Book Reviews
Short book reviews on at least: 1 Indo-European
studies title, 1 preferred ethnic study title and 1 modern Paganism title.
These titles can be selected from the recommended reading list in the Dedicant
Program manual or the ADF web site, or chosen by the student, with prior
approval of the Preceptor. (325 word min. each)
I
was initially hesitant to read this book because of the shear amount of
information it contains combined with the constant references to other material
and inclusion of quotes from other sources. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy this
information was to understand and how well written this book was. I believe that the book was divided
into logical chapters and the sections seemed to make a lot of sense to
me. This book adequately
gives an excellent historical account of the Celtic and Druid world and is
honest about the lack of historical sources. It is not filled with mystical fantasy like many of the
books about Druids, however the mythology of the Druids is definitely
acknowledged.
The
book begins by exploring the Celtic world, including the spread of the Celtic
people and the evolution of the Celtic language. It also ties the Celtic people to other cultures, such as
the Greeks and Romans. It’s interesting
to me to learn about the culture that was tied to the Druids to be able to
further understand who they were.
The book continues on to explore the origins of the Druids. They were first introduced to the world
through Greek writers and were believed to be a caste in ancient Celtic
civilization that was responsible for intellectual decisions and the wisdom of
their people.
The
book gives an interesting perspective, looking at the Druids through the eyes
of different cultures, including the Greeks and Romans, philosophers, and other
well-known figures such as Julius Caesar.
It then gives a view of the Druids through the eyes of the Celts. It explores the differences between
romanticized and realistic Druids and the roles Druids played in Celtic
mythology. It also briefly
discusses the conversion of the Celts into Christianity.
I
was pleasantly surprised to find an entire chapter dedicated to the role of
women in Celtic society and the comparison to their role in other
societies. It was inspirational to
read about a culture that allowed women to hold roles as both leaders and
heroines. The book then
explores the religion of the Druids, including the worship of rivers and
mountains and the fact that there is no recorded original creation myth. It explores the importance of Dagda and
Lugh, as well as the trinity worship that they participated in. The book then progresses into the
rituals of the druids, which seems to be similar to popular modern rituals,
such as baptism and funerals.
However, it also touches on the idea of human sacrifices and the reasons
that people believe whether or not they actually happened.
The
eighth chapter of the book is the longest by far, discussing the wisdom of the
Druids. It discusses the different
roles that they played in the Celtic society, which included philosophers,
historians, poets, physicians, magicians, and so much more. Any role in the Celtic society that was
intellectual seems to have fallen on the Druids. It was interesting to see how varied those roles were. The book finishes with a brief account
of the revival with the druids, starting with the classical revival.
Overall,
I think this book is a fantastic resource. It covers so many different aspects of the Druidic life and
the history of the Celtic people.
There is so much that can be learned from this book. The inclusion of passages from other
authors, poems, and other important documents helps to make the information
clearer and gives a background as to why the author has come to the conclusions
that he has about the Druids. (593
words)
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