Tag Archives: magic

I LISTEN TO WHAT I READ

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Johnathan RenshawSo far in my nearly 70 years I’ve written and published 8 books.  None of my books have enjoyed the global readership of a book I did NOT write, but edited.  I spend the vast majority of my time reading books written by literary adepts and master story-tellers.  Reading is not merely entertainment.  It is the mind and imagination of beings communicating their thoughts, memories and musings, through symbols, to others.  There are 450,000 NEW BOOKS published every year, in Kevin Hearneaddition to the millions that have accumulated since the printing press was “invented” in Europe in by the German Johannes Gutenberg around 1440.   Personally, I listen to audiobooks.  The combination of masterful writing combined with state of the art performance is nothing less than magic.  Since my personal interests tend to vary from esoteric to bizarre, it stick to science fiction, primarily.  However, I enjoy a good story, well told.

Benedict JackaIn modern publishing writers no longer write ONE book.  They write a SERIES of books.  This is based on the sales and marketing-driven capitalist culture that exploded in Europe a few hundred years ago.  So, lately,  I’m not reading “books”.  I’m reading a “series” 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 books!  However, when you find an author you really enjoy this is a good was to swim deeply into the ocean of a genre or universe, rather than surfing the shallow shores of television, film, or — gods forbid — social media.Jim Butcher

Here are a few of the “series” I’ve read or am reading.  Three of these books are my first voyage on the ocean of “Magic Mystery”, i.e. Druids, Mages and Wizards in the roles of  spell-casting superheros fighting an assortment of supernatural villains: to my delight and continuing enchantment! I recommend them to you.  Search the fantastic library available on Audible.com  and your favorite on-line bookstores to find your own.

DRUIDS

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druides-recolte-du-guiI am listening to the audiobooks of a wonderfully insightful and entertaining series of 8 novels by Kevin Hearne about the last surviving Druid in the 21st century.  It’s called The Iron Druid“.  Although this immortal Druid inhabits a sexy 21 year old male body, he travels between realms of reality with his faithful Irish Wolfhound (Oberon), between whom telepathic communication is their common language.

I have never read anything previously about Druids (‘oak-seer”), or the races of red-haired Celts, or the The Tuath(a) Dé Danann, a supernatural race in Irish mythology who serve a characters in these novels, along with a pantheon of gods from several planes of existence including vampires, witches, demons, fairies, ghouls, werewolves and many more manifestations of spirit in the magical “supernatural world” of wizardry and ancient wisdom.

Here is a short article from http://www.timelessmyths.com/celtic/

f15e960327d7a198623e731c4bc25222“Most of what is know, about the ancient Celtic people in history, come from observances of classical Greek and Roman writers, as well as from archaeological evidences such as from the possessions of dead in burial sites and from shrines found throughout central and western Europe, as well as from the British Isles.

To Julius Caesar, the druids were secretive but learned group, who enjoyed special privileges among the Celtic population. They did not have to fight in wars and they were exempted from paying taxes. They acted as judges in disputes and they presided over those who commit act of crime, as well as setting penalties. They could travel any where without hindrance from any tribes.

Though, there are many benefits of becoming a druid, it is still not an easy life. It may take over 20 years to learn the philosophy, divination, poetry, healing, religious rites and magic. And all this without committing anything to writing. The druids, or any Gaul for that matter, were fully aware of writing down their knowledge, but chose not to do so, because they preferred to rely on memories. For the druids, their pupils were required to exercise their mind.

The Gauls and the druids were not illiterate. Because of the trades between the Gauls and the Greek city of Massilia (modern Marseille) in southern France, the Gauls had earlier used Greek letters, mainly for trade purposes. The druids had never used the Greek writing to record their knowledge and customs. After Roman conquest of Gaul and Britain, later the Celts had adopted Roman letters for mainly commercial purposes. There are some inscriptions found in sacred sites, such as in shrines and sanctuaries.

Caesar observed that the Gauls were very religious, and they always wait for the druids to perform the necessary rituals or sacrifices. The Celts didn’t build any temples to their gods. The druids practiced their worship in the open air, such as at sacred groves or near sacred lakes.

According to Caesar and other classical writers, the Gauls believed in the souls being immortal, where it passed on to another body after death. In another words, they believed in reincarnation or eschatology.”