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: 50

Celtic Tomes
Podcast Episodes
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The votes are in and have been counted and by an overwhelming majority, our next book will be Religion of the Ancient Celts by J. A. MacCulloch. This book is one of the best scholarly treatments of the ancient Celtic rel…
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Please accept my apologies for writing about myself. I generally try and avoid this as I feel I am nowhere near as important as the stories I tell (and those that we tell as far as the Celtic Myth Podshow is concerned).…
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Duration: 25:55
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Duration: 15:50
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Duration: 35:48
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Duration: 31:25
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