Dreamtime

by John Moriarty

his is a revised and enlarged edition of John Moriarty's first published work, which has been out of print since 1994. A Book of Revelations mediated by stories and personal excursions in literature, philosophy and sacred writings, Moriarty articulates the wisdom of humanity, drawing on cultural landscapes in India, China, Egypt, Australia, the Americas and Europe. Now recognized as a classic of spiritual writing, it enlarges our capacity for symbolic understanding in an age of millennial anxiety. 'John Moriarty weaves an extraordinary tapestry of myths and memories, drawing on the riches of a dazzling variety of cultures to conjure up a personal vision of a world alive to spirituality. He has none of the dangerous certainty of the wide-eyed mystic and writes with grace and subtlety, an enthralling reminder that religion is supposed to be about openness, daring and humility.'- Fintan O'Toole, The Irish Times'This is one of the most extraordinary books ever published in Ireland. Not this year, not this last decade, not this century, but ever. Moriarty, an ex-academic who has worked as a gardener in the West of Ireland for many years, here takes on almost every one of the world's great religions and many of its mythologies, particularly Ireland's, in an attempt to embody a way to live in our time... a milestone in contemporary Irish literature and thought.'- Brian Lynch, Evening Press'A thing of beauty, at once a Greek temple and a Christian basilica, read any one episode carefully and you will find every other episode begin to reflect it. John Moriarty does not claim to have prophetic foresight in any ordinary sense, yet Dreamtime is surely a work of rare prophetic power for those who have ears to hear.'- Noel O'Donoghue, The Furrow

Genres: Philosophy, Ireland, Spirituality, Mythology, Nonfiction, Irish Literature, Religion

262 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.

JOHN MORIARTY was born in North Kerry in 1938 and educated at Listowel and University College Dublin. He taught English literature at the University of Manitoba in Canada for six years, before returning to Ireland in 1971. He is author of Dreamtime (1994), and the trilogy Turtle Was Gone a Long Time: Crossing the Kedron (1996), Horsehead Nebula Neighing (1997) and Anaconda Canoe (1998).

Obituary with information: http://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/...

Reviews

[Tess Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Moriarty is a one of a kind writer. This book, while it might be difficult on first reading because of his many allusions to a huge swathe of literature, is well worth the effort. John is talking about one thing only, the path to enlightenment, spiritual development, and he uses his great erudition to support what he is saying. All traditions and cultures have had and have their own mythology or way to speaking about this matter. John decodes these mythologies for us. The Perennial Wisdom is John's metier.
It takes more than one reading. My experience of this book was that it had a cumulative effect on me, a gradual coming to understand and absorb what he was saying. It is a very powerful book, I think.

[Peter McLaughlin · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a bad book. Do not read it. Highlights include: literally the very first page, where the author writes ‘the answer implied but not overtly stated in this book is that…’ and then overtly states the answer.

[Enya]

I really can't rate this. I've read this whole book and still don't know what it was about.
It was a gift from my parents from their trip to Ireland. They wanted to give me something that I couldn't get here. True that. I wonder why. I'm not a mystic, and this was just reading for the sake of reading, - not a single word fastened in my mind.

[Con · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intriguing introduction to Moriarty. Don't expect to 'get it'. Moriarty is the great enigma of recent Irish writing, worth exploring and giving a lot of time to but he definitely does not make it an easy ride.