I first discovered my passion for pottery as an art student in college. At that moment, I envisioned myself owning my own pottery shop one day. Fresh out of college, I rushed back to my roots, to the peacefulness and to simplicity of rural life in the Ottawa valley where I knew that I would easily set up shop. Just a few years later, I was the proud owner of Campbell’s Bay’s first pottery shop.
Shortly after being settled in, I began to study ancient pottery and experimented with the local natural clay. Since then, I have distinguished myself as the local earthenware potter, solely dedicating my production to creating a unique local pottery for collectors from around the world.
With time, what was to become the driving spirit behind my pottery came while I was progressing in improving my work. I stumbled upon ancient Celtic pottery techniques, which brought me to discover ancient Celtic society, early Celtic christianity and (not deliberately) druidic wisdom. The simplicity of their ancient wisdom quietly inspired me, plunging me into a new perspective, re-focusing my attitude behind what later became ‘Atelier du Druide’. From that point on, I redesigned the way I conveyed my artwork, my creativity and my self-expression. Today I have not only become a potter, but also a modern-day druid.
What is a Modern Druid?
My own definition of a modern-day druid is someone who is inspired by celtic myths and lore, who lives deeply connected with the spirits of the land and who works directly with the divine being as well as our ancestors. Within my druidry, nature is the second Holy Scripture, considered to be unconditionally sacred, the expression of the purest form of God’s manifestation and divinity.
As for myself, I began my druid path with the Reformed Druids of North America (RDNA) a few years ago, and am now recognised as a Second Order Druid. However, I consider myself as a solitary and reserved druid within my rural community. With time, my path has changed since I began and is still changing. My practices have gone from neo-pagan to christian druidry. Today my druidry is deeply enriched by a combination of many spiritual traditions, but mainly it has become an interweaving christian and druidic tapestry. In other words, I’m a christian that has a totally unusual perspective.
Walking the solitary druid path is not uncommon, but the key thing about solitary druidry is that it is just that – solitary. I may celebrate festivals common to others druids, and I may not, because as a christian druid, I also attend a few church services now and then. As for my ceremonies, they are casual, very simple and usually outside at my altar in my backyard, or somewhere deep within nature. This form of druidry is freestyle and very experiential. But basically for me, druidry is the art of meditation and continuous study.
See Sébastien Beaudoin’s Youtube channel.