Taliesin: Shamanism and the Bardic Mysteries in Britain and Ireland »

John Matthews has authored over 60 books, including The Grail: Quest for Eternal Life and The Encyclopaedia of Celtic Wisdom. A foremost expert in the Arthurian legends and esoteric wisdom of the Celtic traditions, he teaches and lectures around the world. He resides with his wife, Caitlin, in Oxford, England.

Caitlin Matthews is internationally renowned for her research into the Celtic and ancestral traditions. She is the author of 36 books, including The Celtic Tradition, The Encyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom, and Sophia: Goddess of Wisdom. She is co-founder of the Foundation for Inspirational and Oracular Studies, which is dedicated to oral, shamanic, and sacred arts. Caitlin Matthews has a shamanic practice in Oxford, England, and teaches worldwide.

A new translation of the poems of sixth-century Celtic bard and shaman Taliesin that reveals the mysteries of Druidic practices.

• The first collection of Taliesin's major poetry with commentary by John Matthews, author of more than 40 books on the Celts.

• Reveals Druidic prophecy, methods of divination, and the rites, rituals, and beliefs that were essential to Celtic spiritual practice.

• Features Taliesin's works as keys to the Arthurian legends.

Taliesin, Chief Bard of Britain and Celtic shaman, was a historical figure who lived in Wales during the latter half of the sixth century. Encoded within his work are the ancestral beliefs of the Celtic and pre-Celtic peoples. In addition, his verse is established as a direct precursor to the Arthurian Legends--and Taliesin himself, shaman and shapeshifter, is said to be the direct forebear to Merlin. Though the bard's work is steeped in the rich traditions of druidic practice, few have explored the revelations of his writings--the secret poetic language of the bards, revelatory information about divination, the ancient mysteries of the Druids, and the cosmological rites that were central to Celtic worship.

John Matthews, one of today's preeminent Celtic scholars, sheds new light on the poems of Taliesin and on the vast body of allusion, story, and myth that grew from his body of work and shamanic practice. With the help of fellow Celtic scholar Caitlin Matthews, the author presents completely new translations of Taliesin's major poems in their entirety, uncovering the meanings behind these great works for the first time.

John Matthews has spent 30 years studying the traditions of the Celts and is an internationally acknowledged authority on the Arthurian and Grail legends. His many books include The Encyclopaedia of Celtic Wisdom, The Celtic Shaman, and The Grail: Quest for Eternal Life. He teaches throughout Europe and America and currently resides in England.

Taliesin
The Last Celtic Shaman

Acknowledgements Ceridwin's Boast Preface to Second Edition Preface to First Edition Introduction

Part One
1. The Story of Taliesin: Gwion's Transformation
2. Shamanism and the Celts: The Fellowship of the Wise
3. The Cauldron-Born: Ceridwen and the Goddesses of Inspiration
4. The Life of Song: Taliesin and the Poetic Mysteries
5. The Bardic Schools:L Teaching the Knowledge of Things
6. The Art of Transformation: Hiding the Familiar
7. The Art of Prophecy: Remembering the Future
8. The Language of Trees: Ogam and the Cad Goddeu
9. The Region of the Summer Stars: Cosmologies and Cosmogonies

Part Two The Poems of Taliesin Pen Beirdd

Select Bibliography Index