Martin said:
Hello,
I have this deck, and got it mainly on the strength that I love Chesca Potters artwork in general, plus I have a great respect for the Matthew's and their work.
They are extremely valuable for journeying and meditation, but you have to put an awful lot of groundwork in first. I have utilised this deck whilst drumming with my beloved Bodhran & had great results, and I have also used the cards as inspiration when writing rituals for my coven.
I feel it is worth buying John Matthew's Celtic Shaman book, which has much material that will help put the cards into perspective, and contains exercises that develop the necessary abilities.
Martin
The deck discussed here is a beautiful and interesting one.
I too have a great deal of respect for the Matthews' and their work...
but i must disagree with the recommendation of "The Celtic Shaman".
The book is currently out of print as far as I know and one reason is that unlike so many of his other books, including "Taliesin: The Last Celtic Shaman", "The Celtic Shaman" was not well received in shamanic circles.
What he writes in this book is far from any Celtic shamanic tradition that I and other students know of.
Basically, the book takes core shamanism and, in place of North and South American Indian images such as those Michael Harner writes of, Matthews has substituted a hodge-podge of unrelated excerpts from Welsh, Irish, and Arthurian folk tales. Here's an excerpt from a review of the book--
"For example, Matthews substitutes the "crane bag" of Mannanan Mac Lir (an Irish figure) for the medicine bag that Harner adopted from various indigenous peoples. There is no evidence that Irish religious figures ever had "crane bags," and the symbol is not found in any other Celtic tradition."
IMHO a reader interested in learning such core shamanistic practices would be better served by simply reading "The Way of the Shaman" by Harner. Then, if interested in the possibilities of Celtic shamanism "Taliesin" mentioned above would be of help and perhaps other books by Matthews.
Again I respect both of the Matthews' and most of their works, including the deck. But give "The Celtic Shaman" a pass and look to other books for knowledge and guidance in this particular area.
