John the Verbose

@mndruids.bsky.social

204 Followers 145 Following

/|\ John the Verbose (he) & Oakdale Grove (they) of the Reformed Druids of North America. Practicing modern #Druidry in Twin Cities, Minnesota. Membership open. We have a free training program. #druidsky My photos are real, not AI. www.oakdalegrove.org

The great seal of Oakdale Grove of the Reformed Druids of North America on a green background.
Digital invitation card
2022 showing bur oak tree with canopy
Cartoon graphic invitation of event details. There are nondescript trees, a shrubbery, and a squirrel. When I moved the position of the squirrel I forgot to move the squirrel's shadow, and it lines up with its mouth, so it kinda looks like the squirrel is blowin' smoke or holding a gray stogie, lol.
A square invitation with cartoon flowers, grasses, and bees. Text says: Oakdale Grove Reformed Druids of North America Beltane Ritual Sat. May 2, 2026, 1-2 PM. Como Park Fire Pits 1340 Como Avenue Saint Paul, Minnesota Meet us there as early as 11 AM for our coffee hangout (but really to get a close parking spot). First Order initiations are available to any who wish to formally join (regardless of current experience). There are no new responsibilities or obligations for First Order.
A paper coffee cup with Sharpie marker artwork of a bear’s facial features without an outline, and a necklace underneath with a Druid Sigil pendant: a circle with two parallel vertical lines through it.
White Georgian pattern tumblers in the white “milk glass” color. One glass is held in my left hand in the foreground, a stack of six others and a seventh by itself is on the table in the midground. My chalice collection bookcase is in the background.
Closeup of a vinyl hand-painted transgender pride banner with a statement in blue sharpie that says "Share your light with the world, and I'll stand by your side with pride!"
A square flier with an Art Nouveau border details Oakdale Grove's March Casual Hangout indicating a presentation on the "Druidic Obsession Over Chalices" on Saturday March 7, 2026 from 1-3 PM at Caribou Coffee at 3354 Rice Street in Little Canada, MN. We'll be in the meeting room with the glass door and long conference table. In the flier are pictures of 11 different chalices of various materials, styles, and colors.
An invitation card stating all the details in the main post. It is silver text on a dark green background with a lighter green Art Nouveau frame surrounding it. In open spaces near the corners and in the center are symbols in black of the five Druid orders being discussed at the event: The AODA Awen in quartered circles, the OBOD Awen in three circles, the RDNA Druid Sigil, the ADF sprouting tree stump logo, and the Keltrian oak wreath Druid Sigil with the Awen in the center.
Me in my ceremonial garb and birch staff, standing on snow-covered ice at the edge of a 30 foot sandstone cliff. Pin oaks in the background still hold their leaves.
A Norfolk Island Pine is set upon a rococo plant stand with a strand of fairy lights coiled around both. The setup is in front of the apartment balcony sliding door at night that overlooks the parking courtyard.
Three documents are shown: my certificate of ordination from the Reformed Druids of North America, a Letter of Good Standing from the same, and my confirmation letter from the county for filing as a marriage officiant.
The Hellenic fountain at Sagalassos with Doric columns
Aegean Sea coastline from the road
Hagia Sofia in the distance at dawn
Sun rising over Lufthansa terminal in Frankfurt, Germany
Two copies of the Black Book of Liturgy sit in partial sunlight on a wooden table to show the matte binding. The glossy table shows a bit of glare from the sun, but the books do not have glare. One book is face up and the other is face down to show both sides.
A framed photograph of the Hill of Three Oaks in March. The frame is rustic reclaimed wood, and a gray framing mat with an oval opening compliments the spatial composition of the canopy of the trees and the shape of the hill.
“Sunset” photographed at the Milford Mine Memorial Park in Crosby, Minnesota
“Frost” on the trees at Springbrook Nature Center in Fridley, Minnesota.
A first edition copy of Oakdale Grove's "Black Book of Liturgy" next to a third edition copy. The first edition bears a small plain Druid Sigil centered on the front cover. The Sigil and the text are lime green on a black background. The Third Edition shows half the sigil very large centered on the book's spine so that the full sigil is seen by others while the book is held open by the reader.
A muddy pressurized cold spring on a pond gives the appearance of boiling water
Photo of the book “The 21 Lessons of Merlyn” by Douglas Monroe, with a big red X added to the photo in condemnation
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John the Verbose in #Druid #regalia with a walking stick at Oakdale Grove's 2022 "Recharge Retreat" at Willow River State Park group camp.
Johnny Walker black label scotch happens to be on sale. $29.99 vs $33.99
Coffee table at Caribou Coffee with an open paper cup of coffee, an informational brochure of Oakdale Grove, a Druid Sigil pendant, a white oak leaf and two red oak acorns.
Star fruit, ripe on the tree
Snow covered pines, heavily weighed down, at dusk
Raccoon paw prints in the fresh snow inside the sacred grove
Wooden modular travel altar box on a wireframe luggage cart. The boxes are fitted to interlock with the top box right side up or upside down, the latter of which provides a surface for our granite altar slab, chalices, cedar bundle sacrifice, and pitcher. A green placard draped from the edge of the altar reads “Oakdale Grove, Reformed Druids of North America” with a Druid Sigil at the center. The bonfire blazes in the background.
OBF logo in the style of a round seal like for paper embosser stamps. The Druid Sigil (a circle with two vertical bars through it) is at the center of the logo enclosed by a thin circle. Outside that are the words wrapping around that say "The Order of Bradán Feasa" with the silhouette of two hazelnuts as spacers on the left and right. This much is enclosed by a thicker bordered circle. Fintan (the Salmon of Knowledge in Irish mythology) is leaping up and over the upper right side of the larger circle toward the left, drawn in a woodcut style. Outside of the thick outer circle on the left and upper left side are the words "Reformed Druids," and outside the bottom and lower right of the thick outer circle are the words "of North America." A third hazelnut silhouette separates the word grouping outside the lower left of the thick outer circle. The background is a blurred photo of an open book totally immersed under a half inch of water, with a droplet causing concentric ripples from the center, giving the impression that Fintan, the Salmon of Knowledge, has leapt out of the book over the logo.
A smooth river stone slightly smaller than a walnut shell with an embossed outline of an elephant carved into one surface
Sunset in the nemeton of the natural circle of Northern Pin Oaks in Oakdale Nature Preserve on the midwinter solstice. The last glimmer of sun shines between the trees of the sacred grove and through the oak savanna in the background. A thin blanket of snow covers the ground and the boughs of the ancient oak at the heart of the circle.
A photo of a page from the print version of the novella "Druidical Treasure: The David Fisher Code" with a super-compressed photo of me from when I was an urban explorer in a massive storm drain. The author of the novella gathered photos from the internet to use as illustrations. He somehow managed to include one of me that he found while allegedly browsing for urban explorers in underground spaces to correspond with the scene he was writing about. I was merely a solo Druid at the time, and was not aware of this until 2011.