Product Description
For years, M.E. Colman has been leading groups to Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Cornwall. While there, she has the opportunity to speak with many of the local people, religious, lay, young and retired, after one journey, a little voice spoke to her, Return, listen to their stories. And sometimes a star was born. Her Celtic Journeys visit many sites from the past. sometimes a star, however, is a visit to the present, an attempt to address the gap between many books that are being written on Celtic spirituality, and what M.E. Colman was actually seeing and hearing when in Ireland. The result is fascinating. sometimes a star is a collection of conversations between M.E. Colman and a wide array of people: a retired steel worker; Tony Flannery, a Redemptorist priest and author; a student; a journalist; a Church of Ireland member; a farmer; one of the founders of the Alpha movement; a former religious who now does charity work for the travelers in Ireland; Liam Lawton, a priest, composer, and performer. Of each person, in addition to letting the conversation flow naturally, Colman asks the same questions, What sustains you? Where do you see the future of the Church? And the answers are vastly different. The book presents a true palette of a range of opinions, and the hopes and fears of the Irish at present. M.E. Colman wanted to get a spectrum, different perspectives, especially different ages, and people were eager to talk. Topics of discussion include Celtic Spirituality; the ways in which the Catholic Church has changed over the years; how young people feel about the Church and why numbers are dropping; what needs to change and what shouldnt change; music; celibacy in the priesthood; and what keeps people going in troubled times. Often funny, thoroughly readable, and always thought-provoking, M.E. Colmans sometimes a star is a welcome exploration of faith today. M.E. Colman is a life-professed member of the Convent of St. John Baptist ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A book to share
I found this book very thought provoking. It lets you sit on M.E.Colman's shoulder as she listens to special people who share their faith and experience of Celtic Spirituality. This applys more broadly then you might expect. I know Sister Margo personally and that is what drew me to buy this book. I also bought copies as Christmas gifts for family and friends.

Celtic Spirituality Alive and Well Today
Many people talk about Celtic Spirituality as an idealized abstraction from the past, or something that can be sprinkled on contemporary prayer to readily enliven it.Colman, in "Sometimes a Star," visits Ireland today -- Roman Catholic and Church of Ireland, lay and ordained, young and old, faithful and disaffected -- to explore what sustains people in their faith and in their church in today's Celtic Christianity.

Colman uses a few thoughtful, open-ended questions and a gentle shepherding style, honed by her own experiences as a life professed religious and a spiritual director, to make room for a wide range of today's Celtic Christians to speak from the heart.

The Venerable Bede, in Ecclesiastical History of the English People (Penguin Classics), gave us a glimpse of the saints and scholars of the ancient Celtic Church as they encountered the wider universal Church.John O'Donohue gave modern voice to what many consider the classic flavor of Celtic wisdom and the tradition of the soul friend in Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom.Colman, in "Sometimes a Star" brings us brightly and forthrightly into the present day of the Celtic Church for an intimate, insightful, sometimes humorous and always deeply human look at Christianity in Ireland today.

Luminous
A wonderful book. I was captivated by Sister Margo's ability to engage her subjects about their spirituality through the prism of Irish culture, Church history and the demands 21st century life. You will put this book down and yearn for your own Celtic journey. ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1916.This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies.All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Mull & iona highways and byways review
If you are the type of traveler who likes to park your car or bike alongside the road and get off the beaten path, this book is for you. Particularly for the Isle of Mull, it is a very detailed source of localmonuments, nature trails, hidden sites, small village location andinformation, and some local history. It also includes information for themain tourist destinations.The book includes detailed maps with locationsof the various points of interest. The book is also helpful to the morecasual tourist who takes a car onto the island with plans to do somegeneral exploration. ... Read more

