Ivan McBeth

Ivan McBeth presents a very personal vision of modern Druidry that may or may not resonate with any individual reader. Personally, I found the chapters on working with the four elements the most useful and practical in the book, although in general I think McBeth's vision of Druidry was very different from my own. Despite the title, I would not recommend this as a first introduction to modern Druidry, as there are a lot of common aspects of Druidry he leaves out (the wheel of the year, the connection (or lack thereof) to ancient Druids, the Ogham alphabet, etc.), and he does not distinguish between teachings that are common to modern Druidry in general and his own spiritual insights. Overall, this is a very spiritual, joyful book, and for readers who share Ivan McBeth's worldview it may be very meaningful as well.… (más)

An excellent introduction to Druidry that does a great job of balancing theory with practicality and making it clear how each feed into and build off of the other. The book includes meditations, rituals, and activities you can start implementing at home right away (in fact, I already have).

I have questions about some aspects of Druidry presented that either didn't make sense or seemed contradictory, but I'm not sure if that's from McBeth's writing or larger Druidic teachings themselves. Also sometimes the book had overly self-helpy marketing wording ("do this stuff to become your most amazing self!"). To be fair the book includes actual, implementable methods to get there, but the style can be off-putting.

The foreword and introduction were both written by people who knew McBeth and are therefore among the most touching, contextualized forewords/introductions I've read. McBeth peppered his own experiences throughout the book to illustrate his points at exactly the right times.… (más)