"Different beliefs, practices and rituals behind the notion of their magical powers and virtues are revealed. The situations in which people resorted to them are also examined: selecting chieftains, establishing the truth, curing sickness, and promoting fertility. In conclusion, the role of sacred stones in the religious and spiritual life of modern Ireland is described. This is a reminder of our spiritual past as some of these stones and monuments enter their fifth millennium."--Jacket.
Explores the secrets, myths, legends, and folktales surrounding Ireland's many sacred stones and stone monuments. Some are considered the abodes of deities or otherworld ladies, some are memorials to mythical heroes and historical kings, others reminders of the miracles of early saints. This is a wonderful reminder of our spiritual past as some of these stones and monuments enter their fifth millennium. Color Photos, Line Drawings.
This amazing book is well-researched, with years of research of historical and archaeological detail, legends and folklore, and current information on earth energies for each site. Before the author's rediscoveries, most of the vast number of ancient sites were unknown or almost forgotten except by locals.
This book explores the stories and legends of Ireland's sacred trees and reveals their spiritual, social, and historical functions from pagan times to the present. Color photos.
After the thrilling exploits in Matthew Reilly's action-packed New York Times bestseller, Seven Deadly Wonders, supersoldier Jack West Jr. and his loyal team of adventurers are back, and now they face an all-but-impossible challenge. A mysterious ceremony in an unknown location has unraveled their work and triggered a catastrophic countdown that will climax in no less than the end of all life on Earth. But there is one last hope. If Jack and his team can find and rebuild a legendary ancient device known only as the "Machine," they might be able to ward off the coming armageddon. The only clues to locating this Machine, however, are held within the fabled Six Sacred Stones, long lost in the fog of history. And so the hunt begins for the Six Sacred Stones and the all-important knowledge they possess, but in the course of this wild adventure Jack and his team will discover that they are not the only ones seeking the Stones and that there might just be other players out there who don't want to see the world saved at all. From Stonehenge in England to the deserts of Egypt to the spectacular Three Gorges region of China, The Six Sacred Stones will take you on a nonstop roller-coaster ride through ancient history, modern military hardware, and some of the fastest and most mind-blowing action you will ever read.
Courageous, passionate men and women battle for survival of their clans—in the shadow of the great mammoth who speaks with thunder . . . As the massive glaciers fade and the wide seas rise, the warm grasslands of the Americas bring prosperity to the gentle People of the Red World, followers of the Great Ghost Spirit, the White Mammoth. But farther north, where the harsh dry winds howl, another nation, the People of the Watching Star, are enmeshed with legends of an evil shaman and the man-eating monster called the wanawut. Relentlessly they have hunted the mammoth to near extinction. Now, as raiders and ravagers they are coming south to invade the villages of the People of the Red World. The only ones who can prevent the murder of innocents and the final slaughter of the mammoth are a young boy shaman to whom the animals speak, a man whose strength equals his conviction, and a woman who hopes that, beyond violence and cruelty, humankind will recognize a stronger power—the force of love.
This detailed account of Irish archaeological and archival evidence is presented in a clear and consise manner. There are chapters on cult objects, shrines, round towers, relics, Ogham stones, sundials, bullauns, cursing stones, and holed stones.
SACRED STONE, SACRED WATER is an elegant and intimate collection of writing, art, and photography evoking Ireland's wild beauty and deep soul through the work of 14 American women writers and artists at some of the island's most eminent sacred sites. Their journey produced exquisite poetry, photographs, drawings, and essays from visits to three renowned parts of Ireland. They explored world-famous Newgrange and ancient monastic sites in the Boyne Valley, and experienced the rising sun enter the 5,000-year-old passage mound at Lough Crew. In the scenic southwest, they traveled the world-renowned Healy Pass and the Ring of Beara, and were immersed in the exquisite Irish landscape through sun, wind, rain, rainbows, mists. They completed their journey with an immersion of the spiritual legacy of the goddess/saint Brigit, at her ancient monastic site, sacred wells, and Solas Bhride in Kildare. The contributors include award-winning writers, poets, photographers and artists, with backgrounds as medical doctors, healers, psychotherapists, musicians, shamans, teachers, social workers, and international women's activists. They include: Carolyn Brigit Flynn, Janis O'Driscoll, Nora Jamieson, Linda Serrato, June BlueSpruce, Judy Tsafrir, Anne Fitzgerald, Jean Mahoney, Jennifer Comeau, Suzanne Daub, Sandy Dempsey, Sarojani Rohan, Jessice Webb, and Ursi Barshi. Contributors are from California, Washington, Oregon, Maine, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
The storied landscapes of Ireland are dotted with holy wells--hallowed springs, pools, ponds, and lakes credited with curative powers and often associated with Catholic and indigenous saints. While many of these sites have been recently lost to development, others are visited daily for devotions and remain the focus of annual community gatherings. Encouraging both their use and protection, Holy Wells of Ireland delves into these irreplaceable resources of spiritual, archaeological, and historical significance. Reserves of localized spiritual practices, holy wells are also ecosystems in themselves and provide habitats for rare and culturally meaningful flora and fauna. The shift toward a "post-Catholic" Ireland has prompted renewed interest in holy wells as popular domains with organic faith traditions. Of the roughly 3,000 holy wells documented across Ireland, some attract international pilgrims and others are stewarded by a single family. Featuring 140 color images, this remarkable volume shares the transdisciplinary work of contributors who study these wells through the overlapping lenses of anthropology, archaeology, art history, biomedicine, folklore, geography, history, and hydrology. Braiding community perspectives with those of scholars across academia, Holy Wells of Ireland considers Irish holy wells as a resilient feature of ever-evolving Irish Christianity, as inspiration to other faith traditions, as places of pilgrimage and healing, and as threatened biocultural resources.
