Hangin' with Hex: Part 1

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!