Stone Circle Press
  • Ancient Spirit Rising ►
  • ASR ► Contents
  • ASR ► Order
  • ASR ► Testimonials & Reviews
  • Gathering at the Grief Shrine
  • Pegi Eyers ► Published!
  • ASR ► Events
  • ASR ► Press
  • ASR ► Radio/Podcast
  • ASR ► Video
  • Celtic Reconstruction
  • Supplemental to the Book
  • BLOG ► Ancient Spirit Rising
  • BLOG ► Rejecting Empire
  • ASR ► For Book Clubs
  • ASR ► Join
  • ASR ► Quotes
  • Pegi Eyers ► Book Reviews
  • Pegi Eyers ► Ecopoetics
  • Pegi Eyers ► New Fiction
  • Stone Circle Press ► Services
  • About Author Pegi Eyers
  • Serenity Wetland Alliance

"Lioslaith: Last of the Painted Ones" by George C. Myles

3/23/2014

0 Comments

 

REVIEW BY PEGI EYERS


Picture

In our quest to recover sustainable lifestyles and return to an authentic connection with the Earth, it is helpful to examine our own ancestral knowledge, and how the cultural wisdom of Old Europe can benefit us today. Those of us in the Celtic diaspora have a wealth of pre-colonial histories to draw on, and fragments of the Old Ways can be found in Ireland, Scotland, England, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man. From myth, folklore and the oral tradition we learn that our ancestors lived in balance with the natural world, and that their wild egalitarian souls gave rise to flourishing tribal societies. Fictional accounts are an important part of this reconstruction such as Lioslaith Last of the Painted Ones, that bring to life the ancient ways of the mysterious Picts, whose territories ranged over what is now Scotland.

The various Anglo-Saxon, Briton and Gael tribal divisions are well-known to historians and genealogists, but tracing the Pict society has been more challenging, due to their abrupt disappearance from the historical record through displacement or assimilation.  By locating the coming-of-age story of the young woman Lioslaith during the critical decade in Scottish history (836 AD) when the Pict reign was drawing to a close, author George Myles does a remarkable job of developing authentic characters and portraying Pictish lives and challenges.  Little is known about the Picts during this transitional time, when the Norse were invading and colonizing the Hebrides, yet Myles elaborates on their integration with their land base, their villages, clan systems, roles of women, herblore and healing, woad tattoos, ogham stones, rituals, agricultural projects, warrior societies, Dunadd, the Whitecleuch chain, the legend of the Wicker Man, the battle of 839 and the Treachery of Scone.  

Bringing the reader under the captive spell of the Old Ways, the story of Lioslaith Last of the Painted Ones is a joy for all those seeking to re-connect with their heritage, and affirms that good historical fiction can be another way to root ourselves within our ancestral traditions, and reclaim our sacred relationship with the natural world.


www.lioslaith.com

This review originally appeared in the Spring Solstice 2014 edition of "The Link"   www.the-link.ca


Picture
Pegi Eyers is the author of  "Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community," an award-winning book that explores strategies for intercultural competency,  uncolonization, recovering an ecocentric worldview, rewilding, creating a sustainable future and reclaiming peaceful co-existence in Earth Community.
Available from Stone Circle Press or Amazon. 

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Book Reviews
    by Pegi Eyers




           ARCHIVES

    ​"The Sanctuary: Essays on Eco-Mythology" by Sofia Batalha

    ​"From Elder to Ancestor: Nature Kinship for All Seasons of Life" by S. Kelley Harrell
    ​

    ​"Why We Need To Be Wild: One Woman's Quest for Ancient Human Answers to 21st Century Problems" by Jessica Carew Kraft
    ​

    "Goddess Lost: How the Downfall of Female Deities Degraded Women’s Status in World Cultures" by Rachel S. McCoppin
    ​
    "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek" by Annie Dillard Prose-Poem Format
    ​
    ​​"Being Pagan: A Guide to Re-Enchant Your Life" by Rhyd Wildermuth
    ​

    "Rites and Responsibilities: A Guide to Growing Up" by Darcy Ottey
    ​

    ​​"Grandma's Spirit: Calling Us Home to Tyendinaga" by Fred Leonard Jr. and Yontheraha:wi

    "Dancing & Digging: Proverbs on Freedom & Nature" by Shaun Day-Woods
    ​

    "Wyrd Against the Modern World' by Ramon Elani

    "Voluntary Peasants: Inside the Ultimate American Commune" by Melvyn Stiriss

    ​"The Book of Leaves"
    by Morgan Caraway


    "HAYTI" by Kurtis Sunday

    "The Cull of Personality: Ayahuasca, Colonialism and the Death of a Healer" by Kevin Tucker

    British Home Children

    "Circle of Eight: Creating Magic for Your Place on Earth" by Jane Meredith

    "A Child of the System" by Lynn D. McLaughlin

    "Radical Wholeness: The Embodied Present and the Ordinary Grace of Being" by Philip Shepherd

    "Ecological Awakening" by Morgan Caraway

    "Witches and Pagans" by Max Dashu

    "Farming the Woods: An Integrated Permaculture Approach to Growing Food and Medicinals in Temperate Forests" by Ken Mudge and Steve Gabriel

    "Dreaming the Future: Reimagining Civilization in the Age of Nature" by Kenny Ausubel

    ​"A Smaller, Richer Life: Using Illness as a Chance to Grow" by Lucia McHardy
    ​

    "The Village of Hiawatha: A History" by Heather Y. Shpuniarsky and the Village of Hiawatha Book Committee

    "Magical Gardens" by Patricia Monaghan

    "Wild Things for the Soul" by Maia Heissler

    "Following Nimishoomis" by Helen Agger

    "Dancing On Our Turtle's Back: Stories of Nishnaabeg Re-creation, Resurgence and a New Emergence" by Leanne Simpson

    "Cultural Appropriation Queen" On Lynn Andrews

    ​
    "Lighting the Eighth Fire: The Liberation, Resurgence and Protection of Indigenous Nations" by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson

    "Occupation Nation" by Chet Singh

    "The Hopi Survival Kit" by Thomas E. Mails

    "Lioslaith" by George C. Myles

    "The Cleft" by Doris Lessing

    "Children of the Creator" by Cliff Standingready

    "Original Instructions: Indigenous Teachings for a Sustainable Future" edited by Melissa K. Nelson

    Picture

      Join our e-mail list
      for updates and newsletters from
      "Ancient Spirit Rising"
       

    Submit