Celtic Women's Spirituality: Accessing the Cauldron of Life (Paperback)

by Edain McCoy (Author) "The first Celtic tribes burst out of the Caucasus and moved into far southeastern Europe sometime around 2000 B.C.E..." (more)
Key Phrases: woman being blessed, bottomless cauldron, virgin aspect, Triple Goddess, Celtic Goddesses, Queen Maeve (more...)

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.

Product Description
Now you can forget any preconceptions you might have about what it means to be a woman, and unleash your inner warrior as you embrace a timeless vision of the divine: strong, courageous, feminine. Then learn to craft your own spiritual practice centered firmly in the Celtic mystical tradition that honors the feminine when you read Celtic Women's Spirituality by Edain McCoy.

In this book you'll discover how any woman can awaken that burning Goddess spirit and release the wisdom and magick that is her birthright. You'll be able to:

- Access the energies of the Warrior, Mother, Crone and Virgin
- Perform the ritual of bonding with a friend in the Celtic soulfriend ritual
- Learn the Celtic Wheel of the Year and how it is specifically related to women's spirituality
- Discover the wisdom of the Celtic myths through ritual drama
- Awaken your creativity with guided mediations
- Use Celtic magick for healing and divination

Included in this book are the keys to visiting the Otherworld on a shamanic journey. There you will uncover ways to overcome unhealthy and inhibiting fears, connect more intimately with the divine, improve your divination skills, and help manifest your warrior self. Finally, you will learn what you must do to become a modern Pagan priestess and self-initiate yourself into the Celtic tradition.

Here is your chance to find your personal strength and inner power in a way that will allow you to manifest all of your strengths. Celtic Women's Spirituality is a journey of growth and self-discovery. Come! Start this journey today.



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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications; 1st edition (September 1, 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 (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #354,612 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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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

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	Sundari "Sundari" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

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.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Tread carefully here, my sisters..., January 10, 1999

By A Customer

Three stars for the Triple Goddess only, and NOT for the author! Can I grab Edain McCoy by her collar and shake her a few times? As an academic historian of Ireland and Irish people, I am always appalled at the way some authors toss around the word "Celtic"--as if all of the tribes existed in pure harmony with each other. Edain, you've heard of the Welsh, the Manx, the Bretons, the Scots, the Gallicians? "Celtic" is almost as impossible to define as American. At any rate, it's my thought that the author and publisher thought to take advantage of pliable minds subsceptible to, let's call it, Celtic Faery Magic. Preying on the weak is not a "Celtic" trait.

As for McCoy, I wonder that she finds herself authority enough to become the author of--what? Two dozen books, maybe?--on roughly the same subject. Her tradition of Witta, which is supposedly Irish Witchcraft, is pure fantasy. I would recommend that skeptical readers looking for tight information look elsewhere--after all, this book could very well be a flight of fancy too. Cheers.