Wordless Wednesday, No. 3

Book Reviews x2

I've been going through my book collection lately as I'm beginning to sadly run out of room. In a box under the bed, I found two books I had only ever briefly flipped through so I decided to give them a closer read today.

Celtic Book of Seasonal Meditations: Celebrate the Traditions of the Ancient Celts by Claire Hamilton (© 2003 Red Wheel | ISBN: 9781590030554 | 263 pages) — Rating: 2/5 stars

Nice to see a book from a neopagan publisher include so much mythology and tradition. However, it's presented through a Neo-Druid lens so you have the three groups (bard, ovate and druid), four elements, eight festivals, it makes mention of the tree calendar, and the Maiden, Mother, Crone trinity is featured prominently. All of which, I could have done without but it isn't as terribly annoying as it normally would be. I guess that's because I knew beforehand that Claire Hamilton is a member of OBOD, so I knew what to expect. 

What did annoy me—as it often does in these book that combine Gaelic and Brythonic traditions into one—is a mixing of terminology. For example, on page 80 where the author is talking about "The Three Divinatory Practices" (all of which are Irish) she uses the word awen (a Welsh word meaning inspiration -- which she also misdefines as "watchers"). In fact, when using any native words not once did she point out the country of origin for that word, leaving the reader to guess. That's bad form to me, but then again, I expect too much. 

Most of the poetry contained within the book was reworkings by the author from Old Irish translations, but proper credit was not given to the original translators from which she gleaned her poem. That did not sit well with me.

Overall, I think this book had the right idea but could still have used some serious guidance.

Celtic Inspirations: Essential Meditations and Texts by Lyn Webster Wilde (© 2006 Duncan Baird Publishers | ISBN: 9781844830992 | 160 pages) — Rating: 3/5 stars

Nothing extraordinary here and I would beg to differ with the book's subtitle of "essential meditations and texts" as not one thing is essential in here either lol. It's way too brief a text for anything to be counted as indispensable. 

However, it would make a great little gift as a coffee table book. The artwork and photographs are gorgeous, and would really be the only reason to own it. I'd only be giving it two stars if not for the beautiful presentation, that made it three.

"Using" the Gods

And this is what I've been ranting about for ages now. Nice to see a video about it. Thank you, illiezeulette.

Wordless Wednesday, No. 2

Lá Lúnasa 2010

(To anyone who reads via RSS, I apologize for the post that went through Sunday. I was trying to work on a draft and schedule it ... and ended up clicking publish instead before the post was even finished. *headdesk* Even after I deleted it, it was still showing up on RSS :/ So, please ignore that post as the following was what I was going for.)

Lá Lúnasa was a great success this year.

Saturday, I finished the cleaning I had started on Friday night, and baked some blueberry cream cheese pound cake (from a dear friend's recipe which you can find here), with the blueberries harvested at my grandfather's house. The blackberries were already gone, eaten by the family with some cream when Lúnasa arrived in our locale, so I had none for this celebration.

Long was the sorrow, long the weariness of Tailtiu

"Great that deed that was done with the axe's help by Tailtiu, the reclaiming of meadowland from the even wood by Tailtiu daughter of Magmor.

When the fair wood was cut down by her, roots and all, out of the ground, before the year's end it became Bregmag, it became a plain blossoming with clover. Her heart burst in her body from the strain beneath her royal vest; not wholesome, truly, is a face like the coal, for the sake of woods or pride of timber.

Long was the sorrow, long the weariness of Tailtiu, in sickness after heavy toil; the men of the island of Erin to whom she was in bondage came to receive her last behest. She told them in her sickness (feeble she was but not speechless) that they should hold funeral games to lament her - zealous the deed.

About the Calends of August she died, on a Monday, on the Lugnasad of Lug; round her grave from that Monday forth is held the chief Fair of noble Erin. White-sided Tailtiu uttered in her land a true prophecy, that so long as every prince should accept her, Erin should not be without perfect song.

A fair with gold, with silver, with games, with music of chariots, with adornment of body and of soul by means of knowledge and eloquence. A fair without wounding or robbing of any man, without trouble, without dispute, without raping, without challenge of property, without suing, without law-sessions, without evasion, without arrest.

A fair without sin, without fraud, without reproach, without insult, without contention, without seizure, without theft, without redemption: No man going into the seats of the women, nor woman into the seats of the men, shining fair, but each in due order by rank in his place in the high Fair."

— excerpted from Metrical Dindshenchas. ed and trans. Edward Gwynn. 1925. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies: 1991. (Read Online Here.)

Being in the summer season and the harvest coming on

As tomorrow will be packed with my Lúnasa celebrations and then my niece's birthday party later in the evening, I leave you with this season's greetings for now—

Lá Lúnasa Shona Dhaoibh! Moladh dhuit, a Dhéithe!

(stock.xchng)

Lugnassad, luaid a hada
cecha bliadna ceinmara,
fromad cech toraid co m-blaid,
biad lusraid la Lugnasaid.