The Pagan Religions
of the
Ancient British Isles
BLACKWELL
Oxford UK & Cambridge USA
Their Nature and Legacy
The purpose of this book is to set out what is at present known about the
religious beliefs and practices of the inhabitants of the British Isles before
their conversion to Christianity. The term 'pagan' is used as a convenient
shorthand for those beliefs and practices, and is employed in the title
merely to absolve the book from any need to discuss early Christianity
itself. Throughout, I have used the same word, and others such as 'faith',
'cult' and 'religion' itself, in a manner which may seem unsatisfactory to
theologians and philosophers who prefer stricter definition and more
precise application of these terms. I hope nevertheless that my looser
usage will be deemed sufficient for a work of history (and prehistory) such
as this. My principal intention is to bring to a wider public the very large
amount of new evidence and ideas relating to the subject that has been
published in the past two decades, much of which seems to be known only
to experts within narrow areas of study. Although some more general
surveys (often of superb quality) have appeared covering particular
periods and places — for example, celebrated prehistoric monuments, the
Roman province, the 'Celts' and the Anglo-Saxons — there exists no more
general treatment. Furthermore, some of these existing surveys are
already out of date or seem to me to be overconfident in certain of their
judgements.
Darklady's Occult