Reflections, Meditations and Walking the Mists

Thoughts and a little bit of book review for you.

The United States still posses the biggest chunk of my readership.  The UK ranks the second. I am amused by the fact that my American readers seem to prefer that I write about artists from other countries. To cite an example, the Russian band 208 Talks of Angels got a lot of traffic when the article was published and 96% of the readers were from the US. Yesterday, Marc Gunn, the Celt father topped the number of readership. Yn Chruinnaght CD review ranked the highest, the day before yesterday.

Thunderstorm! This weather is enough to drive someone into spiritual reflection.Which, was the case when I took a week off from the Internet. That included turning the phone off and avoiding people. This doesn’t happen often but it was a great experience. It feels good to realize that there is a big world out there outside cyberspace. I was able to finish reading four books and started mixing tracks for a future project with a friend who asked me to mix his next album. I am not really confident that I will do good but it is nice to be asked. He actually recorded 7 instrumental bits for me to assemble using effects. It was quite an experience.

There is a great book I finished reading. It is called Walking the Mist by Donald McKinney. The author put a lot of himself in the book. It also glimpse into the history of the Druids. Like me, Donald McKinney was also influenced by the music of Enya and that got him started into the whole thing. Just like myself. I never knew about Celtic music until I heard the uilleann pipes and whistle in Watermark. It was also my first taste of Irish Gaelic after hearing her song “Na Laetha Geal M’óige”. I think I have to credit her influence on my desire to be a music journalist. It is that feeling you get when you hear something so beautiful. You are at loss for words, but you want to describe that experience because it is that moment in your life when you reached an epiphany and you realize: this is something I want to do!

Here’s what he wrote(page 6)

Another indication was the music of Enya. Like many people, I had thrilled to the sound of “Orinoco Flow” and it even inspired me to have a Celtic Christmas that year-my partner bought me lots of Celtic items. It is almost embarrassing now to recall how powerful Enya was for me.

The author further expounds on the power of music in general(page 149):

To the Celt, music was a powerful tool. Perhaps accompanied by poetry, it was the key to the heart of man. The harpists that wandered the roads of Ireland were treated like lords and it was a great honor, well into the late Middle Ages, to have a bard attend your house.

Donald McKinney has other interesting topics covered in this book especially about meditation and maintaining the balance of mind, body and spirit. My big thanks to Paula who mailed this book to me all the way from England.

The author recommends the following albums:

Karen Casey-The Winds Begin to Sing

Anuna-Invocation

The Chieftains-Tears of Stone

Enya-Paint the Sky with Stars

Loreena McKennitt-Elemental

Loreena McKennitt-The Visit

Mary McLaughlin and William Coulter-Celtic Requiem

Aine Minogue-The Mists of Time

Paul Mounsey-Naboo3:Notes from the Republic

Gary Stadler-Fairy Nightsong

Various-Celtic Voices

You can purchase the book using this link: http://www.donaldmckinney.com/walkingmist.html

I remember the day The Celts came out on cassette tape. It was evening. I didn’t wait the next day to buy the album.