Customer Reviews

The Encyclopaedia of Celtic Wisdom: The Celtic Shaman's Sourcebook

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John and Caitlin continue to present Celtic material out of context, and often in contradiction from one book to another of theirs. I've met John,and had lunch with him back in April of 1993 in Seattle. At that time, he acknowledged that his training is as a librarian, that he neither read or spoke any Celtic language; both he and Caitlin are occultists. When it was mentioned that he called stories "lost" in some of his books that he quoted in others, he had no explanation. He blamed previously published sources for glaring errors of translation, and seemed to see no reason to have anyone-- including Caitlin, who does have translation skills-- check his material before publication. He was accompanied by David Spangler, and many of his views seem more reflective of Spanger's New Age thought than Celtic scholarship. There is a lot of useful material in this book (all of which is avaialble elsewhere), but also a fair bit out of context and without proper attribution, including material from Erynn Darkstar and Taine Bwca's Cauldron of Poesy; they gave him a copy over lunch. Considering the Celtic obsession with intellectual property (copyright law originated in Ireland!), it would have been courtesy at the very least for the source to be cited.

The Encyclopaedia of Celtic Wisdom is, hands down, required reading for anyone interested in the primal Celtic traditions, especially of the Irish and Scottish traditions. Where John Matthews' Taliesin and the Shamanic Mysteries of Britian addresses largely a Cymric (Welsh) and British leaning, The Encyclopaedia of Celtic Wisdom is, largely, rooted in the Irish, with some exploration of folk Scots beliefs and expressions of the shamanic (as in the case of the late and well-loved Scottish seer, Eliadh Watt). As of January 2002 I consider this book to be one of the top three books on Celtic tradition, especially the visionary tradition of primal Celtic spirituality and the field of contemporary Celtic spirituality. It is a priceless addition to one's library, along with Tom Cowan's Fire in the Head: Shamanism and the Celtic Spirit, Mara Freeman's Kindling the Celtic Spirit. For a more classical exploration of these same themes I recommend The Silver Bough, by F. Marian McNeill.

If you never again by any books on this subject you must have this book. Reliable source document translations that are accessible to the average reader are thin on the ground and this is one of the very best. BUY THIS BOOK! I refer to it repeatedly and it never lets me down. An excellent book and an excellent value.

Do not let the comment by inisglas@seanet.com impeach your view of this material. While I can't personally speak to this situation any one with any knowledge of this field will tell you that more people plagarize from John Matthews with out any reference to his work than any other author I've ever encountered. I also know from personal conversations with John (including discussing the number of reference volumes in his library) that his scholarhip is thorough and personally done. I would recommend this book highly for the person who wants to do their own exploration of the subject and isn't looking for a cook book approach to shamanism.

Well the book is a shamanistic source.An encyclopedia i wouldn`t exactly say. It deals with celtic spirituality in both pagan and christian aspects. Not exactly a Wiccan/druid/pagan book but it can help.

"A Reader's" anonymous, academically misinformed and spiritually narrow-minded comments address this book specifically in no way; take them with a shaker of salt and that fact in mind.

This book is a good reference and browsing resource for practicing Celtic shamans, though those with a reader's interest and those newer to the practice may find more practical guidance elsewhere (including, especially, Matthews' "The Celtic Shaman: A Handbook"). Overall, very useful, but perhaps later on the path.

At 456 pages this book is the most thorough work on this subject that I have seen to date. Chapters include: The Memory of the Earth; The Memory of Trees; The Memory of Animals; Shape shifting; Druids and Vision Poets; Dreams and Visions; In the House of the Sidhe etc. The bibliography is a perfect source for further reading. An excellent resource for those wanting to understand their Celtic heritage and a must for the serious student of shamanism or the occult. A great addition to the occult library.

This compilation affords readers without access to major Celtic Studies collections at universities the opportunity to examine translations of many Celtic stories of mythic importance. That said, there is one section that I must discuss.

The materials relating to the Cauldron of Poesy found in this book are very close to those that my wife, Erynn Laurie and I published in 1992, including the diagrams. While I am not asserting plagarism, let me note that John Matthews did meet us in 1993, and we discussed this material for some time, and presented him with a copy of our book "The Cauldron of Poesy Lectures" and a copy of an earlier version of Circle of Stones. I know that Caitlin Matthews read the Cauldron of Poesy lectures, because she sent us a thank you note. Despite this, we are not listed in the source bibliography at the end of the book.

"Celtic Shamanism" is a myth. Most books claiming to tell about "Celtic religion" and Celtic "magic", including this work of fiction, are full of inaccuracy, fantasy disguised as historical truth, and items that have been proven time and again to be completely false.