Celtic Myth and Religion: A Study of Traditional Belief, with Newly Translated Prayers, Poems and Songs

I don’t write reviews, so that in itself should tell you something. This is the best overall introduction to Celtic material I’ve come across. It covers material from all the Celtic countries, not just Ireland like most texts. It’s very well researched and covers a wide variety of topics. It’s well written and easy to read. An excellent resource for anyone wanting to follow a Celtic path founded in scholarly material.

Finding a good book with a historic basis on Celtic spirituality is hard to find these days. Most books on the bookstore shelves will be new-age or Wicca that are labeled as Celtic. However this book is not one of those. Sharon Paice Macleod gives us a marvelous introduction to the history and beliefs of the people that we know of as the Celts. First I will list the negatives to this book, which are few. One, including the appendix this book runs 206 pages. Not huge by all means and that is one of the reasons that I call this book an introduction. Two, at 35.00 this book is more expensive than many on the subject. However when one considers the amount of solid research put into the book, it is a worthy investment. Lastly, she leaves you wanting more (not a bad thing). :)Now I will discuss the positive aspects of the book. First, her research is quite extensive. The bibliography and end section on notes made me thoroughly happy, as it will for anyone else wishing to study the subject matter further (especially Celtic reconstructionists). Secondly, I really enjoy her writing style as it isn't overly academic to the point of being dry, but yet still has a great amount of substance. Third, her coverage of subject matter is wonderful. She gives an exquisite summery of what is known about Celtic cosmology, tribal beliefs, ancestor veneration, the celebrations of the year, traditions, folk beliefs, world view, etc. I really appreciated the lists of sacred animals and trees/foliage.I wish this book had been available twelve years ago when I first started looking into Celtic cultures/beliefs. I would recommend this book without hesitation as the first that one should look to when starting down a reconstructionist path.

With a background as a professional Celtic musician and scholar of Celtic languages and literature at Harvard University, the author details three aspects of Celtic myths and religion: the foundational beliefs, Celtic shamanism and wisdom traditions, and legends and folklore. The first section as an overview of Celtic myths and religion is quite useful, covering key concepts, the druids, the Otherworld, gods of Britain and Irish gods and goddesses, and the yearly rituals celebrated by the Celts. In the last section, she divides folklore into spring and summer tales and fall and winter tales that is very helpful in terms of understanding their seasonal festivals. This book is one of the few resources available that distills the key concepts about the Celts' beliefs, stories, and traditions into a well organized and easy to understand overview. A useful bibliography is also included along with an interesting appendix covering the early Celtic culture's rules about the rights of women.Ms. Jamieson Haverkampf,M.F.A. Creative Writing candidate at Northwest Institute of Literary Arts (specializing in writing for children and young adults) and author of the 4-time award winning 500+ resource guide Mom Minus DadMom Minus Dad: The Essential Resource Guide for Busy Adults with a Newly Widowed ParentMom Minus Dad: The Essential Resource Guide for Busy Adults with a Newly Widowed Parent Kindle book

This is a great book for beginners and experts alike. It goes into depth to give a better meaning to the subject, gods, goddesses, places, and other worlds and planes. Highly recommended

The flow, set up, material, and how it is presented and explained in this book is very beneficial to anyone who is completely new to the culture and trying to understand it. I didn't get completely lost or overwhelmed and came away with so much knowledge and a whole different way of thinking. It was great to break away from the traditional way of thought that I have grown up in and to see that there are different approaches to life and how it is viewed.

Finally, a book that is mostly factual about the Celtic religion and the legendary Druids! The author asserts that the druids and poets of the Irish were shamans of a sort. However, they were an Indo-European people and at that the Celts were transhumant cattle herders not hunter-gatherers. What of Indo-European "trifunctionalism?" I guess Ms. Macleod disagrees with the new comparative mythology of Indo-European studies. I loved the book though and recommend it as a text for classes. In fact, the next time I teach a class on this subject. If you like this book you may also like Tom Cowan's Fire in the Head, T MacCrossan's The Sacred Cauldron, and The Way of the Shaman.

Solid introduction to ancient Celtic culture. I would have liked to have seen more fleshing out of certain concepts, so I feel more depth would be required for 5 stars. There are many good resources mentioned for further study, but it is a good place to begin.

I enjoyed the book, but was disappointed that so much Celtic history has been lost, in fact most of it has. That which remains is interesting. Those remaining shreds of information reminds me of Native American customs. The Yani chapter in "Bloody Islands," where the old poison doctor casts his spell, is oh so reminiscent of Celtic traditions. It makes you wonder if both cultures share a common root. I'd give this book five stars--only I thought it was a little pricey.

This book is required reading for anyone interested in Celtic culture or religion.Sharon's research is extensive and I appreciate to no end that this book is factual and makes no claims about what the Celts thought or did without ample source material to back it up. But don't think this is a boring academic tome of a book; not at all. Sharon's writing style is accessible and the cadence of the book is quick. It strikes me as a comprehensive survey of Celtic religious tradition from which one can decide where they'd like to take a deeper dive. I fully recommend it.

Sharon Paice MacLeod in this short sweet book has gathered together some of the finer strands of Celtic myth and religion its songs and stories ,customs and belief's and woven them into a comprehensive and exciting overview. With her keen academic mind and a wonderful intuitive wisdom she makes the journey all the sweeter. I wish I could have had a book like this when I first went journeying down the Celtic Highway nearly 40 years ago. I was asking one of the big questions. Where do I come from? I highly recommend this book and it has made this St Patrick's day all the more memorable.

I bought this book because I was looking for an academic overview of celtic religion, as opposed to the many new-age style books about the subject which I have no interest in whatsoever. Although there are definitely positives about the book, overall I didn't find it satisfying.On the plus side, its certainly well written and well researched. The books contains a lot of information but is easily digestable. You certainly don't need to be particualary academic to read it.On the negative, I have two main criticisms. First, it was not objective. Despite the impression this books gives, the celtic religion was not all pretty fairies and charming rustic folklore. It had a dark side. Most notably, human sacrifice. Various classical authors mention it and there is archaeological evidence to support it. The author tackles this issue by simply not mentioning it. Despite the wicker-man being probably the best known practice (or possible practice) of the druids, not once in the entire book does the author even mention that anything like it was ever reported by the classical authors. Even if the author doesn't believe the reports are accurate, she owes it to the reader to at least discuss the issue and the evidence. For a book that intends to give an academic overview of the subject, to not even mention this issue is simply unacceptable. Like other negative aspects of the celtic relgion it is either ignored, or merely mentioned in passing and then skipped over. The comparision of the positive aspects of this religion couldn't be anymore striking, for example, time and time again we are told that the classical authors said the druids put value on truth and learning.My second criticism would be in the authors use of the medieval sources. There's a lot of debate amongst scholars regarding the extent to which these sources represent the celtic religion. The author seems to take the view that they do, at least in certain cases, offer reliable information. However, at no point does she say why or offer a methodology to sort the reliable from the unreliable. The reader just has to take her word for it, which makes it impossible to reach any independent conclusion. By the end of the book, I had learned a lot about later celtic beliefs, but I don't feel any more sure of what pre-Christian celts believed than before I picked up the book, simply because I don't know whether I agree with the author's methodology.Overall I enjoyed the book and I'm glad I read it. However, if the author had been more willing to discuss the negatives of the celtic faiths and to let the author into the methodological basis of their conclusions, it would have been a far better book.