A CIRCLE OF STONES REVIVES ANCIENT SPIRITUALITY
IN A SYSTEM FOR MODERN CELTSThe ancient Celtic world is one of which we know both very much and very little; we can enjoy images of the early Celtic world in the surviving art and poetry, but only traces of the ancient beliefs can be glimpsed through a millennia and a half of Christianity in the Celtic lands. In A Circle Of Stones, Erynn Rowan Laurie has delved into the early poetry of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales to reconstruct a practical spiritual guide for those seeking to touch those ancestral Celtic roots.
A Circle Of Stones walks the reader through the history, culture, and beliefs of the ancient Celts and gives instructions for creating the na gcloch machnamh, the "stones of contemplation", a sort of Celtic "rosary" used as a meditation aid. Daily meditations are provided (in English and Gaelic) to allow the student to connect with the various mystical elements of the Celtic world, deities such as Danu and Bile, the three realms of Sacred Land, Eternal Sea, and Endless Sky, and the Winds of the four directions.
Anyone of Celtic heritage who has wondered about their "native" religion should be able to find these answers in A Circle Of Stones, there is information and guidance on rituals, altars, approach to the Gods, and the journey through the sacred realms (a key element to Celtic mysticism). Extraordinarily well researched, this volume offers ways for the reader to both explore the spirituality and to further investigate the source material.
