Who are the Pagans, and what do they stand for? Why would some members of the best educated, most materially comfortable generation of Americans look back to mystical traditions many milennia old?
Visit Ellen online at www.elleneverthopman.com
Ellen Evert Hopman is a Master Herbalist and lay Homeopath who holds an M.Ed. in Mental Health Counseling.
Ellen Evert Hopman is the author of a growing number of books. Her newest offering is Scottish Herbs and Fairy Lore (Pendraig Publishing, 2011), a study of the folk magic and healing plants of the Highlands and islands of Scotland.
Her first novel, Priestess of the Forest: A Druid Journey (Llewellyn, February 2008), was an exciting new project for her, combining a heart-warming fictional romance with practical Druid rites and rituals. The sequel is called The Druid Isle (Llewellyn, April 2010). The third book in the series is Priestess of the Fire Temple: A Druid's Tale (Llewellyn) which will be released in March of 2012
Her newest book on tree medicine and tree lore is A Druid's Herbal for Sacred Tree Medicine (Inner Traditions - Bear and Company, June 2008) Other books include Being a Pagan: Druids, Wiccans, and Witches Today (Destiny Books, 2001), People of the Earth: The New Pagans Speak Out (Inner Traditions, 1995), Walking the World in Wonder - A Children's Herbal (Healing Arts Press, 2000), A Druid's Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year (Destiny Books, 1994) , and Tree Medicine -Tree Magic (Phoenix Publishing, Inc.,1992, currently out of print).
Hopman is a founding member of The Order of the White Oak (Ord Na Darach Gile,
www.whiteoakdruids.org) and its former Co-Chief, a Bard of the Gorsedd of Caer Abiri, and a Druidess of the Druid Clan of Dana. She was Vice President of The Henge of Keltria, an international Druid Fellowship, for nine years. She has also been at times a member of The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids and of ADF, A Druid Fellowship. She is the co-creator of the Virtual Shrine of the Goddess Brighid (http://shrineofbrighid.com/)
Hopman has been a teacher of Herbalism since 1983 and of Druidism since 1990. She is a professional member of the American Herbalists Guild. Hopman is a member of the Grey Council of Mages and Sages and has been a professor at the Grey School of Wizardry.
Hopman has presented on Druidism, herbal lore, tree lore, Paganism, and magic at conferences, festivals, and events in Northern Ireland, Ireland, Scotland, Canada, and the United States. She has participated in numerous radio and television programs including National Public Radio's "Vox Pop" and the Gary Null show in New York. She presented a weekly "herb report" for WRSI radio out of Greenfield, MA for over a year and was a featured subject in a documentary about Druids on A&E Television's "The Unexplained" (Sacred Societies, February 1999).
She has also released video tapes and DVDs on the subjects covered in her books through Sawmill River Productions. See clips at: http://vimeo.com/user2687064/videos
Purchase the DVDs for $20.00 plus $4.00 from Ellen at POB 219, Amherst, MA 01004
She has been a teacher of Herbalism since 1983 and of Druidism since 1990 and co-leads tours to Celtic and Neolithic sites in Europe. She was the founder of The New England Druid Summit, a yearly gathering of Druids in New England.
She has participated in numerous radio and television programs including the Gary Null show in New York, and presented a weekly "herb report" for WRSI radio, out of Greenfield, MA for two years. She was a featured subject in a February, 1999 documentary on Druids on A&E Television's "The Unexplained". She has been on the staff of Keltria: Journal of Druidism and Celtic Magick and has been a contributing author to many New Age and Pagan journals.
Visit www.elleneverthopman.com to read Ellen's monthly blog.
Praise for Scottish Herbs and Fairy Lore;
Many of the herbal and magical practices of the Scots are echoed in
traditional Norwegian folk medicine and magic. This is a valuable resource
book not only for the serious folklorist, but also for a wider audience
interested in a deeper look at rural Scottish practices. Ms. Hopman has done
an amazing amount of research, and her Scottish herbalism section is far
more detailed than I've seen elsewhere. A "must have" for the northern
European folklorist's library.
