NOD News - New Order of Druids

NOD Latest News

College course books available again in print!

Details: Created: Friday, 18 November 2016 11:28; Published: Friday, 18 November 2016 11:55

For quite some time, we have been unable to offer the printed book versions of our courses in the Grove of Dana online Druid college. In the past, these books used to be printed through our Cafepress online shop, until they decided to shut down their book printing services. NOD has therefore decided to bring the books back in print through the online press service of Lulu instead.

We are happy to announce that, as of now, all our course books are back available in print! But there's more:

* Aside from the Bardic and Ovate Course books, we now also have the Druid Course book available in print!
* All books have been reduced in price thanks to the lower printing costs of Lulu, and are now available at only € 12 per book (excluding shipping).

The books are the same as in the past, except for a size format modification and, in most cases, new book cover images. Some revisions in the text have been done in order to edit out spelling errors that had been overlooked in the past, but the content itself is still the same.

Have a look at the new NOD Bookstore by clicking here and check it out for yourself!
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/neworderofdruids

It should be noted that the printed book versions of our courses are intended for those who prefer to read the courses on paper rather than on a screen. You are not obligated to buy these books in order to enrol in our courses, as you will still be able to download the course material in full. All profits from the sales of these books will be spent entirely on maintenance expenses of the New Order of Druids.

Changes to Celtopedia

Details: Created: Friday, 24 June 2016 10:23; Published: Friday, 24 June 2016 10:23

Celtopedia is a Celtic-related wiki which was launched by the New Order of Druids in 2006. Due to technical reasons related to the server, some changes have recently been made to Celtopedia.

As of now, Celtopedia has become integrated with the "Celtic Library", another wiki which is integrated into the main website. As such, Celtopedia as an independent wiki has ceased to exist and part of its contents has become integrated with the Celtic Library. The Celtic Library will henceforth be known as "Celtopedia" instead.

Not all contents has been moved over: a large portion of the Celtopedia articles were in fact copied from Wikipedia and have since not received necessary updates. For those articles, we refer to Wikipedia for the latest revisions. Other parts, such as the extensive Celtic Timeline and some independent articles, will remain and can be found in the new Celtopedia. This allows us to save on server space, provide better up-to-date content, and to fully integrate Celtopedia into the main website.

The link to Celtopedia still continues to work and will refer to the new integrated weblink: celtopedia.druidcircle.net.

College News

Details: Created: Thursday, 09 June 2016 19:18; Published: Thursday, 09 June 2016 19:18

We would like to announce some changes in the Grove of Dana online Druid College.

The first change is that we have decided to close down the "Becoming Aware" course. The course was lacking mentorship, and since it never attracted many students we have decided it would not be worth the effort of finding new mentors for it for the time being. All other specialisation courses remain available, of course.

The second change is that there are now two College Coordinators. Elke remains college coordinator as before, but she will now get the help of a second coordinator, Ben (Ontwaken). Please allow Ben a bit of time to get up to speed with everything. The recommended communication channels remain the same: the helpdesk support system, e-mail or the "College Technical Support" forum.

Thank you for your understanding.

NOD's 10th anniversary as a non-profit organisation

Details: Created: Thursday, 14 January 2016 11:13; Published: Thursday, 14 January 2016 11:13

This year, in May 2016, the New Order of Druids will exist for 10 years as a non-profit organisation.

The New Order of Druids initially began on February 1, 2003. Originally, it was only a website with a discussion forum, which was later expanded with a college. On May 3, 2006, we became an official non-profit organisation for the first time. The event received a great deal of media attention in the Belgian press.

The New Order of Druids couldn't be what it is today, without the input of all our members. Therefore, we would like to thank you for your input, help and even simply your presence with us. We hope that, with your help, we will be able to continue to grow!

Updates on college certificates and NOD Circles

Details: Created: Tuesday, 30 September 2014 14:39; Published: Tuesday, 30 September 2014 14:39

We would like to inform you about a few changes and updates within the New Order of Druids.

