Celtic Women's Spirituality: Accessing the Cauldron of Life [Paperback]

Edain McCoy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 8, 2002

OUT OF PRINT.

The Celts provide some of the strongest, most accessible images of strong women. This book shows readers how they can successfully create personalized pathway linking two important aspects of the self--the feminine and the hereditary (or adopted) Celtic--and as a result become a whole, powerful woman awake to the new realities previously untapped by the subconscious mind. 25 illustrations.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The popularity of the Celtic revival is evident by the number of books on the subject, yet an assessment of women's spirituality within this cultural tradition has remained elusive. Edain McCoy addresses this very topic and thus opens new doors for women, allowing them access to a tradition that can be easily blended into most current beliefs, including Christianity and paganism. McCoy skillfully examines the history of women in ancient Celtic society and reveals its significance to the women of today. Celtic Women's Spirituality details commonly practiced rituals such as the Celtic festivals of the year, and includes more uncommon traditions such as the soul-friend bonding known as Anamchara, and aspects of Celtic shamanism such as shape shifting. Women who have felt distanced from their spirituality should explore these traditional pathways for incorporating the power of their warrior archetypes into their 20th-century lives.

From the Publisher

Perhaps you remember reading how Julius Caesar was surprised by the ferocity of the female warriors in England. If you, as a woman, have ever wondered how to manifest that strength, determination, and power in your life, you must get Celtic Women's Spirituality by Edain McCoy.

This phenomenal, well-researched book is educational, involving, and stimulating. Revealed here are the ancient secrets of the Celtic mystical world. You'll learn rituals, guided meditations, magickal techniques, and the means to celebrate and understand the festivals of the year from the position of a strong, independent, and courageous woman.

You'll learn to take a shamanic journey to the Otherworld for spiritual growth and personal development. When you go through the practices and journeys found in Celtic Women's  Spirituality, you will literally enter a new stage in life, one of personal power and inner strength: you'll become a warrior who is also feminine.

As part of this journey, you'll discover the power of the four archetypes: Crone, Mother, Warrior and Virgin. Then, through the methods in this book, you will be able to manifest the power and energy of each archetype in your life.

This is the true secret of Celtic Women's Spirituality that to be feminine means you can be strong and caring, powerful and nurturing. To reach these heights, start reading this book today.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications; 1st edition (September 8, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1567186726
• ISBN-13: 978-1567186727
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,048,816 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Edain McCoy has written more than twenty books on metaphysical and occult topics since she was first published in 1993. Her popular titles include Celtic Women's Spirituality, Astral Projection For Beginners, How to Do Automatic Writing, Karmic & Past Life Tarot, The Sabbats, Advanced Witchcraft, If You Want to Be a Witch (Llewellyn Worldwide), and The Healing Power of Faery (Adams Media).

An alumnus of the University of Texas with a B.A. in history, she is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts at Butler University. She is affiliated with several professional organizations including the Authors Guild and the American Translators Association. She is listed in the reference guides Contemporary Authors, Who's Who Among American Women, and Who's Who In America, and her articles have appeared in Fate, Circle, Enlightenments, and similar periodicals.

Edain held positions related to education including handscoring standardized testing, substitute teaching, music education, and private tutoring. She spent many years as a licensed stockbroker and financial advisor for several international investment firms before making the leap of faith into her first love--writing full time. In 2006 she was granted a Certificate in Paranormal Investigation from Flamel College, an online institute devoted to training leaders and scientists who study various aspects of the occult. This training assisted her and her expatriate friends in Argentina (visit them at www.TangoWithJudy.com) to investigate haunted sites that have been, and continue to be, denied to other investigators. In December 2008 she completed her studies to become a Reiki Master of the Usui-Rand linage, an intuitive healing art that is still opening new doors to both spirit and spirituality.

