Product Description

The Mist-Filled Path: Celtic Wisdom for Exiles, Wanderers, & Seekers is a timely and powerful guide to a vision of human spirituality in the third millennium.

Although rooted in the ancient wisdom of the animistic and mystical Celtic traditions, the teachings of The Mist-Filled Path will resonate with readers of such authors as Pema Chodron, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Julia Butterfly Hill, John and Caitlin Matthews, and Matthew Fox.

In the Introduction: Waking Up in the Land of Sleepwalkers we encounter a stirring call to question our habitual habits of addiction and materialism, to reclaim our holy senses, and a sacred relationship to the earth as a sentient and intelligent spiritual force.

In Chapter 1, The Threshold of the Mist, we learn about the mist as both an actual and tangible presence, as well as a moving metaphor for a kind of spiritual orientation rooted in the principles of mindfulness and rhythm.

In Chapter 2, The People of the Shapes, The Children of the Mist, we learn about the Celtic peoples (the Irish, Scots, Welsh, Cornish, Bretons, Manx, and the Galicians) as a people of migration and movement.

In Chapter 3, The Spirit of Longing, we begin to turn our attention to the longing in our souls and how the Spirit of Longing is a valuable and trustworthy friend in the process of spiritual inquiry.

In Chapter 4 and 5, Riding the Wind, and Dancing the Sun, we learn of the initiatory account of Frank MacEowen--a long-time participant in indigenous ceremonies of various kinds--who became aware of the living spirits of his ancestors while dancing in an Oglala Lakota Sun Dance ceremony.

In Chapter 6, The Shape of the Sacred World, we enter into an exploration of the mystical dimensions of Celtic spirituality.

In Chapter 7, The Great Song, we contemplate a Celtic Creation story that is not a story but a song; a living and continually renewing process of which we are all a part.

In Chapter 8, The Mothering Heart of God, we encounter a deeply moving examination of the widespread denigration of the feminine by modern industrialized cultures and something MacEowen calls "the pater conspiracy"--the tendency for a male-dominated and patriarchal world to emphasize brute strength rather than spiritual warriorship based on the principles of peace, an honoring of the earth, and the feminine (accompanied by methods for all of us to "welcome the Mother home."

In Chapter 9, The Body As Holy, MacEowen addresses the body as a sensual and trustworthy companion.

In Chapters 10, 11, and 12, MacEowen outlines a vision of engaged spirituality that weaves social activism, a love of the earth, and healing of the self and the world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #248427 in Books
• Published on: 2002-04-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781577312116
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
In this book, MacEowen, a teacher of the spiritual traditions of Scotland and Ireland, issues a call to readers longing to live a more authentic life to wake up from "the land of sleepwalkers." "Too many of us squander our lives," he writes, "filling our minds with a crazed habitual raciness that is hard to throw off." MacEowen’s purpose is to show us how to break free of our unconscious habits to place our awareness where it matters, living from the perspective of our inner senses and informed by our souls. The "Mist" he speaks of is a metaphor for spirituality used by Celtic peoples. Drawing on his own personal experiences and myths and poems of the Celts and Druids, MacEowen introduces readers conditioned by modern Western society to a world of mystery and meaning that is ours to enter into at any time, were we only to become more aware of it.

Throughout the book, he also shares various exercises to help us further that awareness, and in the process he makes a compelling argument that the "good life" that all of us yearn for can only be found when we live each day with a sense of "wonderment and wakeful purpose" that is in tune with our divine birthright. With The Mist-Filled Path, MacEowen joins writers such as John O’Donahue (Anam Cara) and Caitlin Mathews (The Encyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom) in introducing readers to the ancient spiritual traditions of "the misty green isles" of Ireland and Scotland that gave meaning to their inhabitants for many centuries, and which still hold value for us here in the 21st century.

