Hex Nottingham, our Keynote Speaker for MAGUS 2019 has been a fixture at OBOD Gatherings for as long as I've been an OBODie, and I've had great fun reconnecting with him! I first met Hex at my first or 2nd ECG in 2012 or 2013, and the energy and the passion he brings to his drumming - and to OBOD - is a wonderful thing! So, without further ado. . .here's Hex!
Me: Tell us a little bit about yourself?
Hex: Well, I like long walks on the beach.. just
kidding. You said "a little bit". I have trouble doing that. Because
with my Gemini self, either I'm sitting completely quiet and reserved, or I'm a
motor mouth trying to see how deep I can get others to tap into themselves. But
you know what? I could give you the quick answer or the short version of
everything you're going to ask me, but I look at it like this: you wouldn't be
asking me if you didn't want information, and if anyone is going to choose to
read this, they're doing it because they want to be entertained. So, here goes!
I am a husband of the stunning Lady Daisy Mae and
a father of 2 breathtaking children; Demetrios Myrddin and Amethysta Cerridwen.
I'm a social butterfly who loves to host parties and go to concerts. (Best
concert ever? The Cure, Williamsburg 1992.) I have been a musician since I was
about 2, and a self-realised natural Witch since early childhood. I've been
called a healer by some, and since I like to keep my body charged up with positive
vibrations, I try to donate blood platelets twice a month, physically sending
that energy to others in need. I love the woods as much as I love city life.
(And even though I said I was kidding earlier, I do love to take a stroll
within the Sacred Acre.)
I'm seriously not trying to make this sound like a
personals ad! I love drumming as much as I love playing the piano, and I love
to sing and rap. I've been rapping around 9 years old, which is at least 15
years longer than I've been seriously singing. I also enjoy acting, and mainly
only get to do that when my local Belly Dance gets me from behind the drum and
into my costumes. Speaking of costumes, I was an active convention cosplayer
for a few years. Apparently my Darth Maul and Bane were loved world wide
according to various sources. I also love exercising and working out, and teach
people what I call "Spiritual Weight Training", which involves
igniting that spark of Nwyfre in the gym.
Me: You are a man of many talents for sure! How did you first come to OBOD? How long have you been involved with OBOD?
Hex: Do you
want to short answer or the long answer? I have an idea. Let's lead up to the
short answer! I am about to tell you a long story, (*cough cough:: ~bard~
::cough*) So if you just want to know the OBOD part, skip to the last
paragraph.
This is a story of several stages. As I
mentioned earlier, I picked up on the Witch thing pretty early in life and
studied here and there by my own choice as a child growing up, looking back, I was also a completely unselfawaritiveingly
Druid as a child (I just now made that word up, by the way) and didn't know it until my late 30's. I've
always loved the woods, and on top of that, my parents were members of a
camping club. So now and then, I'd worry the shite out of everyone because I
would get carried away in my thoughts and the woodsy energies and wonder off
talking to trees.
I've
always felt a connection and draw to the United Kingdom long before I knew why
and/or where it was. Whenever I saw a photograph of Stonehenge, I swear I saw
motion, heard nature sounds, and felt memories. As I grew and eventually
discovered journalists' articles on the location, I eventually saw photos of
the stones filled with robed figures gathered in celebration, and learned that
they were the Druids. Much of my life was during the sad tymes of the Exclusion
Zones, when worship was forcefully prohibited, and some of the news and facts
about access to the Stones were often convoluted and out dated. I began having
visions of standing in the very center and playing my drum, but I was under the
impression that no one was allowed inside the circle except for Druids. That
would always make me think, "That would be cool to be a Druid... Lucky
buggers." not knowing all the while what it really meant to be one and not
really even trying to start finding out.
I
always felt that I had a Spirit Guide, but that they seemed to mostly just hang
back and watch me grow and interact, and I didn't quite have the drive, or felt
compelled, to ask them to step into the light. In December 2007, a Medium
visited my home for a group session. She was a complete stranger who opened up
her service with a prayer, and as it turned out, she was a devout Christian. Of
all people, it was her that revealed something life altering to me. As we were
chatting after the session, I was
explaining to her that I was an eclectic Pagan and Traditional Witch,
and her exact words were, "Well, you know your Spirit Guide is a Druid,
right?" I must have appeared to be in pause mode as countless aspects of
my entire life flashed through my mind as if my experiences were all being
played back in super fast forward, and someone in the room said, "That
explains... SO much." I felt my Spirit Guide smile at me. The kind of
smile that is usually done with crossed arms, without moving the lips or
cheeks, but with the eyes only.
Skipping a few non-Druid yet key moments betwixt the SG and I, it would
be three and a half years until the next revelation. It was 2011. That May, I
was finally making my life long dream come true. I was going to the UK, I had
made arrangements to go fully inside of Stonehenge, and I was taking a drum.
