An Explanation of Channeling
aka: Awen o'Duwiau
(a-OH-en oh-dew-EE-eye)
'Poetic Inspiration of the Gods'
Bardd Dafydd, Pen Offeiriad, Red Oak Grove

"among the Welsh there are certain individuals called Awenyddion who behave as if they are possessed... When you consult them about some problem, they immediately go into a trance and lose control of their senses... They do not answer the question put to them in a logical way. Words stream from their mouths, incoherently and apparently meaningless and lacking any sense at all, but all the same well expressed: and if you listen carefully to what they say you will receive the solution to your problem.

Giraldus Cambrensis Description of Wales
(trans. Lewis Thorpe, Penguin Books, 1978, p.246ff.),
written in the late 12th century.

Do you believe the following: The Gods are real. They care about us. They want to communicate with us. They are listening to us and want to speak to us. They are all around us, and also within us. We can speak to them through our thoughts, so naturally they can do the same. They can easily put ideas and thoughts into our minds - anything from a vague image to a fully formed paragraph of information.

If you believe all of that, then you should see that channeling is the logical result.

Channeling is the practice of inviting a spiritual being to use your body and mind to communicate with an audience. (If there is no audience, you are praying.) Usually that communication is verbal, but it can also be handwritten, typed or transmitted in some other way.

Note: We don't much like the word "channeling" and have invented a Welsh phrase "Awen o'Duwiau" to more formally describe the practice we do in Red Oak Grove. But for purposes of clarity in the essay, I'll call it channeling.

Channeling is an ancient technique. Almost every religion was founded by someone who claimed that Spirits were speaking to him or her, or speaking through them. Almost every religious scripture claims to have been divinely authored.

If you are open to this idea, the technique is very easy. The Channeler just needs to be comfortable and relaxed, enter a Trance, ask the Deity to come in, and be willing to step out of the way and let the Deity take over.

It seems the Gods are eager to communicate with us. As of Autumn 2004, Red Oak Grove has Channeled the Deities about 60 times. It has worked every time. The information we have received has always been positive, often been thought-provoking and sometimes been enlightening.

Although we know of very few Druid groups doing anything like this, we believe this process is very applicable to Neopaganism because it strengthens our relationship with the Deities, it builds community and group experience, and it is very spiritually fulfilling.

After practicing this technique for several years, we have developed a training program that we feel makes it easier and more comfortable for a person to begin this practice. The training program takes from one to two years to complete and is only open to full members of the Grove (Tylwyth). The first step is to pick the Deity you feel closest to, and concentrate your worship and study on Him or Her. We have four separate Religious Orders within Red Oak Grove for members who are studying Brigedd, Lleu, Rhiannon and Math.

We practice Awen o'Duwiau at every High Day Ritual so if you're interested, just come to one. You can see and hear it for yourself. And if you decide you want to try this practice, just let us know. We'll be happy to train you.

Further Reading:
Neale Donald Walsch Conversations with God, 1996, Putnum Books
Esther Hicks - Abraham URL: http://www.abraham-hicks.com