Carl McColman is the author of twelve books on a variety of topics related to the spiritual life. Broadly speaking, his books can be divided into three categories: Christian Spirituality and Mysticism, Interfaith Spirituality, and the Celtic/Pagan Path.
Mysticism and Contemplation
Carl entered the Catholic Church in 2005 and became a lay associate of the Cistercian Monastery of the Holy Spirit in 2007, so his most recent books are written from a contemplative Christian perspective.
The Big Book of Christian Mysticism: The Essential Guide to Contemplative Spirituality
Hailed as “a masterpiece of scholarship and wisdom” (Carolyn Myss), “a much-needed book” (Richard Rohr), “an enormous contribution” (Phyllis Tickle) and “just what we needed” (Brian McLaren), The Big Book of Christian Mysticism looks at the contemplative wisdom tradition at the heart of Christian spirituality, tracing its origins in both the New Testament and Greek Philosophy, and considering how mystical spirituality remains relevant to the average person, even here in the twenty-first century. Every religious tradition has a mystical dimension, and Christian mysticism — the mysticism of Divine Love — is particularly beautiful.
The Big Book of Christian Mysticism consists of two parts. The first part explores the meaning and nature of mysticism, looking at the history of Christian mysticism, how it is different from other mystical traditions, and why paradox is such an essential part of mystical experience. The second part of the book considers how mystical spirituality can be relevant to the ordinary person alive today, examining the role of prayer, meditation, lectio divina (the meditative reading of scripture) and contemplation in the intentional spiritual life. Throughout the book, Carl McColman’s warm and accessible writing style helps to make this daunting topic truly easy to understand.
The renowned twentieth century Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner is famous for saying “the Christian of the future will be a mystic or will not exist.” The Big Book of Christian Mysticism celebrates the humble, ordinary, down-to-earth dimension of contemplative spirituality: a spirituality, indeed, for all people.
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The Lion, the Mouse and the Dawn Treader: Spiritual Lessons from C. S. Lewis’s Narnia
From the author of The Big Book of Christian Mysticism comes an engaging look at how the principles and practices of Christian mysticism are illustrated in C. S. Lewis’s Narnia series.
The Lion, The Mouse and The Dawn Treader shows the reader how C. S. Lewis built his charming children’s adventure story around the traditional stages of the Christian life: from initial resistance to God’s grace, to discovering how sin enslaves us and “turns us into dragons,” to experiencing both the relief found in Christ and the cleansing waters of baptism. From this period of purgation the story turns to the illuminating adventures of resisting further temptation, to exploring silence (and learning how to deal with distractions, or “Dufflepuds”), to a final terrifying journey to the “Island of Darkness” (the dark night of the soul). The final stage of union begins with a Eucharistic feast at Aslan’s Table where an ancient star and his lovely daughter sing joyfully every morning. As the Dawn Treader sails beyond where the stars sing, the travelers find a world of wonders, characterized by light, and clarity, and finally the encounter with Aslan — Christ — himself.
This book will delight fans of C. S. Lewis with new insights into one of his classic stories, and will also help the more casual reader to understand the rich meaning behind this delightful adventure for children — of all ages.
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The Aspiring Mystic: Practical Steps for Spiritual Seekers
Carl McColman’s second book, first published in 2000, is also his most personal. While it covers the same basic subject matter as his first book (Spirituality), The Aspiring Mystic offers a much more practical approach to the spiritual life, particularly for beginners. Like Spirituality, it is written from a contemplative Christian, yet clearly interfaith-friendly perspective. In this book Carl writes about (among other things): his unexpected spiritual awakening at age 16, the challenges of parenting a handicapped child, why he believes that community and guidance are important for spiritual seekers, and what he has learned about meditation from my cats. Denise Linn calls The Aspiring Mystic “a wise yet practical guide for the sacred journey into the mysteries of the soul.”
Interfaith Spirituality
Carl has a long-standing commitment to exploring points of convergence and harmony between different faith traditions, particularly (but not only) Christianity and Neopaganism. Each of these books reflects his commitment to a gracious, generous type of spirituality that embraces rather than excludes.
Spirituality: A Postmodern and Interfaith Approach to Cultivating a Relationship with God
Carl McColman’s first book, published in 1997 as Spirituality: Where Body and Soul Encounter the Sacred, examines the nature, meaning and purpose of spirituality based on cultural, rather than religious, principles. From rock’n'roll lyrics to movie subplots to the surprising secrets of the etymology of ordinary words, the themes and values of the inner life can be found in the most commonplace of ways. In looking at the relationship between spirituality, creativity, and community, a way of understanding that inner life that can applied to any or all wisdom traditions emerges. After being out of print for a few years, Spirituality was reprinted in 2008 with a new subtitle, new cover (featuring a photograph by Carl’s wife, Fran) and a new introduction.
Embracing Jesus and the Goddess : A Radical Call for Spiritual Sanity
This book was written in the late 1990s, when Carl McColman was an Episcopalian struggling to make sense of his profound sense of interest in, and spiritual connection to, the Goddess spirituality of our time. It therefore offers a fascinating glimpse into the joys and struggles of an unusual type of spiritual seeker: a Christian who loves the Goddess — or, perhaps it would be just as accurate to say, a Neopagan who loves Christ. Carl wrote the book especially for those who want to “maintain a light, spacious relationship” with both Goddess-centered and Christian forms of spirituality. But even beyond that, it calls for religious tolerance, goodwill and hospitality for all spiritual seekers of any path or faith tradition.
