Another book on Celtic paganism that is seemingly allergic to referring to Lugh as what he is: a god of skills, arts, and craftsmanship. This book refers to him as a storm god and i have zero idea where they got that from

Really loved the information. My qualm was with the lack of sources. Just a little would have been appreciated

I’m only on page 22, and I just CANNOT CONTINUE.

Page 21 says that in the Ogham Script, you can replace the letter “Y” (which is not included in the Ogham alphabet) WITH A “Y”.

And on page 22, it says:
“While modern Druids have been clear about anyone not in the order attempting to perform their practices without proper training,
WE CAN STILL MAKE OUR OWN STAFF OR WAND USING THE MAGIC OF THE OGHAM AND THE POWERFUL ATTRIBUTES OF WOOD.” (Emphasis mine)

I literally wrote underneath that:
“it’s giving “Colonizer”.”

This thing is reeking of the stench of ‘Middle Class Suburban White Woman Tries On Someone Else’s Culture”.
It’s gross.
Please spare yourself.
Don’t read this.

Thank you Net Galley for the eARC!

Very informative, I loved it! This book present plenty of historical context, without getting dry or boring.

I was given an ARC to review via Netgalley. My reviews are always honest and all opinions are my own. #CelticMysticism #TracieLong #NetGalley #ARCReview #SpiritualityBookReview #BookReview

Celtic Mysticism by Tracie Long is a good introduction to the subject matter. It covers a broad spectrum of in a relatively short book but the information within is detailed and a brilliant starting point. In some places it is a little more academic sounding but this is by no means a bad thing, in fact the addition of historical facts and figures helps cement what little we do know about the traditions of the Celts. It is clear from the writing that Long is passionate about the subject matter and has spent a long time researching, sifting through what we do know from a tradition that is partly lost to time.

I do feel this is a brilliant starting point for those who may be interested in learning more about Celtic Mysticism and the druids or a good reference for those who are more well versed. I did like the discussion of the Ogham probably the most but it was lovely to have more of the lore, rituals, blessing and Druidic culture covered. I did also enjoy that Long mentioned the similarities between Christian regions and earth-based spiritualities although I am biased to the idea that this is more based on Christianity wanting to convert those who didn’t follow that path to theirs but that is merely my opinion.

All in all this is an enjoyable and informative book that I would recommend to anyone wanting to know more about the Celts and their practices

This book on Celtic traditions and the way of the Druids. It tells where the Celtic people moved all across Europe. After that it starts going more with Druids than with the Celtic people.

The first half was about Druids and their way of life. There is information about what Druids hold sacred, and how they use the five elements in their lives. The author talks about Druids as if they are a much larger group than I’ve thought in the past, but I’ve never lived in the United Kingdom, so maybe there are many more there than I’m aware of.

There was more specific info from the Celtic spirituality side. There were many Celtic Deities described, which is great. the Celtic myths, legends and folklore is a great section of the book also.There was much lore described, such as animal, plant and stone lore.

I did have a few problems with this book. There were rituals and spells described in detail that I would have thought were “closed practices’. As I’m neither Celtic nor a practicing Druid, I can’t say for sure. There was one point that it was stated that Druids don’t like for others to use a certain magic, but the author says ‘but we’re just doing it a little, so it’s okay!’ That and a few other instances leaned more towards appropriation rather than appreciation. If I was able to, I’d send this book to a Scottish friend with strong Celtic heritage to get her opinion.

Truthfully I would not recommend this book to anyone, unless i was able to get it vetted by someone in that culture. I think as an American society, we see something as ancient and decide that it’s part of a world culture rather than just the culture that built it. We try to take it into our own cultures and end up altering it into something opposite of what it started as. One example is Yoga. Here in the US, we use Yoga as a form of exercise and way to stretch all those muscles that want to lock up on us. But Yoga is a much larger practice than all those amazing stretches. it’s beautiful and we’ve dropped a large part or all of the spiritual practices that people that were born into the culture know. It’s sad and shows the work we need to do as a country.

I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley for an honest review.