Druid-Shaman-Priest: Metaphors of Celtic Paganism [Hardcover]

 

 

Create your own review

DRUID, SHAMAN, PRIEST: METAPHORS OF CELTIC PAGANISM by Leslie Ellen Jones is based on papers given at University of California Celtic Studies at Berkeley and Los Angeles. Through literary material goes through how the various ages looked at the Druid. Of course, Druids are bound up with the Celts so she gives a go at defining them. The book then looks at the Druids through the Classical authors, the Medieval period, the Renaissance through the Enlightenment, Victorian, and modern times.
I confess that after reading John Collis' THE CELTS, this book was not very scintillating, as Collis covers similar ideas and more thoroughly. Jones appears to stretch her ideas on the framework of the psychology of Jacques Lacan and on the Indo-European class division made by Georges Dumézil. Since these ideas are modern inventions, it is doubtful that Druids or Celtic speaking people thought in those ways, and these constructs are just as much a fabrication as the ideas about Druids that have passed through the ages.
I did like the analysis though. It was fun. I was especially appreciative of the last chapter that dealt with Druids in the modern age. She has some harsh commentary on some of the warm fuzziness found in a lot of modern new age books on shamanism. The job of the shaman is not for the faint of heart; it is a lonely job, and also has dangers. I loved her comment, "People who have to be reminded to be polite have no business running around in alternate realities." Yes, ma'am!
Some of the complaints are have are trivial. Jones speaks of Diviciacus, a Druid/Chief as if there was only one, but there is a question whether Diviciacus was one individual or two different persons. After stating that the majority of river divinities were female in the Celtic pantheon, but then assuring us that some may have been male, the author then turns around to conclude that St. David was probably derived from a pagan river goddess. Hello, Dylan was a water god and so was Manawydan ap Llyr, ocean related of course. However maybe St. David was derived from a river god. Why not?
The last thing is the unconscionable number of typos in the book, although Amazon did assure me that this was the best they could find. Perhaps this will be address by the new paperback additon.
The last part of the book deals with both the modern Druid and the Druid in film. However, the conclusion was too abrupt.
There is a preface entitled "Druidic Knowledge: Reconstructing Lost Traditions". The Druid section had two chapters: "Who Were the Celts and What Were They Up To?" and "Saints and Druids. The Shaman part had two chapters: "Shamans, Hunters, and Warrior-Kings" and "Owein ap Urien, the Perfect Shamanic Knight". The Priests segment had two chapters: "The Celtophile's Bookshelf I: Antiquaries and Archaeologists" and "The Celtophile's Bookshelf II: Poets and Patriots". The last section is entitled Druid * Shaman * Priest is the chapter entitled "Druids in the Post Modern Period." There is also a list of references and an index.
I am taking away a point for typos and additional one for some of the ideas that just annoyed me for a total of three stars. There is much to amuse in this book, but it is also a tiny bit annoying.

Published December 2002 from Open Road Publishing. I don't see it at amazon.com but the sister site amazon.uk has it now in 2003. Scholarly, truthful, and fun to read. The Druids, as best we can now know what they were like, were probably feared at least as much as they were loved by their faithful followers. *****

I agree with the previous reviewer, that the publisher of this book should put it out in paperback form, making it more accessible to the public. A more eye-catching cover would help, as well. This book is NOT full of fuzzy-bunny Llewellyn-style garbage. It is a scholarly treatise on druidry and "Celtic shamanism" and how much we truly do and don't know about these subjects. One of the reasons this book needs to really hit the New Age market is because these subjects are almost exclusively written by psuedo-scholars such as John & Caitlin Matthews, D. J. Conway, Philip Carr-Gomm & Tom Cowan. These people are "selling" you THEIR homogenized version of what druidry and "Celtic shamanism" is/was. The public at large is being tricked into accepting false information because no one knows about books such as "Druid Shaman Priest", which is the result of true scholarly research. Ms. Jones has a wonderful sense of humour and her rather scathing critique of the Matthews' work is right on target and very eye opening to people who think the Matthews are the King & Queen of Celtia.

For the real deal, get this book!

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 5 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

 

5.0 out of 5 stars Light Shining in Darkness
This witty yet scholarly study of Celtic religion sheds a bright, much-needed light into the confusing murk that surrounds the whole field of "Neo-Paganism. Read more

Published on Dec 1 2001 by Bart Morris

4.0 out of 5 stars Druid shaman priest
This book is the best you should get it it tells you what you should know about shamanism.

Published on Sep 15 2000 by zanzer_99

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

› See all 5 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Search Listmania!