366 Celt: Year And A Day Of Celtic Wisdom And Lore
On the surface, 366 Celt is simply a collection of daily meditations grounded in Celtic spirituality, written in an inclusive way that both Christians and Neopagans could find useful. But this book, written in 2004 when Carl McColman was first exploring the idea of entering the Catholic faith, also provides a rather nuanced glimpse into the author’s own personal spiritual development, as a Neopagan slowly beginning to recognize within himself the desire to embrace a more contemplative form of spirituality — and, in doing so, to return to the Christian faith. If Embracing Jesus and the Goddess chronicles Carl’s entry into Neopaganism, 366 Celt offers insight into the other end of that seven year journey. The final result? A book that, hopefully, could be of use to all seekers of Celtic wisdom, regardless of creed.
Celtic Wisdom and Neopaganism
From 1997 to 2004 Carl was a student of Celtic and Neopagan spirituality, so his books from those years reflect that interest.
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Paganism
This bestselling book, like all “Idiot’s Guides,” is designed to be a simple but factual introduction to its topic, written in a playful, down-to-earth, and easy-to-read style. Concentrating on Wiccan Neopaganism but touching on other forms of the contemporary Pagan revival, it’s a positive, basic overview of the fast-growing world of earth-based and Goddess-oriented spirituality. It’s ideal for non-Pagans who would like a basic introduction to the Neopagan world, but is useful for the seeker who desires to follow the Pagan path as well.
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Complete Idiot’s Guide to Celtic Wisdom
In this Idiot’s Guide Carl presents a broad overview of the many varieties of Celtic spirituality, concentrating on Druidism and other forms of Celtic Neopaganism. He considers the role of the bard and the seer in the spirituality of the Druids, both ancient and postmodern. But he also discusses Celtic Christianity, Celtic “shamanism,” the fairy-faith, and the mysticism of the Holy Grail. Overviews of Irish and Welsh mythology, Celtic divination, and tips on integrating Celtic wisdom into everyday life round out this introductory book.
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The Well-Read Witch: Essential Books for Your Magickal Library
From 1997 to 2001 Carl worked for the New Leaf Distributing Company, a major wholesaler of mind/body/spirit books and related products. New Leaf carried a vast selection of books on earth-based religion and spirituality: Wicca, witchcraft, and other forms of Neopaganism including Celtic paganism and Druidism. This book arose out of Carl’s own desire to learn about these religions and spiritualities. In addition to researching the literature of Neopaganism through New Leaf, Carl interviewed priests and priestesses of various Pagan and Wiccan communities to discover which of the many books on earth spirituality were the most highly recommended and/or the most popular. He drew up a list of over 400 books on some thirty different topics of interest to Neopagans, making The Well-Read Witch an annotated bibliography for a lifetime’s worth of Pagan-oriented reading material. And while this book is of necessity dated (it was published in 2001), many of the books featured in it remain in print (or can be found through used book sources online).
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Carl McColman explored Neopaganism for seven years — from 1997 to 2004 — and in that time, felt like he never really managed to explain his chosen spiritual path to two of the most important people in his life: his parents. When Someone You Love is Wiccan was an attempt to share Neopagan spirituality not only with Carl’s own family, but with anyone who might want to learn more about earth-based spirituality but without wanting to practice it for themselves. Concentrating on “mainstream” forms of Neopaganism like eclectic Wicca, this book aims to dismantle stereotypes and misconceptions and instead build bridges of understanding.
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Before You Cast a Spell: Understanding the Power of Magic
This book arose out of a conversation Carl had with several Wiccan and Pagan booksellers who were frustrated by so many young seekers who wanted to learn about magic and spells — while ignoring the spiritual and ethical dimensions of magical religion. Written in 2003, Before You Cast a Spell arguably represents the beginning of Carl’s journey from Paganism back to Christianity, for in it I argue that ethics, personal responsibility, and choosing to be happy and empowered, are all ultimately more important than magic. But even though the book marks his own personal spiritual turning point, it has been warmly embraced by many teachers and elders within the Pagan community, and won a prestigious national award from the Coalition of Visionary Resources (the trade association for new age and metaphysical businesses) as the “Best Magic Book” of 2004.
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Regarding this book, Carl says, “Kathryn Hinds was one of the technical editors for The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Celtic Wisdom, and ever since that book was finished, she and I had wanted to do another project together. That dream came true with Magic of the Celtic Gods and Goddesses. I had a lot of fun working with her, for Kathryn is a splendid writer, superb editor, and (most important of all) a true friend. She handles the Welsh and Gaulish deities while I present the Irish figures. Thanks to Kathryn’s inspiration I believe this book represents my finest work as a neopagan writer — but it’s also my pagan swan song, for within six months of finishing it I had chosen to return to Christianity. Even though I am no longer a Pagan, I still think this book provides a useful (and positive) overview of how Neopagan Celtic spirituality can be practiced in today’s world.”
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The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries
Carl McColman wrote the introduction to this reprint edition of W.Y. Evans-Wentz’ classic study of traditional fairy beliefs in the Celtic lands, originally published in 1911, and here reprinted by New Page Books. The editor at New Page originally asked him to write an introduction detailing how this book can be of use to practitioners of “fairy magic.” He ignored that request and instead offered a glimpse into how the fairy-faith remains relevant in our postmodern world. While only the New Page Books edition features Carl’s introduction, unfortunately New Page did a poor job producing this book: not only is Carl’s introduction marred by several obvious typographical errors (that did not originate with him), but his name is misspelled on the title and copyright pages (but spelled correctly on the cover) — and, worst of all, Evans-Wentz’ text is likewise filled with errors that are unique to this badly-edited edition.
