginning and concluding at Samhain. Through each of the eight holidays, she shares corresponding wisdom through the lens of a modern Druid, woven between her personal experiences through her own spiritual journey as well as a pillar and priestess to her community.
This was the kind of book the drew me in, challenged me, and ended in sweet sorrow when the pages ended. Orr has created true magic in her writing which left me longing to draw out this reading experience for as long as possible.
I will be, and have been, recommending this book to anyone interested in the path of Druidry and look forward to reading more from her.
Emma Restall Orr takes her reader on a unique journey through the Wheel of the Year, beginning and concluding at Samhain. Through each of the eight holidays, she shares corresponding wisdom through the lens of a modern Druid, woven between her personal experiences through her own spiritual journey as well as a pillar and priestess to her community.
This was the kind of book the drew me in, challenged me, and ended in sweet sorrow when the pages ended. Orr has created true magic in her writing which left me longing to draw out this reading experience for as long as possible.
I will be, and have been, recommending this book to anyone interested in the path of Druidry and look forward to reading more from her.
November 25, 2021
Read it twice over the last twenty years. Her voice is a combination of scholar and poet and storyteller.
February 15, 2017
Giving this two stars only because I reserve one star ratings for books that I cannot force myself to finish. It took strong will and stubbornness to finish this. It reads more like a dream diary or a very unorganized journal. If it was a personal book, left to be read by those left behind after death, it would be prized and deeply valued. As a book, to be shared, with any other reader, it left me lost and struggling to figure out where I had been and where I was going. The descriptions of the rituals is the only redeeming sections. Sorry Emma. :(
September 7, 2015
Another book where I question whether I should have rated it or not. I love Emma Restall Orr's work and perspective and her The Wakeful World is a very important book for me. But (and clearly there's a "but", given the rating) this book, in giving such an honest, frank account of her personal experience of walking freely between different experiential realities, paradoxical left me feeling a little alienated. Her journey felt so unique, so special and so specific to her that it left me feeling somehow marginalised. Now I know perfectly that this falls into the category of "That's your problem" but I felt that it set an unreachable benchmark for what a "Druidic" spiritual experience was. Where The Wakeful World drew me in, this, I felt, pushed me away.
February 2, 2013
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11681168
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11681168
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews