Emma Restall Orr (born 1965) is a British animist, philosopher, poet, environmentalist, and author.

Career

Restall Orr worked for the

Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids The Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids or OBOD is a Neo-Druidic order based in England, but based in part on the Welsh Gorsedd of Bards. It has grown to become a dynamic druid organisation, with members in all parts of the world. The concept of ...

in the early 1990s, becoming an Ovate tutor. In 1993 she became joint chief of the British Druid Order (BDO), staying until 2002. Together with the Order founder

Philip Shallcrass Philip Shallcrass (born 1953), often known by his Druid name, Greywolf, is Chief of the British Druid Order. He is an English artist, writer, poet, musician and singer-songwriter who pioneered a "shamanic" Druidism. Background Philip Shallcras ...

they continued to work on developing the BDO further Following this Restall Orr went on to found

The Druid Network The Druid Network is a British druidic (neo-pagan) organisation providing a source of information and inspiration about modern Druidic traditions, practices and their histories. It was founded in February 2003 by Emma Restall Orr, and approved as ...

in 2002, which was officially launched at ''

Imbolc Imbolc or Imbolg (), also called Saint Brigid's Day (; ; ), is a Gaels, Gaelic traditional festival on 1 February. It marks the beginning of Spring (season), spring, and in Christianity, it is the calendar of saints, feast day of Brigid of Kild ...

'' in 2003. From the late 1990s Restall Orr organised some of the largest annual gatherings of Druids and those interested in Druidry, at the Avebury Gorsedd and The Awen Camp with Philip Shallcrass, then at The Druid Camp with Mark Graham. In 2004, she founded the organization, Honouring the Ancient Dead. She remains Chair of the Trustees. She is the author of numerous books on Druidic and

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

spirituality, pagan ritual, poetry and animism, her later books moving away from druidry. ''Kissing the Hag'' considers female nature, ''Living with Honour'' is an exploration of practical ethics, and ''The Wakeful World'' is a metaphysics of modern

animism Animism (from meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in ...

. In 2006, Restall Orr opened Sun Rising Natural Burial Ground and Nature Reserve (https://sunrising.co.uk) in South Warwickshire. Since 2012, she has moved out of the public eye, focusing on her work with this project. Restall Orr's brother is the historian

Matthew Restall Matthew Restall (born 1964) is a historian of Colonial Latin America. He is an ethnohistorian, a Mayanist, a scholar of the conquest, colonization, and the African diaspora in the Americas, and a historian of popular music. Restall has areas of spe ...

and their father is the ornithologist and philatelist Robin Restall. The

closing ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.

of the

2012 Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

saw Rory MacKenzie recite parts of a 1997 Gorsedd ritual originally written by Emma Restall Orr and

. in a declaration which was witnessed by an estimated audience of around 750 million people.

Bibliography

In English

* ''Spirits of the Sacred Grove'' (Thorsons, 1998) (Reprinted in 2001 as Druid Priestess) * ''Thorsons Principles of Druidry'' (Thorsons, 1999) * ''Ritual: A Guide to Life, Love and Inspiration'' (Thorsons, 2000) * ''First Directions – Druidry'' (Thorsons, 2000) * ''A Druid Director, with Philip Shallcrass'' (British Druid Order, 2001) * ''Druidry: Rekindling the Sacred Fire written with Philip Shallcrass'' (British Druid Order, 2002) * ''Living Druidry: Magical Spirituality for the Wild Soul'' (Piatkus, 2004) * ''The Ethics of Paganism: The Value and Power of Sacred Relationship,'' chapter contributed (Llewellyn, 2005) * ''Pagan Visions for a Sustainable Future'' edited with Ly De Angeles and Thom Van Dooren (Llewellyn, 2005) * ''The Apple and the Thorn,'' with Bill Melnyk (Thoth, 2007) * ''Living with Honour: A Pagan Ethics'' (O Books, April 2008) * ''Kissing the Hag: The Dark Goddess and the Unacceptable Nature of Woman'' (O Books, October 2008) * ''The Wakeful World: Animism, Mind and the Self in Nature'' (Moon Books, November 2012)

In languages other than English

* ''Druidismo'' (Armenia, Milan 1999) * ''Druidismo'' (Hi Brasil, São Paulo 2000) * ''Ritual'' (Hi Brasil, São Paulo 2000) * ''Druidenweisheit'' (Urania, Germany 2001)

References

External links