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Love of nature is often described as a characteristic feature of Celtic Christianity. Low describes how native beliefs about nature were rejected, transformed, or restated as the peoples of early medieval Ireland and the Hebrews made Christianity their own.With close reference to the period, including extensive primary source material, Low examines the importance of the land, hills and mountains, water, trees, fire, the sun, and the elements in early Christian and biblical imagery. She shows medieval writers' awareness of biblical parallels often overlooked today, addresses the fear of "paganism" in outdoor worship, and familiarizes the reader with new ways of thinking about the relationship between Christianity and primal religions.At a time when Celtic Christianity has been increasingly romanticized, this extremely readable book will prove a useful resource for anyone seeking an environmentally friendly theology of nature. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good Historical Book
So many books in this subject desend to bad neo-pagan drivel.This book however examines primary source works to give a factual and interesting glimpse into pagan influences in the early Christian Church. ... Read more

Product Description
Drawing on poetry, vernacular hagiography, legendaries, historical documentation, reliquaries, holy wells and church dedications, as well as archaeological and visual evidence, this book provides a scholarly and accessible study of the cult of the saints in all of the Celtic regions of Europe. It is unique in that it draws on the leading scholars in the field from Wales, Ireland, England, Scotland, France, Canada and America. ... Read more

Product Description
To revive the lost nature wisdom of the ancient Celts, Michael Poynderexamines the fundamentals of Celtic history and culture:
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How the first of the Essene Christians came to Britain in AD 36
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How they found common ground with the Celtic Druids.
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How that commonality goes back to the neolithic seers who amplified natural forces bypositioning stones in sacred geometric relationships.
Ancient Celtic metaphysics, with its roots in both East and West, encompassed knowledge of
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How natural energy flows, as perserved in Celtic knotwork
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How chakras can be used for pendulum dowsing
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How crystal geometry influenced early Irish architecture and astronomyThis sophisticated tuning into nature, so basic to the Druids and Celtic Christians, was eventuallydebased by the patriarchal priesthood of the Church of Rome. The magical traditions wentunderground, the memories relegated to folklore and deep within the spirit of a suppressedpeople. But the magic is not all lost! Poynder guides individual readers to discover these truthsfor themselves, in the tradition of the shamans and wise elders. His fresh look at our ancientheritage suggests more pieces of the puzzle that we can put in place: He discusses ourpre-Christian ancestors, vibrant seers, healers, and magicians; and he unlocks the secrets of StoneAge and Bronze Age metaphysics that influenced the Gnostic practices of early priesthood. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Good Reference Material
Even if you are not a christian, this is a very good work for those interested in the esoteric side of Christianity, which is seldom mentioned in traditional circles. It shows how many ancient practices which are considered "pagan" were once used by early monks.

What a crock!
This book is amazing, if only for the writer's audacity in combining all the elements of buddhism, new age philosophy, egyptology, ley lines, tantric sex, astronomy, the Arthurian legend, the Holy Grail, geometry, ghosts, DNA, dowsing and Masons. All this is done without any documentation other than the author's say-so.It is obviously one man's tirade against organized Christian religion and his attempt to create The Theory of Everything.

I had hoped for a rational and scholarly presentation of ancient celtic beliefs, but got a sophomoric, sensationalist term paper that was 170 pages too long and would have failed for lack of intellectual support.

Now that I have read the information about the author, I discover he's a landscape painter and poet, and is a Healer Member of the UK National Federation of Spiritual Healers.Ah, NOW I understand.My advice if you're considering this book: don't bother.

This is one of the most exciting books that I have ever read
Christianity has suddenly become an open book to me, and I realise that a lot of the dogma forced on me through my education is a myth and lacks any substance from the gospels. I now see the historical Jesus from a totally different perspective and realise that he was actually human in every respect. I no longer feel guilty and I recommend this challenging book thoroughly.

Odd, challenging, interesting.
I bought it.I read it.I'm still not certain what to think.This book will appeal most strongly to people who enjoy "conspiracy" logic, Bible Code, and Book of Revelations theories.It doesn't address any of those topics, per se, but it's along the same challenging line of thought. This book shows (coincidental?) ties between Celtic beliefs, early Christianity, chakras, aromatherapy, mystical practices from India and the East, Golden Triangles, early architecture of temples, Masonic and Egyptian symbols, and more.Whether you take this seriously or chuckle through the concepts, you'll find some intriguing material in these pages. ... Read more

Product Description
Esther de Waal, one of Celtic Christianity's preeminent scholars, shows how this tradition of worship draws on both the pre-Christian past and on the fullness of the Gospel. It is also an enlightening glimpse at the history, folklore, and liturgy of the Celtic people.

