Pagan Portals – Gods and Goddess of Wales by Halo Quin

120 Pages
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing Ltd, Moon Books
Release Date: June 28, 2019

Nonfiction, Religion, Spirituality, Celtic Spirituality, Paganism, Neo-Paganism, Body, Mind, Spirit

The book is divided into the following Chapters.

Chapter One: How to Use this Book

Part I: The Backdrop
Chapter Two: Sources, History and the Present Day
Chapter Three: Theory and Practice

Part II: The Gods
Chapter Four: The First Branch and the Gods of Annwn
Chapter Five: The Second Branch and the Protectors
Chapter Six: The Third Branch and the Silled Ones
Chapter Seven: The Fourth Branch, the Skies and Seasons
Chapter Eight: The Hidden Tale and the Holders of Mystery
Chapter Nine: The Mabinogion and Beyond – The Others

Part III: Further Threads
Chapter Ten: Looking Forward

I was interested in reading this book since my husband has roots in Wales and I have been studying Celtic spirituality for many years. This is a short book to be used as an introduction to Welsh deities. Each chapter is only a page or two. I always love to read about the Celtic Goddesses. They are such strong women leaders. At the end of the book is a pronunciation guide. If you are new to studying Celtic deities, this is a good introduction.

Another great installment in the Pagan Portals series. If you're curious about the deities associated with Wales, I love learning about deities from different areas of the world, and this has made me want to go dig a little deeper on my own. Perfect for the modern pagan or those interested in the gods and goddesses of times past.

This book is an introduction to the Gods and Goddesses of Wales, it is not totally in depth but give you a basic over view of each of the Deity's. It does though tell you where you can find more about each though.

You get the Authors understanding and interpretation of her journey through her life and research for writing the book. It is filled with Pagan aspects, so if that if not your thing this book many not be for you. I personally enjoyed it though.

I received this book from the Author or Publisher via Netgalley.com and chose to leave this review

Interesting!!!!! Educational as well and definitely helped me with my studies on welsh mythology and the Puca. If you're interested in mythology at all and a little history on paganism, jump into this book.

I found this book to be very insightful into the world of Welsh Deities. It's a great primer for those who are looking for information of the Welsh Deities.

I so enjoy reading about the old ways and the old gods of various cultures. Halo Quin is a pagan like myself, so I enjoy reading about her take on things spiritually. I wasn't familiar with Wales deities until this book. I was assuming they were the same as the rest of Britain and never gave them any thought. I should know better! Well, I am always on the look out for new knowledge! This was a great read!

This is an inspirational book by a talented writer and a learned person in the realm of Welsh deities and their stories.
For those who are already inquisitive and yearning for more, then this book will be a practical manual to transform their quest and spiritual journey.

The author although steeped in pagan ways is very open, honest and inclusive in her desire to help others along their path.

I found nothing dogmatic or you must do it my way.
This is a very practical book but rooted in spirituality based on pagan elements, traditions and stories.

It was for those stories I wanted to read this piece. I found the presentation balanced and extensive.
I also liked the effort to transform theory into practice. The writing encourages and reminds one that within the general population default position is doubt and disbelief.

The stories have numerous characters within them and the author takes their persona and crafts them into godlike deities a potential follower can make practical steps to explore and know them better.

From their stories what aspects they can help an adherent with. How to build relationships and make personal devotions through altars, shrines, offerings and prayers. Ideas of pilgrimage to get a sense of place and setting. To meditate and encourage journeys into one’s imagination to envision the deity and spend time with them.

Not my bag but nothing here to fault in terms of approach to spiritual matters and worship apart from my own personal belief and spirituality within the Christian Faith.

I commend the author for her own insights and journey of faith. I am sure she is an excellent teacher for others. She has researched carefully and in this area seems an expert. Again not preachy, her just her understanding and interpretation but encouraging others to discern whatever truth they find distilled in the stories and the associations to the characters.

It would be unfair to dismiss her work. I do not. I acknowledge her personal integrity and desire to share her experiences openly with others.

It is obviously not a book for me but I recognise a gifted author and genuine communicator. Her encouragement to worship her gods and the practical demonstration of caring for the wider world is humbling as she is open, searching and mindful of others.

For those who share her beliefs just now or who are searching for an alternative spirituality I consider she is a practical guide into this place of searching and those who desire for pagan values in modern life.

