Martin
Hello Hermit,
Your opinions are interesting but there are a couple of points about your critique. The main problem is inherent in the following statement:
"There is no evidence that Irish religious figures ever had "crane bags," and the symbol is not found in any other Celtic tradition."
Shamanism is a living discipline, not a dogma, and so what is wrong with adaptation? What Matthews puts foward are ideas based upon Celtic tradition. In the particular example you use (and this is where the problem of basing opinions of books soley upon what someone else has said) he refers to the crane bag that appears in stories of Fionn mac Cumhail (who obtains the bag from his father). The idea of the crane bag carrying sacred items occurs alson in the Dunaire Fionn. And so you see it is not unheard of in celtic tradition after all.
It is also worth pointing out that what we know of celtic tradition is nearly 99% speculation, and so it is not possible to say "the celts didn't do x", especially considering celt is such a broad term.
Martin
Your opinions are interesting but there are a couple of points about your critique. The main problem is inherent in the following statement:
"There is no evidence that Irish religious figures ever had "crane bags," and the symbol is not found in any other Celtic tradition."
Shamanism is a living discipline, not a dogma, and so what is wrong with adaptation? What Matthews puts foward are ideas based upon Celtic tradition. In the particular example you use (and this is where the problem of basing opinions of books soley upon what someone else has said) he refers to the crane bag that appears in stories of Fionn mac Cumhail (who obtains the bag from his father). The idea of the crane bag carrying sacred items occurs alson in the Dunaire Fionn. And so you see it is not unheard of in celtic tradition after all.
It is also worth pointing out that what we know of celtic tradition is nearly 99% speculation, and so it is not possible to say "the celts didn't do x", especially considering celt is such a broad term.
Martin