Esther de Waal introduces readers to monastic prayer and praise (the foundation stone of Celtic Christianity), early Irish litanies, medieval Welsh praise poems, and the wealth of blessings derived from an oral tradition that made prayer a part of daily life. Through this invigorating book, readers enter a world in which ritual and rhythm, nature and seasons, images and symbols play an essential role. A welcome contrast to modern worship, Celtic prayer is liberating and, like a living spring, forever fresh.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

An Often Neglected Side of Our Everyday Spirituality
This is a wonderful book for those interested in learning more about Celtic spirituality.If you've ever read anything by Esther deWaal this is another of her down-to-earth books full of her own unique wisdom and spirituality.It is a book that opens up those of us brought up in a more traditional religious background a different approach of relating to God especially through the world around us.

Flavor of the week
The contemplative end of Christianity has always been Miller's interest.This book is a continuation of that interest.However, contemplative Christianity has been growing with many Christians seeking a deeper walk with God than can be found in the adrenaline packed style of many American churches.

Miller says this book is not "a history or cultural examination of the Celts."However, there is much in the book that covers Celtic culture as it relates to the practice of religion.Many ancient and scholarly sources are also quoted.

The book is not a prayer book but is an explanation of Miller's interpretation of how the Celts prayed.He attempts to introduce six, supposedly Celtic prayer ideas in this book."Trinity Prayer" (Praying to Father/Creator, Son/Redeemer, and Holy Spirit/Sanctifier in the first chapter).Scripture prayer, wandering prayer, nature prayer, lorica prayer, confessional prayer are the rest of the chapters.

Some may struggle with the prayer to angels (page 116), the not necessarily Christian elements (Carmina Gadelica), and the overtly Catholic elements.This had the feeling of coming close to, if not crossing the line of syncretism.One question I had was how does "Trinity prayer" fit in with how Jesus taught prayer in Matthew 5:6 -- 9 (praying to the Father)?

Still, for the thoughtful and discerning reader, this may give you something to consider.

Very Good Introduction to Celtic Christianity
Esther de Waal provides readers with a very good overview of Celtic Christian spirituality by examining the subjects of their prayers. Wisely, she lets the prayers themselves do most of the talking; she refrains from long explications of them, a practice that allows the reader to project himself or herself into the situation and make personal applications more easily. This book particularly serves as a good introduction to Celtic Christianity for those unfamiliar with it.

If I have one major complaint with the book, it concerns de Waal's style: she responds to the prayers more from her head than her heart. Also, it might have been helpful to include a historical overview at times, but that's not the purpose of this book. (For a good historical overview, see Oliver Davies' introduction to Celtic Spirituality in Paulist Press' Classics of Western Spirituality series.) These are minor complaints, however, for a book that contains so many Celtic Christian prayers from down through the centuries.

Prayer is every step, every breath.
Wow!This book is not what I expected.I was looking for a "how to" on prayer the "celtic way."What I got was a deep, and sometimes profound, look at prayer as a way of life.This book is not about sitting down to pray.It is about praying - morning, noon and night.

I was especially moved by the focus on the trinity and the cross in the prayer of the celtic people.De Waal devotes a chapter to each of these topics.She thoroughly demonstrates what she has to say, what she has come to practice in her own prayer life, with excellent examples from the prayers and poetry of celtic Christians and monks.

Another aspect, the one that took me deeper and farther than I expected to go, is the celtic idea of journeying.We journey through life (we all know this), and prayer is a living part of that journey (we often forget this).So true is her statement, "I shall not find Christ at the end of the journey unless he is with me along the way."

