The Mist-Filled Path

In this book, MacEowen, a teacher of the spiritual traditions of Scotland and Ireland, issues a call to readers longing to live a more authentic life to wake up from “the land of sleepwalkers.” “Too many of us squander our lives,” he writes, “filling our minds with a crazed habitual raciness that is hard to throw off.” MacEowen’s purpose is to show us how to break free of our unconscious habits to place our awareness where it matters, living from the perspective of our inner senses and informed by our souls. The “Mist” he speaks of is a metaphor for spirituality used by Celtic peoples. Drawing on his own personal experiences and myths and poems of the Celts and Druids, MacEowen introduces readers conditioned by modern Western society to a world of mystery and meaning that is ours to enter into at any time, were we only to become more aware of it.

Throughout the book, he also shares various exercises to help us further that awareness, and in the process he makes a compelling argument that the “good life” that all of us yearn for can only be found when we live each day with a sense of “wonderment and wakeful purpose” that is in tune with our divine birthright. With The Mist-Filled Path, MacEowen joins writers such as John O’Donahue (Anam Cara) and CaitliI’m pn Mathews (The Encyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom) in introducing readers to the ancient spiritual traditions of “the misty green isles” of Ireland and Scotland that gave meaning to their inhabitants for many centuries, and which still hold value for us here in the 21st century.

The Spiral of Memory and Belonging

by Frank MacEowen

The Spiral of Memory and Belonging is a journey of the soul, and our connection with the earth and spirit realms that our ancestors were attuned to.

There are exercises in here to help you get in touch with your ancestors, and explanations as to what a shaman really is. This book really opened my eyes to the Otherworld.

Fire in the Head
by Tom Cowan

For an overall introduction to the numinous power and energy of the shamanic archetype within the primal Celtic traditions Fire in the Head, even after ten years, is still the best introduction. It is a wide-sweeping flight into the themes and topics, devoid of the particularities of personal cosmology one sees in so many other Celtic books. Cowan gets out of the way so that readers can have their own experience and make their own assumptions. Certainly, once a person has read this it is time to read such works as Jean Markele’s The Druids, Caitlin and John Matthews’ The Encyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom, etc., but, again, for an introduction to the core elements of primal Irish, Welsh, and Scottish animisitic spirituality this is still the best.

Yearning for the Wind: Celtic Reflections on Nature and the Soul by Tom Cowan

Throughout the ages, shamans and mystics have recognized that all created things share some level of consciousness, and that ordinary and non-ordinary realities interact at some point. This book by a well-known Celtic American shaman explores those interactions and interconnected pathways, looking at the interdependence of our material life with our inner life and that of nature. Each chapter is a small window into the mysteries of nature and soul as they infuse daily life. Cowan draws on the teachings of medieval mystics, fairy legends, Celtic songs, present-day poets and seekers, Native American stories, and other traditions. From these strands he weaves a Celtic knot of spirit that is both beautiful and strong.

The Celtic Way of Seeing: Meditations on the Irish Spirit Wheel by Frank MacEowen

The Celtic way of seeing posits a direct link between the eye and the heart, a link that connects seekers to forces, energies, and knowledge that exist beyond the corporeal world. Here, Frank MacEowen explains this intuitive way of seeing by retelling a traditional Irish story, “The Settling of the Manor of Tara.” The story is essential because it introduced to Irish culture the concept of the four directions — north, south, east, and west. For the Irish, just as for Native Americans, the directions act as guides and protectors. Once seekers learn to “see” the directions, spirituality becomes a living thing, making each seeker not just an observer but a participant. After retelling the ancient story in beautiful, prose evocative of ancient Ireland, MacEowen then places its wisdom in contemporary terms, and shares exercises and practices that help readers incorporate the teachings into daily life.