Celtic Magic: A practitioner’s guide Brigid Ehrmantraut
Event details
Druids and divination, curses and charms: the Celtic world was filled with magic and intrigue, but how and why did people practice magic?
Brigid Ehrmantraut, author of Celtic Magic: A Practitioner’s Guide, will take you on a journey through Celtic-speaking regions to explore the different ways people interacted with magic. Some sought aid through deities and dedications, while others used spells and curse tablets to wish ill on their enemies. With the medieval period, saints overtook the old gods, and witches, shape-shifters, and battle spirits became but tropes of medieval literature.
Join Brigid as she delves into gods and practices that shaped the lives of Celts through antiquity and the middle ages. Along the way, pick up some tips and tricks for personal practice, including creating curses, dedicating religious offerings to the gods and a medieval Welsh hangover cure.
Book sales
You can buy copies of many of our speakers’ books from Fox Lane Books, a local independent bookseller and Festival partner. In some cases, author signed bookplates are available too.
Portrait image credit: Brian Ehrmantraut
About the speaker
Dr Brigid Ehrmantraut is an expert in Celtic languages and literature and the author of Celtic Magic: A Practitioner’s Guide (Thames & Hudson, 2026). She is an Associate Lecturer at the University of St Andrews, UK and previously held a Junior Research Fellowship at St John’s College, University of Cambridge, UK. Originally from Washington, she studied at Princeton University, US, before gaining an MPhil and PhD in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic from the University of Cambridge, UK. She is also the author of Classical Myth in Medieval Ireland.
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