“I've begun worshiping the sun for a number of reasons…It's there for me every day. And the things it brings me are quite apparent all the time: heat, light, food and a lovely day.”  - George Carlin

Sunrise and sunset. Humankind’s natural rhythm since our ancestors roamed the wilds.The patterns of sun and moon, father and mother, are the foundation of human connectivity. Coming together to celebrate our place in nature is a tradition as old as community. The universe is big. We are small. Together, we live.

Celestial events and ancestral knowledge at times seem out of place these days. In a world disconnected from its natural mother, the effects manifest everywhere. When modern society ignores, even promotes, this schism, where is the source of desperately needed healing?  Perhaps the solution is simple as a circle drawn around three points atop three rays. Beth Mowry, founder of The Awen Center, believes so.

“I think, if we come back to the roots and come back to knowing the forest, where we belong, that will go a long way to helping us bridge all these gaps.”

Seeds of Inspiration

Awen isn’t a place. It isn’t a thing. Awen is an idea. It’s an ancient word that shares linguistic ancestry with familiar sounds like “amen” and “ohm". Awen is a Welsh/Celtic reference to “divine inspiration”. The effortless artistry of the bard, “where spoken words or poetry or art seem to come out of nowhere.” 

A circle containing three dots over three lines represents this concept of boundless creativity. The figure is a story. A myth telling how the power of creation was gifted to humankind. Legend holds, “the greatest Bard of all time..was granted three droplets of inspiration on his brow.” 

Natural creativity is a way of life for The Awen Center proprietor. During her childhood, Beth Mowry found her happy place in the mountains. The western Pennsylvania native grew up in the shadow of the Alleghenies. Exploring the ancient Appalachian cousins planted the seeds of her deep bond with nature, “Growing up, my dad took us to the forest and that was always amazing.”

Awe and reverence for the outdoors have shown the way since. Beth counts Girl Scouts and overnight camp director among pursuits that have nurtured her desire to connect people with nature. On a long and winding path, Beth’s every step has been toward sustainability.  Promoting the wellness of people and of nature. In the cycle of life, that energy is returned in kind, “Getting people to nature and getting kids into nature has always been healing and cathartic for me.”

The seeds sown in the Pennsylvania mountains lay dormant in the years to come, awaiting their time to thrive. Beth spent nearly two decades as a New York City high school teacher, where she fostered the spirit of sustainability and wellness among her students and colleagues alike. And, when life in the city brought strife to Beth, druidry became her source of strength.

“In 2018, I started listening regularly to a podcast called Tea with a Druid, by Phillip Carr-Gomm (former Chosen Chief of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids). That really got me through some difficult situations. That weekly connection with other people around the world. And through that, I started studying druidry through OBOD.”

Nature as healer is the essence of druidry. So, Beth’s intrinsic attraction is no wonder. “Druidry is awesome! I’ve always been fascinated by ancient Celtic cultures. My first trip to England, visiting Stonehenge in Wiltshire, was a very spiritual experience for me.”

Rays of Light

Where the lines of ancient druid architects moved Beth’s spirit, seasons of change lay ahead towards the manifestation of her lifelong vision, “This has been a dream, really, to open a retreat center, since I was a child.”

Awen, then, is an ideal representation of the journey. Three lines descend from the drops of inspiration. A bard participating in Alban Hefin, the scheduled druidic summer solstice ritual, tells the tale, “The equinox is in the middle, then one solstice and the other solstice.“  

This ancient, elegant marker of time’s passage is a powerful reminder of the trials life places along the path. Each season brings change. Each season, a new challenge. Ultimately it was hardship that galvanized the will to creation. After eighteen years in the urban wilderness of Brooklyn, New York, the COVID-19 pandemic was the final portent of change Beth needed. “I very much missed nature and I needed to get out,” she recalls, “Even pre-pandemic, I was planning on moving. Being able to see the sky and the stars. I’m getting chills just talking about it.”

Threads of change surrounding natural health, advocacy, creativity and wellness began coming together. The tapestry of life gained refined resolution. Instinctual compassion inspired a lifelong mission to help those in need find their peace. A powerful personal experience further clarified Beth’s inner vision.

