Robert Lee (Skip) Ellison did a wonderful job of describing the modern Druidic Revival in his book, "The Solitary Druid: Walking the Path of Wisdom and Spirit."

Ellison starts the book with a history lesson on Celtic myth and directly into veneration of the Kindred (ancestors). Ellison gives a brief overview of a general consensus of what Druids believe on a variety of topics as to what is and isn't acceptable while giving examples of past indications. Of course, this is a history lesson as well as to what we believe the Druids were like with the minimal amount of mentions there are of Druids from history. As Ellison points out, much of what we know today is from people who quoted others or from enemies who had to fight them who had an agenda with what they wrote. So, the idea that we will ever really and truly know the Druids of the ancient days is never going to happen, but at least with so many comments in common, backed with archaeological evidence, there is plenty that is known for certain. Ellison presents these, with the sources, in this book as well.

Ellison covers all of the holidays and even certain things that happen in everyone's lives, such as the loss of a beloved pet. There is all of this and more with how to prepare for rituals, how to open and close the ritual, as well as giving poems and prayers that can be said for the intention behind the ritual. Also, what would a book about Druids be without mention of the Ogham, which Ellison also talks about in this book? He even gives A LOT of sources for all he wrote about with handy charts to say what each means with a bit on Runes as well.

This book was a collection of a lot of history and valuable resources. Many other Druidic orders were mentioned besides his ADF organization so that you could explore other avenues. It would be a great book for anyone interested in Druidry, the history of Druids and the Celtic people, as well as inspirational for prayers and veneration of Kindred and gods/goddesses alike. Did I agree with everything, no, but Ellison didn't put anything in the book that was opinionated that could be taken poorly, only a different belief, which was even more interesting to read about. ( )

This book was a very good one concerning Druidry. This book gaves a nice general and basic overview of Druidry in a scholarly and yet accessible way. On top of all that, this book also gives many ideas for places to go to for research into what is known about the actual believes of the ancient Celtic druids. While a bit of a dull read in some parts hear and there is book was over all, very interesting and enlightening on Druidry and where certain aspects of it came from. ( )

Although Ellison's The Solitary Druid may contain many basic facts about druids and modern druidic practice, the way in which he organizes and presents this material makes this book practically useless. The most comprehensive, coherent and helpful chapters of this book deal with his discussion of the eight yearly holidays, in which he provides Celtic myths and deities appropriate to the more traditionally Wiccan themes already well established for each celebration. In these two chapters he also presents a general outline for ritual structure (which, yes, is markedly different from Wiccan rituals); unfortunately, a reader must wade through a large amount of repetition before getting a feel for the practices themselves.

The first several chapters of this book are highly disorganized, often attempting to clarify one idea by referring casually and haphazardly to other ideas or activities that have not even been discussed yet, only adding to the reader's sense of confusion. (There are also a glaring number of typos and grammatical/syntactical mistakes in the writing itself.)

Considering Ellison's own emphasis on the scholarship and creative artistry of the druid path, this book shows very little of either. It's scholarly work is bumbling at best, merely citing out-of-context references and "facts" from various sources in repetitive list form without making any attempt to draw general conclusions or theories of relevance. For example, his use of citations to support modern sexual practices (many of which are, even out of context, clearly accusing the Celtic culture of barbarism in the form of child-abuse and rape) belies a very shallow understanding of analytical scholarship and historical research.

If you are looking for insight into the history of the druids, this book is beyond worthless. If you are interested in pursuing druidism as a spiritual practice, there are many sources available which present the same material in a much more comprehensive and practical way. With the exception of the chapters on holiday ritual and the final chapter listing various druid networks and resources, this book is not worth the price. Ellison may be a good group leader and in-person teacher, but he is clearly neither a scholar nor a writer.

Books that I would recommend as alternatives to this one:
- books by Emma Restall Orr (in particular Living Druidry, and Ritual)
- The Druidry Handbook, by John Michael Greer
- Essential Guide to Druidism, by Isaac Bonewits
- books by John and/or Caitlin Matthews (in particular, Walkers Between the Worlds) ( )