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NMR ISSUE 51
Astrological
Forecast 51
Energy and Its
Uses
Essential Celtic
Mythology
Gerald Gardner
Gleanings 51
Guest Editorial
Herbal Wines: A
Truly Magical Brew
Highlighting
Dreams
Letters 51
Manifesting Your
Dreams
May You Find Peace
Here
Meditation in
Magickal Practice
Millennium and the
Rebirth of Traditionalism
Mr. Jefferson and
the Infidels
The Compassion in
Anger
The Healing Fire
The Magic Arts in
Celtic Britain
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Authors
Rituals
Book
Reviews
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The Magic Arts in Celtic Britain
By Lewis Spence North Hollywood, CA: Newcastle Publishing Co., Inc., 1996 (1945?) pp. 182. ISBN# 087877-233-2
Scholars have long been interested in the topic of Celtic magic. The Druidic cult, in particular, has been the focus of many a learned writer dating back to classical times. Unfortunately, until the mid-1940s there existed no publication devoted to the whole range of British-Celtic magic (Britain encompassing the entire territory of the British Isles: England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland). What resources there were consisted of scattered articles and essays, but no one book combined Druidism, folklore and mythology into one comprehensive whole. Frustrated, author Lewis Spence set about creating a volume that would touch on the many facets of British-Celtic magic, hoping to examine the occult arts and mysticism. In this he succeeded admirably and his book, The Magic Arts in Celtic Britain, is still a valuable resource some fifty-odd years later.
Lewis Spence was a noted historian and folklorist as well as a Celt - and one gifted with the second sight, to boot. His informational sources are wide and varied in scope, extending from the classical accounts of Druidism penned by Sotion of Alexandria (c. 200 BCE), Suetonius Paulinus, a Roman Governor of Britain (c. 61 CE), and Pliny the Elder (c. 71 CE) to the medieval writings of the Grail legend attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth and on to the romantic tales of Sir Thomas Malory. Spence also makes use of the works of his contemporaries, among them Eleanor Hull and Sir James Frazer. As well as relying on documented research, the author conducted much of his own: he has published several books on British history and mythology prior to penning The Magic Arts in Celtic Britain. Far from sticking to the strictly verifiable, Spence admits to presenting conclusions based on his experience of anthropology and folklore, not on fashionable or then-accepted theories of Celtic magic.
The Magic Arts in Celtic Britain begins with an overview of how magic was defined and used by the British Celts. Instead of confining themselves to the traditional definitions of magic as either spiritistic (through the aid of spiritual entities) or natural (sympathetic), these practitioners mobilized the power of the human mind to alter objects. The Druids were the most celebrated users of magic and their many abilities are well-recorded: creating illusions, raising winds and storms, shape-shifting, communicating with animals, prophesying and practicing divination, even raising the dead. While the Druids were the most visible wielders of magic, Spence does make reference to practitioners not associated with them; primarily sorcerers. That magic was actively practiced among the Celtic pantheon is clearly illustrated, with the examples of the creation of the flower maiden Blodeuwedd in the Welsh tale Math, Son of Mathonwy, and the Irish sea god Manannan's three enchanted swords easily recognizable. Lewis Spence makes ample use of Irish/Welsh/Scottish/British sagas and poetry throughout the text, including the Mabinogion, The Red Book of Hergest and The Cuchillin Saga.
Continuing on the theme, Spence instigates a discussion of Druidism. The fact that |
