Toward Ecosophy

One of the things that's starting to surface these days, after a long period of silence on the subject, is just how many significant figures in twentieth century intellectual life were up to their eyeballs in one or another form of esoteric spirituality. Some of them remain household names today; others have been largely erased from the official history.  E. Graham Howe is one of the latter. An important influence on Alan Watts, a friend of Jiddu Krishnamurti, and a major figure in the history of psychology in Britain, the author of thirteen books, he's been deep-sixed from public memory...because he was a Druid.

I think most of my readers by now know that Druidry has been a significant force in alternative spiritual circles all over the English-speaking world since the eighteenth century. Howe was a member of the Universal Bond, one of the largest and most active Druid orders in the middle of the last century. He was among other things an influential teacher in the Druid scene, and at least one of his books, The Mind of the Druid, was very straightforward about his spiritual commitments. After his death in 1975, that seems to have been enough to get him cancelled.

A Druid in Psychologist's Clothing: E. Graham Howe's Secret Druidic Doctrine by Ian C. Edwards is a solid attempt to change that, discussing Howe's teachings and career with an eye toward the role of Druidry in his thought.  I was delighted to pen one of the two forewords to this book. It's pricey -- it's being released by a fine printer, Anathema Press, and costs Cdn$105.00 -- but for those who are interested in the interface between Druidry and psychology, it's well worth the price. Interested?  Details are here.