Standing in its sacred immanence, the connection I had there felt like coming
home. I felt as if the Stones welcomed me in immediately and embraced me, like
the way teammates surround and embrace the player that made the winning score,
except metaphysically... and with serenity and morning myst. On my way out,
amidst the gathering crowds of tourists showing up for their limited and
distant view of the Stones, I locked eyes with a gentleman standing over by the
fence of the now gone Solstice car park. We connected before we ever shook
hands, locking eyes with a gaze that felt like it was connected by a tether of
parchment saturated with arcane scripture. He was flanked by signs that read
"Laid to rest means stay at rest!" and "Return the Guardians NOW!" That
gentleman turned out to be Arthur Pendragon, a Druid King. This moment is
documented.
On the
following morrow, I was just over three hours north, about to begin walking
into Sherwood Forest. During the 20 minute walk towards the Major Oak, I was
overwhelmed by the interdimensional life force that filled the forest. I could
not determine what kind of energy or mix of energies it was, until I reached my
destination and came upon a large information sign, just opposite the Major
Oak, and learned that that area was believed to be the birthplace of the
Greenman. That's when it hit me what energy it was. it was those large, old
oaks themselves. The living Woodspirits. Moments later, as I was gazing at the
grandest of trees, I felt something beckoning from behind me. I turned my head
to look over my shoulder, and felt an undeniable draw to walk out of the
clearing and into the woods a bit. There was something there... facing me...
something large. As I drew nearer, I could see without my eyes that it was five
Woodspirits, and in the middle, stood the Greenman Himself. No audible words
were exchanged, no physical touch was felt, but I was clearly told, "I've
been watching you. Welcome, brother.", and they turned and walked off into
the forest. My heart was pounding and my eyes were full of tears. When I
returned home to Virginia, a ring of baby oaks had sprouted in a full circle
around my house. I still get choked up telling that story in person.
Almost
exactly one year later, in May, I was on a jobsite, a most baron and
non-naturey place, and I sensed the whisper in my ear, "It's tyme."
And I immediately knew that it was telling me that is was tyme to begin looking
into Druidry. Immediately, (and I mean that literally) as if told to do so, I
grabbed my phone and looked at it right at the precise moment that a push
notification of an incoming tweet from @PaganNews scrolled across my home
screen: "Thinking of getting into Druidry? Check out The Druid's Primer by
Luke Eastwood...". From there, things rolled too fast and too abundant to
go into.
I ordered the book. I read it. I reached out to Arthur Pendragon, and
we reconnected as if he'd been waiting for it. I ordered his autobiography,
which ended up being one of the most inspirational books I have ever read in my
entire life (I've read it 4 tymes). Within a few months, I connected with
Philip Carr-Gomm and John Micheal Greer (JMG and I had an amazing 3 hour dinner
together in Maryland, much of which is recorded), and was planning my return to
the UK. Being a big part British, Scottish, and Irish, there has always been a
great familiarity with images, themes, and even accents from those places. When
I finally set foot over there, I knew it had been a home, and as Druidry was
the indigenous path of the land, my soul just soaked it right up. I was told
that my aura had changed. My Spirit Guide and ancestral memories came alive,
the rest is newborn ancient lore.
So you
want to know how I found OBOD? that same summer I began my Druidic readings, I
was in my back yard on a hot sunny day. I was placing towels on a reclining
lawn chair to lay out in the sun for a bit and decided that, instead of listening
to music, Witchy podcasts, or movie commentary tracks, that I would see what I
could find out on "dem interwebs" about Druidry. Once I got past some
of the annoying fake Druid video game references, I saw a little something
called "DruidCast - The official podcast for The Order of Bards, Ovates,
and Druids." I started with episode one, and laid back heavily as the
opening guitar tickled through ears and down my ribcage.
I was already quite
exhausted, so it took me no tyme at all to sink into that hypnagogic state
betwixt consciousness and dreams... and that's when the voice of Damh the Bard
spoke to me. An hour later, when I came back to and sat up, I had the cauldron
brew of emotions swirling throughout my soul; Like that yearning feeling of
missing your mommy, but with that eager serendipity of knowing that she, along
with daddy, and Nana, and Uncle Bob, and that cute person from chemistry
class... were all just around the corner... Waiting. Half a year later, I was
in the passenger seat of Philip Carr-Gomms ... car ... as he drove the two of us down to meet The
Long Man of Wilmington. A most remarkable man, he is. And a little over a year
after that OBOD acronym was first spoke into my ears, I met Damh the Bard in
person. He shouted at me first, and we embraced as if we were old friends.
"You've had some fantastic adventures, brother... and you have so many
more ahead of you."
Me: Wow – keynote speaker! How does that feel?
It feels like an incredible honour! First male, I'm told. I'm excited for it, and I
hope the material I have prepared will really touch people and awaken even more
magick inside of them. I love public speaking, when I'm in my element, that is.
So far, the MAGUS crew have been very encouraging about what I have been
preparing.
Me: Thanks so much, Hex! This has been great! I'm looking forward to hearing more!
Stay Tuned for Part 2 - coming soon!
