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  • Celitc mythology books?

    Celtic paganism was one of the first sorts of paganism I got into, after a friend told me she was Wiccan and I read about Wicca. Many people are content to worship the gods and do other religious practices, but to me, reading & understanding mythology is the most important foundation for serious 'religious' paganism, whether I actually want to do any other practices or not.

    Can anyone recommend any books that have one or more of any of the full cycles of Irish mythology? I have already read the Mabinogion (Welsh) and am aware some other areas of the British Isles and Western Europe have mythology/folktales, but I want to read & understand the Irish stuff, since I think it is quite important in the subject of Celtic paganism. After I read the Irish stuff, or possibly at the same time, if it builds on the Irish stuff, I might read some of the Scottish and then other Celtic stuff.

    It has been decades since I got into Wicca, but I am no longer really Wiccan rather than 'pagan'/'heathen,' and I know what I want to know about gods, and I have my own spiritual practice, so please do not waste your time mentioning any religious books other than ones that are mostly mythology. When I asked specific mythology questions in other WWW places, sometimes the only answers I got were of non-mythological religious books, or videos, etc., but I will probably not even look at those.

    I found some WWW sources, but they are not complete, but hopefully books are. What I have seen on the WWW also has Abrahamic religion included in the 'Celtic' mythology, and I hope to avoid reading Abrahamism in books unless it is pointed out and criticized. For example, one site is referencing Noah, and the Abrahamic God, and probably Jesus, etc., though there is a Celtic mythological figure that is similar to Noah. I am 100% pagan, not half-pagan, half-Abrahamic, and if the most complete books has that stuff in it, I will skip or skim those parts. Actually, what I saw on the 'net had so much of it, that I had trouble skimming it and finding the genuine stuff, so please recommend any pure Celtic mythology books or series (of any complete cycle) if you know of them.

  • #2
    Re: Celitc mythology books?

    I don't have any books, but I found an independant translation for them, If you PM me I can send you the links, they are well done.
    http://catcrowsnow.blogspot.com/

    But they were doughnuts of darkness. Evil damned doughnuts, tainted by the spawn of darkness.... Which could obviously only be redeemed by passing through the fiery inferno of my digestive tract.
    ~Jim Butcher

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    • #3
      Re: Celitc mythology books?

      Alright, I will figure out how to do that, though I think it would be beneficial to anyone else who has a similar approach and comes across this thread, if they could see the links.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Celitc mythology books?

        Originally posted by demon View Post
        Alright, I will figure out how to do that, though I think it would be beneficial to anyone else who has a similar approach and comes across this thread, if they could see the links.



        Uh, do you have to berate everyone, around here? Friendliness and civility will vastly improve your likelihood of being welcome for an extended stay.

        Just a piece of advice. *shrug*




        "Reason is not automatic. Those who deny it cannot be conquered by it." - Ayn Rand

        "Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth." - Marcus Aurelius

        "The very ink with which history is written is merely fluid prejudice." - Mark Twain

        "The only gossip I'm interested in is things from the Weekly World News - 'Woman's bra bursts, 11 injured'. That kind of thing." - Johnny Depp


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        • #5
          Re: Celitc mythology books?

          Originally posted by ChainLightning View Post
          Uh, do you have to berate everyone, around here?[...]
          No, and I was not doing so at all. I was simply stating I would have to learn how to message people (so it might take a while,) and that in a public forum, which has the goal of public discussion and members other than the participants being able to read, it seems a bit strange to offer to send a private message of information that could help many people, when it takes extra effort to send a private message. If I had decided to berate people, it would be very clear that I was doing so, but I did not say a single thing above that was berating.

          I am also still waiting for actual book suggestions, if anyone can suggest, which would help any Celtic pagans here really wanting to know about Celtic mythology. Maria sent links including a tool to learn about words, and sites with translations scanned & OCRed, or typed, in, the latter of which I mostly knew about or were similar to each other, but I prefer reading printed books for several reasons. Maybe I will end up copying one or more of the sites or their texts to a tablet computer if I get one someday, if that is as easy for me to read. The reasons I requested book titles is because that I prefer books (I am not as young as many people here, and it gets painful reading extremely long texts on my CRT,) and they are usually more reliable than texts converted to digital form (errors usually happen in the process,) and printed books are more often from scholarly sources, and have the rest of what the scholars wrote about the texts. The body of texts at the site I had already been trying to get into reading, for several days at a time, in the last few years (which the first on Maria's list was similar to) also has a significant amount of Abrahamic material in the first texts, and is incomplete in one or more of the cycles. That is why I asked for complete, preferably pagan-oriented sources of the several cycles of Irish mythology. Maybe the other site has it, but I do not know yet, and if it does, thanks.

          I was hoping on a forum like this, there might be some older Celtic pagans in organizations such as traditional witchcraft ones, and OBOD, the latter of which has had reading lists for decades. I have seen their reading list for philosophy, but maybe they have one for mythology... and I was hoping such people, or solitary practitioners with as much education, had read various different translations--if they exist--and compared them. So, maybe my question has not been answered yet (unless the answer is at one of the sites.) I will take a closer look at the first mythology site on Maria's list, and see if it lists what the complete cycles are and whether it has those. On my first look at the site and pages on the first cycle and parts, it had a list of links to translated texts (that seemed shorter than the site I had been trying to read) but did not say if it was complete, though it mentioned a book (the same one at the similar site)... but maybe that is not the only book... so that is why I am left feeling overwhelmed, and wondering if there are more answers--like more recent, or even older, books that people may prefer. For example, there are several translations of Mabinogion (Welsh, one of which I have read, and part of another)--some pretty recent--but when people think about Celtic paganism, it is usually with a big focus on the Gaelic/Irish stuff if that is oldest and more widespread... so one would actually expect there to be many translations besides the single one I have seen for the first Irish text at the sites (and possibly most/all of the rest of that cycle, in the same book) at some of these sites. Thanks for the effort; I saw a couple sites I had not seen, and most pagans would not even be aware of them... I just prefer to read, and requested, printed books for the reasons I now described.

