Here are 50 books that Scotland's Hidden Sacred Past fans have personally recommended if you like
Scotland's Hidden Sacred Past.
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I am a Templar history enthusiast with a penchant for spiritual surprises hiding in plain sight. I believe words are vessels of spirit and that writing opens a channel of communication for manifesting thoughts into reality. Traveling throughout Europe, Scotland, and England has deepened my confidence that there was so much more to the Middle Ages than crusades and feudalism. The Templars facilitated many societal transformations, including a flowering of mysticism under their guardianship. The mystery is… why have we not connected these dots before? And I suspect there’s much more to discover! My books gather research threads from seemingly isolated historic characters, places, and events into cohesive, inspired, and vibrant stories.
What a surprise to savor a first-hand account of sharing a cottage in Ireland with a leprechaun. After the initial shock, intrigue set in, and then the joyous laughter to offset the underlying angst of being ridiculed for even thinking such an experience could be possible.
As I relaxed into Helliwell’s narrative about her summer in Ireland, I felt my heart warm, and then accept the possibilities of new realities. I realized that if I allowed myself to simply enjoy and pay attention in a different way, I could experience everyday magic that exists as close as my own breath.
In a world where the scientific method demands proof, this book might delightfully upend assumptions regarding elemental beings.
An astonishing true story about one woman’s journey to Ireland where she lived in a cottage with leprechauns.
These seldom-seen beings taught her about the evolution of elementals—the race to which leprechauns, faeries, elves, trolls belong. They explained the importance of humans and elementals working together for the betterment of both of their races and the Earth. Far more than a faery tale, this book is a classic that has been published in eight languages.
Now the author has re-edited her book so that the reader can hear the leprechaun’s voice in all his mischievous wisdom. You also learn about…
The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.
The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.
Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…
I am a Templar history enthusiast with a penchant for spiritual surprises hiding in plain sight. I believe words are vessels of spirit and that writing opens a channel of communication for manifesting thoughts into reality. Traveling throughout Europe, Scotland, and England has deepened my confidence that there was so much more to the Middle Ages than crusades and feudalism. The Templars facilitated many societal transformations, including a flowering of mysticism under their guardianship. The mystery is… why have we not connected these dots before? And I suspect there’s much more to discover! My books gather research threads from seemingly isolated historic characters, places, and events into cohesive, inspired, and vibrant stories.
I love books that validate spiritual creativity and ‘realign’ misconceptions in the annals of history. This inspiring biography documents the life of a 19th-century female artist, who not only dedicated her life to unique spiritual creativity, but also, is currently upending art history. It turns out that her art predates the establishment of the Modern Art Movement, which academia has attributed to men who painted several decades later. Hilma af Klint was a woman before her time. I also love the book’s color plates displaying her mastery of geometry and biology. This book is a well-researched jewel and a gift to art history.
A highly anticipated biography of the enigmatic and popular Swedish painter.
The Swedish painter Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) was 44 years old when she broke with the academic tradition in which she had been trained. While her naturalistic landscapes and botanicals were shown during her lifetime, her body of radical, abstract works never received the same attention. Today, it is widely accepted that af Klint produced the earliest abstract paintings by a trained European artist. But this is only part of her story. Not only was she a successful woman artist, but she was also an avowed clairvoyant and mystic.…
I am a Templar history enthusiast with a penchant for spiritual surprises hiding in plain sight. I believe words are vessels of spirit and that writing opens a channel of communication for manifesting thoughts into reality. Traveling throughout Europe, Scotland, and England has deepened my confidence that there was so much more to the Middle Ages than crusades and feudalism. The Templars facilitated many societal transformations, including a flowering of mysticism under their guardianship. The mystery is… why have we not connected these dots before? And I suspect there’s much more to discover! My books gather research threads from seemingly isolated historic characters, places, and events into cohesive, inspired, and vibrant stories.
This book is a revelation about dynamics between the French monarchy, the Dominicans, Templars, and the beginnings of the French Inquisition in the 14th century. It illuminates the final years of the Templar Order and the torturous distortions used to dominate free-thinking souls.
I was riveted by how the destructive societal patterns are still echoing into the 21st century, where history has repackaged similar cruelties of authoritarianism. This is not a warm, fuzzy uplifting story, but a wake-up call, lest it happen again under our current watch. This book also speaks to the rationale of artist Hilma af Klint’s directive to keep her art sequestered from Nazi view until recently.
In 1300, the French region of Languedoc had been cowed under the authority of both Rome and France since Pope Innocent III 's Albigensian Crusade nearly a century earlier. That crusade almost wiped out the Cathars, a group of heretical Christians whose beliefs threatened the authority of the Catholic Church. But decades of harrowing repression-enforced by the ruthless Pope Boniface VIII , the Machiavellian French King Philip the Fair of France, and the pitiless grand inquisitor of Toulouse, Bernard Gui (the villain in The Name of the Rose)-had bred resentment. In the city of Carcassonne, anger at the abuses of…
The Guardian of the Palace is the first novel in a modern fantasy series set in a New York City where magic is real—but hidden, suppressed, and dangerous when exposed.
