Rating: 
Summary: Why all the dissing?
Review: *Merry Meet* It's unbelievable how a great, simple book on women's neopagan sprituality can be misunderstood & misconstrued. Reading the reviews below, I take it that some folks(mostly fundamentalist euro-trads) don't understand the term NEOPAGAN. Yes, this book is NOT your early historical account on 'Celtic' lore but IT IS a progressive, updated, if you will; VIEW on the Celtic mythos. I have found this book to be a useful & a richly rewarding read. I can however, understand the current backlash against NeoCeltic ANYthing, especially from the authentic(?) descendants & historians of Celtic studies; but this book is about putting theory into practice. It deals w/ Ameri-Centric women's fantasies. Myth in action is what I call it:) I like this book for what it is. It doesn't scream dogma & rules. Personally, I feel that you either like Edain's writing style or you don't. I do. I gave this book 5 Stars because I GOT something from reading this book. BTW, check out Edain's other book Lady of the Night. Talk about useful!B~~*B~~* Aradia )O(
Rating:
Summary: Raves, and then a few rants
Review: .... I found it to be a beautiful, inspiring book. First, it pleasantly surprised me by assuming a working knowledge of "Wicca 101" and didn't spend the first five chapters rehashing "How to Cast a Circle." If you need that information, you can find it in the appendices; if you have already read some of the gazillions of Wicca 101 books on the market, you can just start at the beginning of the book and jump right into the new material. Reading on, it was chock-full of suggestions on how to incorporate ancient Celtic ideas into a modern spirituality that can be meaningful to women today, including guided meditations, rituals, folk spells, a neo-pagan calendar of Celtic women's festivals, and an absolutely tear-jerking "soul-friend" bonding ritual. .... I see nothing in the book to indicate that McCoy is trying to pass this material off as ancient. On the contrary, whenever she discusses a concept that has no known basis in ancient Celtic history, she says so. It is important to preserve all the history we can, as a basis for our spirituality; it is also important to build upon that history, adapting and creating new rituals to make the ancient concepts more meaningful to us today. We need to look to both the past and the future. This book is not intended to be a book of history, but a book of dreams, designed to inspire modern women in their quest for meaningful new rituals. So, I say, read historical works on the Celts, and read this too. It's also been said that McCoy is lumping together very different Celtic cultures into one homogeneous culture that never really existed. Actually, the only place where that generalization is used is in the title. She comes straight out and says that the Celts were nowhere near as unified as we sometimes think, and whenever she mentions a specific Goddess, she says "So-and-so, an Irish/Cornish/Welsh/Continental/etc. Goddess", not "Celtic Goddess." She is concerned with the common threads that the cultures _did_ have in common, but she keeps her pantheons straight. My only gripe: There were a few errors that could have been caught in editing. For example, the name Cormac was used for Conchobar a couple of times. However, a reader with a working knowledge of the myths can easily mentally correct these arrors and read on.
Rating: 
Summary: Wicca With A Celtic Touch
Review: Although I do not feel that this book was written from a very historically correct standpoint, overall I enjoyed the information contained within. If you're looking for information on incoporating some Celtic knowledge/influence into your path, then I would suggest it. There are some wonderful meditations in this book. However if you're looking for history I'd suggest you try a different book.
Rating:
Summary: Wicca With A Celtic Touch
Review: Although I do not feel that this book was written from a very historically correct standpoint, overall I enjoyed the information contained within. If you're looking for information on incoporating some Celtic knowledge/influence into your path, then I would suggest it. There are some wonderful meditations in this book. However if you're looking for history I'd suggest you try a different book.
