Philip writes:

"When I was in the Order in the seventies with Ross Nichols, although we had a Constitution, the Order was really so small you could say that it was run almost wholly by him, with some assistance from the Pendragon and Scribe. The Order then was tiny, with under a dozen active members. In the first few years of the re-formation of the Order, say from 1988 to 1990, Stephanie and I really ran the Order (ie took all the decisions and did all the work!) But then as the work expanded, people volunteered to help, or we asked them, until now we have about 40 people involved in taking decisions about the work of the Order - and that includes tutors and group leaders.

From 1990 until last year, we tried to run the Order in the way 'Societies' are supposed to be run - a rational, conventional, committee style of working, with the only unconventional aspect, in our case, being that some of the office holders had fancy titles (Pendragon, Scribe etc), and the committee was called The College of Caer Lud. In 1995 we came to accept that this way of working has never worked, and in fact the Order was never really run that way. So we had been trying to live up to a model that we have now accepted is unworkable. Why? Because the way the Order has evolved and the way it actually functions, is based on numerous small and large decisions and initiatives and tasks being taken and carried out by a growing number of people who do not often meet physically, and who communicate by phone, fax, email and letter. The number of decisions taken vary so hugely that the College was never able to make them, because they were being made all the time, and couldn't be saved up for the rare occasion when we could get all the members of the College to come together at one time. Even when we were able to meet, the reality was that often the person most knowledgeable about the issue wasn't a member of the College, so most of our time was spent filling in the College about what was happening and why. It was valuable as a think-tank and as a time of meeting with fellow Druids, but it never really was that mysterious body controlling the Order which many members thought it must be. So we've disbanded the College, or looked at another way, we've expanded it to include the whole membership.

Perhaps the best way to describe how the Order works is to see its structure like a five dimensional spider's web or network: - five dimensional because as well as existing in the three dimensions of space, and the fourth dimension of time, it also exists in the Inner World - the fifth dimension. That other dimension allows for the fact that much of the impulses, initiatives and perhaps even decisions are being made by members of the Order who don't even have bodies, let alone the ability to write voting slips.

Some members feel that members should have voting rights, and that they should be involved in decision-making for the Order. But the problem if we instituted this, would be that the work of the Order would grind to a halt. Every day I, Stephanie, Dave, Susan, the tutors, people running groups, take decisions - lots and lots of them - and the Order grows and flourishes. Nobody is referring to a Constitution, nobody is waiting for the next committee meeting, nobody is waiting for a vote. When there is voting, the atmosphere created by this way working becomes competitive and political, and to quote Philip Shallcrass of the British Druid Order "it gives the illusion of representation whilst failing to deliver the reality." You could say that at least the voting committee style is clear and understandable - minutes and resolutions are recorded, votes are taken. But in my experience, this is at the level of appearances only. Why? Because although apparently egalitarian and democratic in structure, in reality there is never enough time to fully examine issues, the hidden agendas are hardly ever discussed, and often those voting are not in full possession of all the facts. And so what happens is that a few vocal and strong personalities with particular agendas railroad other, less articulate and weaker personalities into voting their way.

Let's look at the Order's work. Would it be appropriate, desirable or necessary for members to vote about any of the administrative decisions: which photocopier to buy, which paper to stock, whom to employ to fold or staple the Gwersu? Would any member want to? What about subtler decisions: whom to appoint as tutors? Would it really be appropriate to talk about individual members, their letter-writing abilities and perceived reliability and qualities (things which very few people would know) in front of an Assembly of members? Clearly not. What decisions should members make? Are there ones so important that we should save them up until an Assembly before we act? I can think of one candidate - the issue of access to Stonehenge, and the Order's policy on it. Some people in the Druid community feel that there should be free access to Stonehenge at all times for everyone. Others feel that English Heritage is now the guardian of this site, and that a working relationship can be developed with them, and that private ceremonies can and should be held there. In the Council of British Druid Orders this issue has been debated for six years. Things have even reached a stage where there was almost a physical fight in a meeting between holders of the two contrary views. Even after six years there is no concensus and the Council has been greatly weakened by this one area of contention. How could we, as members of OBOD, possibly do justice to such a complex issue? How, practically and logistically, could we all fully inform ourselves of all the facts, debate the issues, and then vote on the Order's policy? Even if some of us could do these things, what right would we have to impose it on the rest of the membership? And what value, practical or moral would that hold?