But as stated, and this isn’t about me but to explain my award of stars. As a book it is 5 stars, but worship to me is with a living God who provides everything Halo Quin aspires for and seeks in her own way.

Excellent introduction to the deities of Wales. Detailed and comprehensive without overloading the reader.

Recommended.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

Gods and Goddesses of Wales is a valuable and comprehensive introductory guide to the traditional deities of the Welsh landscape. In this slim but accessible book, Quin takes the reader on a historical and spiritual journey to meet gods and goddesses such as Arawn, Rhiannon, Blodeuwedd, and Llyr, amongst others. As well as sharing the major myths and legends, Quin provides information on how to honour and connect with these deities in modern Pagan practice, and how to take this further in your personal spiritual and/or magical work. Recommended.

I received an e-ARC from the publisher, Moon Books, through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Super comprehensive. An excellent resource for the Gods And Goddesses of Wales, this is a valuable reference to have on hand. I don’t consider it light reading but rather a book I would reach for to learn more about a specific Goddess of Wales. Having lived in Wales and with Celtic roots this subject is intriguing to me, and if it is to you, I recommend adding this excellent reference to your library.

Description

An introduction to Welsh deities through traditional myths and practical exercises. Written by a practising witch, living in the heart of Wales and working with the deities woven into the land, this book contains the major stories and backgrounds for the Gods and Goddesses of the heartland of the Druids. Within its pages you will find information on the major deities and where their stories can be found, alongside suggestions on how to connect with them and weave relationships with them into a modern pagan practice.

My Review

It was fascinating learning about the Gods and Goddesses of Wales. Very well written and easy to follow. It’s definitely a great staring point. Kept me interested in learning more and more. I’m even going to try building an altar, let’s see if I can accomplish this correctly.

Thank you for a great book.

I was provided this book free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion.

I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in learning about Wales 👍🏼👍🏼⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 📚

This is a very useful book for my library. Thank you for publishing this book. The sections are very informative.

I love this book. It is a great reference for the gods and goddesses of Wales, It is easy to jump from a section to another, The author did a good job in putting together all these Welsh stories. We need more books like this, for all pagan traditions, as it is important to rediscover our roots and find a way to deepen our relationships with the various deities.

A good reference book and a good introduction to the deities of Wales, I appreciated how the book is organized and the hints on when you could need that god/goddess.
Another great addiction to Pagan Portal books.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

There seems to be an abundance of literature about other religions and beliefs, however there isn't much regarding the welsh legends in this vain. Being brought up in West Wales I love the tales of the Mabinogion filled with magic. I love this book, I love being able to connect with the beings that make the Mabinogion so magical and adding this to my practice. Its such a refreshing change to read about Welsh tales and to read a well written book by someone who is obviously passionate and knowledgeable about her subject matter.

This is a very simple starter book in Welsh Deities and mythos.that is much more palatable read for beginners than that the original tomes of the Mabinogion. The author includes a pointer reference to various energies each represented Deity entails and altar set up ideas and small guided meditations for them. This is nice light airy

Very good introduction to the deities from Wales. Great stories and pronunciation section. Another good book from the Pagan Portals series.

This is very much a Pagan book, but includes the original folktales of many Welsh legends. These were well-researched and it's good to find them collected in one place!

The first part goes through rituals and offerings, visualisation suggestions, that sort of thing. The second part is more what I expected, following through the tales and their relationships to history and belief in Wales. Sources are cited and there's a pronunciation guide at the end.

There's a heavy dose of the author's personal beliefs throughout, but the folktales are genuine and this would be a good reference for anyone interested in British folktales and legends.

Shamefully, although I'm Irish and enjoy folklore, I know very little about Welsh myths. This volume has started to repair that. It's designed mostly for neo-Pagans who might want to connect with these gods and goddesses on a deeper level, with brief stories followed by the best way to appeal to the main characters. It's a very interesting read and I'll come back to it in future.

I have always been immensely fascinated with both the history and the "mythology" of Wales, so I was immensely gratified to come upon this book, which draws upon on both historical fact and narrative (such as The Mabinogion) and upon the centuries' long Bardic tradition, still kept intensely alive today in Wales. The author brings this information not to be a final determination, but to be an inspiration for questing individuals and groups. I particularly admire the emphasizes on "unverified personal gnosis," a way of adhering to what is intuitive truth for the individual.