From: SL500000@brownvm.brown.edu (Robert Mathiesen)
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1993 17:00:36 EST

Lewis Spence's _The Magic Arts in Celtic Britain_ was recently
reprinted, and is pretty good -- much, much better than most of the
popular stuff of the last decade or two.  Be warned, though; this is
magic without any particular attention to religion, so if you're
interested in a Celtic pantheon it will disappoint you.  -- Robert

From: SL500000@brownvm.brown.edu (Robert Mathiesen)
Newsgroups: alt.pagan
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 1993 22:07:39 EST

D.J. Conway also has a little opus called "Norse Magic," Carl; if you
haven't yet seen it, you might want to add it to your library as a
conversation piece.  It has to be the *very worst* book written on
runes and on the Germanic tradition in the entire history of occult
publishing.  I'm normally not one for superlatives, and or mocking bad
books either, but this one is truly exceptional ...  It's a Llewellyn
publication, BTW.  -- Robert

From: K.M.Hetherington@bradford.ac.uk (KM HETHERINGTON)
Newsgroups: alt.pagan
Date: 16 Mar 93 17:41:34 GMT

Murray Hope's Practical Celtic Magic is better as a source work i.e.
ideas on where to look next, but the magick seems to be aimed at "High
Magick" types. Some interesting ideas though.

My favourite source at the moment is a series of books by F. Marian
McNeill called "The Silver Bough" which were published in the UK
(William McLennan, Glasgow, I think) in the 1950's. They record the
celebrations of festivals, both local and national, in Scotland --
both extant and within living memory. The Imbolc stuff I have
meditated on and discovered a lot.  This sort of folkloric study IMHO
is a lot more valuable as it isn't trying to "prove" anything.

In a similar vein, Lady Wilde (Oscar's mum)'s books on Irish
Superstitions and charms are very informative on the magic actually
practised by the people. A digest of her stuff has recently been
published by an American publisher. Also Iona and Peter Opie's
Dictionary of Superstitions.

For Celtic myth, go straight to the sources -- the Mabinogion, the
Tain Bo Culigne, Sir Gawain etc. There is a Medieval Literature
mailing list on BITserve, the details of which are complicated. There
is also an Arthurian mailing list, if that interests you. Both these
lists have scholars on them, so you get the latest thinking.

There are very few good archaeological books on the Celts -- they do
suffer slightly from trendiness. One I really enjoyed was called
something like "The Celtic Gauls - rites ceremonies and practices".

From: mimir@stein.u.washington.edu (Al Billings)
Newsgroups: alt.pagan
Date: 16 Mar 1993 20:25:11 GMT

wstowe@desire.wright.edu writes:
> Thanks for the warning about Conway.  I will read it with much
> salt.  Do you (or anyone else) happen to know of any authentic
> writers on Celtic Paganism?  Thanks again.

I don't know any widely published authors who write good stuff and who
are Neo-Pagans. The best basic book that I have been told of (and have
a copy of) is _Celtic Heritage_ by Rees and Rees.

From: amadeus@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Susan Harwood Kaczmarczik)
Newsgroups: alt.pagan
Date: 16 Mar 1993 20:36:44 GMT

Well, Conway is authentic, in the sense that she is a real author.
(It's D.J., btw.)  But her book is not exactly one I would recommend
for Celtic studies.  It's basically ceremonial magic and Wicca with
faeries and silkies.

Anything by Janet and Colin Bord is good.  John and Caitlin Matthews
have some well-written stuff, but approach it with a grain or two of
salt.  Another good author is R. J. Stewart.  And you can find
interesting stuff in Evans-Wentz' _Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries_
and other books of the period.  There are even (dare I say it) good
things in _The White Goddess_, but *it is not meant to be a historical
reference*, so keep that in mind.

What I would recommend is looking at some of these authors and
checking out their book lists and reading those.  Celtic practices
have been awfully "fluffified" in the last several years (started with
the Celtic Twilight and went downhill ever since).  Fewer faeries
(although they are there) and more anthropology is better.

Personal opinion alert: I don't like _The Sacred Cauldron_ by Tadgh
MacCrossan, or _Year of Moons, Season of Trees_ by Pattalee
Glass-Koentop.  Aside from a few things within these books that I just
don't like, I feel that there are better sources for lots of this
material.

You might also look at some fiction that incorporates Celtic magical
practices into its storylines.  I personally like Patricia Kennealy's
Keltiad series, but there are many novels that use elements from
Celtic traditions.  Like the non-fiction books, however, approach with
salt shaker when first you begin.

Good luck, and beannacht deithi 's mhuintuire! (The blessings of the
gods and the people upon you!)