She often gives workshops on metaphysical and New Age topics, and has taught the art of guided mediation to many students eager to use this technique for spiritual exploration. Pagan festivals energize her spiritually because she says she learns something wonderful from every person she meets. To view her speaking schedule, learn more about her books, or to find her e-mail address, visit her website at www.EdainMcCoy.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars light and entertaining but not scholarly, January 16, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Celtic Women's Spirituality: Accessing the Cauldron of Life (Paperback)

Edain's book is interesting to read. She poses some fascinating insights and questions about Celtic prehistory. My problem with the book is that it fails on a scholarly basis--she does not quote many direct sources--the primary sources she draws from such as the Lebor Gabala Erenn (The Book of Invasions) and the Yellow Book of Lecan are few and far between. Most of her sources are merely other New Age books. Which only gives added ammunition to critics of contemporary paganism who say we are "making it all up." I enjoyed her trying to make the warrior goddess aspect applicable to contemporary women. I enjoyed her trying to wed Celtic spirituality with women's spirituality. But I found myself reading this book with a critical distance, as much sympathy as I have to her views. To gain real insight into Celtic spirituality, one must read deeper into the primary sources, the surviving Celtic texts. It helps to learn at least one of the Celtic languages. I don't feel that she has made this leap of scholarship. To get a deeper view into Celtic spirituality, I recommend the work of Caitlin Matthews, although my personal problem with Matthews is that she seems positively anti-feminist. I had bought McCoy's book hoping to find Matthews' serious research wedded to a portrait of strong and resourceful Celtic women.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shaky scholarship, but still useful for practice, April 7, 2001

By 

Kaulika - See all my reviews

This review is from: Celtic Women's Spirituality: Accessing the Cauldron of Life (Paperback)

It's true that the scholarship in this book is very shaky. Although she calls herself a "historian" in her author's bio on the back cover, the historical resources are somewhat shoddy, and the work is certainly not written from a place of scholarship (for instance, no footnotes when historical assertions are made, no real references). However, I don't think that detracts from the usefulness of this book.

Although there is very little scholarship in this book, it is still filled with a number of useful meditations and spellwork that can be used in modern feminist spirituality. If you are looking for hard-core Celtic spirituality, this may not be the book for you. But, if you're looking for a book that will help you to enhance your (wiccan/witchcraft/goddess-oriented) practice with some ideas based in Celtic mythology and rooted in modern Wicca, then you may find this useful.

It may also be useful as a book to help you think differently about the Celtic spiritual path you are already on. If you are open to different ideas, then you will find it useful. If not, then you may want to pass.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Raves, and then a few rants, July 1, 2001

By 

Kelly (Fantasy Literature) (Columbia, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Celtic Women's Spirituality: Accessing the Cauldron of Life (Paperback)

....

I found it to be a beautiful, inspiring book. First, it pleasantly surprised me by assuming a working knowledge of "Wicca 101" and didn't spend the first five chapters rehashing "How to Cast a Circle." If you need that information, you can find it in the appendices; if you have already read some of the gazillions of Wicca 101 books on the market, you can just start at the beginning of the book and jump right into the new material. Reading on, it was chock-full of suggestions on how to incorporate ancient Celtic ideas into a modern spirituality that can be meaningful to women today, including guided meditations, rituals, folk spells, a neo-pagan calendar of Celtic women's festivals, and an absolutely tear-jerking "soul-friend" bonding ritual.

.... I see nothing in the book to indicate that McCoy is trying to pass this material off as ancient. On the contrary, whenever she discusses a concept that has no known basis in ancient Celtic history, she says so. It is important to preserve all the history we can, as a basis for our spirituality; it is also important to build upon that history, adapting and creating new rituals to make the ancient concepts more meaningful to us today. We need to look to both the past and the future. This book is not intended to be a book of history, but a book of dreams, designed to inspire modern women in their quest for meaningful new rituals. So, I say, read historical works on the Celts, and read this too.

It's also been said that McCoy is lumping together very different Celtic cultures into one homogeneous culture that never really existed. Actually, the only place where that generalization is used is in the title. She comes straight out and says that the Celts were nowhere near as unified as we sometimes think, and whenever she mentions a specific Goddess, she says "So-and-so, an Irish/Cornish/Welsh/Continental/etc. Goddess", not "Celtic Goddess." She is concerned with the common threads that the cultures _did_ have in common, but she keeps her pantheons straight.

My only gripe: There were a few errors that could have been caught in editing. For example, the name Cormac was used for Conchobar a couple of times. However, a reader with a working knowledge of the myths can easily mentally correct these arrors and read on.