The final chapter on praise in the celtic prayerlife was wonderful.I found myself longing to hear the examples of praise put to music today.I think it would enrich the worship at my own church.

I enjoyed The Celtic Way of Prayer tremendously.Coming from a Protestant background I disagreed with the celtic worship of Mary that is sometimes revealed in De Waal's examples.However, anyone should be able to read beyond such a disagreement and be edified in their spiritual growth by applying the rich ideas from the celtic way of prayer in their own life.There is much to be gleaned from this book.

Integrated vision of faith and life.
While guiding us through the beauty of Celtic prayers, Esther De Waal reveals the path to making faith and prayer a part of every part of our day. This book will renew your sense of wonder and celebration of God's presence in all things. ... Read more

Product Description
A new edition of an invaluable collection of literary sources, all in translation, for Celtic Europe and early Ireland and Wales. The selections are divided into three sections: the first is classical authors on the ancient celts-a huge selection including both the well-known-Herodotos, Plato, Aristotle, Livy, Diogenes Laertius, and Cicero-and the obscure-Pseudo-Scymnus, Lampridius, Vopsicus, Clement of Alexandria and Ptolemy I. The second is early Irish and Hiberno-Latin sources including early Irish dynastic poetry and numerous tales from the Ulster cycle and the third consists of Brittonic sources, mostly Welsh. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A must for the Celtic scholar
I was privileged enough to take a class from Prof. Carey at Cork and we used this book.His translations are excellent and his academic style entertaining, yet rigorous enough for high caliber colleges and universities.Whenever anyone asks me about Celtic source material, I recommend this book.It's fantastic.

The best collection of Irish, Welsh, and Classical texts
This is quite simply an essential volume for any enthusiast of Celtic culture.It has the greatest collection of Gaulish texts available (which are few but still important), as well as the commentary of Roman and Greek neighbors.More than that, though, it also contains countless Irish and Welsh texts, most of which have been out of print and unavailable to the public for many years, such as "The Book of Invasions".

The Beginning of a New Celtic Heroic Age
What a gem! For those of us not able to afford the small fortune involved in buying dozens of original texts (which is still on the agenda- one day), Koch and Carey have supplied us with the translations of not only some of the most important texts in Celtic scholarship, but some of the rarest. The ancient Gaulish inscriptions which begin this book set the scene for the rest of the material in a manner quite unique in this field. Whereas usually one might find reference to Irish material in abundance, and some Welsh texts of the High Middle Ages, "The Celtic Heroic Age" provides us with a glimpse of the Golden Age of the Celtic peoples from the very beginning of their written record. Rather than painting a literary picture around these texts, the editors have provided us with a series of views of Celtic culture as seen by the Celts themselves and by their nearest contemporaries. An absolute must for any serious student of the Celts! ... Read more

Product Description
In this anthology, the stories of the Celtic saints are interspersed with verses, prayers, and sayings attributed to those ancient sages, from St. Patrick and Brigit, through Brendan and Columba, to Aidan and Cuthbert.

We do not know when or how Christianity first arrived at those westernmost reaches; it seems always to have been there. Legend tells us that Irish bards attended the events on Golgotha "in the spirit." There is in the Celtic tradition a continuity in cosmic process. For the Celts, Christ's death and resurrection was a healing that made possible a reconciliation of humanity and nature in God. In this sense, Christianity was always in Ireland, and we seek its historical beginning in vain.

If the Celtic Chrurch had survived, it is possible that the fissure between Christianity and nature, widened by the centuries, would not have cracked the unity of the Western attitude toward nature and the universe. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

a good miscellany
This little anthology offers a good introduction to the Celtic saints through a combination of sketches of their lives, excerpts from the writings of the saints themselves (stories and prayers), stories about themby commentators such as Bede and others, and many prayers from the CarminaGaedelica and other sources.The introduction treats of the earlyChristian history of the British isles.It would make a good first read inthis area, and thus would be a great gift for birthdays, graduations, andother holidays.It has a durable cover for lots of handling, and it shouldbe handled often! ... Read more

Product Description
Publisher: Paris É. ChampionPublication date: 1923Subjects: PenanceNotes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

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Product Description
The Celtic Wheel of the Year is a book of prayers intended for individual use. Divided into monthly sections, with a week or prayers for each, it incorporates Celtic and Christian traditions in a single pattern of prayer. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Disappointed...
I bought this hoping it was a book of *traditional* pagan/Christian prayers (in the same vein as the Carmina Gadelica, for example), but was disappointed.There is too much pushing of feminist and "gender" issues for my tastes.Guess I'll have to keep looking.

