Twice a year they seem to appear from nowhere. To celebrate the equinoxes. And to briefly lend an aura of timelessness to two magical places in London. In spring on Tower Hill, near the banks of the river Themes. And in autumn on Primrose Hill, high above the Thames valley. All at once, the Druids are there. In their spotlessly white robes.

The leader carries a drawn sword like a sacred object in front of him. The women wear wreaths of sacred plants on their heads. When day and night have the exact same length, the druids form a circle for their ritual. The ceremony begins with the sound of an ancient horn.

Just like the ancient druids met in sacred groves and were not part of any sort of organisation, their modern ancestors don’t have an umbrella group. Britain’s largest druid order today is OBOD, the ‚Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids’, led by author and psychiatrist Philip Carr-Gomm. His group sees itself as a catchment basin for contemporary nature mystics. They worship the life-giving force of the natural world. Expressed in cyclically celebrated rituals. At ancient spiritually enchanted places, – like the Glastonbury Tor in Somerset. It’s here where you can meet Carr-Gomm’s Order for the summer and winter solstice.