TITLE: Aisling: Discovering Keys in the Irish-Celtic Mysteries
AUTHOR: Jeremy Schewe
PUBLISHER: Crossed Crow Books
ISBN: 978-1959883173
PODCAST EPISODE: Episode 150
REVIEWER: Tracy Nicholas
Jeremy Schewe’s second book, Aisling is an invitation to explore our dreams, visions and beliefs through the lens of an Irish-Celtic cultural context. The first couple of chapters is an abridged, albeit informative, history lesson about Ireland, both from mythological and historic viewpoints.
Far from being a drab recounting of events, Schewe’s writing style makes the history come to life. He brings to the history a human, everyday life perspective that helps the reader understand what the lived experience might have felt like. The passage on the potato famine is particularly poignant and brings with it a deeper understanding of those events and the impact on the people that suffered through them. Later chapters focus on various sovereign goddesses from different parts of Ireland and the sacred landscape there. Throughout the book, there are detailed descriptions of various folk beliefs and traditions, complete with suggestions on appropriate offerings for various goddesses, times of year and locations, which allow the reader to take the folklore off the page and into their lives. This continues on through the chapters describing the sídhe and how people can connect with the energies they represent through reflection, prayer and meditation and culminates with a detailed guide to perform a Celtic tree meditation.
Even the glossary feels well thought out and very thorough and the pronunciation chart will be useful to those that want to improve their “an Ghaeilge” (Irish) pronunciations. With an easy flow between personal anecdotes and meticulously researched descriptions, Aisling is an entertaining and informative journey across time and space, as well as being a blueprint for bringing Celtic magic into your life. It is a must-read for anyone with interest in Celtic traditions and the lore behind them.
AUTHOR: Jeremy Schewe
PUBLISHER: Crossed Crow Books
ISBN: 978-1959883173
PODCAST EPISODE: Episode 150
REVIEWER: Tracy Nicholas
Jeremy Schewe’s second book, Aisling is an invitation to explore our dreams, visions and beliefs through the lens of an Irish-Celtic cultural context. The first couple of chapters is an abridged, albeit informative, history lesson about Ireland, both from mythological and historic viewpoints.
Far from being a drab recounting of events, Schewe’s writing style makes the history come to life. He brings to the history a human, everyday life perspective that helps the reader understand what the lived experience might have felt like. The passage on the potato famine is particularly poignant and brings with it a deeper understanding of those events and the impact on the people that suffered through them. Later chapters focus on various sovereign goddesses from different parts of Ireland and the sacred landscape there. Throughout the book, there are detailed descriptions of various folk beliefs and traditions, complete with suggestions on appropriate offerings for various goddesses, times of year and locations, which allow the reader to take the folklore off the page and into their lives. This continues on through the chapters describing the sídhe and how people can connect with the energies they represent through reflection, prayer and meditation and culminates with a detailed guide to perform a Celtic tree meditation.
Even the glossary feels well thought out and very thorough and the pronunciation chart will be useful to those that want to improve their “an Ghaeilge” (Irish) pronunciations. With an easy flow between personal anecdotes and meticulously researched descriptions, Aisling is an entertaining and informative journey across time and space, as well as being a blueprint for bringing Celtic magic into your life. It is a must-read for anyone with interest in Celtic traditions and the lore behind them.