A nice stack of Celtic books to read

[ericjdev]

Lady Augusta Gregory is my favorite, particularly Gods and Fighting Men and Cuchulain of Muirthemne. I'm on to Blood and Mistletoe next, I like more history, more folklore. I don't really like it when someone takes modern rituals and slaps a Druid or Celtic label on it and there is absolutely no historical link, no way to back it up. If you haven't read the materials from the Irish mythological cycles you owe it to yourself, I absolutely fell in love with my faith and the culture behind it, it was baptismal for me.

[JamesByrne]

Which ones are notoriously trashy aside from the McCoy book?

DJ Conway mega cheese. Her Celtic Magic and Norse Magic are identical books except for changes in the names from Irish to Norweigan. Anam Cara... holy jazuz its the only thing to do when listening to cheesy irish crooners. Its not so much cheesy fun as pg 13 priest run youth club table tennis fun



Ive never read fire in the head, is it cheesy?

[Celtic Tiger]

Ive never read fire in the head, is it cheesy?

No. More of an examination of shamanic beliefs/traits that are seen in Celtic society and which are paralleled in other societies. More of a scholarly work. No rituals or meditative exercises, but lots and lots of citations and references. He cites Mircea Eliade's work not infrequently. It comes across more like something written by an anthropologist. The title of the book is a Yeats reference. There were other books by Cowan at the bookstore and is work was in the shamanism section, not the Celtic section.

Believe it or not, the Conway book wasn't overly cheasy to read, though I haven't taken the time to compare it to other works that she has done. There were a few wiccan elements, though not nearly so much as McCoy's book, which really was more of a Celtic Wicca book than anything having any historical basis in Celtic spiritual practice. I enjoyed the Conway book quite a bit (that one was recommended by the bookstore owner) and found the McCoy book reasonably enjoyable to read as well (that one just kind of caught my attention).

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Lady Augusta Gregory is my favorite, particularly Gods and Fighting Men and Cuchulain of Muirthemne. I'm on to Blood and Mistletoe next, I like more history, more folklore.

I find those books to be the most rewarding, though my collection is rather small at this point.

I don't really like it when someone takes modern rituals and slaps a Druid or Celtic label on it and there is absolutely no historical link, no way to back it up.

That was very noticable with McCoy's Celtic Myth & Magick and Conways Celtic Magic book. I don't care for it either, though I do confess to enjoying the books for what they were.

If you haven't read the materials from the Irish mythological cycles you owe it to yourself, I absolutely fell in love with my faith and the culture behind it, it was baptismal for me.

Will do!

Many thanks!

[JamesByrne]

No. More of an examination of shamanic beliefs/traits that are seen in Celtic society and which are paralleled in other societies. More of a scholarly work. No rituals or meditative exercises, but lots and lots of citations and references. He cites Mircea Eliade's work not infrequently. It comes across more like something written by an anthropologist. The title of the book is a Yeats reference. There were other books by Cowan at the bookstore and is work was in the shamanism section, not the Celtic section.

Never heard of Mircea Eliades. It sounds like one for the collection Ill have to check it out thanks! .

[Celtic Tiger]

He was a religion historian from Romania who was also a professor at the University of Chicago: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mircea_Eliade

[SilverSerenity]

From a more historical perspective, might I recommend "The Sea Kingdoms: A History of Celtic Britain and Ireland" by Alistair Moffat. I found this a very comprehensive and interesting read focusing on the history of Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man and Wales from a Q-Celtic and P-Celtic perspective.

I'm also part-way through "The Mammoth Book of Celtic Myths and Legends" by Peter Berresford Ellis. This is a rather large book containing 6 or 7 legends from each of Ireland, Isle of Man, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany. The only thing lacking are any tales from the rest of what is now England - which I don't seem to find anywhere (ignoring Anglo-Saxon tales).

[ethelwulf]

One book I particularly enjoyed was Celtic Myth and Religion by Sharon MacLeod. It was very well written and drew from many sources giving an excellent insight into the Celtic Religion. Another interesting book was written by Wood=Martin called Traces of the Elder Faiths of Ireland. This I written by a Christian so care must be taken in reading it but I gives many of the stories and beliefs of pagan Ireland. I have only read volume 2 ( did not know there were two volumes when I got it) but I am looking forward to reading Volume 1. There are many Pagans who do not agree with reading books by Christians who wrote about pre-Christian beliefs but I think as long as you read them knowing how has wrote the book they can be excellent ways to learn about Celtic beliefs. I personally thankful that some Christians were willing to write down pre-Christian Celtic beliefs or we would know nothing about the myths, stories, and religion of Celtic Pagans.