[Review] Artio and Artaois by Andrew Anderson

Title: Artio and Artaois
Author: Andrew Anderson
Publisher: Moon Books
Pages: 120
Publication Date: July 1st, 2021

'Andrew Anderson leads us on a pilgrimage into the wild forests of our Ancestors in search of the ancient Bear Gods of the Celts. With some fascinating historical and cultural references, plus useful modern resources and tips for ceremony, this fabulous little book is a wonderful introduction and guide to working with Artio and Artaois.' 

Philip Carr-Gomm, author of 'Druid Mysteries'

Out of the Forest of Time come two Gods for the Twenty-First Century. Join Andrew Anderson as he makes a pilgrimage to discover more about the ancient Celtic Bear Gods. Weaving together archaeology, folklore and spiritual practice, this book pieces together the evidence to create a clearer picture of who Artio and Artaois were and how they can be honoured today. The journey will take the reader from the medieval city of Bern to the depths of an English forest, from the Rothar Mountains in Germany to the Highlands of Scotland, from the slopes of Glastonbury Tor to the rocky headland of Tintagel. With voices from an array of practitioners and experts, this is a journey back to the very beginning of human belief.

A big thank you to Moon Books for gifting a free ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review! 

This is a Pagan Portals, so a short look at a specific topic. The Pagan Portals line of books are meant to be shorter introductory volumes to relatively specific topics to give readers a foundational jumping point. 

This book is about the gods Artia and Artaois, of which there is very little material about. This is a highlight of the book - yay, more material and personal anecdotal material! - but also its downfall. Because there is so little material for the author to work with, this is instead more of a personal narrative journey. 

The author is trying to take the very sparse pins and tie them all together with his red thread of personal journey and pilgrimage, it's very interesting, but if you're not emotionally attached to the material it can fall a little flat and be, well, boring.

While it's fascinating to read about the author's experiences and read about his exploration of what historic material we do have, this won't be helpful for those who are looking to work with the Deities, as this is definitely note a definitive guidebook. In fact, it often reads more like a dissertation or essay, and not a book. 

This will be a treat for those who like reading about other people's personal experiences with the Divine and how they came to work with those powers with bits of history sprinkled throughout. 

About the Author

Andrew is a Druid author and practitioner who has been publishing with Moon Books since 2019. He moved to Stratford-upon-Avon in his 20s to study Shakespeare and decided to stay. Having worked in education for almost 20 years, teaching English and Creative Writing, Andrew now divides his time between working in the Shakespeare Industry and exploring the Warwickshire countryside. He lives in Stratford-upon-Avon with his two cats.