I tried. I tried again. Then I realized sometimes it's best to let things go.

As many other reviewers have said, this book had potential. It had a good topic. I love reading pagan philosophy books for a holistic, semi-real world interest and semi-fictional world building interest. I don't even care if the statements are directly evidence based or more qualitative. I care, however, about the writer's approach to sharing information, and this approach completely overshadowed any Celtic shamanism that could have been gleaned from the book's pages.

The true thesis screamed at me maybe 15 pages in: "Modern humans have turned away from every level of being except the physical, expecting to find in science and the five physical senses a freedom and contentment that is illusory at best and deadening at worst...Orthodoxy and science have cut down the World Tree and blown up the tunnel to the Underworld, leaving us stranded in a sterile plane of existence that is slowly but surely killing us." Talk about being sensationalist.

Before, in between, and after this statement he addresses a connection with nature. What does he think science is? What does he think the physical world is? The revered natural world in its raw form is somehow sterile? Doesn't that contradict biological existence--I mean, sterile means devoid of life? Apparently we can't feel elated by our physical (much more than five by the way) senses. I haven't read something this confusing and blatant logic-defying in a long time. I'd almost give the author a chance to rewrite the paragraph and others like it just in case she chose bad words and failed to communicate what she was really thinking. I'm sincerely sorry that D.J. Conway finds this world deadening, or that using our best means to learn about the world is somewhere between illusory and deadening. Meanwhile, others--scientists and artists alike--are elated with fascination. I'm sorry that someone thinks learning about nature and appreciating all its aesthetic and mystery on a differently defined level than his nature-based spirituality is somehow a horrible thing. I also don't see how this attitude is healthy for a book that apparently is more a self-help, New Age healing book than a Celtic shamanism book.

The writer does not approach with an open perspective. Sometimes I can continue reading a book on its merits and tolerate occasional negative opinions that sprout from somewhere outside the content of the book. However, not this time. It's wiser to find a different writer sharing similar content but with a different approach. I'll find something with more information on Celtic shamanism that I can be free to interpret instead of relying on minimal context and maximal Conway. ( )

I honestly couldn't get far enough in this book to give it a fair rating but this is what I've got so far as I read:
I honestly did not appreciate the author slamming other religions that she did not like. The author seems to have a personal vendetta against Orthodox religions and it definitely shows in her writing. And these were not just passing glances these were passages that really went for the throat. I just couldn't do it and it turned me off from the entire book. ( )

Sold ( )

This was an excellent insight into modernizing the practices of ancient Celtic shamanism. Conway's writing is to-the-point and thorough with every respect to her subject. Much of the book is focused on the subject of vision questing and merging shamanism with other practices and faiths. ( )

Steps for guided meditations and for understanding the Celtic traditions within Wicca. Lots of appendices in the back for reference (excellent to help with meditation or dreams and spellcraft). ( )