The Celtic Book of Living and Dying [Hardcover]

Juliette Wood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2000

Poets. Mystics. Prophets and astrologers. The Celts were a dynamic and unique people who left not only a rich legacy of artifacts, archaeological treasures, and dramatic myths, but also a vast body of wisdom and mystical symbolism that reflect universal truths about life. The Celtic Book of Living and Dying is a masterfully adorned collection of this ancient Celtic wisdom, tracing life from birth through death and into the afterlife. Travel back in time to a world where druids and bards, saints and angels reign as guardians of the soul. Voyage between realms, the unexpected at every turn. With its mix of more than 40 Celtic-style full-color artworks, over 40 painterly landscape photographs, and a wealth of illuminating words, poetry, insights, and timeless tales of heroes and giants, unknown creatures and magical lands, The Celtic Book of Living and Dying is a window into a long-ago world that continues to shape the dreams, thoughts, and ideas of today.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Juliette Wood has taught and lectured widely on Celtic tradition and folklore. The author of The Little Book of Celtic Wisdom, she lives in the UK.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books; Edition Unstated edition (September 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811828956
• ISBN-13: 978-0811828956
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,239,791 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Skewed yet beautiful, April 1, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Celtic Book of Living and Dying (Hardcover)

'The Celtic Book of Living and Dying' features many beautiful full-color illustrations adorning every page, hearkening to illustrated manuscripts of medieval times. It also includes appropriately beautiful photographs of old places and buildings, lending it a sense of some of the places where the Celts once live. It synopsizes many popular Celtic myths, like that of Rhiannon and the tragic story of the Children of Lir, and refers often to Taliesin the Welsh bard.

However this book also is heavy-handed with western preconceptions which color the author's telling of supposed truths. To her credit, she mentions several times that the Celts passed down knowledge by oral traditions rather than written texts. There is a juxtaposition of many Christian ideals onto the Celtic history, including a rather stilted reference injected into the aforementioned 'Children of Lir' retelling. The setting for this myth was long before St. Patrick came to Ireland and reveals this to be a rather telling mistake. There is sufficient evidence to be found in studying Celtic history and lore that the Celts believed in reincarnation, a fact mentioned in a quote in this book attributed to Taliesin, however the conclusion is still drawn here that the Celts believed in a Judeo-Christian style of living their life to try to get into a good afterlife which would end their days incarnate.

These glaring cosmetic errors aside, I cannot divine the ultimate point of this book. The back cover text seems to indicate it is a collection of Celtic wisdom, which does not sit well with the interior flaps' comparison of this book with the Tibetan Book of the Dead -- a book illustrating the process believed by the Tibetan Buddhists to take place during and after death. The book glosses over the darker aspects of Celtic history and myth, and again displays a knack for making assumptions that have little basis in the work itself. It seems almost like fluff material, a simplified, mainstreamed version of the prettier and more 'acceptable' (by western standards) aspects of the Celtic culture. I was often baffled, frustrated, or provoked by the text. It is not a good place to glean accurate information from. I would recommend reading more serious texts such as Ward Rutherford's 'Celtic Lore.'

I cannot fault the graphics, though.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeously illustrated, October 27, 2005

By 

Siobhan Olaoghaire Sannes "Art Does Not Apolo... (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Celtic Book of Living and Dying (Hardcover)

Subtitled "An Illustrated Guide to Celtic Wisdom", this book is full of the most beautiful Celtic images. Not a history book per se, it is however a colorful trip through Celtic myth and legend, brimming with stories. I highly recommend this lucious book for the Celtic collector.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars beautiful, August 15, 2004

By 

S. Redmond "seeker" (aberdeen,SD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Celtic Book of Living and Dying (Hardcover)

I enjoyed the Celtic Book of Living and Dying very much. The art work was great. How I read the book was slow. I read passages the would Leave the book to ponder the words. I found this very satisfying.