Priest and King System: Celts in Ireland

Author: Time-Life Books
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2003-01-01
Features: Despite his prominence, King Laoire was a melancholic man. For some time, he had been hearing whispers from those around him about an upcoming religion. This news unsettled Laoire. He knew his territory had some immunity to foreign influences, but he also understood that caution was always advisable and that one should never be reckless. The king summoned a man named Lucet Mel into the palace. Mel was a Celtic priest, favored by the king, and was a very influential figure. Laoire ordered him to cast a divination to determine the auspiciousness or inauspiciousness of this stranger. Mel bowed deeply to his sovereign and returned to his residence. From his satchel, he took a live dog's liver, placed it in his mouth, and began to chew. After chewing for a sufficient amount of time, he took it out and placed it on the stone slab inside the door. Then, he performed a ritual to invoke the gods and inquire about the future. That night, he slept with his hands covering his cheeks, while his deputy kept watch with wide eyes, not disturbing his journey into the underworld. The next morning, Lucet Mel awoke without anxiety. In a dream, he felt "a foreign way of life" was coming to Ireland. Tara would be conquered by another nation, a land "unknown before, practicing a language that was cumbersome, brought from distant overseas." This language was powerful and unstoppable. "Kings who adopt it shall die, and the people who follow it shall be misled. All gods shall be destroyed, and all crafts shall be ruined. Once this teaching takes hold, it shall endure for all eternity." The Priest and the Kingdom: Celts in Ireland is one of the titles in Time-Life Books' world history series Living in Ancient Times for you. This volume describes the legends of Christianity coming to northern Ireland and tells many equally captivating stories. Turning the pages, we