Dana O'Driscoll

Dana O’Driscoll has been an animist druid for 20 years, and currently serves as Grand Archdruid in the Ancient Order of Druids in America (www.aoda.org). She is a druid-grade member of the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids and is the OBOD’s 2018 Mount Haemus Scholar. She is the author of Sacred Actions: Living the Wheel of the Year through Earth-Centered Spiritual Practice (REDFeather, 2021), the Sacred Actions Journal (REDFeather, 2022), and Land Healing: Physical, Metaphysical, and Ritual Approaches for Healing the Earth (REDFeather, 2024). She is also the author/illustrator of the Tarot of Trees, Plant Spirit Oracle, and Treelore Oracle. Dana is an herbalist, certified permaculture designer, and permaculture teacher who teaches about reconnection, regeneration, and land healing through herbalism, wild food foraging, and sustainable living. In 2024, she co-founded the Pennsylvania School of Herbalism with her sister and fellow herbalist, Briel Beaty. Dana lives at a 5-acre homestead in rural western Pennsylvania with her partner and a host of feathered and furred friends. She writes at the Druids Garden blog and is on Instagram as @druidsgardenart. She also regularly writes for Plant Healer Quarterly and Spirituality and Health magazine.

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14 Comments

  1. Beautifully written! I talk my dog to the dog park every day and while I repeatedly throw the ball for him to catch I ground myself to the earth and sit in the same spot, looking at the changes of natural all around. It is a time I treasure and the dog enjoys it, too! Thanks for your thoughts.

    1. Sorry for the typos! “take” my dog and “nature” all around

    2. Sounds wonderful, David! Thanks for the comment 🙂

  2. Walking My Path: Mindful Wanderings in Nature

    Love this. If more people would really see, understand, know, learn the interrelatedness, and feel the sacredness of Earth, maybe we would start taking better care of Her.

    1. That’s the hope, right? I think its all about cultivating that relationship and taking every opportunity to help others do the same! <3

      1. Walking My Path: Mindful Wanderings in Nature

        <3 🙂

  3. Absolutely brilliant post, thank you. I’m working on my “nature awareness” for my ADF work at the moment, which is similar to the AODA practice of going to the same spot and observing nature. I’m still at the “appreciation” stage, but hopefully I’ll gain more knowledge as time goes on. I look forward to seeing some of your more AODA focused posts as they are a tradition that have always interested me, and congratulations on the very impressive sounding new role!

    1. Thanks for the comment, Ryan! What does ADF do for nature awareness?

      1. Nature Awareness is a required part of the Dedicant Path, which is their first level of training. In the textbook I have, you’re encouraged to visit a natural place at least once a week and observe how it changes over the course of one full year (kind of like the “sit spot” you describe). You’re also given questions to look up about your local ecology, such as where your waste goes, where your water comes from, what type of soil you are on, what crops grow in your area etc. to get more in touch with your immediate surroundings and start thinking ecologically. Then you have to write that all up in an essay (I haven’t done this bit yet). I know ADF sometimes is seen as deity-centric instead of nature-focused but honestly, the Nature Awareness “homework” has definitely changed how I relate to my local area and its flora and fauna!

        1. I’m so glad that these practices helped :). That’s how I got started on this as well–about 10 years ago, 15 minutes observation and meditation in nature + 3 meaningful changes. Its amazing where that can lead!

  4. […] and butterflies are mostly gone, and many birds have migrated south.  Dana recently wrote an excellent post on her blog in which she described the concept of “mushroom eyes” and …  I love that term, “mushroom eyes.”  Pick one thing (whether it be mushrooms, […]

    1. Thank you for the reblog!

  5. I so appreciate that you share your wisdom

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