druid Helpful Roadmap

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1. Querrey says

   Now this is a book about Druids that shouldn’t be missed. If you want Wicca-style Druidry this isn’t for you. There are no secret mysteries or lost “lessons” from Merlin, Amergin, Cathbad, etc., just good, strong, scholarship from the mind of a living legend.

   If you want the real deal, something with some real scholarship that gets you thinking, this is your book.

   December 27, 2009, 12:28 pm
2. Cao says

   Anyone who wants to know anything about druidism or druidry needs this book. Thoughtful, funny, easy to read and charming. Bonewits has an easy writting style that makes even the hardest to digest material easy to swallow. Clean off a spot in your library for this book.

   December 28, 2009, 1:05 am
3. Lowther says

   Bonewit is wrong, wrong, wrong about the Druids.

   There is very little evidence about Druids, just a handful of mentions by ancient writers, and, recently, some archaeological evidence. In Alveston, England some 150 bodies have been recovered, apparently all human sacrifices by Druids. It also appears there was some cannibalism there.

   How could anybody build a cult out of the teeny bits we know about the Druids? You would have to make most of it up. Which is what Bonewit seems to have done.

   Furthermore, why would anyone want to revive the Druids, given what we do know of their practices? They were headhunters. They put people inside a wicker works of twigs and burned them alive. This would be the last group of people I would want to see on the earth again.

   Archaeologists believe Lindow man, found in a bog, was ritually sacrificed by strangulation, cutting his throat, and crushing his skull by the charming Druids. Human sacrifice, long a practice of the ancient world, had been discarded by the time of the Romans and was considered barbaric. Which, I might point out, it was.

   Bonewit admits the “Celts had long-lasting headhunting cults” (p 48) and speculates they hung skulls in yew groves and alarmed the Romans. Actually, the Romans themselves cut off heads of criminals and displayed them in cities, which Bonewit clearly doesn’t know.

   Bonewit believes Druids existed as an underground cult, but with what evidence? None.

   Druids weren’t “absorbed by the Church” (p 63). Where is the evidence? The Druids as a class were exterminated by the Romans, and then there were long centuries of Roman paganism before the Church arrived.

   He writes that “clergy having spouses was a terrible sin” in the early Catholic church. No it wasn’t It was very much allowed.

   Culdee Catholics, according to Bonewit were “feminist, environmental, and semi-Pagan” (p 67). Nonsense. To drag fads from this century and read them into the past is always a mistake.

   He actually appears to imagine that no one thought there were witches until the Middle Ages.

   His information about the Inquisition is so wrong that I actually laughed out loud. Somebody please give the man a copy of “The Spanish Inquisition” by Kamen, the leading authority on the subject.

   This is one silly, badly researched book.

   December 28, 2009, 12:28 pm
4. Irvin says

   Isaac Bonwits just doesn`t get it. This man is just a college yuppie that got into it for kicks…until he realized he could make money from it. Look at his website. He, along with phillip carr gomm, and others pushed a new movement of Neo- Paganism,….just to put themselves at the forefront of it. This man links druidism to witchcraft…(nonsense)…..His seminars are pathetic….mixing a base history, with his own warped perception of the subject. The true calling is from within…..not without.

   December 29, 2009, 12:26 am
5. Gebhardt says

   A number of years back, I sat there for a number of days comparing the flow of similarity between different basic words from a number of languages and compared that to what I knew from archaeology (ancient trade paths, some of which are discernable from space, archaeological finds turning up from cultures distant to their location, and so on). Naturally, I wondered if our ancestors traveled, mingled, and mated (exotic is sexy, trade means money/power, such things make such unions desirable, and then comes baby) far more than most of us were previously made aware so I truly enjoyed the description of the evolution and migration of the Proto-Indo-European peoples with their theologies and rituals (orthopraxy) and how that has led up to contemporary Druidry on both sides of the Atlantic.

   Highly engaging, this type of scope and the author’s attention to details, patterns, metapatterns, and probabilities are consistently and delightfully conveyed with such a carefully (!) and well articulated level of honesty – this is why I have a serious crush on this author’s work. And how often do I see this caliber of work? Not nearly often enough and rarely when it comes to religion!

   Enjoy.

