The author’s main aim for this book is to present a picture of a Celtic religion in which goddesses played a central role. She uses both archeological and literary evidence to explore the role of divine females.
Anytime you have a presentation of data in which you only present one side of the story it is not a good idea. While I agree that the Celtic goddesses were important to the Celtic religion they are by no means the only ones that are central to it. I could make the same case for the Gods if I just spoke about them alone.
While I don’t agree with her interpretations of the data presented, the data itself is very interesting to read. She talks about the roles of some of the more known Celtic goddesses and she does show that their roles are not limited to the “womanly” pursuits and that they were often very complex when it comes to role definition.
I do agree though with one of her conclusions in chapter one. It is not a good idea to make a significant correlation between the prominence of Celtic goddesses and the status of women in Celtic society. That is not to say though that there weren’t any high status women in the Celtic society when compared to their counterparts in the Mediterranean.
I did enjoy the information presented and the way it was presented in the book even if her conclusions and interpretations bothered me. It was a good book to read just don’t take it as the gospel truth (the same goes for any book really).
Celtic Scholar's Reviews and Opinions 