The Sun Dances: Prayers and Blessings from the Gaelic

by Alexander Carmichael

A selection of lyrical and Gaelic poetry taken from the Carmina Gadelica, the definitive collection of Gaelic poems and prayers. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 090354007X
• ISBN13: 9780903540070
• Release Date: January 1977
• Publisher: Floris Books
• Length: 124 Pages
• Weight: 0.18 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Sun of the Seasons, Mother of the Stars...

Failte ort fhein, a ghrian nan trath Ag siubhal ard nan speur; `S do cheumaibh treun air sgeith nana ard, `S tu mathair aigh nan reul (Greetings, Sun of the seasons, as you walk in the high heavens; with your strong steps upon the high void you are the joyous mother of the stars.) - Carmina Gadelica. Here is a small vision, a basket of sparkling jewels. Each one is carefully collected and preserved then set within a volume barely a hands breadth in stature. The rhythmic echo, the ebb and flow of these traditional Gaelic prayers, invocations and native songs glide effortlessly across the pages and enchant the reader. These assorted gems come, by virtue of a Celtic scholar Alexander Carmicheal, from his historical collection of verses called the `Carmina Gadelica.' As a whole they represent the ancient oral tradition of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, as old and translucent as sea foam. Alexander Carmichael, was a Scottish civil servant born in 1832 and educated at Greenock and Edinburgh. He spent the greater portion of his life working and traveling amongst the shy, reserved and insular Gaels of the Isles, of Arran, Uist, Skye and Oban. His passion for Gaelic poetry, prayers, customs and traditions, much of which still remained amongst these isolated communities in his time, inspired and delighted him. Yet before Carmichael the verses only remained floating within the minds, and drifting from the lips of these reclusive folk. Content with traditional crafts, farming, fishing and celebrating the seasons of their life. Alexander Carmichael came and saw an eclipse of the old ways. With a passionate and dedicated vision he began collecting and preserving this tradition, what he envisaged as an important legacy of Celtic culture that could not be allowed to wither away. Eventually his efforts were published in two volumes in 1900, the mellow and matured heritage of generations. Despite his death in 1912 a further two volumes were published in 1940, and a fifth in 1954. Surprisingly many of the islanders never desired that their verses be recorded in print. Yet, had Carmichael not been so bold we may never have experienced the pleasure and refined joy of these spiritual dedications, or have opportunity to see the profound and ecstatic insight of a beautiful people. The delicate voice may well have disappeared, drifting into an ocean of silence like a rare mist. Here are 64 of those miniature visions, as whispers from the past recited as cycles of time in eternity, in honor of the infinite. We experience the ages of life, craft, skill and pride of work, the heart and hearth, wonders of the natural world, omens, sorrows, lamentations, the solitary prayers of wanderer's across a sandy shore; songs of the soul that pierce the ordinary and illuminate deeper mystery, the magic and the miraculous. From dawn till dusk these prayers honor, marvel, and evoke a tranquil reflection of life, love and community. But, this is a community in the greatest