   December 29, 2009, 12:41 pm
6. Conti says

   I really enjoyed everything this book has to offer. The only fault I find is that it is quite long in getting to the inevitable downfall of the druidical society of Gauls and says very little about how they end up escaping. Other than that, this is a wonderful novel!

   December 30, 2009, 12:42 am
7. Simpson says

   Historical fiction based on the Vercingetorix/Caesar/Gaul saga as seen through the eyes of a fictional Druid. The story runs out of steam about the last third of the book so I can’t consider this on the level of her best work like Lion of Ireland or Red Branch but its still worth reading. I enjoy Morgan Llywellyns Celtic themed books and would recomend them to any Celtophile.

   December 30, 2009, 12:23 pm
8. Nicklaus says

   “Life is change, and simplicity had been swept away on a Roman floodtide.”

   Morgan Llywelyn’s Druids is the story of the eradication of free Gaul by the Roman general Julius Caesar. It takes place in what would someday be called France during the first century before the Christian era. The Chief Druid is the “soul friend” of the great Gaulish leader Vercingetorix, whose skepticism about Druid magic is an ever present division between the two men. Ultimately, however, neither might nor magic can stop the flood tide of the Romans’ technology and discipline. The entire society based on the druidical earth religion is fated to be squeezed ever north and west and ultimately blotted out by Christianity.

   Llywelyn’s plot is subtle, though you don’t notice that at first. Romans are a threat on the border when the tale begins, becoming more ruthless and more immediate as it develops. The Gauls at first are willing to let Rome in the backdoor in exchange for the luxuries traders bring in, but the Roman genera’s best ally is the inability of the Gauls to work together to present a unified resistance. This is partly their tradition but also in reaction to brutality of Roman retribution for “rebellion”. Vercingetorix and his Druid seek to remedy this, and here’s where the subtlety sneaks in, for they start to adopt Roman discipline, tactics and technology in order to defeat the Romans, surrendering their unique identity quite voluntarily.

   In Ann Parson’s Mystery Book Discussion group recently we talked about whether you can like a book without liking a main character. I can categorically affirm that you can, as I really rather detested the narrator, the Chief Druid. I rather wish the main character had been Vercingetorix, but that is the author’s decision. I know she had her reasons. I felt cheated on Vercingetorix’s part as he loses all while the narrator simply retires into the woods with his three wives. I know he lost much more, but if he believed his own view of death, that it is a short phase in life, he definitely made out much better than his friend, whom he annoyingly calls “Rix”.

   The novel itself also sneaks up on you. I almost hit the off button a few times early in the book, finding myself not enjoying it as much as I have other Llywelyn’s. But I stayed with it and am glad I did. There is a sweet bit of information revealed in the brief author’s note at the end that tickled me and would not have come as any sort of surprise to the Chief Druid that you will just have to learn for yourself.

   From That’s All She Read http://allsheread.blogspot.com

   December 31, 2009, 12:27 am
9. Lefebvre says

   My review’s title paraphrases a reference made in the book, I think by Ainvar, regarding the verbal transmission of all the lore and knowledge of the Celts which may be lost, and much was. The classical, written references to the druids (made by Romans and Greeks) comprise about ten pages. So I am thankful for Llywelyn’s “channeling” of this tale, her “listening down the wind”. I think she did a creditable job with most of what she took on in this book, and her telling of the earth connection, the extension of the senses to all that lives, and the philosophy that Menua taught young Ainvar resonated in some old part of my bones. Most of my complaints have more to do with her characterizations.

   Some of the things that unfold between Ainvar and Briga, his first wife made me scratch my head. Her previously described feisty nature didn’t lead me to think she would share Ainvar with Lakutu so easily, and the series of events that lead to the loss of Maia seemed flimsy, and I was disappointed no resolution to that surfaced by the end of the book. Well, at least I didn’t have to wait 16 years to find out if it’s taken up in the new book, The Greener Shore, since I only bought a used copy in 2003 and finally read it a couple months ago.

