Rating: 
Summary: Drivel or the work of a great teacher?
Review: Being a student of nature for almost a year now, I have come across few authors that can educate as well as Douglas Monroe. His use of stories in teaching the old ways works wonderfully. Monroe seems to get a lot of slack for noting that there were no female Druids. This is not only true, but it is the way religion has presented itself throughout history. The thought of a female druid is like the thought of a male nun. The Dryads, as Monroe calls them in his other book, the Lost Books of Merlyn, were an entirely different sect of Celtic society, but they shared common similarities with druidism. The book in itself, however, is rather insightful, and the rituals described in the book are as effective as any I've seen. If I had one complaint, it would be his lack of explanation in some chapters, and his terrible grasp of Welsh. In combination with his other books, I would say that they give a good foundation in Druidism, altered slightly by Monroe's personal interweaving of shamanism and Native American philosophy, which can be seen better in his forementioned book.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't listen to all the bad reviews!
Review: Douglas Monroe is the last great druid of our troubled modern times! While there are many people who have worked hard to degrade his genius, one can clearly read through the lines: These people are jealous! Furthermore, they know nothing about true druidism. One person made a comment that certain aspects of his book were Germanic and not pagan. HMMMMMM? So the Germanic tribes were not pagan? Yes they were and its comments like these that send me laughing! Another reader made the comment that Monroe's spell of making was in the movie Excalibur. OK, so it was. Big deal. Do you not realize that Hollywood often uses true facts in their movies to make them seem more real? As a practicing pagan myself (call me druid, celtic, wiccan, asatru, or whatever) I have worked with the ideas in this book as well as his follow up (Lost Books of Merlyn) and have had extraordinary results. One this is this, these books are not for beginners! Monroe is NOT going to give you a clear cut instruction on how to preform certain magicks. He is going to give you clues and then its up to you to make it work. For the intelligent and experienced adept, these books are a tool of unsurpassed power!
Rating: 
Summary: Dangerous and irresponsible
Review: My exposure to Druidry is with this book, and Mr. Monroe's later book "The Lost books of Merlyn. I just wanted you to know my Druidry information is extremely limited. This book only deals with the Welsh version of Druidry. I disagree with Mr. Monroe's vegetarian stance in this book. Some people absolutely need some meat in their diet to function properly. It is DANGEROUS and IRRESPOSIBLE for the author and publisher to recommend preparations in this book. The American version of Mistletoe is a DEADLY poison. If you have questions or comments, E-Mail me. Two Bears. Wah doh Ogedoda
Rating: 
Summary: No one with an interest in Druidry should read this book.
Review: No people with an interest in Druids should read this book!!! "Fantastic. A great way to be introduced to druidism" NOT!!! I would love to e-mail each and everyone of theses folks that say, "I have been a studying/practicing Druid for 2 years, and as of yet this is the best book on Celtic Druidism around," and ask them what the heck they have been reading for 2 years? The problem with this book is that so many people have read it as their 1st book, and take it as gospel and then say that every archaeological/historical/mythological text on the face of the planet is wrong because the information doesn't match up. This book is nothing but FICTION!!!! Come on people, it is simple enough to prove this book wrong. The book of Pherllt didn't even exist! DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK or the Lost Books of Merlyn.
Rating:
Summary: What a disaster
Review: OK firstly, I have NOT read this book. Only a few reviews posted here. Although I am sure it is entertaining reading for some, some of the specific points that were raised indicate that this is not authentic, not druidic, not even historic. One reviewer said : -------- "there is a spell contained in theis book (the spell of making) which reads... ...ANAIL NATHROCK UTHVASS BETHUDD DOCHIEL DIENVIE the truth to the spell is that it translates to the gaelic version of mary had a little lamb. otherwise, a good learning tool. -------- Well, that was ALSO the exact line of the movie Excalibur that Merlin was using as the charm of making. Embaressing. Be wary of this one.
Rating: 
Summary: A Wonderful Journey
Review: Douglas Monroe himself said this book was not meant to be taken as historically accurate. It's a story, a wonderful story at that. It was easy to read and understand. It spoke to me on so many levels. I marked up my book tremendously, there were just so many places that it triggered a memory or an event in my life that I had kind of shrugged off. The lightbulb finally went on. I have never done any of the actual lessons because I choose not too but the story itself was wonderful. Anyone who slams this book for not being historically accurate have totally missed the point of the whole book.
Rating:
Summary: Awful
Review: The main reason this book makes people excited about druidism is because it fills their mind with all the fantasy they'd hoped real druidism had. It's all nonsense.. filled with incantations and rituals from movies and an over active imagination. If any of you DO manage to conjure up Merlin from the incantation spell, I'd be thouroughly amazed.
Rating:
Summary: Nice fantasy book.
Review: This book would have been acceptable if it was written as a fantasy. As it is, I'm almost ashamed to admit that I read it. Historically and traditionally wrong on SO many levels that I don't know where to begin. If you are looking for a book to help you make up a magickal tradition or to impress your naive friends, then buy this book. If you are looking for information on modern Druidry, Merlin, ancient druids, or Arthur, this isn't it.
Rating:
Summary: What a waste
Review: When I first bought this book, I was looking for information on Druidry. About the second chapter I decided that I was wasting my time reading the book for information, and read it is a piece of fiction. There are some very sexist elements in this book, the whole thing that Druids are only men and can't have sex. Fortunatly I had read enough elsewhere that I knew that there were references to women druids. In case people forget, pumpkins are not native to Europe, they are a New World plant, thus could not have been used in ritual during the time period that the book supposidly takes place. Finally, the Book of Phyrllt is a forgery by a man called Iolo Morganwyn (sp?) and has been considered such for many years. Don't waste you money, don't waste the trees to make the paper. There is much better information on Druids, King Arthur and the Celts available.
Rating:
Summary: Waste of Time and Money
Review: This book contains a number of gross errors. Since I only have 1000 words here, I will stick to the worst. It claims to be "authentic" Druidism, yet it is based on the Book of Pheryllt and Barddas, both known forgeries. "Pheryllt" is actually Welsh for "Virgil;" the works of Virgil were used for divination in medieval times, so a reference crept into a text to the "Book of Pheryllt," i.e., the writings of Virgil. Iolo Morganwg, when he was forging Celtic texts, didn't know this and thus produced a Book of Pheryllt. This is what this book is based on. It is thus a book based on a forgery based on a mistake based on the Roman works of Virgil -- not very authentic, and not even close to Celtic. Read some books on the Celts written by people who have studied the real texts if you are interested in them.
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