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This is a book report I used for my Tuatha de Brighid CERs. As such, it's a bit more structured than some of the other summaries. |
1. Why did you pick this particular book to review?
This was one of the first books I read after stumbling into Neopaganism this past January. I found it very interesting, but read it quickly and didn't see a lot of correlation between things it talked about and my practice. I wanted to read it more carefully this time.
2. What is the book about? (a short summary)
I've included a chapter-by-chapter summary at the bottom of the page. In short, the book catalogs ritual activity from prehistoric times up through the 20th century. The book is a fascinating discussion of the problems and possibilities of determining religious and magical activity through remains left in the archeological record. It also discusses possible interpretations for those remains, using both historical knowledge and folklore to make interpretations. Among another things, it has a significant catalog of ritual remains found in and around the London area of England. The most interesting conclusion it has is that ritual forms change very little throughout the centuries - for while the reasons for actions change with the prevailing theology, the actual actions remain quite similar. This offers some hope of (cautiously!) reconstructing religious traditions that have seemingly been lost.
3. Did you like this book? (why? or why not?)
Yes. The author generally is quite clear about when he is speculating on reasons for ritual deposits and when there is substantial evidence to support his conclusions. In addition, I loved seeing correlations between practices from late Christianity that could pretty convincingly be related to pre-Christian votive practices.
Also, the writing is very easy to read. Sometimes it was a bit difficult to tell the timelines of particular things he was talking about - there was an assumption of historical knowledge assumed that I didn't always have. So while I could usually tell what part of a several-hundred year span he was talking about, I couldn't always tell which portion of it a particular practice was in.
4. Did you learn anything new to you about Druidry from this book, and if so, what?
I learned about the historical evidence for things I've simply heard asserted as true about "Celtic" ritual practices. For example, ritual shafts for libations were discussed in the book, and while I'd read rituals that indicate "silver is given to the shaft," I never knew why this instruction was given. Similarly for things such as votive offerings to rivers and offerings.
5. What is your favorite quote from this book and why?
"Those who have observed the way in which water attracts the votive offerings of the moderately superstitious in the twentieth century will not be too skeptical about the possible survival or revival of this prehistoric practice in mediaeval or post-mediaeval times. Some twenty years ago the writer was amused to see that even the drinking-bowl of the ravens at the Tower of London was receiving votive coins, including silver. The opening of the Museum of London in 1976 provided an even more bizarre receptacle for offerings. In order to maintain the humidity necessary for the conservation of the Lord Mayor's coach, ..., it is exhibited standing above a shallow pool... This at once began to attractive votive coins, fortunately no longer bent, and it continues to do so... The donors do not of course believe that their offerings will win the favour of water-spirits or even the ghosts of past Lord Mayors; they will simply bring luck."
It's a long quote, but I remembered it from the first time I read it. This particular section "drove home" the idea that ritual practices remain constant throughout the ages, although may change drastically in meaning. Certainly I've tossed a couple of coins in various water places, and while I've never thought as offerings to the water spirits of the place, I can certainly believe that the practice originated with that intent, and has since "degraded" simply to being for luck. I try to be a bit more observant of other, similar, ritual practices I have.
Chapter 1
This chapter introduces many of the problems with determining ritual activity from the archeologists record. Some of these include: remains being sent to various experts to study, instead of being taken as a whole, a dislike of ritual - that is, an attitude among archeologists until recently that ritual activity wasn't worth studying, and the difficulty of distinguishing between ritual material and disposal.
There was also a discussion of the distribution of axes in the London area, and why this is recognizable as a ritual pattern. Apparently, writing from Pliny indicates that such axes were magical and considered to be thunderbolts. They appeared to be often kept as charms against lightening, and were even found in some Romano-Celtic temples. Axes were found in the Middle Saxon period and the practice continued through the 12th century, with some scattered occurrences even today.
Chapter 2
This chapter discussed offerings and the archeological remains that were left of them. It had some discussion of the differences between sacrifices and offerings. It had a long discussion of metalwork items found in pools, rivers, and bogs. Often times, images of particular objects were deposited in great numbers in water - perhaps because the actual item was too costly. It noted that while one could argue that a few items found in a river could simply have been lost by their original owners, it seemed unlikely that the multitude of bent swords, images and other metal work in the river would have all been due to the owners losing them.
There was also a discussion on how to distinguish burial remains of food items and pets from ritual depots. In general, patterns are the key - for example, it is common to find two dogs buried side by side. The number of times this is found in the archeological record is far higher than one would expect if it were simply two household pets dying at the same time. There was also some discussion of the use of humans for foundation deposits or sacrifices.
There is also a brief discussion of the Celtic "head cult" and its association with water. He notes that for many cultures, the disposal of "religious waste" was considered dangerous, and somewhat akin to radioactive waste in today's world. Because of this, it is sometimes difficult if things found were considered religious waste or offerings.
Chapter 3
This chapter opens with a discussion of the types of burial deposits that can be found in the archeological records. For example, cremation leaves very little evidence. Also, offerings made by leaving out for scavengers leave very little evidence.
He has some interesting discussion of possible afterlife beliefs, based on the sorts of tombs that were built. He theorizes that tombs that were built as houses probably represented that the dead were believed to leave there. Often, pipes were built into cremation canisters for libations - while this might indicate that the dead needed sustenance to live, it might also simply indicate that people wished to maintain a link with the dead. Also, he notes the prevalence of sea journeys depicted on tomb walls, possibly indicating afterlife journeys. Discusses various reasons dead may be entombed with personal articles.