Review
...a distinctive book that inspires us to participate in Celtic consciousness. -- R.J. Stewart, author of Earth Light

...brings together the very best aspects of the Celtic vision of the world. -- John and Caitlin Matthews

Frank is a brother of the Otherworld, who has learned the importance of listening to the ancestors. -- Malidoma Some

May this book guide you into heartfelt conscious action on behalf of all that is saced. -- Julia Butterfly Hill

To read Frank MacEowen is to go hillwalking with a friend who knows the 'thin places' -- Robert Moss

From the Publisher
The Mist-Filled Path is an engaging, lyrically written account of old Celtic ways and a challenging manifesto to live them in this new world of twenty-first century. You may not be Celtic or even Western, but to read this book is to study with a teacher who can reanimate the wisdom of the past so that it sings in your modern heart.

Customer Reviews

Reviresco
The Mist-Filled Path is a timely and inspiring message to wake up from the often tedious and soul-numbing industrial world. It's focus is Celtic (particularly Irish and Scottish), but certainly it transcends culture, and may sing in the spirits of people of many cultures. I feel this is a particularly important "call" in a place such as the U.S. where we have often lost a connection to our roots, culturally and spiritually. If we do not know from whom and where we have come from, it is difficult to know who we are now, and where we are going. This book is not about going back, and romanticizing the past, but rather about engaging the living stream of the Celtic spirit, to orient ourselves in the direction of a soulful and life-affirming future. One of the negative reviewers called it "new agey", and though I respect the right of other's to their opinion, I have to say that I disagree. I think in a world full of Llewellyn print books and shady scholarship, Frank's work is one of authenticity.

The role of the ancient druid was essentially to hold the memory of the tribe (amongst other things). That role is no different in the modern world, though perhaps its method has changed. Frank lyrically reminds us of who we are in a world that drives us to be what he calls sleepwalkers. You, my friend, are a druid. This pint is for you.

Slainte

An Authentic Celtic Seeker, A Timely Message
The Mist-Filled Path is a book that truly conveys the essence of the human spiritual search in action from a Celtic perspective. What I liked about it so much was how human the author is. We are really brought along on his journey and I felt changed because of it. At every turn MacEowen offers us an inside view of the inner landscape of someone who has authentically been called to the shaman's path in modern life, and who lives life according to the shaman's heart. Such a book is able to see the interconnections between cultures, peoples, religions, in way that re-sanctifies the human condition of all people--whatever ethnicity or culture. In The Mist-Filled Path the reader will learn about the various expressions of the Celtic spirit--the pagan, druid, shamanistic, and the Celtic-Christian. The reader will also be given various meditations and exercises that aid in developing an expanded sense of consciousness about a number of topics: the elements, the sacred flow of time, working with nature as a healing guide, etc. This is not a textbook. The Mist-Filled Path is a living spirit; a truly relevant and timely message, expressed as a collection of teachings and ideas in the true Celtic storytelling style. MacEowen's harrowing experiences of near-death, his experiences doing a traditional Sun Dance with the Lakota Sioux people, and rediscovering the living wisdom of his Irish and Scottish ancestors makes for a powerful reading experience. The Mist-Filled Path left me with a greater understanding of why the various expressions of the Celtic traditions were pushed down (or "eclipsed" as MacEowen says), and why they are re-emerging today. A remarkable and fascinating book.

A Captivating Soul Journey
I picked up this book on my recent travels here to the United States. I was particularly drawn to comments on the back of the book; advance praise from three well-known Celtic writers and others of note. I have just finished reading it and must say that I enjoyed it thoroughly. I completely concur with the other reviewers who have given this book high marks. The Mist-Filled Path was a joy to read. It combines a number of features in a masterful way, including personal and historical storytelling, pre-Christian Celtic ideas and neo-Platonist concepts, and the account of Frank's personal journey of rediscovering his Celtic roots is a wonderful and inspiring example of someone becoming steeped in the Celtic spirit today... This book clearly expresses the best of the Celtic soul, not only of its antecedent forms, but also proposing a much needed ethic for today. Certainly this is not a book for strident Celtic scholars or tight-laced historians, nor does Mr. MacEowen make such grandiose claims. To the contrary, he declares humbly in the pages of this book that it is a spiritual reflection for the here and now, one which I was deeply served by.