Sun and Cross

Quick Look

Starting with the ancient sun-oriented monuments of the megalithic age, Streit traces an unbroken spiritual culture in Ireland through the Celtic era, into the period of the early Christian stone crosses.

Description

A full-colour edition of this inspiring and fascinating work of Celtic spirituality.

Starting with the ancient sun-oriented monuments of the megalithic age, Streit traces an unbroken spiritual culture in Ireland from the time of stone circles and dolmens, through the Celtic era, into the period of the early Christian stone crosses.

The highly evolved stone-age culture was absorbed and developed by the Celts when they settled in Ireland in the centuries before Christ. They in turn found it natural to accept Christianity which developed in a unique manner in such a spiritual climate. Early hymns and liturgical texts, combining the older nature practice with the new religion of Christianity, bear witness to this unbroken evolution.

Finally, Streit depicts the amazing missionary zeal of monks like Columbanus who established Celtic Christianity across the vastness of Europe during the Dark Ages, until its suppression by the Church of Rome in the eighth century.

Fully illustrated in colour, this is a book for giving and cherishing.

Table of Contents

I Sun Stones of the Megalithic Culture
1. Megalithic Cult Centres
2. The Sun in Pre-Christian Signs and Symbols
3. The Secrets of the Spirals
II From Celtic to Early Christian Culture
4. The Original Population of Ireland
5. The Beginning of Old Irish Christianity
6. The Tradition of the Nordic bards and its Transformation into Christian Forms
7. The Hymns of Old Irish Christianity
8. Monks and Monasteries
9. From the Pre-Christian to the Christian Cross
10. Main Themes of the Sun Crosses
III The Spread of Irish Christianity on the Continent
11. Pelagius, an Early Irish Missionary
12. Patrick in the Twilight of History and Legend
13. Irish Missionaries
14. Columbanus
15. Missionaries in Switzerland
16. The Dispute Between Rome and Ireland
17. Boniface and the Destruction of the Celtic Church in Germany
18. A Late Flowering: John Scotus Erigena
19. Invasions in Early and Later Christian Times

Reviews

'The republication of this book has been long-awaited. It includes a wonderful selection of photographs, illustrations, poetry and quotations. It is an essential sourcebook for anybody interested in Celtic spirituality and Celtic history.'
-- Dara Molloy, Aisling Magazine, 2004

'A beautifully produced and highly informative book about the development and flowering of early Christianity in Ireland. A fascinating section on sun spirals explains their relationship to the cycle of the year and to incarnation and excarnation. An authoritative account conveying the spirit of the tradition.'
-- Scientific & Medical Network Review, Summer 2004

'There are lots of picture and diagrams of Ireland's fantastic ancient monuments and stone crosses. Engrossing'.
-- Julie Chamberlain, Coventry Evening Telegraph, 5 June 2004

'Streit makes a good case for there being Irish Christians before St Patrick. This is a handsome book with plenty of photographs, [...] and the tragic story of the rise and fall of the Irish Church makes compelling reading.'
-- Northern Earth, December 2005

Author

Jakob Streit (1910-2009) grew up in Spiez, Switzerland, a district to which Irish monks brought Christianity over a thousand years ago. He studied natural history and history of art. He was a teacher both in child and adult education.