Bard Level Course – Black Mountain Druid Order

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PREREQUISITE

Black Mountain Druid Order Foundational Druidry Course

COURSE DESCRIPTION

In Iron Age Western European society, the Bards were the chroniclers of the times. In a time before newspapers, television, and the Internet, Bards traveled across the land singing and playing songs. Their songs were much more than entertainment. They could be used to chronicle history, to spread news, and even to cure and curse.

In this year-long Bardic Course of the Black Mountain Druid Order, you will learn some of what it meant and means to be a Bard. Although the Bards of old were musicians, singers, and poets, you do not have to play a musical instrument to take this course. If you are a musician, that’s great, but this course doesn’t teach you how to play. Instead, it focuses on some of the lore and history a Bard would have to learn. If you wish to use the lessons here in your own musical compositions, that’s great! Send us a link and we’ll post it on the website.

In this course you’ll learn about Ogham kennings, Celtic lore from around the Celtic world like the Mabinogion, the Carmina Gadelica, and the Book of the Takings of Ireland, you’ll learn some of the techniques of the fili (filidh), or the Irish Bardic Poets, and how the Bardic craft relates to healing, magic, divination, and journeying. If you are new to Druidry, it is highly recommended that you take the Black Mountain Druid Order Foundational Druidry Course prior to enrolling in this class.

WHY TAKE THIS COURSE?

This year-long Bardic Course contains 52 weekly lessons to complete on your own. When enrolled in this course you can always ask questions and get feedback on our message board. The course gives you a good foundational understanding of the lore of the Celtic peoples. We will then relate the lore to the bardic crafts of divination, healing, magic, and spiritual journeying. In this course you will not just learn the history and lore, you will also learn how to apply it in today’s world.

COURSE PROGRESSION

There are five levels/ranks in Druidry in the Black Mountain Druid Order. Successful completion of this course qualifies you for Second Degree. These levels/ranks are explained below.

RANK	DESCRIPTION
Dedicant	One who has not yet completed the free year-long Black Mountain Druid Order Foundational Druidry Course. This person is a member of the Order who is in the process of learning what it means to be a Druid in the Black Mountain Druid Order.
First Degree	One who has successfully completed the year-long Black Mountain Druid Order Foundational Druidry Course. This is a person who is in the process of learning the Bardic lore of the Celtic peoples and how to relate it to healing, divination, magic, and spiritual journeying in contemporary life. Such a person is eligible to enroll in the Black Mountain Druid Order Bard Course, and to start a Grove of their own.
Second Degree	One who has successfully completed the year-long Black Mountain Druid Order Bard Course. This is a person who is in the process of learning the healing techniques, meditative practices, shamanic journeying and energy work of a Druid of the Black Mountain Druid Order. Such a person is eligible to enroll in the Black Mountain Druid Vate Course.
Third Degree	One who has successfully completed the year-long Black Mountain Druid Order Vate Course. This is a person who is in the process of learning how to create and supervise a Grove, how to successfully organize and oversee groups, how to organize events, and how to be a celebrant able to conduct rites of the Druid of the Black Mountain Druid Order. Such a person is eligible to enroll in the Black Mountain Druid Archdruid Course.
Archdruid	One who has successfully completed the year-long Black Mountain Druid Order Archdruid Course. This is a person who has learned how to create and supervise a Grove, how to successfully organize and oversee groups, how to organize events, and how to be a celebrant able to conduct rites of the Druid of the Black Mountain Druid Order. Such a person is eligible to oversee a regional group of Groves.