Grove Leadership
Amber Araneae (aka: Spider), Senior Druid (President)
My name is Amber, some simply call me by the nickname I have had since I was 8 years old; Spider.
My pronouns are She/Her/Hers
I am the Senior Druid for Columbia Grove, ADF and I am very happy to meet you!
Within Columbia Grove I lead a volunteer-focused Nature Guild group that centers on monthly local native tree plantings, invasive species removal, nature walks, plant identification walks, various clean-up efforts (including an annual visit to the Oregon coastline), and I host the occasional discussion and presentation virtually.
I help lead ADF High Day rituals at Coffee Creek Correctional Women's Prison once a month with another one of our members.
I approach my Druidry with a 15+ year background in eclectic plant-focused Witchcraft. My path peacefully diverted from Witchcraft about 7 years ago and it feels more at home as a Druid. I Identify as a Polytheist, Modern Druid. I predominantly work with the Irish Celtic pantheon (Brigid, Macha, and Badb) and with the Good Neighbors (Fae Folk). I have also been exploring more in learning about Lithuanian Baltic mythology and culture the past couple years as well.
I'm a Libra with a deeply rooted passion for hiking, camping, backpacking and all things outdoors. I'm a Pacific Northwest girl through and through and spend a lot of time hiking to waterfalls and exploring caves.
I have a degree in Biology that was focused on plant and invertebrate science. My best friend hesitates to hike with me as I am always stopping to identify all of the plants and insects! #DruidBiologist!
I love conversations about Druidry, poisonous plants, venomous animals, insects, arachnids, amphibians, mollusks, shadow work, trees, science, parasites, waterfalls, Irish history and mythology, and nature spirituality in general!
*As of Spring 2021 I am also the Northwest Regional Druid for ADF as a whole!*
Forest Kenyon, Chief Druid and Scribe (Secretary)
Hello! My name is Forest, and my pronouns are He/Him/His.
I am the Chief Druid for Columbia Grove, ADF and I am happy to help you with learning more about the Grove!
Within Columbia Grove I'm involved in a variety of our Special Interest Groups and I handle our internal relations, new member resources and questions, meeting minutes, and generally helping out with anything that needs to be done.
I also help lead our ADF High Day rituals either by hosting our meetings, or supporting our primary ritual leaders (our wonderful membership who write our rituals).
I approach my Druidry with 10+ years of solitary practice before joining ADF, focused heavily on self-work, shadow-work, and meditation. I joined Columbia Grove in July of 2019, and I've been with the Grove ever since. I identify as a Polytheist, Neo-Pagan Druid ("neo-" meaning "new", meaning that what I practice is not clearly contiguous with the rituals that the ancient Druids practiced, since they didn't write their rituals down).
My work is predominantly with the Irish and Gaulish Celtic hearth cultures, and I identify myself as a devotee of The Horned God, Cernunnos.
I'm an engineer and focus on practical order and natural creativity. I appreciate having both a "head-in-the-clouds" imagination as well as a "boots-on-the-ground" practicality, and I strive to find a balance. I have a degree in Environmental Engineering and I love the focused, scholarly aspects that our members bring to the Grove. But don't let that concern you - all are welcome, and there is no expectation that you take up scholarly pursuits or anything of the like.
We are an open and inclusive group of different folks who practice different things, honoring different hearth-cultures. As an ADF group all of our official rites focus on proto-indo-european hearth cultures, but we have folks who honor others as well. Everyone has something that they can contribute to our lovely grove.
Bio Coming Soon!