When an ancient magic begins to leak into the world, a small group of unlikely allies is forced to act…
I am a Templar history enthusiast with a penchant for spiritual surprises hiding in plain sight. I believe words are vessels of spirit and that writing opens a channel of communication for manifesting thoughts into reality. Traveling throughout Europe, Scotland, and England has deepened my confidence that there was so much more to the Middle Ages than crusades and feudalism. The Templars facilitated many societal transformations, including a flowering of mysticism under their guardianship. The mystery is… why have we not connected these dots before? And I suspect there’s much more to discover! My books gather research threads from seemingly isolated historic characters, places, and events into cohesive, inspired, and vibrant stories.
I loved this book from the first page… a purely delicious novel, of a rendezvous beyond the limits of time and the power of human love. The intersection of time/space/lives/dimensions within this narrative gave me hope for humanity. I also found myself reconsidering the concepts of the pantheons of old. Have we too easily dismissed the possibilities of their existence within modern-day life? Regardless, this book is a really fun beach read. :~)
"Pure delight pours out on every page!" - Grady Harp, Top Amazon Reviewer
"I was blown away! This is some of the deepest spiritual information I’ve read AND a great romance!" - Jeanne Adrienne - Host New Earth Television
"A deftly crafted and entertainingly original fantasy novel." - Midwest Book Reviews
A tale of deathless love, magic and sexual healing, Apollo Me explodes the myths around older women and sex, the relationship between the gods and man, man and woman, and the very nature of the world itself. American author Kathryn Adams is taking a much-needed break on a Greek…
I’ve always had a soft spot for history—in particular, mysteries, myths, and legends. If it’s strange, unexplained, obscure, supernatural, or downright weird, I’m all in. And Celtic folklore, it turns out, excels at exploiting the dark intrigue of human antiquity. Backdropped by a landscape that makes literally anything seem impossible, these stories tell us as much about fairies, merfolk, and other mystical creatures as they do about ourselves. Like so many legends around the world, Celtic mythology is a mirror. One that exposes our deepest fantasies. Reflecting the dark, dangerous side of humanity’s desires back onto itself, and making us question who the real monsters really are.
Oooo, I love me a good witchy book, don’t you? While not specifically about Celtic folklore, this book does take place in the Orkney Islands and does involve magic. So yeah. I’m gonna count it. I loved the witchy magic, dark vibes, female empowerment, and dual timelines in this book.
It was both historically believable while also playing up that “what if” magical realism factor I love so much. It also dabbled in the complexities of several mother/daughter relationships, which I thought added some unexpected depth and emotion to the story. Overall, I would absolutely read more by this author and highly recommend this book to all my coven readers out there!
'Chilling and beautifully written ... C.J. Cooke's finest novel yet' Emilia Hart
'A spellbinding thriller' Scots Magazine
Four hundred years separate them.
One book binds them.
Glasgow 2024: Clem waits by her daughter's hospital bed. Erin was found on an idyllic beach in Fynhallow Bay, Orkney with catastrophic burns and only one memory: her name is Nyx.
But how did she get these burns? And how did her boyfriend end up burned alive?
Orkney 1594: accused of witchcraft, Alison Balfour awaits trial. The punishment? To be burned alive.
I’m a Scottish writer of historical fiction and historical romance. I’m also a history graduate with imagination, by which I mean I’m as interested in what mighthave happened as what definitely did! So much of history is open to interpretation, taking account of who wrote what for whom, and why, and that is a large part of what fascinates me. And of course, I love a good historical novel that combines compelling writing with excellent research—especially when a controversial hero is shown in a new or captivating light.
This book became my ultimate escapism at a low point in my life. It’s a wonderfully written, well-researched epic novel about the eleventh century Scottish king, Macbeth, based on the bold premise that he and Thorfinn the Mighty, Earl of Orkney, were one and the same man. Most of us—especially those who went to school in Scotland!—are familiar with the Macbeth of Shakespeare, but Dorothy Dunnett brings him alivein his own time, no guilt-ridden villain but a complicated warrior of great depth and humanity, true to his beliefs, his people, and his wife who is nothing like Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth either! This is a rattling good read by any standards—engrossing, exciting, humorous, and moving. Even knowing the tragedy was coming, I cried. Each time.
A novel about Macbeth, King of Scotland, by the author of the "Lymond" series. 11th-century Europe is full of young kings. Macbeth - part-Christian, part-Viking - has the imagination and determination to move himself and his people out of a barbarian past and into flowering nationhood.
Aury and Scott travel to the Finger Lakes in New York’s wine country to get to the bottom of the mysterious happenings at the Songscape Winery. Disturbed furniture and curious noises are one thing, but when a customer winds up dead, it’s time to dig into the details and see…
When I stepped off the ferry onto Mainland Orkney, a piece of myself I never knew was missing suddenly slotted into place. Orkney became my geographic soulmate and I knew that The Darkest Court trilogy’s final book—and final battle—would have to take place there. Whenever I find myself longing to return, I pick up one of these books and throw myself back into the stories and histories that caught hold of my imagination all those years ago. I hope they stir your sense of magic and wonder the same way.
