Who was J. A. MacCulloch?

Who was J. A. MacCulloch?

Author: Gary & Ruth Colcombe October 9, 2019 Duration: 0:00

John Arnott MacCulloch, a Scotsman, was born in 1868 and died in 1950. He was one of Scotland's most famous Celtic Scholars and folklore researchers and he published The Religion of the Ancient Celts in 1911 and his lengthier The Mythology of All Races (in thirteen volumes, published in 1918). 

According to Chebucto Community Net, he wrote The Religion of the Ancient Celts  during a long residence in the Isle of Skye, a place MacCulloch claimed to be "easier to attempt the ancient religion than in a busier or more prosaic place" because it "is where the old language of the people still survives, and where the genius loci speaks everywhere of things remote and strange." 

MacCulloch's book became an instant classic as it was one of the first to attempt to rebuild Celtic paganism and postulate its inner spirit. MacCulloch portrays the Celt as a seeker after God, linking himself by strong ties to the unseen and eager to conquer the unknown by religious rite and magic art. The earliest aspect of the Celtic religion, MacCulloch believed, was the cult of nature spirits and of life manifested in nature. 


Imagine a shelf of old, beautifully bound volumes filled with tales of ancient heroes, elusive fairy folk, and age-old wisdom from the misty hills and shores of Celtic lands. Celtic Tomes is an invitation to open those books with Gary and Ruth Colcombe, who serve as your guides through this rich literary landscape. Each episode is a curated reading from classic texts, bringing to life the myths, legends, and folklore of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and beyond. This isn't just a recitation; it's a shared experience for anyone who has ever admired those collections in a shop or library but found the time to delve into them elusive. You'll hear the stories of the Celts themselves, the deep lore of the Otherworld, and accounts of magical encounters that have shaped cultural imagination for centuries. Tuning into this podcast feels like joining a conversation in a cozy study, where the weight of history meets the warmth of storytelling. Whether your interest lies in bardic poetry, ancient battles, or the mysterious customs surrounding fairy forts, Gary and Ruth provide a direct, engaging pathway into these narratives. They handle the reading so you can simply listen and be transported, making the vast world of Celtic literature accessible and vividly alive one episode at a time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 59

Celtic Tomes
Podcast Episodes
Cult Accessories CT054 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:16
The Religion of the Ancient Celts (1911) Chapter 19: Accessories of Cult by J. A. MacCulloch This chapter covers Temples, Altars, Images, Symbols, and the Cult of Weapons of the Ancient Celts. Religion of the Ancient Cel…
Festivals CT053 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:46
The Religion of the Ancient Celts (1911) Chapter 18: Festivals by J. A. MacCulloch The Celtic year was not at first regulated by the solstices and equinoxes, but by some method connected with agriculture or with the seas…
Tabu CT052 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 8:38
The Religion of the Ancient Celts (1911) Chapter 17: Tabu by J. A. MacCulloch The Irish geis, pl. geasa, which may be rendered by Tabu, had two senses. It meant something which must not be done for fear of disastrous con…
Sacrifice and Prayer CT051 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:46
The Religion of the Ancient Celts (1911) Chapter 16: Sacrifice and Prayer by J. A. MacCulloch The Celts offered human victims on the principle of a life for a life, or to propitiate the gods, or in order to divine the fu…
Cosmogony CT050 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:33
The Religion of the Ancient Celts (1911) Chapter 15: Cosmogony by J. A. MacCulloch The Celts may have possessed the Heaven and Earth myth, but all trace of it has perished. There are, however, remnants of myths showing h…
Animal Worship CT049 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:41
The Religion of the Ancient Celts (1911) Chapter 14: Tree and Plant Worship by J. A. MacCulloch Animal worship pure and simple had declined among the Celts of historic times, and animals were now regarded mainly as symbo…
Tree and Plant Worship CT048 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:43
The Religion of the Ancient Celts (1911) Chapter 13: Tree and Plant Worship by J. A. MacCulloch The Celts had their own cult of trees, but they adopted local cults. This chapter also details how the Celts made their sacr…
River and Well Worship CT047 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:11
The Religion of the Ancient Celts (1911) Chapter 12: River and Well Worship by J. A. MacCulloch Among the Celts the testimony of contemporary witnesses, inscriptions, votive offerings, and survivals, shows the importance…
Primitive Nature Worship CT046 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:31
The Religion of the Ancient Celts (1911) Chapter 11: Primitive Nature Worship by J. A. MacCulloch McCulloch talks about animism, where everything was a person and the greater objects of nature were worshiped for themselv…
The Cult of the Dead CT045 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 11:36
The Religion of the Ancient Celts (1911) Chapter 10: The Cult of the Dead by J. A. MacCulloch The custom of burying grave-goods with the dead, or slaying wife or slaves on the tomb and other grave customs is the subject…