Wellsprings of the Deer: a Contemporary Celtic Spirituality

This book is a unique contribution to the growing literature on Celtic spirituality, especially in the way in which it brings together both Pagan and Christian elements from the ancient Celtic Tradition, weaving them into a single Celtic approach to living life as a quest for wholeness and wisdom.

The text now called Wellsprings of the Deer has been in process since the late 1980s.  It is structured around "Nine Wayes" -- paths that arose out of the author's attempt to understand what makes Celtic spirituality unique.  Mr. Whitsel says: "There is a gist and a rhythm to Celtic spirituality that, while it has many things in common with other spiritual traditions, also makes a singular contribution of its own."

The Nine Wayes identify unique elements of ancient Celtic traditions and brings them to a focus in terms applicable to our life today.  These elements come into focus by way of a series of instructions that eventually bring the reader to what the author calls "The Henge of the Hut of Wisdom."  The aim of the spirituality presented in this book is personal wholeness through the apprehension of wisdom; i.e., the kind of knowing that enables us to more fully realize our humanity.

The author suggests that by walking the path to each of Nine WellSprings the reader will learn ways of being the person they are best capable of becoming.  The end result of learning and practicing the disciplines presented in this book will be a contemporary Celtic life sourced in ancient themes and intuitions. Whether you are Pagan, Christian or secular in your orientation to life and the Celts, this book is designed to enable you to find your way to the WellSprings of the Deer.  The reader will find in these pages an ecumenical and deeply poetic, imaginative approach to being Celtic in the twenty-first century