The first update is of interest to all students of the Bardic, Ovate and Druid courses in the Grove of Dana online Druid college. As of now, it will be possible to request a certificate for completed courses in both digital and printed format. The printed version is available only to upgraded members, as it was already the case before, but the digital version is available to all members, including the free ones.

Note that digital certificates are only available for free members if your date of course completion took place on or after September 1, 2014. For upgraded members, this date is extended to July 2007 (for both the printed and digital formats). You can read all the information and requirements at this link:

http://www.druidcircle.org/druid/index.php/en/druid-college/college-certificate

The second update concerns a decision we have had to make in relation to the NOD Circles (work groups). Due to prolongued inactivity in all existing groups, it has been decided to close down these circles. The discussion topics that were posted in the related forums, however, will not be lost as they have been moved into the nearest relevant general forum (mostly The Druid Inn and The Celtic Cauldron, depending on the subject). We regret having to make this decision, but we hope to count on your participation in various other topics of interest in the general forums.

Heartbleed bug: no reason for concern

Details: Created: Sunday, 13 April 2014 13:22; Published: Sunday, 13 April 2014 13:22

These past few days, you may have heard of several warnings for the so-called "Heartbleed bug". This bug allowed hackers to exploit an OpenSSL vulnerability among several servers, and steal login details (such as passwords) of several well-known websites from Google to Yahoo.

The question is: does the server of the New Order of Druids website (druidcircle.org and druidcircle.net) have the same vulnerability, and do you need to change your NOD account password?

The answer is no.
Priorweb, the host of the NOD website, has announced on their website that their servers did not use the vulnerable versions of OpenSSL. This means that hackers would not have been able to steal login details from any websites hosted by Priorweb, and that includes the websites of the New Order of Druids.

In short, you do not need to change your password on the NOD website, unless you happen to use the exact same login details on other websites as well, that do or did have that vulnerability.

Here you will find a list of websites that have, or have not, been affected by the Heartbleed bug:

http://mashable.com/2014/04/09/heartbleed-bug-websites-affected/

More information on Priorweb's announcement (only available in Dutch):

http://www.priorweb.be/over-ons/nieuws/20140410/kritiek-lek-in-openssl

New NOD Vernemeton: Grove of the White Oak

Details: Created: Tuesday, 11 March 2014 13:13; Published: Tuesday, 11 March 2014 13:13

The New Order of Druids is slowly but surely growing. We are happy to announce that a new Vernemeton - local grove of NOD - has recently been created.

We would like to welcome the Grove of the White Oak, a Vernemeton in Asheville, North Carolina, USA! If you live in the western NC area, east Tennessee or upstate South Carolina, you might be interested in joining, either formally or informally. The Vernemeton focuses upon Bardic and Druidic studies, and on celebration of the seasonal high days of the year. The Grove of the White Oak will be officially consecrated at Beltaine this year.

For more information about the Grove of the White Oak, you can visit their website:

http://danusgrove.org/

We wish founder Finn the best of luck with this new Vernemeton, which is now the third local grove of the New Order of Druids. The other two are:

* Lady Angel Christian Bards, a grove inspired by Christian Druidism located in Topeka, Kansas: http://www.druidcircle.org/druid/index.php/en/nemetons/find-a-local-nemeton/232-lady-angel-christian-bards

* Nervii Nemeton, mothergrove of NOD located in Antwerp, Belgium: http://www.druidcircle.org/druid/index.php/en/nemetons/find-a-local-nemeton/190-nervii-nemeton

N.O.D. Administration on vacation

Details: Created: Monday, 29 July 2013 15:27; Published: Monday, 29 July 2013 15:27

The Membership Administration and Webmaster of the New Order of Druids will be on vacation until August 10. E-mails or support tickets sent directly to these departments will not be answered until sometime after August 10.

Thank you for your understanding.

