What is an Ovate?
"...they have soothsayers too of great renown." Diodorus Siculus, Histories, V, 31, 1st century BCE
The ovate, or ofydd, explores the roots of things, seeking the philosophy that underpins Druidry, and life itself. What is the nature and destiny of the human spirit? What is the nature of destiny itself? What happens to the human soul and psyche after death? Who or what are the spirits of nature? How do we relate to them? The ovate seeks answer to such questions through understanding the natural cycles of time, and the processes of birth, growth, life, death and decay, both on a smaller scale by studying plants and animals, and on a larger scale by studying theoretical science and cosmology.
The ovate is a seer, combining mental and spiritual discipline with the intuitive gifts of the bard, seeking through awen-inspired vision to understand the flow of events, past, present, and future. A primary ovate skill is divination, seen in its literal sense as communication with the divine. Another is healing, the ovate practice of healing drawing on an understanding of the flow of spirit, the will of the gods and the nature of human destiny.
