This book provides a comprehensive overview of Celtic mythology and religion, encompassing numerous aspects of ritual and belief. Topics include the presence of the Celtic Otherworld and its inhabitants, cosmology and sacred cycles, wisdom texts, mythological symbolism, folklore and legends, and an appreciation of the natural world. Evidence is drawn from the archaeology of sacred sites, ethnographic accounts of the ancient Celts and their beliefs, medieval manuscripts, poetic and visionary literature, and early modern accounts of folk healers and seers. New translations of poems, prayers, inscriptions and songs from the early period (Gaulish, Old Irish and Middle Welsh) as well as the folklore tradition (Modern Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Welsh, Cornish, Breton and Manx) complement the text. Information of this kind has never before been collected as a compendium of the indigenous wisdom of the Celtic-speaking peoples, whose traditions have endured in various forms for almost three thousand years.

About the Author
Sharon Paice MacLeod is a professional scholar, teacher and musician, and trained in Celtic Studies through Harvard University. She has taught at the university level, and published and presented academic work in North America and Europe. Her areas of expertise include Celtic and early European religious practices, indigenous studies, shamanism, and women's roles in Celtic and other northern European cultures.

Reviews
This well-organized, readable book unites a widely scattered body of primary information on the myths, ritual practices, songs, cosmology, poetry, folklore, and symbolism created within and shared among the Celtic cultures of western Europe...a good general volume on Celtic myth and religion. Recommended." -Choice.

"Well researched and richly diverse scholarly study." -Story Circle Book Reviews.



Book Information
ISBN 9780786464760
Author Sharon Paice MacLeod
Format Paperback
Page Count 244
Imprint McFarland & Co Inc
Publisher McFarland & Co Inc
Weight(grams) 452g