Confessions of a Pagan Nun

Gwynneve is an Irish nun living at the monastery of Saint Brigit in the sixth century. She learned the mysteries of written language from a druid. All alone, she spends her time in her stone cell transcribing Christian texts. In secret, she records her own pagan history. Giannon is her sullen teacher and lover. A druid, he is the last of his kind as the Christian monks close in. After Giannon is taken away in the middle of the night by unknown perpetrators, Gwynneve is alone in a cold world now ruled by Christians. All she has known is lost. Even her tuath is gone, her family nowhere to be found. Tired of wandering, she has no choice but to join the nuns of Saint Brigit where she can put her special writing skills to good use. Her only solace is recording in secret her pagan history, which she fiercely clings to. She also has a special gift--she gives comfort to the dying. This special gift endears her to the villagers, but causes suspicion in the heart of the new abbot. The author's notes in the introduction reveal that this story is based on actual writings found in an excavation near Kildare. The author did a wonderful job of transposing these writings and creating a compelling novel. Beautifully written, this is a story of survival in a time of great change in Ireland. The transition from Christianity was not a smooth one and those who defied the Christian priests were severely punished. Gwynneve shows great courage as she clings to her pagan beliefs and her gift with the dying shows that she was a true saint. I highly recommend this book for its fierce spirit and heartbreaking reality.

Very well written, chronicling the life of a Dark Ages Irishwoman who pilgrimages from a Druid apprenticeship to become a secretly-unbaptized manuscript scribe at St. Brigit's convent. She has a lot of good things to say about integrating what is good from both the old world and the new, but I don't think that in the end she really came to any conclusions. The ending is tragically sad. I enjoyed the read very much, but finished without a clear idea of the author's premise.

I would have taken a half-point off my rating for a weak title – anything that starts with "Confessions of..." automatically undermines its own seriousness – but the prose is so poetic and the ideas represented so powerful, I decided to round up. The author, with admirable brevity, imagines the clash of cultures in 6th Century Ireland, as the old ways of wise women and pagan druids meet the inexorable rise of Christianity. The results, of course, are tragic, but no less thought-provoking and pertinent for being also predictable. Looking at the past – even the distant past – shows us that we aren't as far along the path of enlightenment as we should be: we're still killing each other in the name of some -ism; we still discount the wisdom found in the observation of nature; we still behave with petty vindictiveness; we still seek power over others rather than tolerance and understanding; we still cloak ourselves in victimhood rather than accepting responsibility for ourselves and our actions. (Not faults, I hasten to add, of the heroine of this novel.) This is not, however, an indictment of Christianity, per se: the pagans practiced unspeakable cruelties, too. But it's a recognition that the human condition, while bettered immeasurably since Patrick converted the Irish, still has a long way to go.

With the dreamy pen of the neo-pagan, Horsley writes of the near perfection of the 4th century druid and the evil overpowering of the chiristian invasion of the Irish isle. Through the eyes of Gwynn, a woman smarter than her place in life (and a little unbelievable) we watch the christian invasion unfold. I read this book in the hope that I could give it to my Mother to explain and contrast the christian and pagan cultures and give her a little more knowledge about my chosen path, but this book is so very hard on the catholics, I think it would cause more harm than good. If Horsley isn't a previous christian, her sources were, and it shows in the book. The only "good" christians in the entire book are the pelagians that the roman catholics kill and run out of Ireland with the druids. If you are a chest-pounding, skyclad dancing pagan, you'll love this book. If you still respect all religions, you may not enjoy this book as much.

