Customer Reviews

Taliesin: Shamanism and the Bardic Mysteries in Britain and Ireland

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The Matthews' Taliesin gives two unique contributions to our understanding. One is John and Caitlin's own translations of about thirty of Taliesin's poems, providing the greatest collection of Taliesin writings available in print in modern translation. The other is John Matthews' extensive demonstration of his understanding of the 6th century Taliesin as a "shaman", similar in social function and mystical abilities to shamans of ancient times in Siberia, the Americas and elsewhere.
John Matthews takes the exact opposite view of Taliesin from the scholar Sir Ifor Williams. Where Williams is interested only in the provably historical works of Taliesin, court bard, Matthews excludes these from his exploration. Matthews engages the reader's attention with Taliesin's timeless mystical works, and with Irish and occasionally Welsh texts that he sees as relevant to the understanding of pre-Christian shamanism. He interprets most of Taliesin's poems as cosmological myths.
Newcomers should beware of Matthews' errors on matters peripheral to his focus. He says "Gildas" when he should say "Nennius". He writes "Owain Gwynedd" when "Owain of Rheged" would be correct. He speaks unclearly of a sixth century "separation of the Welsh and British languages", when he means the separation of the unified fifth and sixth century British language into Welsh, Cornish and Scots Gaelic that surely began only in the seventh century after the merger of the Celtic kingdom of Rheged with English Northumbria. But none of this need deter the reader from diving into the rich understanding of Taliesin the mystic which this book provides.

I am surprised that this book is "out of print!" When I read this book, in '93, I was compelled to finish it in a few days, although I had little time to read. Taliesin is an epic adventure in Mythology, Legend, Oral Tradition and many other areas of interest. I recently loaned it out and my friend devoured it! Anyone interested in The Mysteries, History, Celtic Lore, etc. will find this book worthy of searching-for. Also, you may want to grab a copy of "The Mabinogi And Other Welsh Tales," by Patrick K. Ford.

I was surprised when I first read that this book was out of print and I am thankful that I bought it when it was first published.

Over the years, I have found it to be a valuable reference on the subject of Taliesin and Bards in genereal. There is controversy regarding the legitimacy of many of John Matthews' writings, but I have not yet been disappointed with his writing or research.

There has been rumour of this book being republished in the next year ot so. I hope this is the case as it is a book Iwould reccommend to anyone interested in knowing more about Taliesin and the Bardic practise.