A Review of Celtic Magic by Conway

Review of Celtic Magic by D.J. Conway

Llewellyn Publications, 1990

Originally published in Harvest Vol. 11, No. 3, Imbolc/Candlemass, 1991 this version is slightly modified mostly for flow, but overall is as it was, so please note possible changes in where I come from today as well as where the Pagan Community is today. Some of this may seem overly obvious, but it wasn't 13 years ago.

After several years of casual research of Celtic material and several semesters of focused Celtic studies, there is a part of me that would like to find a book that really gives me the answers to Celtic magic and religion in a neat little package. This is a lazy part of me that would like ti all spelled out as to what to do in a ritual for all occasions. I do realize that this is an impossibility, that the search is part of the path. After all, we can never fully know what the ancient Celts practiced, especially when there must have been great diversity among them. Nor would their rites be completely appropriate for our world. Yet there are many books that claim such answers: a (very) few have experience, research and sincerity behind them, most have known. Celtic Magic falls in the latter category.

Celtic Magic is a poorly written primer of Gardnerianmorphic Wanna-be FluffBunny Wicca incorporating some oversimplified Celtic reference. Conway's historical and mythological accounts of the Celts are garbled. She not only states theories ad facts, she also mentions non-Celtic Wiccan and Ceremonial Magick Practices in such a way that anyone unfamiliar with any of these magical systems would believe the practices to be Celtic. For instance, the whole Goddess-is-luna/God-is-solar polarity goes counter to the lack for Moon Goddesses and Sun Gods among the Celts...and the better evidence for Sun Goddesses. Checking on her references is difficult as she does not credit her sources, you'd have to read through her entire bibliography to find out where she got any of her information and in what context.

Mot of the "working" material is very basic, a Wiccan teacher would take you much farther in a few week, as would many of the common"primers" on Wicca in the first couple of chapters. Yet despite this apparent novice leaning, Conway never really explains the reasons for anything, leaving a newcomer in the dark on many basic points. For example, she states that "warlock" is a Scottish word and is never used by Wiccans (pg. 43) Without knowing that "warlock" originally meant "oath-breaker" and is of Germanic Scots origin rather than Gaelic one might be inclined to think that it would be appropriate for a Celtic witch than the Anglo-Saxon "Wiccan." Conway makes a brief mention of "harming none" int he book yet does not go into Karma or the three-fold law, which would be appropriate in a book that is on Wicca, despite the title. This is a noticeable exclusion as she includes both love and revenge spells which border on coercive and could be easily taken over that border by a lustful or pissed-off novice.

Her chapter on Celtic "history" is projection stated as fact. Somehow she knows the colors of the robes of the Bards, Ovates and Druids wore. She knows about Celtic magical practices for which there is no real evidence of their existence in anything I have seen and all of which are amazingly similar to modern Wiccan practices. Many times, when she does state facts that are proven, she forgets that the Celts were a widespread collection of cultures for whom few, if any, generalizations can be made.

She gives a list of Celtic Deities and magical creatures which is extremely confused as she tries to get all sorts of Triple Moon Goddess and Horned God connotations where there aren't any. Celtic God/desses do not fit these molds, after all, they can appear as They wish and most are a far cry from the Wiccan Duo. Many working with Celtic Deities have steered away from considering them as aspects f the Great Goddess or Horned God, as They have appeared as very much individualistic and have many aspects Themselves. She does not use any of the rich mythological background these God/desses bring with Them in her ritual, rather she skims for a pale hint of Their identity in the myths and discards the rest.

Ah, yes, the rituals. As I said, she is Gardnerianmorphic, her rituals use teh "basic" structure and are simple to the point of boring. She actually doesn't use Celtic Deities in them, preferring instead "Ancient God," "Great Mother" and "Great Father." There is, of course, the mandatory "self-initiation ritual." She also has a Ceremonial attitude bout "controlling" Elementals and "dismissing" Deities, which I do not think would amuse those she assumes such power over.

If anyone more knowledge of Celtic magic, I'd suggest picking this book up, looking through the bibliography in the store and searching for some of the Celtic books there. Not all of the sources are the best, but it's better to weed through them than wading through this bog of misinformation. More people seem to be concerned with studying and experiencing the Celtic Otherworld, figuring out what it really is rather than forcing what little they know about it to fit into what they've already been doing. As time goes on, we may discover what Celtic magic is in our world in all its complexity, but we can learn nothing from "quick fix" book. They will only keep us from going further along the path.

Return to index or the bookstore