The secret of the bards of Wales

John Michael Greer is a stay-at-home husband, Archdruid Emeritus and prolific author on subjects varying from peak oil and the meaning of myth to the reality of UFOs and ancient Atlantis. I happen to like some of his books, but find many others to be to too arcane. I almost said “esoteric”! This little work belongs in the arcane category. Coelbren is a mysterious alphabet probably invented by 19th century Welsh bard, forger and Neo-Druid Iolo Morganwg. It resembles Ogham or Norse runes, and is mostly used in divination. It *can* be used for real writing, as well, since its letters correspond to letters actually used in the Welsh language. Usually, Coelbren is used to carve poetry on wooden sticks, which are then collected and almost venerated by the Morganwg faithful. Apparently, Coelbren dropped out of use at some point during the 19th century even among Druid Revivalists, but Greer has now rediscovered its secrets (or most of them).

The first chapters of the book are quite interesting, discussing Iolo Morganwg and the national romantic revival in Wales. It turns out that Iolo was a complex character who combined real knowledge of the Celtic past (and real ancient manuscripts) with literary forgeries, many of them difficult to see through. Perhaps all religious founders are like this? Joseph Smith comes to mind. As a person, Iolo was a drug addict who failed at normal business ventures, but also a competent antiquarian and un-ironic Welsh nationalist. In fact, “Ned of Glamorgan” (that's what Iolo Morganwg means) seems to have been a pretty typical “crazy man with a beard who is on to something yuge”, although it seems he was clean-shaven! I think John Michael Greer might belong to this category himself…

The latter chapters are mostly of interest to occultists, dealing in more detail with the symbolism of the Coelbren letters and their uses in divination, meditation and scrying. Greer also discusses the character of divination in general. It seems that the author has expanded on the original system, combining it with his own “Celtic Golden Dawn”. Readers seriously interested in an attempted fusion of Golden Dawn magic and Celtic-inspired spirituality might want to continue with that volume. Personally, I found the more general chapters on Iolo Morganwg and Coelbren more interesting than the “forgotten oracle”, but I will nevertheless give this work four stars.

PS. Every time I read JMG's books on matters Celtic, I try to learn how to pronounce the words in impeccable Welsh, but I admit that I stumbled rather badly on “Llewellyn”. Or “Llanfairpwllgwyngyll” for that matter...