Orkney is home to more historical sites and monuments than I can name, but for those of us who celebrate the Winter Solstice, Maeshowe is a critical pilgrimage site. This official souvenir guide to Maeshowe and other Neolithic sites is a perfect companion to the stories and historical facts woven by tour guides. It also doesn’t hurt that you can pull it out, stare at the beautiful photographs, and imagine yourself back in Orkney every time you long to return.
As a Contributing Writer for The Fairy Tale Magazine, I am surrounded by fairy tales and folklore! I love the ocean, and I love the miraculous transformations found in traditional and contemporary selkie tales. I chose the books on this list because each one evokes the mysteries of the sea, blending selkie magic with complex human emotions and casting new light on why we continue to tell selkie stories today. Reading is an act of transformation that helps us shed our skins and swim in new worlds, and I hope you will enjoy swimming through the books on this list as much as I have!
I was initially drawn to this title because I am fascinated by the Orkney islands north of Scotland, and Amy Sackville’s descriptions of the sea and shore made me feel like I was there!
The novel swept me away with its immersive imagery, and although the characters are sometimes disturbing, they are also compelling. A sixty-year-old literature professor brings his young, unnamed wife (a former student) to Orkney for their honeymoon. He watches her, obsessively, as she stares out at the sea.
I was both repelled by narrator and attracted to his poetic voice, and I loved the way selkie stories framed this tale of psychological drama. Layered with folklore and dreams, this novel made me contemplate the darker side of selkie-human unions.
On a remote island in Orkney, a curiously matched couple arrive on their honeymoon. He is an eminent literature professor; she was his pale, enigmatic star pupil. Alone beneath the shifting skies of this untethered landscape, the professor realises how little he knows about his new bride and yet, as the days go by and his mind turns obsessively upon the creature who has so beguiled him, she seems to slip ever further from his yearning grasp. Where does she come from? Why did she ask him to bring her north? What is it that constantly draws her to the…
Before I started to focus on writing, I was a performer: an actor, a magician, and an escapologist. I’ve learnt a great deal about how to construct a story for an audience. I’m excited by the layers of a good narrative—by what makes it work. In my own life I’m always looking for the details: reflections in a puddle, the interactions of strangers, lost items left behind. My book is all about stopping in the middle of this overwhelming world to notice the everyday moments and to celebrate them. I often find that there is magic there, hidden in plain sight.
I was born in a fishing village in Yorkshire and although I live in the city now, I always feel the pull of the sea. This book is a memoir set in Orkney and London. It is about the writer’s struggle with addiction and her recovery – partly through reconnecting to the natural landscape again. Amy’s prose is clean and bright. She constructs sentences with no fat on them. Her descriptions are sharply accurate. I really related to her need to get away from London to find her way back to health. London life is intense and although I love it here, it is a constantly demanding city. Reading this novel reinforced my desire to look at things closely, notice them anew, and to remember to go and visit the sea, whenever I can.
After a decade of heavy partying and hard drinking in London, Amy Liptrot returns home to Orkney, a remote island off the north of Scotland. The Outrun maps Amy's inspiring recovery as she walks along windy coasts, swims in icy Atlantic waters, tracks Orkney's wildlife, and reconnects with her parents, revisiting and rediscovering the place that shaped her.
A Guardian Best Nonfiction Book of 2016 Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller New Statesman Book of the Year
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
When I stepped off the ferry onto Mainland Orkney, a piece of myself I never knew was missing suddenly slotted into place. Orkney became my geographic soulmate and I knew that The Darkest Court trilogy’s final book—and final battle—would have to take place there. Whenever I find myself longing to return, I pick up one of these books and throw myself back into the stories and histories that caught hold of my imagination all those years ago. I hope they stir your sense of magic and wonder the same way.
Brown is a seminal figure in Orcadian literature, and the moment you read any one of his poems, it’s clear why. This is an enjoyable introduction to his works and features some of the poems you can’t find in print in other sources. His poems balance the beauty and complicated reality of his home, but his love for the place shines through every carefully chosen word. Even if you don’t know if you like poetry, the rhythms of his works make them accessible to everyone, proving him to truly be Orkney’s skald.
George Mackay Brown is recognised as one of Scotland's greatest twentieth-century lyric poets. His work is integral to the flowering of Scottish literature over the last fifty years. Admired by many fellow poets, including Seamus Heaney and Douglas Dunn, his poems are deeply individual and unmistakable in their setting: 'the small green world' of the Orkney Islands where he lived for most of his life with its elemental forces of sea and sky and Norse and Icelandic ancestry, is brought vividly and memorably to life.
Here, his rich resonant poetry is collected in one volume, making available again many poems…
