Celtic Rituals: An Authentic Guide to Ancient Celtic Spirituality

by Alexei Kondratiev

Originally published in 1998 as The Apple Branch: A Path to Celtic Ritual, the book has recently been reissued with this new title, new ISBN, and new, lower price. The book suggests guidelines for the establishment and running of Celtic ritual circles. An outstanding feature is the actual formula of words given for each of the Celtic rituals and visualization sequences.

Genres: Paganism, Nonfiction, Magic, Spirituality

263 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1998

About the author

Alexei Kondratiev was an American author, linguist, and teacher of Celtic languages, folklore and culture. He taught the Irish language and Celtic history at the Irish Arts Center in Manhattan, New York from 1985 until his death on May 28, 2010.

Wikipedia

Reviews

[Andy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is only kind of what it says. If you're looking for an exploration of the rituals practiced by pre-Christian Celts or a discussion on how to construct rituals with a focus on the pre-Christian Celtic religions, then this is probably not a good book. This book is really more of a high magic occult discussion. The rituals are focused on a somewhat nebulous idea of Celticism that seeks to blend all of the cultures of the Celtic nations together. This includes a blending of Christianity and paganism. The focus is mostly on the importance of language. So, less about Ancient Celtic Spirituality and more about how to treat a culture as a religion.

[Daniele Urbani · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a little gem. People who criticise it are the same people who prefer buy books written by authors who know nothing about the topic they write about. If you're expecting rituals and magic from this book.. Well you'll be disappointed. The real magic of this book lays on its accurate historicity and so it reports what actually we know about their culture and religion. That's magic and made me feel close to Nature because it explains the way Celts used to see the universe and relate to Nature

[Lane Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my go-to book for Celtic ritual, moon cycle, sun cycle, and our shared stories. I am Scottish and found this book extremely helpful in building ties to my ancestors. This history is hard to read through and I wish he included more illustrations. But there are also queer gems in here like historic practices of drag and embracing gender queerness. Not always a part of the ways we look at traditional Celtic practice. Grateful for his research and for the ways he shares it out.

[Maria Teresa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ho penato un po' per trovare questo libro che in Italia è ormai fuoricatalogo, sono stata felicissima quando me lo sono ritrovato tra le mani e altrettanto delusa ora che ho terminato di leggerlo.
Le prime 60 pagine sono storia pura e fin qua tutto bene.
Segue una cinquantina di pagine in cui l'autore si rivolge direttamente a potenziali persone che vogliono far rivivere, come comunità, la cultura celtica. Io volevo leggere un libro in cui si racconti come vivevano i Celti, sinceramente mi importa poco di come si possa sentire emarginata oggi una persona che vuole vivere secondo i dettami di quella cultura, o di quanto sia faticoso imparare l'antica lingua, argomenti interessanti per carità ma non me li aspettavo in questo contesto.
Poi propio questo stile, questo continuo rivolgersi a persone specifiche, che vivono in certe zone geografiche, che hanno il cognome che inizia con "Mac" o "O' ", ti fa sentire quasi a disagio, come se avessi in mano un libro che non è per te.
Più di una volta vengono criticati i proseliti del Neopaganesimo, sottolineando di volta in volta quali sono gli aspetti di tale "religione" che non sono per nulla di derivazione celtica, screditando dunque circa la metà dei testi che ho letto io sull'argomento.
La parte più estesa del libro riguarda i rituali (stagionali, lunari e delle tribù), dove l'autore descrive minuziosamente i significati e i gesti, infarcendo il tutto con episodi di mitologia, contorti e pieni di nomi impronunciabili. Alla fine comunque il rituale che viene descritto è una SUA proposta basata su congetture e deduzioni.
Insomma, è un libro di nicchia, destinato a un pubblico veramente ristretto e insoddisfacente per chi desidera approfondire l'argomento "Celti".

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I got this book for about $2 used and I expected it to be a bunch of the usual Neo-pagan/”Celtic” Wiccan hogwash about casting spells around, hanging broomsticks over your door, and being Irish. Turns out its actually really researched and has a political motive. If you are a pagan of the above description, you’ll probably feel like you’re getting berated by the author for even picking up the book.

The first 100 pages are about reuniting the Celtic people and their language, outlining ways for them to find each other and come together to become a major political and cultural force since their colonization and repression (which started with the Romans and was permanent thanks to the Normans). It has nothing against these people being pagan or of the Celtic Christian Church. The rest of it is really interesting - and historical - pagan rituals, in mostly Gaelic, and pages of pagan philosophy on the paradox between the Gods, nature and humankind’s role between them. The whole Celtic revival interests me, but I was never big on the Celtic branch of paganism so it’s a bit much for me, but nevertheless it is one of the most interesting pagan books I’ve ever read.

[Liam O'nade]

Originally published in 1998 as The Apple Branch: A Path to Celtic Ritual, the book has recently been reissued with this new title, new ISBN, and new, lower price. The book suggests guidelines for the establishment and running of Celtic ritual circles. An outstanding feature is the actual formula of words given for each of the Celtic rituals and visualization sequences.