Rating: 
Summary: Femenism with a Celtic-eclectic twist
Review: Awaken she who sleeps. That is what the back of this book says, while I would most likely say "Put she who is awake to sleep". The book's title is confusing, making the reader think this has anything to do with Celtic Spirituality, while it in fact is as eclectic as can get. The four elements for example, which the author mentions in about every chapter, is Greek. I'm surprised the book was allowed to be published, even though the swastika (which itself wasn't used in celtic countries either) used to describe the seasons with, but other that... I would, of course, like to know how come in McCoy's world, accessing the Otherworld is so easy, when it clearly wasn't to the people she claim the book is about. Something seems very wrong there. Also the mention of tripple goddesses, in speaking of the virgin, the mother and the crone which I do not like. In Celtic mythology there are plenty of "tripple goddesses" as she calls them, but I have yet to find any which follows this pattern. Also, McCoy fails to mention "double goddesses" souch as Cailleach (mentioned in the book, but nothing about the crone/virgin aspects). Seems to me, this Wittan priestess is slightly obsessed with magical numbers and making the book sound interesting. This is the kind of book which destroys modern, non-wiccan, paganism. People not sceptical enough will read, and take to it.
Rating:
Summary: easy reading
Review: Be forewarned: this is a "how-to" book as well as a book chock full of history. This book is great for a woman starting into the celtic culture and religion. It does have a bit of a "wicca" feel to it, which was fine with me, as I am wiccan, but may be strange to others. All in all, it is an enjoyable read and can help to further the spiritual growth of any woman looking for a Celtic stytle path.
Rating: 
Summary: Another that deserves "zero Stars" ...
Review: Come on people, use your head before you buy a book about "Celtic" spirituality that contains CHAPTERS devoted to using the "four elements" - and idea that is NOT Celtic or to be found in Celtic spirituality, but is in fact Greco-Roman. What this book really is about is Wiccan spirituality with a Celtic cover, masquerading a "woman's spirituality". It is very "Goddess" centered, which is nice I'm sure for feminists, but the Celts were Polytheistic with male AND female dieties, not to mention other spiritual beings which the author lumps together as "fairies" (another inaccuracy). There are plenty of decent books on Celtic Women's Studies, from authors like PB Ellis, Miranda Green, Jean Markale, to mention a few. Look there instead of here!
Rating: 
Summary: light and entertaining but not scholarly
Review: Edain's book is interesting to read. She poses some fascinating insights and questions about Celtic prehistory. My problem with the book is that it fails on a scholarly basis--she does not quote many direct sources--the primary sources she draws from such as the Lebor Gabala Erenn (The Book of Invasions) and the Yellow Book of Lecan are few and far between. Most of her sources are merely other New Age books. Which only gives added ammunition to critics of contemporary paganism who say we are "making it all up." I enjoyed her trying to make the warrior goddess aspect applicable to contemporary women. I enjoyed her trying to wed Celtic spirituality with women's spirituality. But I found myself reading this book with a critical distance, as much sympathy as I have to her views. To gain real insight into Celtic spirituality, one must read deeper into the primary sources, the surviving Celtic texts. It helps to learn at least one of the Celtic languages. I don't feel that she has made this leap of scholarship. To get a deeper view into Celtic spirituality, I recommend the work of Caitlin Matthews, although my personal problem with Matthews is that she seems positively anti-feminist. I had bought McCoy's book hoping to find Matthews' serious research wedded to a portrait of strong and resourceful Celtic women.
Rating:
Summary: A Little Reality
Review: Folks, being Celtic is a matter of genes and heritage. You cannot become a "Celtic Woman" simply by performing the rites offered in this book. Sure, there's a paradigm associated with the Celts (which is such a broad term anyway since you're talking about various different peoples), and I suppose anyone could adapt them. But being Celtic is a question of having Celtic blood, and neither this book nor any other can give you that. I really feel like this book cheapens my own Celtic heritage at the same time it insults other heritages by somehow implying there's something more to being Celtic. I would love to see a book extolling a heritage other than Celtic just to run against the pop Celtic interest grain. Shame!
Rating:
Summary: A Little Reality
Review: Folks, being Celtic is a matter of genes and heritage. You cannot become a "Celtic Woman" simply by performing the rites offered in this book. Sure, there's a paradigm associated with the Celts (which is such a broad term anyway since you're talking about various different peoples), and I suppose anyone could adapt them. But being Celtic is a question of having Celtic blood, and neither this book nor any other can give you that. I really feel like this book cheapens my own Celtic heritage at the same time it insults other heritages by somehow implying there's something more to being Celtic. I would love to see a book extolling a heritage other than Celtic just to run against the pop Celtic interest grain. Shame!
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