“I went on a trip with a Celtic shaman [Cara Gardner;Heartland Healing Arts] and a photographer [Jack Gescheidt;TreeSpirit Project] to the UK. I had a very intense oracle card reading that talked about ‘It’s time for you to weave all the parts of yourself together’. It really inspired me to weave together the former camp director, the nature lover, the educator and the advocate for mental health and wellness.” 

After a career teaching the science of nature amidst the epitome of urban life, it was the spirit of awen that called Beth to the Catskill mountains. The seeds of inspiration had been sown, nurtured by the passing seasons. Now, it was time to grow.

Circles of Community

Seeds and light combine with earth to produce life. Awen shows this arrangement too, binding these creative elements within a circle. A globe. Representing the hermetic order that inspires practice at the Schoharie County wellness retreat, this final element speaks to the unbreakable human community. The true foundation of awen.

Jefferson, New York is the sort of town you find only if you already know it’s there. Tucked away in the northern Catskills, the sleepy mountain hamlet presents a pastoral setting well suited to The Awen Center for Wellness, Creativity, Sustainability and Nature Based Spirituality.  The mission is a mouthful but the inspiration is simple. Create a place dedicated to, “building community through reconnecting with nature, so that we can heal.”

“We’ve lost our connection with nature. We live inside with lights. We get our food from a grocery store. Just marking these times, every six weeks or so, to reaffirm our connection to the land and to the planet. It’s that ritualized connection, that ceremony, that humans have been doing forever.”

Gathering together in celebration of life is at the heart of all Awen Center activities. Members can tap Beth’s expertise in natural science. An array of geological specimens in the common area provides testament. Visitors invoke the spirit of the bard to awaken their innate creativity. Music, stories, poetry.  All forms of inspired artistry are encouraged. Peaceful woods soothe weary souls during a forest therapy walk. The cost of membership to such a mystical milieu?  An open heart and an open mind.

“There’s nowhere that’s a druidry-based gathering place,” Beth says of the inspiration behind the donation funded retreat. The vision is a space for, “people who want a place they can feel free and not be worried about what the people in the next campsite are going to say.”

“Damned hippies” might not be an inaccurate description of those gathered in observance of Alban Hefin for the recent solstice. Some are practicing OBOD members. Others drawn by natural spirit or pure curiosity. All, though, experienced the shifting of celestial power in a way practiced by our human ancestors across history. By hailing the forces of life, spirit, time and space, we stake our place in the universe.  Another season has passed and we are here, together.

The adoptive family gathered in Jefferson has far reaching roots in a New York City based “Seed Group”, where aspiring druids practice the teachings of their order. Three Rivers Grove, named for the nearby East, Harlem and Hudson flows, collected kindred spirits from varied locales ranging from northern New Jersey to, “somebody’s backyard in Long Island.“

“Who would ever think, druidry in New York City?" says the bard, "But, there’s Central Park. A tree or a flower in a flower pot, that’s all nature. The sky above, the land below.“

Beth now calls Jefferson home and encourages followers around the world to embrace their inner treehugger. One, a self-professed “gypsy spirit”, spent time in five states over the last three years before arriving in New York and connecting with The Awen Center. Though a newcomer to druidry, love of the Mother provided common ground.

“I can honestly say I’m obsessed with nature. Obsessed,” she laughs, “I’ve actually been kind of a solitary practitioner for years. I was never able to find a group that shared my beliefs. My boyfriend, for example. I told him I was at a druid event.  He’s like, ‘Oh no, you guys are doing magic.’ No, it’s not magic.  We’re worshiping nature and the elements.“ 

Magic or not, something mystical happened, celebrating Alban Hefin on the final day of the solstice. Friends, old and new, mark the passage of another season with reflective words and personal pledges. Embarking together on the next stage in life. That’s where the magic lies. In the sun’s sway over all of all generations humankind. In its power to draw us together over time, space and belief. It’s a reminder to take a breath and enjoy what is presented with each sunrise. To celebrate that eternal bounty is to be united with all of humanity.

The Awen Center is located in Jefferson, NY. They can be found online at their website, via LinkTr.ee, on Facebook and Instagram.

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