In "Confessions Of A Pagan Nun", Kate Horsley ingeniously creates a fictional manuscript mired in historical fact, much like Umberto Eco's masterpiece, "The Name Of The Rose". The reader is drawn into Ireland, circa 500 AD. This is a beautiful tale about Gwenneve, who is on of nineteen women (nuns) who keep an eternal flame to Brigid, pagan goddess and Catholic saint. As a child, her mother's stories shaped her young mind to explore ideas, and to use words that express intangibles in a brutal, feral world. Her mother's warning, though, to use her "cleverness [as a way to] be free from the obligations of a woman married to a [simple] man, or at least to keep secrets from him." This advice was not meant to encourage duplicity, but to allow Gwenneve to explore her psyche with a mental and spiritual freedom with Giannon, her Druid teacher, mentor, and partner. The chapters are titled "Interruptions," but the true interruptions are when Horsley litters the passages with sagacious wit and profound thoughts both simple and complex though her character's eyes. These make the reader put the book down and pause to think critically: -"For do we not all have reason to choose weakness, and is it most our duty to resist it, or the world would be full of mewling and burdensome souls?" (p.17) -(On contemplating the teaching of St. Paul and St. Augustine:) "If we practice self-hatred, then the sacrifice we make of ourselves and our lives is not sacred, for it then a gift of something we hate rather than of something we have nurtured and loved." (p.32) A hearty "Brava!" for the author's research of how Christianity grew in Ireland. The trading of agricultural technology for professions of faith was one way that the new Church came to gain believers in this remote land. With these ideas, Gwenneve questions larger issues not confined to one period, institution, or belief system. Through vivid examples of the subjugation of a culture by a "divine" institution, the author brings to light the very personal journey of a woman whose land is in violent evolution. With this foundation, the story takes on what is like a dynamic framework for Margaret Atwood's previously published futuristic "Handmaid's Tale." Gwenneve acted as one who thought most independently for herself in times where powerful people actively sought scapegoats for various reasons. She also never gave herself totally to the doctrines that were laid upon her. Gwenneve looks to Brigit as both Saint and Goddess, saying, "I believe that which is sacred does not care by what name it is called." Gwenneve says of herself that she was "not fully converted or truly baptized" and therefore was able to rationalize the use of Druidic practices (i.e. the effective use of medicinal plants). Ultimately, Gwenneve could not bridge the gap between "old" and "new" religions as her life became analogous to the life and legend of Brigid. It is only when the monks come to actively oppress the nuns -- who keep the 20-day cycle of The Flame -- that seems to be the beginning of the end for our dear Gwenneve. She loathed the misuse of power, knew her own mind, and was brave enough to speak it, with sad consequences. As we are drawn into her world, we see the political side of the Church and its subjugation not only of a society but also of an individual's flame...and yet the light of eternal truths which cannot be extinguished.

Gwynneve loved words. That is what started her on her path to becoming a nun. "Confessions of a Pagan Nun" is the first person account (written during breaks while copying St. Augustine and the classics of Western Literature) of her life as the unwanted daughter of a pig farmer, a woman in love with a man who cannot love as she wants, a druid, and finally a nun. As Ireland changes from the wild Pagan land of Finn MacCumhal to Patrick's repository of Western Civilazation Gwynneve struggles to change with it. This is a fascinating look at the fictional life of an intelligent pagan who tries her hardest to convert to Christianity, but in the end cannot change her own heart. This book echoes of "Augustine's Confessions" and Anne Rices first person Vampire novels. It chronicles a life and spiritual journey, but the prose is so vivid that you can see it. As a convinced Christian I was especially struck by the author's take on the transition from paganism to Christianity in Ireland. It is definitely fiction with all the biases that authors bring to historical fiction. There are a few cliches like tyranical, sex crazed abbots and love starved nuns, pagans being persecuted into extinction and hiding, etc, but Gwynneve's questions about the faith are so pertinent and precise that I found myself reflecting on my beliefs again and I find my faith stronger. This is thought-provoking fiction. Enjoy it and keep your brain turned on.

March seemed a fitting month to read a book about Ireland after watching Wild Mountain Thyme and The Secret of Roan Innish. So, I finally read Confessions of a Pagan Nun by Kate Horsley. My friend, Teresa, recommended this book to me ages ago. So long ago, I forgot why she told me to read it. But I bought it then, and it has been waiting on my Kindle for the perfect moment. The writings of a pagan Irish Catholic nun seemed the perfect counter to St. Patrick's Day. Let me focus on one important point. I didn't really pay attention to it when I started reading, but the full title of this book is Confessions of a Pagan Nun: A Novel. A Novel. As I was reading, I couldn't shake the feeling that this was nonfiction. I couldn't shake the feeling so much so that I had to look it up. Goodreads said it was fiction. Surely, that was wrong. Historical fiction. Ok maybe more specific but still wrong. Nope, the Internet swears this book is fiction, historical fiction. Still, it reads as true. I talked to Teresa about this after finishing. She had a similar experience. Let me know if you did too. For science... It's not a very long book, but it feels weighty, important. In a short span, we cover topics like the conversions of pagans to Christianity and the evolution of patriarchy in a society. Coincidence that those happen at the same time? This is a beautiful book but not a happy one. Life is suffering, and this illustrates that well. At the same time, it leaves you with just a glimmer of hope. If you remain true to yourself, maybe, just maybe, it is worth it.

This is a beautifully crafted book. So relevant to my own spiritual struggles, which is full of so many questions and not a lot of answers. It brings to question the purpose, relevace, and struggle of human suffering. It brings to life a time which modern man knows little of, a time in which a very select few men and women were tasked with the awesome responsibility of carrying the knowledge of the ancient philosophers, the earth based wisdom and stories of their deep ancestry, and try to merge it with the ever growing and consuming Catholic Christian doctrine. This book is a profound love story of a women to a man, a student to the teacher, of an individual to the natural world. It took me some time to believe this was not a lost and recovered autobiography from the 400's. A rare book of profound questioning about the nature of man's struggle to find kindness as basic to human nature