The Children's Fire: Heart song of a people

by Mac Macartney

***SILVER AWARD WINNER, 2019 NAUTILUS BOOK AWARDS!***

The Children’s Fire forges a trail into Britain’s wild and ancient Celtic past. It locates the fragments of a story that still has resonance today; the pulse and surge of an older wisdom that cracks the mendacity of the shopping mall’s vacuous promise. It is a passionate evocation of a generous, inclusive, diverse and spiritually significant world – the world of our longing. In the winter of 2009 Mac Macartney walked from his birthplace in England across Wales to the island of Anglesey, once the spiritual epicentre of Late Iron Age Britain, navigating by the sun and the stars, with no map, compass, stove or tent, and in the coldest winter for many years. The Children’s Fire records that journey, and seeks to lay bare the aching loss of knowing and understanding sacredness as it applies to everything ordinary that brings joy to the human heart. It asserts the emergence of a new story; the story of a people coming home to a truth made all the more poignant having so painfully broken faith with nature, our deeper humanity, and the paradise we fouled with such casual disrespect. It is a love story and part of a larger narrative that is surfacing all around the world. It seeks to reclaim our future and name it, beautiful.

216 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 31, 2018

Reviews

[Lois · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here is Maccartney's effort to emerge from the lived story of shame of the 21st century white (British) man. Some of his ideas were very provocative for me: that we carry a 'soul memory' of a familiar topography as home, that we can broaden our commitment to our earth and to our own life's path by seeking interconnectedness with our ancestors. If you have identified with the Celtic part of your own lineage, you will like becoming better acquainted with the tribes and their end-times as the Romans annihilated not just them and their homes, but their customs and beliefs. Most devastating for human stewardship into the present, was the loss of belief in the central sacredness of all of life. Mac makes a spirit journey on foot in the dead of winter from the Malvern Hills to the sacred Island of Mona in Wales to expand his consciousness and commitment. He advocates this process of finding your soul's way, leading to doubling down on a life goal with a multipronged focus: rewilding the earth, caring for all living things, attending to the aftermath of trauma, assuming your responsible position in the council of chiefs, and taking the oath of the "Children's Fire", a promise that: "No law, no decision, no commitment, no action, nothing of any kind will be permitted to go forth from this council of chiefs that will harm the children." If you are looking for spiritual guidance and feel old in your bones, you might want to read this.

[Kizzia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books that I do not quite know how to review because who you are, where you are in your life, and how you think about the world will make a profound difference to how you process what Mac is offering up. The walk he undertakes both is and is not the point of the book, for the journey is – like so much else in life – not being undertaken for the sake of having made it but for what it could be, is, and may become. And if that sentence has left you thinking I’ve lost my mind then this is pretty much definitely not the book for you.

For me it was an experience I didn’t know I needed. It made me uncomfortable and in sitting with that discomfort I have been able to unpack some very important aspects of both my spirituality and how I live from day to day. It is a book that asks a lot of you, in both opening your mind to the various ideas Mac is sharing and in opening your heart to the world in a way that, in our capitalistic society, feels radical and almost frightening.

Do I agree with everything that is written in these pages? No. Does that matter? Also no. It is a book that can transport you a very long way, if you let it, and to me that feels like a very good thing.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Mac himself and I do think it added something to the whole experience.

[Adam Shand · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really, really wanted to like this book. It came with a gigantic, life changing recommendation from a friend but it just wasn't for me.

I'm hugely sympathetic to the messages of the book and there were pieces of it I loved. The stories of the Romans and the indigenous of England were beautiful and interesting (I don't know how factual they were). Unfortunately, mostly it was tedious. I made it to the end but only due to stubborn determination.

Adds another vote for my theory that the only thing more tedious than reading about other people's drug experiences is reading about other peoples spiritual experiences.

[Reeb · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful story of one mans journey to expand his consciousness and strengthen an interconnectedness with his ancestors and the environment, seen and unseen and in doing so pass on to the reader what he has learnt.
I enjoyed it immensely. The author is asking us all to be aware of the destruction we are causing through the lost principles of caring in a circular form for the planet. It's not here for our benefit only. Of course, it goes much deeper than that, so read the book :)

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my usual fare, and I can't remember how I came across this, but it was a surprisingly good read: poetic, eye-opening, and heartfelt. On the downside, it was sometimes rambling (no pun intended, for an account of a long walk), the epilogue dragged on, and the premise for it involved a strangely anti-Roman, romanticised ancient Anglo-nationalism (to over-simplify, everyone was nice to each other and loved the earth until the Romans came along). Still, glad I read it, as a real life folk tale.

[Mezzie Elen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A totally magical book.
I had to remember to breath as I read Mac’s words.
The audio book is beautiful too.
It’s one J will read again and again.
A personal journey of transformation ... a unique pilgrimage and a power full
Prayer.
Highly recommended

[Clivemichael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stream of consciousness, descriptive and thoughtful. An initiatory journey.

[George & The Dragons 🐉 📚 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a magic remembering, an inspiring hopefulness and a comforting story. It took a few pages to get used to Macs writing style, but his storytelling nature and calming use of language really really lit me up. By the end of the book I was glued to its pages. It spoke to a part of me that always knew, but had forgotten. That part of me that is being called back home, and I feel that this book is and has already been instrumental in that shift back home to the land I’ve spent my whole life on. Thank you Mac, that was a special read.