Customer Reviews

Celtic Magic (Llewellyn's World Religion & Magick)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(12)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

This book is almost the same old stuff from Norse Magick with the obvious exceptions.....it seems like she cranked out these two books at the same time.....Boring and the same old stuff

This is yet another wicca 101 primer rather than a reference on Celtic Paganism. Much of her claims fly in the face of archeologic evidence and credible historic research. Many of the sources Ms. Conway quotes are (at best) out of context. If you desire to learn about Celtic paganism, I would suggest "The Druids" by Stuart Piggott, "Pagan Celtic Britan", "The Pagan Celts", and "Druids, Gods, and Heroes from Celtic Mythology" all by Anne Ross.

Having been born and bred in Wales and being Celtic through and through, this book is totally inaccurate and misleading. It dwells more on Wicca rather than Celtic Paganism, if you want to write a book on Wicca, write a book about wicca, and leave Celtic Magic to those who actually practice it.

What can I say? The woman has 18 books in print, and they're all basically the SAME BOOK. Just with different god-names added in. And as an aside note, if you try the altar setup she outlines in this book, you and your robe are going to go up in flames.

My only comment is this: Compare this book word for word with Norse Magic. That will say all I have to say

Conway has received a lot of criticism on her books from the stricter practitioners out there. Notice that the people who liked this book usually also said that it was their first book (it wasn't mine but it gave me a couple of ideas). I would recommend this book to a beginner in magic who thinks they want to go Wiccan but also feels they want to have a Celtic flavor to their practice.

No, you shouldn't read only this book and think you have celtic mythology down pat but you should NEVER read any one book on magic or Celtic history... let's say it togeteher... "perspective". I don't think Conway was trying to give you the be-all end-all book on Celtic Magic.

So if you're an aspiring witch who wants to put a Celtic spin on your next circle casting get this book and a couple of others and have fun. If you want an authentic no holds barred 100% Celtic experience, get on a plane to teh British Isles.

Okay. This book has come in for a lot of criticism here, and a lot of it's justified.

However, this was the book that set me on the pagan path, and as such I guess I feel a little sentimental about it.

The history is bad. Okay. That's something you're likely to find in most books on paganism these days, and at least it's vague enough to make people (such as myself) read up on it and learn the "truth," so to speak.

I thought the correspondence tables were quite nice, even if there's next to no information on too many of the deities listed there aside from the mention of their names.

The rituals are the high point of the book for me. Even if they don't quite suit your personal practice, I'd recommend a look at them for ideas on how to write your own.

All in all, a book of limited use, but it makes for a nice read anyway.

I agree that this is simply Norse Magic with Norse terms and deities replaced by Celtic terms and deities. The subject matter is simply too grand and of too large a scale to be handled in a dinky, badly researched book like this. Sigh.

As far as the research of this book goes, it is quite poor in that it contains many inaccuracies about the Celtic relgion. You see, Wicca is *not* Celtic! Sure, it derives some of it's practices/beliefs from Celtic religion but that doesn't make it Celtic nor is it regarded as being "Celtic" by Traditional Celtic Pagans. This book is nothing more than another book on Wicca with simply some Celtic overtones - such as a brief history on the Celts and a list of the Celtic dieties. Many people will be greatly misinformed upon reading this book so it is my opinion that one does not even bother purchasing this book if they are seriously into learning about Celtic religion and it's practices.

If this book could recieve a rating of zero stars, it would. IT is absolute and utter fiction. Creative fiction, but fiction nonetheless. Folks, if you are looking for books about Celtic Paganism, SKIP THIS BOOK. The mythology is horrible, the research poor, and how can you possibly put Celtic Gods into correspondence charts?!?!?! A BAD BOOK.