Celtic Cosmology and the Otherworld: Mythic Origins, Sovereignty and Liminality

by Sharon Paice MacLeod

The early medieval manuscripts of Ireland and Britain contain tantalizing clues about the cosmology, religion and mythology of native Celtic cultures, despite censorship and revision by Christian redactors. Focusing on the latest research and translations, the author provides fresh insight into the beliefs and practices of the Iron Age inhabitants of Ireland, Britain and Gaul. Chapters cover creation and cosmogony, the deities of the Gaels, feminine power in narrative sources, druidic belief, priestesses and magical rites.

Genres: Mythology, Nonfiction, Paganism, History, Ireland, Folklore, Spirituality

293 pages, Paperback

Published May 17, 2018

Reviews

[Thalla Rothach · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I was younger I studied Old Irish and Old Welsh literature so it was easy for me to get back into the groove when I hit chapter two of this book and concluded that Ms. MacLeod, who describes herself as an "Old Irish translator," is a liar. This involves the "ancestry of the gods" section, in which she goes through a list of names-the genealogy of the gods given in the Lebor Gabala Erenn, and tries to translate them and create a cosmogonic scheme of creation.

Where to even begin...

Back in 1990, a real Celtic scholar, John Carey, determined that this list of names was derived from the 9th c work Historia Brittonum, which in turn got the names from a heretical Jewish manuscript that only survives in a Latin translation, the Liber Antiquitatum Biblicarum. Though she cites Mr. Carey's article as a source for the chapter, she curiously fails to mention that it contradicts her conclusions.

Now, in the Historia, this list of names are the human ancestors of Brutus, first king of Britain, and while Ms. MacLeod acknowledges the Historia version, she does NOT acknowledge this big difference, nor explain why the names are nearly identical. She just concludes that they're Irish gods, which then brings us to her etymologies, which are utter shite.

Even with the names that appear original to the Lebor Gabala Erenn and thus might have an Old Irish root, she betrays a severe ignorance on even basic Irish grammar, an example being her entry on "Paimp." Now, in Old Irish, when a person's genealogy is recited, it's in the genitive, and "Paimp" is the genitive of "Pamp," as in "meic Paimp" (as you can read in Lebor Gabala Erenn: The Book of the Taking of Ireland Part 4, R. A. Stewart Macalister, 1941, if you want to check for yourself).

So, having confused the genitive for the nominative, she then concludes that Paimp is derived from Boib in the Historia, because the 'p' phoneme only entered Irish after the Christian period, so it must come from a foreign language, so it must be Old Welsh instead of Latin like every other p-name, because there's an 'i' in both names, or something like that. And what does she conclude the mystical pagan definition of Boib is? Raven and scald-crow! Which is bran and bodu in Old Welsh respectively and bran and badb in Old Irish respectively! None of which are remotely like Paimp!

How does she explain this discrepancy? By saying that the native Irish person who wrote the Lebor Gabala Erenn in the native language of Ireland was unfamiliar with his native language, naturally! Which is when I stopped reading. Her purpose in writing this book is not to preserve history but to create a functional Irish neopaganism, and she goes to utterly mental lengths to do so.

[t bannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I litany of data points that are most likely very important to scholars. I am not a scholar and I found the book very difficult to read. Didn't enjoy it and didn't come away with any better understanding of Celtic culture Alas. It's me not you, Sharon.

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look at the Celtic Otherworld and the cosmology of a mythological group that has largely been forgotten in the modern world.

[Rowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent resource