Utter shit.
By Douglas Monroe, conman extraordinaire.
This book claims to contain the Book of Fferyllt, a lost book of Druidism. It claims to contain spells for raising the shade of Merlyn. It claims druids met in the trees. It claims druids came from Atlantis. It claims they worshiped a god named Pharon. It claims that pumpkin is a sacred plant of druidism. It claims that druids were celibate vegetarians. It claims that women are the weaker sex, and very deadly (well, we may be deadly). It claims that mistletoe is something safe to ingest. It claims to have spells which will open portals to Fairyland. It claims that the druids used echinacea. It claims all this and more. Of course, these claims are all false:
- The Book of Fferyltt: Book of Vergil--as in Vergil who wrote the Aeneid. The name of this so-called books originates in the Hanes Taliesin, from the Mabinogion, where Cerridwen is using a spell from said book. Vergil was thought to be a magician in medieval folklore, but there is certainly no book. Another fake book of Monroe's is The Gwarchan of Maeldrew: there is no such thing. There is a Gwarchan of Maelderew, either by the bard Aneirin or Taliesin, which is an elegy of a fallen warrior--not a spellbook.
- I don't believe you can raise the dead, of course, or even a ghost. At any rate, the so-called spell is actually an old englyn or poem about the grave of Myrddin. You don't raise the dead with poetry. (Well, maybe MacBeth, but that's another story.)
- Druids never met in the trees. They met in nemetons, which are sacred groves, but they sure as hell didn't climb the damn trees.
- There is no Atlantis--not the way it's meant here. Sorry, Edgar, but there just isn't.
- There is no god Pharon. The name Ffaron shows up in the Mabingion as a tragic figure who died of a broken heart, but he isn't a god.
- Druids wouldn't have known about pumpkins or echinacea, as they are North American plants. (thanks, sleeping wolf :) )
- Druids certainly weren't celibate--for example, the druid Cathbad is said to have fathered King Conor MacNessa of Ulster.
- There is no evidence they were vegetarians.
- Women were relatively equal to men in Celtic society. Much of Monroe's book is full of misogynistic material which I will spare you of here, all of which has nothing to do with what is known about druidism.
- Mistletoe is incredibly deadly. Many of the other plants Monroe suggests are edible are most definitely not.
- There is no Fairyland. At least not one you can visit in bodily form. Astral travel, well, that's up to you. But you sure as hell ain't hoppin' no bus.
And so on. In other words, if you want a comparatively accurate depiction of Celtic religion, read Ann Ross' Pagan Britain, or Celtic myths and Roman records.