Kindling the Celtic Spirit: Ancient Traditions to Illumine Your Life Through the Seasons - Hardcover

Freeman, Mara

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 006251685X ISBN 13: 9780062516855

Publisher: HarperOne, 2001

Synopsis

In this beautiful treasury of sacred wisdom, Mara Freeman shares the rich legacy of the Celts -- the festivals, gods and goddesses, saints, faeries, music, poetry, and storytelling that anchor this magical tradition. Discover myths, rituals, recipes, and crafts for every month of theyear. Honor Saint Brigit with a prayer in February, or ensure a merry start to May with a bowl of frothy syllabub. Come together with friends and neighbors to celebrate community in the high days of August, then learn to weave a solstice wreath in snowy December.

Traditional blessings, ancient lore, and guided meditations inspire you to reconnect with the rhythms of the natural world, and view the sacred as an integral part of every day. Rediscover the wisdom and healing power of nature, and cultivate and honor your soul as you would the earth. Let the spirit of the ancient Celts enchant you in every season, year after year.

About this title

Review:

?This is an excellent book, offering a bright window into the Celtic World.?--John Matthews, author of "Drinking From the Sacred Well??a stunning book, rich in enchantments, legend and lore?abounding in practical wisdom to nourish body and soul.?--Margie McArthur, author of "The Wisdom of the Elements"Mara Freeman?has a profound understanding and appreciation of [Celtic] tradition, and a talent for sharing it effectively."--Alexei Kondratiev, author of "The Apple Branch: A Path to Celtic Ritual""Mara Freeman has written a book that is fun, deep, playful, serious, useful, magical and enlightening.?--Matthew Fox, author of "One River, Many Wells and "Original Blessing?A very important work...[a] long awaited and much needed inspirational manual...?--Elizabeth Murray, author of "Cultivating Sacred Space??Mara Freeman brings a depth of scholarship and clarity of presentation that outshines the rest.?--R. J. Stewart, author of the bestselling "Merlin Tarot, " and many books on meditation, music and magic..".a tempting invitation to the world of the Celts."--"Knoxville Sentinel"A fascinating book."--"The Carmel Pinecone

From the Author:

I have been deeply in love with the beauty and poetry of Celtic myth, lore and tradition from an early age. I have taught classes and workshops on Celtic sacred traditions and Druidry since 1986, written essays for Parabola and other journals on Celtic lore for seven years and been a storyteller of Celtic faery tales as long as I can remember. It was time to put it all into a book, and I was lucky enough to be approached by an editor at HarperSanFrancisco who was crazy about all things Celtic. The book is in twelve chapters, one for each month of the year, and each chapter is full of everything I find particularly delicious about this field: lore of the seasons, animals, trees, deities, crafts, recipes, phrases in Celtic languages, beautiful poems, plus a complete story for each month.

As well as having a lot of information on traditional Celtic customs and beliefs, each chapter contains activities to help bring Celtic spirituality and Druidry into our everyday lives, and ends with a section called “The Inner Cauldron,” which discusses the meaning and relevance of each month’s theme for us today. One of the gifts of Celtic wisdom is their respect and love for the natural world, and one of my hopes is that this book will encourage people to regard the Earth as a living being that today is in dire need of our care. At the back of the book is a resource section for readers who are inspired to trace their genealogy, find out where they can do Scottish dancing, learn Welsh in Wales, or buy craft supplies for a Solstice wreath and much more. Most importantly, readers can trust that, although this is not an academic book, my information is backed up by sound research, aided by consultation with reputable linguists and historians.

I hope the book is an appealing introduction to Celtic spirituality for pagans, Druids, and anybody at all who wants to find out more about the wisdom of the Celts and how we can apply this ancient path in a modern society that is sorely in need of being reconnected to both to Spirit and Nature.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperOne
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 006251685X
• ISBN 13: 9780062516855
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 416