Brendan Cathbad Myers - The Mysteries of Druidry: Celtic Mysticism, Theory, and Practice (A Training Manual for the Modern-Druid)

Despite the flurry of books on Celtic spirituality in recent years, very little has seen print that combines a solid foundation in Celtic tradition and scholarship with practical guidance for those who hope to follow a living Celtic spiritual path in today's world. Brendan Cathbad Myers' The Mysteries of Druidry fills that void admirably, with a clear, accessible, and forthright exploration of Celtic tradition as the foundation of a personal path of mystical transformation that's profoundly relevant to the problems and possibilities of the modern world. This is a book I would be delighted to recommend to my students, to members of my Druid order, and to anyone interested in Celtic spirituality as a living path for today.

John Michael Greer
Grand Archdruid, Ancient Order of Druids in America
Author, The New Encyclopedia of the Occult and The Druidry Handbook

Brendan Myers has created a powerful, passionate book of Celtic spirituality for today's seeker. Informed by his research and scholarship, but also by the poetry in his soul, Myers' book lays out the basis for a compelling, even life-changing path. It's not an easy paththe aspiring Druid finds that true spirituality requires hard work, learning, facing difficult truths, and getting along with others. The intelligent reader will find it far more rewarding than the supermarket sorcery so common in today's Pagan writings.

Jane Raeburn
Author, Celtic Wicca

The Mysteries of Druidry is an exemplary look at one man's approach to Druidism, with excellent food for thought and suggestions for group ritual and personal practice. Brendan's questions and discussions lay a firm foundation for all those seeking to explore the many forms of Druidism for themselves. His personal stories of working with and discovering the spirits of the land are inspiring and useful guides to the readers.

Erynn Laurie, Author, A Circle of Stones,
Co-founder of the Inis Glas Hedge School

In The Mysteries of Druidry, Brendan Myers provides us with his heart knowledge of the Druid Mysteries from his own personal experiences. He also presents us with today's accepted academic wisdom about the Druids (a form of knowledge that is from the head or mind). To complete the triad of knowledge, Myers also teaches us the Druidic technique of Peaceful Abiding which opens one's self to the musical embrace of Nature. He illustrates other Druidic techniques to self knowledge and awareness that are known as the Way of the Warrior, Touching the Earth, and Parting the Mists. The many pathways from initiation to understanding are beautifully described in a series of shared experiences that take us on journeys through land, fire, and water and into Otherworldly realms of spiritual revelation. The Mysteries of Druidry is itself a journey well worth taking for any student or teacher of Druidry. Brendan Myers has in this seminal work on Druidry effectively revealed much about the Druid Way that was once hidden. The Ogham would describe this book as the little cage (Nature's Place for Peaceful Abiding) which is also known by some as the Circle of Revelation. The Mysteries of Druidry is a book that should be an essential part of the library of any seeker of the Druid Way.

Searles O'Dubhain, Founder of the Summerlands
Website (www.summerlands.com), Ogham Seer and Druid Author

Druidry, which tends to be re-invented from scratch every time a new group claims the term as a self-description, has all too often merelly reflected the unexamined tastes and prejudices of its diverse practitioners. It is refreshing, in that light, to see Brendan Myers approach the subject with genuine intellectual rigour, yet without abjuring the passion and inspiration such a path requires. He isn't afraid to ask hard questions, and to develop the answers as fully and richly as possible. Even if every reader will not agree with all of his conclusions, his work provides a solid base from which future discussions of the topic can proceed.

Alexei Kondratiev,
author of The Apple Branch and Celtic Ritual

This edition first published in 2006 by New Page Books, an imprint of

Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC

With offices at:

65 Parker Street, Suite 7

Newburyport, MA 01950

www.redwheelweiser.com

www.newpagebooks.com

Copyright 2006 by Brendan Cathbad Myers, Ph.D.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC. Reviewers may quote brief passages.

ISBN: 978-1-56414-878-0

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Myers, Brendan Cathbad, 1974

The mysteries of Druidry : Celtic mysticism, theory, and practice / by Brendan Cathbad Myers.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN-13: 978-1-56414-878-0 (pbk.)

ISBN-10: 1-56414-878-5 (pbk.)

1. Druids and Druidism. 2. Spiritual life. I. Title.

BL910.M94 2006

299'.16--dc22

2005056736

Cover design by Mary Langer and Jane Brideson

Interior photos/images by Brendan Cathbad Myers and Jane Brideson.

Photo of Bridhid's Well by Gina McGarry.

Author portrait photo by Seamus Sullivan.

Interior by Kathryn Henches

Printed in the United States of America

IBI

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

www.redwheelweiser.com/newsletter

This book is dedicated

with love to

Teampall Na Calleach,

An Mh.

Acknowledgments

he themes and ideas of the present book had been stirring in my mind for many years, even while engaged in other writing projects. But I did not sit down to write in earnest until October of 2003, just after I was brought to visit the royal Hill of Uisneach for the first time. Some of the ideas and meditations which appear in this book came to me in dreams on the nights that followed. Then I collected together notes and letters that I had already written, made many trips to the library in search of research resources, and began preparing new material. Almost precisely one year later, the first complete draft was done.

Some parts of this book are based on the practices of a Celtic clan from Canada which I have been part of for many years. I thank the many members of that clann (they know who they are), but especially Matthew Clooney who stayed in touch with me the most since leaving Canada to live in Ireland. Among other friends, I must thank Maureen Conklin for her valuable comments and corrections, Jane Brideson, for her wonderful artwork, and Isaac Bonewits for his help with understanding the publishing industry. Among my friends in Ireland, I must thank Gayleen Jacobs and family, Gina McGarry, Adge, Fergal Gallagher, Sylvia Socci, Eoghain Hamilton, Laura McTaggart, and the people of An Conradh Draoithe na h-ireann. Their friendship, hospitality, and conversation are deeply appreciated, and, while writing this book, I often imagined I was writing for them. For very special thanks, I must name three people without whom this book might never have been written. Without the friendship of Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone, adjusting to life in Ireland would have been very much harder for me, and without the use of their library, this little book would have turned out very differently. I must also give special thanks to Anja Zimmer. Her enthusiasm and confidence in me, and her love, was enormously uplifting. Finally, special thanks go to Bella and Nelix, two of Janet's cats, who sat on my lap while I was writing the first few chapters of this book. They probably believe themselves to be co-authors.