There is another way of working - it's harder to understand and harder to articulate, but I believe it's the way the Order has been working. It's more feminine, less logical and linear: the chains of command, of decision-making, and of communication, are more varied, but the potential they represent is far greater than any conventional, old-fashioned way of working.

So if you have an idea, or want to help, there are no committees to contact, no rules to follow. Just communicate your ideas to your tutor, to Touchstone, to the office, to me, to your grove or seed-group, or to NOBOD if you're in that cyberspace group. Anyone, any member at whatever grade is welcome to make proposals, offer their time or skills or energy in whatever way they wish. This is in fact the way it has always happened. And these proposals or offers don't have to come to me as Chief. Members often suggest things to fellow members in NOBOD, or in their grove, or to their tutor or tutor coordinator, or in the Open Forum. The idea of gay affinity groups is one such example. The idea was mooted in Touchstone's Open Forum and as a result two groups have sprung up already. The only time, so far, that members' suggestions have been turned down, have been the few times when some members have offered their services as tutors, and the Tutor Coordinators have declined their offers. Understandably they have been upset, but the job of tutoring is such a responsible one, it would be irresponsible of us to simply accept all comers. Potential tutors are selected from the Druid Grade, based on our experience of their letters over the previous three or more years. They are then invited to explore the idea of tutoring/mentoring, and if they feel they would like to try it, they are invited to try writing a series of sample replies to letters to see whether it is right for them. So the reality, I believe, is that we are participating in a growing, creative, living, dynamic structure that is allowing all sorts of creative things to happen in serendipitous and synchronistic ways precisely because there's some dark soil there - precisely because we don't quite understand it, precisely because all its processes can't be quantified and analysed. Jung, fascinated as he was by creativity, the spiritual life and synchronicity, when he was told that a C.G.Jung Institute was being organised in Los Angeles, said "Oh no! I hope it's as disorganised as possible." Romain Roland said "Organisation is the death of an idea". I think we have managed to balance the organisation needed to run the Order reasonably efficiently, with the disorganisation necessary to let it breathe and grow, but please let's not have more organisation! The proof of the pudding is in the eating, and it tastes pretty good to a lot of us I believe, and so to those few critics of the way the Order operates, I would suggest we apply the formula "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" I think we've found a formula which works, which is why it is flourishing. If we look at the network or web model, we can see that the dynamic working through it is one of communication, consultation, connection - and these things are happening all the time within it. The poet Jay Ramsay said to me the other day "OBOD is maintaining a frequency" and I think that's a good way of seeing what we're all doing. It's as if we are broadcasting ideas, energies, initiatives. It's as if we are a radio station, and it seems that a lot of people like to listen to it, and a lot of people like to help make programmes. If someone doesn't like listening to it, or doesn't agree with the way it works, then they just need to tune into another station, or if they have the time and energy, start their own.

To summarise we could say that the Order works in a way that resembles a network or spiders web that ultimately includes all the membership but which is upheld by about 40 active decision-makers who can be seen as nodes in this five-dimensional network. And what we must always remember is the impact that this network has beyond its own confines. The last thing we want to do is become obsessed with our own system. The Order has had, and is having a positive impact on many people's lives, and not just people who are in the Order. It is helping to articulate the ideas of Druidry which reach a far bigger audience than the Order's membership, so it is important when we consider the Order and it's work that we see the wider picture - the world beyond the Order that it lives in and affects.

I'm sure there are plenty of things we could have done better, plenty of mistakes we've made, and I know as the African tribal saying goes "As a baboon cannot see his red bottom, so a man cannot see his shortcomings." But despite this, I think we can all be justifiably proud of the way the Order has grown and developed over the last eight years, and this has been largely - I believe - the result of many exceptional people with exceptional skills coming together and working together, through their love of Druidry and the ideas and ideals it represents.