Fetch The Celtic Way Of Prayer: The Recovery Of The Religious Imagination Translated By Esther De Waal Distributed As Publication

found this book unusual for the large amount of quoted material, which was usually introduced with a personal reflection as opposed to a more critical analysis.
For example, how do the quoted prayers differ in their theology, or their regional or historical background We don't get any sense of that with this book.
This book was more like a journal or scrapbook of prayers and stories that held meaning to the author, This wasn't exactly what I was looking for, but I appreciate it nonetheless,

In particular, I appreciated the author's explanation of how the quoted prayers would be used throughout the day, It sounded a lot like the practice of mantras, and I think this mental training is something that could be highlighted more in Christianity.
I also appreciated her challenge to the romantic notions we get about a spirituality based in creation and the body, There is much suffering in this world, and the path walked by Celtic Christians was one that required courage and perseverance, With the notes section at the back, I will be able to continue learning more about this beautiful tradition, Christianity from an early Celtic perspective showing the faith through the lenses of spiritual journeys, hermitage, god as creator of nature, prayers as protection, and more.
Learned a lot, felt like it added some new flavors to my spiritual palate, A wonderful book I read a few pages at a time that delves into Celtic spiritual practices that encompasses nature around us in daily prayer to our Creator.
This is the way to the inner peace most of us seek, Staying close. Can be skimmed. Gives specific poems and prayers, Can skip to and read topics or chapters of choice without losing continuity, Excellent for the novice and up, A thoughtful read

The first book Ive read on the subject, Interesting and easy to access, The poetry within is lovely, and I enjoyed the read, So much beauty in this, and yet my biggest takeaway is a reminder of just how psychologically fucked up the premise of Christianity and Abrahamic theology truly is.
Still, the bibliography alone was worth the read, Esther De Waal presents the Celtic tradition of prayer by dividing up their core beliefs about the world around them into separate chapters, and discussing them, using sections of selected poems to illustrate her points.

This was an amazing devotion book, and really made me think,
One complaint I had is that the author seemed to swerve between over explaining some elements of Celtic poetry, then in other sections seemed to assume the reader already was familiar with certain traditions, which was a little confusing.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to find an anthology of Celtic prayers/poetry I read through this slowly, over the course ofmonths, a paragraph or page or so at a time.
In nearly every snippet, there was an idea for me to think on,

I appreciated the different view of prayer and Christianity, as a way to expand my own prayer life and the interconnectedness of our world and the divine.
Because Im not familiar with the Celtic Traditions, I was confused at times about who the author was referencing, Not

sure if it was truly unclear, or if I would have had an easier time following if I read more at once or knew more background already.
Wow, I really enjoyed this book, I have been pursuing a keen interest in Celtic Christianity for about a year now, and this book was a great encouragement along that path.
The author does an excellent job first with making the great history of Celtic prayers available to a lay person like meI don't believe she translates them herself, but she pores through lots of old works and has picked out wonderful prayers which she quotes liberally.
These prayers will be incorporated into my own life, The thing I most love about these prayers is the way they are molded into the daily fabric of your life, so that prayer becomes almost a way of being not so much an action pray without ceasing says Thessalonians.


Second, she does a really good job of navigating between the extreme tendencies to which one could easy fall prey to when it comes to Celtic spirituality.
For example, it is easy to fall in love with the Celtic connection with the earth and nature but to forget which de Waal does not allow that nature can often be cruel, especially when you are a solitary monk or nun living in a cave by yourself for years a time in a cold and wet climate.
Another example would be the tendency toward overly romanticizing these Celtic prayers that are so beautifully made Christian from the pagan past but to forget again which de Waal does not allow that these prayers could become mostly just superstitious almost incantations that one would say without really know what one is saying.