Inspiring daily resource
I have not only been using this book daily since I got it, but have suggested or gifted it to many other people who are also finding it to be a remarkable resource! The breadth of topics reflected upon in a poetically eloquent and accessible manner makes it an inspiring devotional tool. Its roots are ancient but its material is contemporary. I recommend it most highly.

Celtic Wheel of the Year
Tess Ward has given us a resource for understanding the origins of ancient festivals throughout the year, month by month. They all fit into place when we can see what is happening in different seasons in nature and how they were celebrated. The language is poetic and mystical. Prayers for each day of the week for every month evoke the celtic vision without using specifically Christian language. It is a great book for anyone on a spiritual path! ... Read more

Product Description
Throughout the Celtic World, in Britain, Ireland, and France, the legacy of the Celtic saints remains visible. Churches, place names, standing stones, carved inscriptions, healing springs, and local lore all stand as a testament to those men and women who helped establish the Christian Church in their native lands. Who were these saints, and what drove their search for spiritual fulfillment? Using archaeological and literary evidence, Elizabeth Rees presents the fascinating stories of some of the best known Celtic saints--St. Patrick and St. Bridget in Ireland, St. David in Wales, St. Columba in Scotland, and St. Aidan and St. Cuthbert in Northumbria--as well as lesser-known monks, nuns, missionaries, and martyrs. From St. Michael's Mount, Madron's well, and the Ile de Batz in the south to Iona, Lindisfarne, and Loch Leven in the north, the author takes us on a spiritual tour of the sacred places where the saints chose to pray, preach, and study--dramatic headlands, sheltered valleys, forest clearings, holy springs, and peaceful lakeshores. Much of this landscape still remains, especially in the remoter parts of Britain and Ireland. As the book explores these mystical sites, the Celtic saints of legend come alive. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Mixes fact and fiction
This is a very nice book by a very nice person. There's an excellent gazetteer showing how to get to some of the places she mentions and she is tremendously enthusiastic about her subject.
The main problem is that she mixes historical fact with legend.The very existence of many of these "saints" is doubtful.What would happen would be that a name got attached to a place and then many centuries later someone would make up a story to go with the name. Then the story would get embellished.In many cases the stories were made up as late as the nineteenth century, although these saints are supposed to have lived in the sub-Roman period, the time between the Romans leaving Britain and the Anglo-Saxons coming in. The Roman Empire had been Christian for a hundred years when they left.It's a very dark period without much in the way of historical documentation.
To take one example; there was a church in a place called St David's that had been in existence for a long time by the tenth century, when the Annales Cambriae were written.The writer of the Annales Cambriae merely put in St David's name and gave a date for his birth some time in the fifth century. In the 11th century a monk at St David's wrote a "life" of the supposed St David, which is what Rees largely treats as authentic history.
To be fair to her she usually, but not always, prefaces some such stories with "according to legend" or "it is said that" but she sneaks it in so that you may not notice it.
St. Patrick, St Columba, St Aidan and St Ninian are fairly well authenticated from near contemporary writings, including St Patrick's own memoirs. Bede'sEcclesiastical History of England, written in the eighth century confirms some ofthe data.
Rees keeps mysteriously referring to people as missionaries, when they were traveling in lands that were already Christian.She has Welsh missionaries going to Cornwall to convert the Cornish.I couldn't quite figure that out.
She assumes a certain knowledge of Celtic languages, which is needed to explain some of the changes the names underwent.Lenition and mutation in these languages alters the beginning of words, so that the mutated forms are very different.Even allowing for that I couldn't grasp how Kentigern became Mungo.
Almost all the references are to secondary sources in English. A very nice book by a very nice person, but niceness doesn't always mean accuracy.

