Obituary
of
Dylan Ap Thuin

Archdruid
of
the Insular Order of Druids

Dylan Ap Thuin collapsed on Sunday July 13th was declared dead 6 days later on Saturday July 19th 2003 in Bolton. The following obituary appeared in The Portsmouth News a fortnight later on Wednesday August 6th, written by Victoria Taylor based on their own previous interviews with him over the years, and material submitted to them by me.

Dylan's obituary in The News - Portsmouth

OBITUARY
by Victoria Taylor
The News

THE SELF-STYLED arch-druid of Portsmouth, Dylan Blight - later known as Dylan Ap Thuin - has died aged 38.

    Mr Ap Thuin - who admitted that some saw him as a 'total nutter' - was a campaigner on ecological and pagan issues and a key figure in the pagan communities.

    He was well-known for following druid beliefs, which involve celebrating man's spirituality and relationship with the earth.

    Mr Ap Thuin was born in London but came to Portsmomh at the age of one.

    He was a pupil at Portsmouth Grammar School and lived in Elizabeth Gardens, Southsea, before moving to Bolton in Lancashire last year.

    Friend Karl Gallagher of  Paulsgrove Road, North End, said: 'He was well-known to many iwople for his enthusiastic observance of pagan traditions, including both wicca ami druidry, and also for his tattoo studio, Labyrinth, in Southsea..

    He was also well-known to News readers, frequently appearing in articles on anything from minority religion to body modification.

    The '90s saw steadily escalating conflict between the authorities and the .British pagan movernent on many land issues, including road-building, the freedom to worship at sacred sites, and the 1994 Criminal Juatice Bill.

    'During this time, Dylan campaigned actively.

    ln 1993 he was one of only three druids to slip through the police cordon and celebrate the summer solstice in Stonehenge in full druid robes.

    At Stonehenge. Dylan changed his surname to Ap Thuin and formed The Insular Order of Druids, which first met at The Druid's Arms in North End in February 1994 <sic>

    His order organised private and public rituals to celebrate the ancient Celtic and solar festivals, and in February 1995 he initiated fellow druids in a dawn ritual a Stonehenge.

Mr Ap Thuin was at Stonehenge when it was opened for worship at the summer solstice in 2000 after a decade of campaigning.

    He also did counselling work for Portsmourh Mind  and organised spiritual counselling for pagans at St' James's Hospital and Kingston Prison in Milton.

    He died from complications brought on by a heart attack and is survived by his grandmother, parents Trevor and Jenny and his half-sister, Leonora.

     There will be a Crossing The Bridge ceremony for Mr Ap Thuin on what would  have been his 39th birthday on August 16.

    It will place at Kingley Vale National Nature Reservc, west of Chichester. from 10am.

    Friends can visit   www.wackydylan.com or  phone Mr Gallagher on...


WHAT DYLAN SAID
  • My given name is Dylan, my surname is not important - but in certain circles I am known as Dylan Ap Thuin.
  • I was born on 16 August 1965
  • I'm either an inspired magician or a total nutter, depending on who you listen to.
  • I am a double Leo - of Dragon vintage. I am a social chameleon, changing my outer image on a regular basis.
  • Sometimes in this life you just have to make your own breaks. Other people will rarely make them for you.
  DRUID DETAILS
  • Ancient druids were spiritual leaders - 'Drui' means oak tree and 'id' means wisdom.
  • In general translation, they were the holders of nature.
  • The druids worked as priests, healers, clairvoyants and astrologers.
  • Modern druids celebrate a spirituality and unity with the earth, which can be mixed with creativity and the arts.
  


This notice appeared in the local paper in Bolton.
 
Notice of Service BLIGHT
Dylan Warren aka
Dylan ap Thuin
Passed away peacefully in
Royal Hospital, Bolton, July 19.

Funeral 1.00 p.m. July 28th,
Overdale Crematorium, Bolton,
followed by buffet at Cyber
Surf Cafe, Farnworth, Bolton.
Much loved and sadly missed
by Mum Jen, Dad Trevor and
Gran Meg


A lot of people passed through Dylan's grove in the nineties. One young lady who attended a few IOD moots but lost touch wrote this poem when she heard about Dylan's death.

I remember you
on this welsh hillside
my brother in the hawthorne
your spirit in the well

I lit this candle for you
and watched it's flickering runes
reflected in the pool
spinning prophecy

Today the Robin and the Wren
on oak and may full bush
wove your essence in the air
sent ripples across time.

To the point in that circle
where i felt your hand in mine
under a younger moon then
with one million stars churning into cosmic flow
we surfed eternity,spiral castle bound.

All tides must ebb, and i am here
in Golden Grove where mistletoe hides
remembering a kiss that i never had
and you my friend,long dead now
but i remember everything, and more
and i know that you are here.


Claire Chroston 2006

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