          Again, I am not at all berating; I am stating why my question seems still unanswered, and why I asked the specific one I did. If one asks about books, one would expect people to mention at least one they have read and really liked, or a list that has several, or is comprehensive, perhaps with reasons they like various ones, or with reasons scholars consider one or more the best... that is not what I got, though it may lead to that. So thanks, but if anyone can still answer, that would help me and anyone still in this situation. After I have read a good printed book on the mythology--whether that is one people think is the best translation, or even one that is best illustrated (like a version of the Mabinogian that I would say is best illustrated, but some people consider the translation dated,) then maybe I will refer to digital versions to recall parts... but until then, for the purposes of reading extremely long texts, I need printed books (such as ones that likely have introductions explaining how Christianity was put into the pagan texts, and what parts have that, if not leaving them all that out,) maybe unless I get a tablet computer... and in that case, ebooks would be preferable unless none of them is complete either.

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          • #6
            Re: Celitc mythology books?

            I, too, believe that reading about other mythology is important to my spirituality. I've always been a big Greek mythology buff. I've loved it since I can remember. But only recently have I become more interested in the Celtic and Irish mythos. Unfortunately for me, there are very few book stores in the area that contain that type of reading, so I've been forced to read online. Reading online though has very little draw for me. I always like the feel of a book in my hands. Plus, the ideas come together better in a book than online.

            So thank you for posting this thread. I would greatly appreciate some suggestions, too. I might be able to order them from Amazon or something similar.

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            • #7
              Re: Celitc mythology books?

              One of the scources I gave you is specifically translated by pagans. Keep in mind though that the original texts were trasnscribed by monks and will have the Christian slant common to the timeperiod. Like I said I don't have alot of physical text suggestions, your very best scource is old Irish lit, there is information and lots of inference hidden within. You won't find many complete early irish lit scources, much of it is lost in some way or another, unless someone fills in what they think goes there...
              http://catcrowsnow.blogspot.com/

              But they were doughnuts of darkness. Evil damned doughnuts, tainted by the spawn of darkness.... Which could obviously only be redeemed by passing through the fiery inferno of my digestive tract.
              ~Jim Butcher

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Celitc mythology books?

                I don't have anything specifically Irish, but I would highly recommend that you check out virtually anything by Phillip and/or Stephanie Carr-Gomm. They have written a ton on Celtic Paganism and this could be a good jumping off point for you. Best of luck!

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                • #9
                  Re: Celitc mythology books?

                  Ok, I will take a closer look at the site Maria linked to (in a message) translated by pagans, and if anyone wants me to list that or the other two I know about, I will. I thought if a text was listed, but not included, at the biggest site I found (by Mary Jones) it would have been translated but maybe still copyrighted... but maybe it is that traces of some texts are lost. Phoenix, those names are familiar...

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                  • #10
                    Re: Celitc mythology books?

                    Yeah there are certain passages which I cannot find in a completed form, and I have looked, the only ones I have founr that look complete, generally do not match up with other translations, so I don't know if someone has taken literary liscense and "fixed" them... But tend not to want someone else to fill in the blanks for me, I find it presumptuous....
                    http://catcrowsnow.blogspot.com/

                    But they were doughnuts of darkness. Evil damned doughnuts, tainted by the spawn of darkness.... Which could obviously only be redeemed by passing through the fiery inferno of my digestive tract.
                    ~Jim Butcher

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Celitc mythology books?

                      "Myths and Legends of the Celtic Race" by TW Rolleston has a concise, complete (as far as I know) Irish cycles (plus a bunch of other Celtic myths).

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                      • #12
                        Re: Celitc mythology books?

                        I am currently reading a book: Essential Celtic Mythology - Stories that change the world by Lindsay Clarke. It gives a short overview of Celtic culture and geography in the introduction. There are two parts - Irish Myths and Welsh Myths.
                        Contents:
                        Irish Myths:
                        the Coming of Lugh
                        the Sorrows of Deirdre
                        the Cattle Raid of Cuailnge
                        the Pursuit of Diarmaid and Grainne
                        The Shoes of the Leprechaun.

                        Welsh Myths:
                        the Head of Annwn
                        the Children of Llyr
                        the War of the Enchantments
                        the Return of Lleu

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                        • #13
                          Re: Celitc mythology books?

                          I'm not sure I can really recommend any book in particular, but I would suggest avoiding the Lebor Feasa Runda because of its dubious origins.

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                          • #14
                            Re: Celitc mythology books?

                            I'm reading "The Mammoth book of Celtic Myths and Legends" by Peter Berresford Ellis. It has 6 or 7 translations into English of traditional but not so well known legends from each of Ireland, The Isle of Man, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall and Breton (i.e. the part of the Celtic world that is now in France). The only thing missing are stories or legends from the rest of England.

                            I too am looking for more information and Celtic legends, However, i'd like to hear some of the Celtic myths and legends from the rest of the UK - particularly North-west and West England, rather than focussing on Ireland - if anyone has any suggestions or can send me any links?

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Celitc mythology books?

                              Here are a few books that I have found helpful. 1. Celtic Myth and Religion by Sharon MacLeod 2. Celtic Gods and Heroes by Marie-Louise Sjoestedt 3. Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe by H.R. Ellis Davidson 4. Traces of the Elder Faiths of Ireland by W. G. Wood-Martin (Even though it is apparent that the author is Christian and it was written in 1902 it had very interesting information about Irish pre-Christians.

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