He discusses the possible ways to tell if there were human sacrifices - usually, it's quite difficult to tell. However, if one grave is very elaborate while others arranged around it are plainer, it may indicate that the servants were sacrificed to go with the master. For example, there's a child's grave with an older one, laid in a "subservient" position and with inferior grave goods - this may indicate that the older nanny was expected to accompany the child into the afterlife.
Chapter 4
This chapter covers the demonification or sainting of some Pagan deities and indicates that the "cult of the blessed dead" followed familiar patterns of Roman patronage. He talks some about the hoarding & fabrication of various relics.
For example, because of a belief by the church that a new church required relics, it opened the door for many local heroes to become saints so that churches could have relics. In addition, there was a widespread belief that true saintly relics could reproduce without diminishing the original supply - a belief that presents obvious problems for relic finds. Many times, new relics with supposed healing powers replaced older pagan healing shrines. Oaths on relics were considered particularly potent.
Interesting, votive offerings to the saints changed little from Pagan times. Images of body parts (to be healed) were often offered, as well as small wax animals, objects, or ships. Apparently, body parts built of clay were found in Veii, Rome, Tibers, and Gaul from as early as the 1st century, always at known Pagan temples. Also, offerings include coins that were ritually bent (or "killed") in the same fashion as earlier ritual offerings to Pagan gods were.
There is some discussion of churches that were possibly built over Pagan burial or worship sites. Oftentimes, the pagan deities were carefully disposed of - as if the people were still afraid of the power of images. Some of the statues were deliberately damaged, suggesting some Christian influence. However, in some places, it seems as if the two worship practices were kept side by side.
Chapter 5
Discussion of the new Christian theology that replaced the old theology, while the rituals remained the same. Water deposits continued through the middle ages, although they were more often pilgrimage amulets or bent tavern tokens. Some discussion of bent coins and love tokens, which apparently continued from the 16th century to the 18th.
Also, the chapter includes discussion of foundation deposits, something that occurred even after post-Roman times. Sometimes, the foundation deposits even included human jawbones, which were most often used in Anglo-Saxon times, but continued through medieval and later times. He interprets this to mean a survival of Celtic and Teutonic animistic beliefs. Also discusses hearth and chimney deposits, which often seem to include old shoes, dead chickens, etc.
He also discusses his belief that religious ritual degenerates into magical practice - that is, the ritual remains, but after the Gods no longer survive, a secular reason springs up to explain the ritual. Within the context of religious ritual changing to magic, he discusses so-called "acoustic pots" and horse heads buried within barns, stables, or churches.
Chapter 6
This chapter covered written charms and spells. There was a short discussion of such spells from Greek times, although the bulk of the material focussed on findings from the 17th-20th centuries. Often the spells and charms are written on perishable material, such as paper, and so it may be harder to find such in earlier times. Even lead, which seems to be the most preferred for malevolent magic, may only survive as white powder.
Includes some discussion of the language of the charms and spells - very legalistic, often in a bargaining language, or a commanding language. Often words are written backwards, presumably to enhance the magic. Also, often they are written in (poor) Latin, Greek, or even English - there is clearly the perception that written in a foreign language enhances the mystery or effectiveness of it.
Often these curses or charms are found ritually buried, or put inside shafts into tombs (from earlier times). Also, they have been found deposited in rivers with other ritual deposits.
Interestingly, they often name Christian saints or the Christian God as beings expected to listen and/or carry out their magic. There was an interesting discussion about how Revelations in the Bible was written using a great deal of the prevailing magic theory of the time, particularly in its use of numbers.
Chapter 7
This chapter discusses anti-witchcraft magic, and is mostly from the late Middle Ages to modern times. The 15th marked the emergence of the idea of an organized cult of witchcraft, with its sabbats that invoked the devil. The author clearly is dubious of such a cult existing, although he allows that it is not impossible.
Interestingly, horseshoes were originally not just "lucky" but were specifically used as charms against witchcraft. Holed stones were hung for the same purpose. Similarly, for knives placed under door mats. Apparently, there exists a great deal of writing from this time that details some of these practices (or condemns them), and so it is easier to assign ritual meaning to archeology's findings.
This chapter has a very extensive discussion of 17th and 18th century witch bottles, in particular the ritual bending of nails and pins found inside them. Interesting, but not necessarily relevant to Druidry.
Chapter 8
The author summarizes his main theory in this chapter, substantiating it by using evidence he presented in previous chapters to show similar activities occurring throughout the ages - from animism, to paganism, to Christianity. Many of the rituals required drastic reinterpretation through the ages, but the changes have been remarkably small. For example, many of the practices that began as Pagan sacrifices were eventually seen, in a modified form, in anti-witchcraft measures. Interestingly, people also tended to perform ritual acts, not only in similar manners, but in similar places. The Thames has ritual deposits from all of the periods discussed in the book.
Also, discusses some of the problems with interpreting ritual with a modern point of view. For example, some of the pagan statues that were deliberately damaged (discussed in Chapter 4), may not have been maliciously damaged, as first suspected. There was evidence found, during the time of the Crusades, of crucifixes being deliberately mutilated by those going into battle as a protection charm - for example, if one wanted their head protected, they'd knock off the head, similarly for arms, etc. These items were often then thrown into streams. One cannot always assume that deliberate defacement was malicious.
Also, a relatively through discussion of things archeologists need to do to preserve ritual data. Interesting, but not necessarily worth summarizing here.