cover image Drinking from the Sacred Well: Personal Voyages of Discovery with the Celtic Saints

Drinking from the Sacred Well: Personal Voyages of Discovery with the Celtic Saints

John Matthews. HarperOne, $19 (276pp) ISBN 978-0-06-251561-2

Matthews, an authority on Celtic wisdom tradition and Arthurian legends, begins his book with an introduction in which he discusses the history of Celtic spirituality, the stories of Celtic saints in general and the evolution of Celtic Christianity. He follows this with 12 chapters, each covering a different Celtic saint: Kentigern, Maedoc, Brighid, Berach, David, Senan, Patrick, Brendan, Kevin, Columba, Mochuda, Ciaran. The overarching metaphor for the book is ""voyages of the soul,"" with each saint offering a unique perspective. Matthews has collected an impressive amount of Celtic historical research in order to present a popular, inspirational, delightful view of the saints under discussion. Each chapter includes an introduction, traditional stories about the saint, plus poems, songs, quotations and ""Meditation Points."" Combined, these elements provide an engaging introduction to Celtic spirituality. (Dec.)