Jane T. Sibley, Ph.D., author of "The Hammer of the Smith" and "The Divine
Thunderbolt: Missile of the Gods".
Through her books, Ellen Evert Hopman lifts the veil between worlds of the
present and the past. She guides the reader on a fascinating journey to our
ancient Celtic history, simultaneously restoring lost knowledge and
entertaining the reader. Be prepared to be educated and delighted.
Wendy Farley, Clan McKleod
"The first things is WOW! Ellen Hopman has given us a volume that belongs in
Harry Potter's library. This wonderful collection of enchantments, faery
lore and herbal potions, is presented by a practicing herbalist and (I
suspect) magician. It is a useful manual of magic, an unusual tourist guide
to Scotland, certainly a delightful read, and at the very least, a
comprehensive and thoroughly footnoted collection of folk lore for
humorless librarians and scholars."
Matthew Wood MS (Scottish School of Herbal Medicine)
Registered Herbalist (American Herbalists Guild)
Every now and again, a book emerges from the waves of occult and magical
authorship that delves into the deep and ancestral waters of old magic! This
book is one of those rare occasions. From the lore of herbs to the blessing
of stones; from avioding the elf-blast to healing through Faerie blessing -
Ellen guides the reader through ancient groves of oral lore to discover a
power and spirit that connects the reader to the oldest of magics, the earth
and her elements. I am confident that the Scottish Ancestral Wise Ones, are
renewed through this book and the old ways live once again!
Orion Foxwood
Ellen Evert Hopman takes us deep into a world where folk magic and herbal
medicine are part and parcel of a daily life guided by the cycles of the sun
and the moon and the land. She strikes a perfect balance, combining
rigorous scholarship, deep understanding of the Scottish worldview, and
clear and accessible writing with just the right measure of the mystical and
poetic. At once a rich and detailed study of traditional Scottish ways and
a practical manual for bringing healing and magic into your own life. A
truly masterful work.
Sean Donahue, Traditional Herbalist
http://www.brighidswellherbs.com
Like a wee bairn sitting on grandma's lap absorbing legend, lore and
instruction from the talk around the hearth, you will learn from and delight
in this richly accomplished book. Take a sip or a long draught, you will be
nourished deeply.
Susn S. Weed author of the Wise Woman Herbal series.
Woven into this well-researched and beautifully presented book is a magical
thread. This thread forms a path and this path winds its way into the very
marrow of the old and forgotten ways of Scotland. Throughout these pages
Ellen lavishes the reader with a body of knowledge that she means to be used
in direct participation with Nature. The message is clear: The old Wisdom
endures and is more vital to us than ever before.
Michael Dunning - Scottish shaman, writer, artist and teacher.
A recent review of A Druids Herbal of Sacred Tree Medicine;
SageWoman
BBI Media, Inc.
www.witchesandpagans.com
REVIEW:
As a practicing herbalist, I am always on the lookout for books rich with
herbal lore. The problem is that most books are either medicinal or magical,
and when they're both, the information therein is not always especially
helpful. Enter Ellen Evert Hopman, whose book, however, is a thorough and
complete look at both. Hopman is not only an herbalist but a Druid
priestess, as well and she obviously has a keen intuitive sense of tree
medicine that she couples this with Druid lore (as well as Native American
lore). Sacred Tree Medicine traces through the Druid Ogham Tree alphabet,
giving the symbolic, liturgical, poetic, medicinal, and spiritual aspects of
each sacred tree.
Though there is focus on herb lore, the Goddess is given plenty of
attention, too. Hopman teaches her reader how each sacred tree assists in
spiritual practice and which face of the Goddess it represents. I had the
most fun taking this book to the forests by my home, identifying trees and
sampling their offerings. The book closes with a section on the Druidic arts
including magic, tools, festivals, and divinations. This gives the reader
the opportunity to put her newfound knowledge of trees and magic to
practical use.
Hopman is an incredible resource for all of us seeking to take our health,
medicine, and spirituality into our own hands. Sacred Tree Medicine deserves
a place on the shelf next to her other guides of magical and medicinal lore.
