Hangin' with Hex: Part 2

 
This is a continuation of our 4/15/19 interview with the "one and only" Hex Nottingham, who will be our Keynote Speaker at MAGUS 2019. 

Me:  Welcome back, Hex!  You had some great answers to our earlier interview, and I'm excited to hear more!  Here are a few more questions:

What is special or exciting about MAGUS?  What are you most looking forward to?

Hex:  Seeing my friends that I do not get many chances to be with throughout the wheel of the year, and being reunited with The Land Celebration. I haven't been to that park since 2011. It was there that I met my Terra Coven warrior sister, Imbrium. We've been close ever since even, regardless of the almost 200 miles of carriageway betwixt.

     I'm looking forward to so much! Seeing old friends, meeting new friends, learning from everyone's presentations, sharing our Bardic gifts around the fire. And hopefully, a nyte of intense drumming, dancing, and trancing.

     And did I mention that this year we will have..... a MAYPOLE DANCE???? That's right! This will be the first MAGUS to feature a Maypole Dance! It will be part of the Main Ritual. And do not worry! It will not be quite as Beltaney as your average adult themed Maypole Dance. The symbolism will be on a much more ethereal level as a fully interactive interweaving of  the human spirits of space and tyme in a cosmic kaleidoscope with the Divine. No one will have to worry about "not going near that thing!" for fears of it's often, however well or badly perceived, potent and fertile stigma. Elementary children have Maypole dances for nothing more than getting innocently lost in joy. Magick can be what you make it, and we are going to weave some profound effing magick.

 Me:  We really need to know why you’re “Sir” Hex Nottingham!  When did that happen?  What does it mean?  Do we have to genuflect in your Eminent Presence?  ;-)

Hex:  Absolutely not! I know you are just making fun, but I was going to 

address this anyway. And I want to be clear that no one is expected to call me that in person. However, it IS a title of which I am extremely proud. Remember when I mentioned walking out of Stonehenge and meeting Arthur Pendragon? 

You like stories? Well.. allow me to tell you why I am proud of this title.

     This man. This brave and headstrong motorcycle riding warrior. Yes, he likes to get drunk on the hard cider we jokingly call "Druid Fluid". And yes, he's had loads of drunken sex in his past, before he met his warrior queen, Kaz. Why this outshines what he's done for Druids, Witches, all Pagans, and all people, I will not understand.

     People began visiting Stonehenge much more frequently in 1870. And in 1905, the Ancient Order of Druids held the first recorded Druid ceremony. The number increased over the years from hundreds to thousands, until in 1985, The English Heritage closed off the Temple and declared an Exclusion Zone that spanned about four miles around the stones. 

Police rerouted a peaceful convoy of travelers on their pilgrimage out into a field, where they smashed up their vehicles, pulled the men, women, and children out of their vehicles, and savagely beat them. There is film footage of this nightmare that has become known as "The Battle of the Beanfield." 

For 15 years, anyone trying to reach Stonehenge for religious observance during the four solar holidays was arrested. Arthur was one of these people. He repeatedly challenged that ban, and he was arrested over 30 times.     

When Stonehenge began charging people to visit, he was against the charge. He wanted it to be free for all people, and for six months, he stood near the gates holding a sign that said, "Don't pay. Walk away." And at nyte, he would walk two miles back to where he slept on a hammock tied from a tree to a stone, beneath a tarpaulin canopy.

     When the powers of the Church of England decided to occupy Stonehenge in an attempt to stop the "filthy disgusting and sinful" Pagans from celebrating their rites in what they considered to be one of their most sacred temples, also known as The Giants Dance, Arthur and his Warband in turn, occupied churches, refusing to move, and challenged the hypocrisy and bias of the country's laws. The religious observance rights of the Druids and Pagans alike were ultimately granted and protected by law.

     The Druids were getting involved in many protests. Margaret Thatcher introduced the Public Order Act, which allowed a chief constable to ban a  gathering of as little as 6 people to try and control demonstrations. Arthur gathered fellow Druids and deliberately challenged this, and the courts ruled in his favour. Philip Carr-Gomm himself still tells this story.

     During his stints in prison, he would refuse to put on the prison garb, and was repeatedly beaten by guards by direct orders of the Warden, over... and over... until they finally gave in. And now, because of this man, Druids are legally allowed to where their ceremonial robes whilst in prison. Because of this man, the law is not allowed to interfere with the religious rites of Druids. Because of this man... you, me, and everyone else are free to walk into Stonehenge at the time of the four celestial observances and celebrate in all our pagan glory.    

     He was declared a Battle Chieftain, and acknowledged as a Druid King by

representatives of other Druid orders including the British Druid Order and the Glastonbury Order of Druids. And during their battles with the courts, Arthur and his Knights of the Loyal Arthurian Warband refused to swear upon the Christian Bible, but insisted instead, the Sword Excalibur. Their demands were met, with one knight screaming  "Y GWIR ERBYN Y BYD!!", which was "Truth against the world"... the battle cry of the mighty Queen Boudicca.

     When I was in the centre of Stonehenge for my second tyme (the whole sequential order of visits is an amazing story by itself), I took a knee in front of Arthur Pendragon. He withdrew the Sword of Britain, a sword that, during their battles in courts,  has had a high speed police escort across the country. He tapped my shoulders and head as I swore to Truth, Honour, and Justice. He then withdrew his athame and repeated the same actions, this tyme speaking in Gaelic. And when he told me, "Rise... Sir Hex; Shield Knight and Priest of the Loyal Arthurian Warband." I did so with the utmost conviction. The following year, he appointed me "Principal Drummer of the Stonehenge Grove."

So... not a knight by the Queen of England. not by someone born into a preexisting dynasty. But by someone who fought for himself and the legacy of thousands, changed a nation's view on its own history, and restored a sense of justice for spiritual pilgrims the world over.

Me:  Very cool!   I've learned something today - I had no idea we even HAD a Druid King!  He sounds like quite a character. You've really had some exciting adventures in your Druid Life - wow!   What's the most interesting thing you’ve done this month? What's coming up for you?

 Hex:  This interview for one!

  On the 13th, I will be a presenter and guest at Brotherhood of the Bog, which is a Pagan men's retreat. The have asked me to lead a workshop on Drumming for Tribe, as well as participate in their main ritual and leading that evening's drum circle. Two weeks after that, I have been asked by the local Belly Dance Community and the Southhampton Rennaisance Faire to return and perform an opening invocation to Saturday nyte's feast hafla. ...and to join some of the acts on stage to portray the role of a young Henry the VIII. My Coven and I are also preparing for our annual May Moon Beltane festival, of which, we are facilitating the Maypole Dance, the Faerie King/Queen Coronation, and the Main Ritual Procession.  Oh... and writing a Drumming for Inner peace workshop, a Keynote Speech, and a Main Ritual and Maypole Dance for MAGUS!!!

Me:  Sounds like you have big plans!  I'm looking forward to seeing you at MAGUS!  Thanks so much!