Books, Books, Books!

Two new books came in the mail today, both by Sean O Duinn: The Rites of Brigid, Goddess and Saint and Where Three Streams Meet: Celtic Spirituality. Sean O Duinn is an Irish monk and he wrote his doctorinal thesis on the Rites of Brigid.

These books are part of my research for a non fiction title I'm working on. (When I receive and sign the contract, I'll give you more information.) I love doing research. I suppose that's why I write about history. Even so, when it comes to understanding ancient Celtic spirituality, we can mostly speculate. I love reading others' opinions and I can't wait to hear what a monk has to say on the topic.

I have yet to get back to Esther De Waal's Every Earthly Blessing, Rediscovering the Celtic Tradition, but I will. It's interesting reading her perspective as a lay person. I've read quite a bit of Ian Bradley's Celtic Christianity: Making Myths and Chasing Dreams. He gives good historical perspective on why scribes wrote the stories of the ancients the way they did. Much was politically motivated and/or exaggerated, but surely not all. The truth is in there somewhere, but do we really want to learn it? Something to think about!