Inadequate, though not as bad as it could be
The study of what is usually called Celtic Christianity is in a parlous state.Except for particular issues such as the life of Patrick - where Dumville?s recent collection of studies has managed to shed as much darkness as light - little of note has happened since E.C.Bowen's questionable but at least scholarly study of the connection between "Saints and seaways" in the sixties, and practically no translation has been published since A.W.Wade-Evans' erratic 1944 collection, which is written in abominable English and leaves the Welsh-language LIVES untranslated; and, before him, we have to go back to the still more erratic Llandovery translations of W.J.Rees, dated 1854, and containing not only mistranscriptions and mistranslations, but actual grammatical mistakes IN ENGLISH!
Not, alas, that this means that the subject is left untouched.Where the real scholars don't bother going, the popular scribblers wander at will.A real cottage industry has sprung up about "Celtic spirituality", and this book, while not belonging to its lunatic fringe, is clearly a part of it.What scholarship there is in it, is dated and unperceptive; assertions, especially as to the periods in which various saints lived, go unsupported; and the whole is bathed in a sentimental air that shows its desire to flatter the reader rather than to lead to any understanding of the subject.Also, while it annexates the Curch of early Northumbria to the Celtic world because of the influence of missionaries such as St. Aidan, it altogether neglects Brittany; could it be because to investigate it would require reading texts in Latin and - heaven preserve us - in FRENCH?
Altogether, I cannot recommend this book either as a general introduction to its subject or as a study.Those who can, would be well advised to read Sabine Baring-Gould and John Fisher's ancient (1904) four-volume account of the Celtic saints, which is sometimes mutton-headed but has at least the virtues of thoroughness and consistency. ... Read more

Product Description
John Marsden follows the course of the sea-road of the early Celtic saints from Ireland to the western coast and isles of Scotland. He explores the spiritual tradition of the 'white martyrdom of exile for Christ' as it was lived out by these voyager-visionaries against the land and seascapes of the Hebrides. From Columba onwards to Ciaran, Cormac, Brendan and Ronan, those who spread Irish Christianity into Scotland left traces throughout the landscape and in the placenames which survive to this day. The book gives not only a colourful account of the history of those times, but serves also as a guide to the island traveller on a path of exploration of this rich and ancient tradition. ... Read more

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A comprehensive look at the Grail that reveals its fundamentally Celtic nature beneath layers of Christian interpretations.

Emphasizes the significance of the Quest as an archetype of spiritual seeking.

By the world's preeminent authority on Celtic civilization.

The Grail has long excited the imaginations of those seeking to see beyond the world of appearances. No other sacred object has inspired such longing or such dread. The Grail is the archetype of the marvelous object in which each individual can enclose the goal of his own personal quest. For some the goal of this quest has been divine grace or the Philosophers' Stone, for others it is simply a treasure that connects various episodes of the King Arthur legend.Yet the Grail, as an object that is both close and unapproachable, was not the original focus of these stories. The Celtic tales on which the Grail legend is based emphasize the theme of the Quest. Through his exploration of several versions of this myth that appeared in the Middle Ages, Jean Markale digs deep beneath the Christian veneer of these tales, allowing us to penetrate to the true meaning of the Grail and its Quest, legacies of a rich Celtic spirituality that has nourished the Western psyche for centuries. He also examines how these myths were later used by the Knights Templar, as well as how their links with Alchemy and Catharism played a decisive role in the shaping of Western Hermetic thought. ... Read more

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Cutting through the mists of Celtic myth, this historical account introduces the saints as real men and women in the pursuit of holiness. The Celtic period began with Patrick's mission to Ireland in 435 and ended with the submission of the British church to Rome in 715. This book tells the stories of the various branches of the Celtic church during this period and includes biographies of the outstanding personalities of the era. ... Read more