   I also am unsure of her purpose in naming human Celts after deDannans, such as Dian Cecht, who was the Dannan god of medicine, and Crom Daral, who must be modelled after Crom Dubh, who, Mara Freeman says in Kindling the Celtic Spirit, was a small dark hump-backed agricultural god, who may bear a resemblence to Kokopeli of the SW American Indians. Crom Dubh, according to a Sligo legend, taught the people to sew and reap, and advised them about weather conditions. Even if we are reading of characters who may come down mythologized through the eons, the Crom described as a person in this novel seems a far cry from any helpful agricultural deity. Likewise, his father, Ogmios, described in the novel as “stupid as a barrel of hair” is based on a son of the Dagda, the Good God, of the deDannans, and is Ogma in Ireland. He is cognate with the Continental god Ogmios. Ogma is the god of eloquence and literature, so here again, I do not understand or find, the fit in naming characters so different from their originals. Maybe I’m nit-picking, but it lent an inconsistency to the narrative I couldn’t put aside as I read it. Still, I plan on giving Greener Shore a go, just to see how she does deal with the Dannans, and if Maia ever shows up.

   Lastly, I decided to read this novel while I was watching the HBO series Rome on DVD, to get the perspective of the Celtic side, which she does give quite eloquently. Again, because the Celtic peoples did not write their wisdom, much had to have been lost, and though this novel is total reconstructionism, it does give one a feeling of connection to an important and pivotal time in western civilization. Lately I’ve been going about saying, if you hate the I.R.S., you have the Romans to thank!

   December 31, 2009, 12:33 pm
10. Kovac says

    A compelling historical novel, exploring both Celtic Druidic belief, and the struggle of the Gauls to hold onto national freedom against the Roman conquest by the legions of the ruthless and scheming Julius Caesar..

    It tells the story from the narrative of Ainvar, an orphan taken in by the chief druid of the Carnutes, and marked from an early age as having talents as a Druid.
    It explores the Celtic religious beliefs, in everything emanating from the Source, or the Creator. “Nothing ceases to be” Ainvar assures his beloved Briga, “Therefore we are, all of us, perfectly safe, even though the conditions of our existence change”.

    We learn of Julius Caesar’s utter brutality in his massacres of Gaulish, Helvetic, Belgic and Germanic tribes.
    Through all of this Ainvar journeys with Vercingetorix through all seasons in Gaul.

    Morgan Llyewelyn is adept at drawing up the touching scenes that grows between Ainvar and the feisty Briga, and the loyalty of the Egyptian slave woman rescued by Ainvar, Lakutu.
    An exciting read wherein the author demonstrates a passion and understanding for all things Celtic and Druidic.

    January 1, 2010, 12:57 am
11. Greenwald says

    In addition to being the best book on Druidry that I’ve seen in the last few years, this author includes extensive information on Celtic history. Highly recommended reading for anyone interested in either of these two subjects.

    January 1, 2010, 1:02 pm
12. Doyle says

    Despite the high praise given this book by many reviewers, I found it unreadably dry and dull. The author speculates at length on the ideas of the ancient Druids with very little hard evidence to back it up and provides few if any suggestions for those who might want to embrace Druidry as a spiritual practice. No book is helpful for everyone; pay your money and take your chances, and if it doesn’t work for you, sell it used.

    January 2, 2010, 12:19 am
13. Quisling says

    I have been a Druid for twenty-three years and I have recommended this book to my adult children and others who are interested in the Druid path. It is a thought provoking read – but it is not a book for reading in one sitting. I found myself going back, re-reading, and contemplating the intent of what was written. I enjoyed it a lot, and recommend it highly. It should be on every Druids book shelf. It represents the metaphysic principles of the Druid path that I have not found anywhere else. It defines and explains the essence of what a Druid should be in the here and now based off of historical evidence of the Celtic culture and the Druids. It briefly explains the past of the Celtic culture without becoming a boring thesis. This naturally sets up why Druids were Druids and how they interacted with the tribe.

    It suggests doctrinal and theological principles that Druids likely taught in relation and perception to the Celtic way of life and perspective. Many of which we would do well to emulate and thus the title – it is very appropriately title for the contents of this book.

    It does not have any rituals, but these are available from several other sources. It simply reflects what a Druid should be, steeped in Celtic lore of one living in our harried world of today. Good read – get it.

    January 2, 2010, 12:11 pm
14. Silverman says

    Graeme K Talboys has produced a thoroughly readable text on Druidry suitable for the neophyte yet in depth enough for the scholar. His emphasis on personal responsibility was especially effective and the points are well made. I only wish he’d put out another Druid book but he’s been rather busy with other works.

    January 3, 2010, 12:09 am