Upgraded membership discount with coupon

Details: Created: Tuesday, 09 July 2013 21:55; Published: Tuesday, 09 July 2013 21:55

On February 1st, 2013, the New Order of Druids reached its 10th birthday!

Back then, we already announced that this will be celebrated with temporary discounts of 10 € on upgraded membership, valid between February 1 and October 31, 2013. The discount prices are therefore 19,95 € (1 year) and 39,95 € (2 years). These discounts are still valid, of course, but they are now handled a little different on the website.

If you are planning to upgrade your account between now and October 31 of this year (or your upgrade will expire in that time and you want to renew), you can apply your discount with this promo coupon code: NOD10

An upgraded membership with NOD includes a membership card and introduction booklet (first time upgrade), access to courses with mentor included, course certificates, access to the Oran Mór quarterly Celtic e-zine, and more! By upgrading your account, you help us cover the expenses required to keep our website and its services running each year again. Read more about the advantages of Upgraded Membership at this link:
http://www.druidcircle.org/druid/index.php/en/my-account/upgrade-my-account

How to upgrade with the discount price?

- In order to apply the discount, simply go to "My Account" - "Upgrade my Account". Then click "Upgrade now".
- Select whether you want to upgrade for 1 or 2 years, and click the "upgrade now" button below.
- Enter your invoice address (first time upgrade) and continue.
- In the field next to "Enter coupon code if available", you fill out the coupon code: NOD10 and click "redeem coupon".
- The prices near the top of the page will now reflect the discount price!
- Click "pay now" (for payment with credit card or Paypal) or "pay offline" (for payment with money transfer by bank) and follow further instructions to complete your payment.

Please note:
- The discount coupon is valid only until October 31, 2013.
- The discount does NOT apply to family membership prices, as they are already discounts themselves.
- There will no longer be a free copy of the book "Spirit of Dán" included in a 2 year upgrade, as there are no more copies left.

Learn more about the upgraded membership at this link:
http://www.druidcircle.org/druid/index.php/en/my-account/upgrade-my-account

Also check our FAQ:
http://www.druidcircle.org/druid/index.php/en/home/frequently-asked-questions

Welcome to the new NOD website!

Details: Created: Wednesday, 19 June 2013 18:39; Published: Wednesday, 19 June 2013 18:39

It was long in coming, but it's finally here: the brand new website of the New Order of Druids!

As you will notice, the website has been given a complete new design. The top menu covers all important areas of the website, and by hovering over them you will also see the related sub-menus on which you can click. Of course, there will be more menus and submenus when you are logged in on the website.

Here's an overview of what's new:

1. Brand new "activity wall" (now called "newsfeed") with features similar to those of Facebook.

2. A new design for your user profile

3. Improved private messenger and enhanced chat bar

4. A brand new "Friends Map" which allows zooming and connection lines between you and your friends.

5. Circle Forums have been rearranged. It is now also possible to "like" or "dislike" a topic on the forums.

6. Brand new Grove of Dana online Druid college (see below)

7. Nemetons Map: search on the map for a Nemeton near you

8. Enhanced NOD Circles with attached forum

9. Newly implemented NODCast - the NOD Podcast

A note on the new Grove of Dana online Druid College:

We have started using new software for handling our College courses. When you go to "Druid College" and "Getting Started", you will find a step-by-step tutorial to get you going on how to start following a course.

If you are already taking a course, you don't need to do anything different. Upgraded Members who are following a course with mentor on our old College software, can continue doing so until they have completed the course. They can go directly to the old College using this link: http://college.druidcircle.org/moodle/ (link also at the bottom of the "My Courses" page). If you only just started a course there though, we recommend that you re-enrol to start at the new college software.

Right now we are still in the process of setting up our mentors in the new college software, and copying over the last of the courses. This should all be completed in the next few days. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

If you have any questions, or you have run into what could be an overlooked bug on the website, do not hesitate to let us know.

Sponsored Links