Overall, this book is helpful to me in my quest to live a more liturgical life, which I feel helps me keep a steady grip on the world which often feels like it is blowing by me very quickly.
The liturgical life, however, must be tempered with the sort of deep devotion and spontaneity which modern American evangelical spirituality has right, lest it lead toward the sort of thing which we all see in our lapsed C and E Catholic friends: they can sit through an amazing service with ancient liturgies that speak of the exalted qualities of our Triune God and not be impacted by it in the least forgive me Catholics for picking on you, any branch of Christianity has those folksI have been to plenty of Episcopal churches where this is the case for example.
I want to be a person who really means what I say in the liturgies and who others can quickly see that the liturgies do have a real meaning in my life.
This is an excellent book on Celtic Prayer, The Celtic Christians prayed continuously throughout the day, Many of their prayers became ingrained in the Irish culture and way of life, de Wall present many examples here, When people ask me for an introductory book to Celtic Christian Spirituality, I point them to this book, It's actually a book I usually have at least two copies of sitting around whenever I see a copy in a used bookstore, I pick it up so that I can either loan out or gift a copy to someone expressing interest in Celtic Spirituality.
This was one of the first books I read on Celtic Spirituality and though I've read a lot since and a number of books that go more in depth, this one really covers all the bases.
I particularly love the collection of prayers found throughout the book showing examples of what the author is talking about,

I think this is the book that introduced me to the concept of "peregrinatio" which I've run into again and again, yet she explains it the most poetically and succinctly.
Hands down my favorite book on prayer I have ever read, It never feels like an instruction manual, and I was pulled into a time and place in which reality was steeped in the spiritual or maybe the other way around.
It's more of an anthology with application that never feels forced or belabored, I savored and spread out every chapter in order to give myself time to process and integrate new learning, I'll measure my understanding of a life of prayer in terms of "before" and "after" I read this book, A beautiful, moving anthology of the Celtic worldview, one that is very much relevant to our day and age, Another splendid read on Celtic Spirituality, A curation of many traditional prayers and blessings, this book gives a very nice snapshot of Celtic Christianity, including daily life, theology, and liturgy.
A lovely exploration of the Celtic tradition of prayer, Part anthology, part meditation, this is a lovely introduction for those curious about Celtic spirituality, I use the Northumbria Community's Celtic Daily Prayer anthology, and was pleased to come across many of the sources, The Celtic Way of Prayer enriches my experience of using Celtic Daily Prayer,

De Waal grew up in what sounds like a high church, heavily liturgical tradition, and felt a sense of freedom and continuity when she discovered and began practicing Celtic spirituality.
I grew up in a proudly low church, even antiliturgical tradition, and felt that same freedom and continuity when I learned the creeds and started following the liturgical year, and now choosing a very liturgical/high church community to join.
De Waal specifically mentions the creeds as something that made Christianity more intellectual than personal to her, as she grew up memorizing them, It was the opposite for me, because they were fresh, Similarly, Celtic spirituality is also fresh to me, but has some of that intimacy that I know from evangelicalism,

The best word I can find to describe Celtic spirituality is "infused," and that's not because I read a chapter every morning while drinking a cup of tea.
The Celtic worldview sees nature, community, and the human soul as infused with the divine, It's a bit mystic, a bit woowoo for this evangelical, but absolutely entrancing all the same, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it," after all, Celtic Christianity is decidedly different from Romeflavored Christianity Protestantism, too!, because the Celts made Christianity their own, maintaining and redeeming aspects of their preChristian culture, building a different sense of Christianity altogether, though just as wonderful as Roman Christianity.


I'd highly recommend this book to those who are curious about Celtic spirituality, or want some good resources to dig into it.
I knocked off a star because the format leaves me unsure of how to use the book in the long run, The prayers are not titled, and I don't cotton to the idea of flipping through the text to find the right prayer at the right time.
Of course, I'll be reading this again, but it's not quite a full anthology nor an explanatory text, Supplementary materials, like anthologies of Celtic prayers, are essential for those looking to incorporate practices into their spiritual lives, .