A quote from Land of the Ever-Living Ones

A quote from the forthcoming Land of the Ever-Living Ones, by Anthony Murphy. Feel free to share.
Read more about the book here: http://www.mythicalireland.com/landoftheeverlivingones/land-of-the-ever-living-ones.html

My first work of fiction - 'Land of the Ever Living Ones' - coming soon

ANNOUNCEMENT

I am taking a giant leap into the realm of fiction!

My first work of fiction, a novella called 'Land of the Ever Living Ones', is nearing completion. The text is finished, and is currently being edited. I am planning to publish the book at Samhain, and if all goes to plan there will be both a printed version and an eBook version.

Land of the Ever Living Ones is an extraordinary dialogue between an old man and a young boy that reaches into cosmic and spiritual realms. In one fireside conversation, they sweep the universe with discussion about many different things, including natural phenomena, the mysteries of life and the question of what happens to us when we die.

The old man (seandraoí) has gained much knowledge and wisdom during his life, and readily imparts it to the eager young boy, who is full of questions.

Tír na mBeo (Land of the Ever Living Ones) was an ancient Irish name for the otherworld, the place to which the soul was believed to have gone after death. In this wide-ranging conversation, the man takes the boy on a journey into his own ancestral past, and through lesson, metaphor, story and dream, creates for him a stunning insight into his spiritual existence and his quest for eternity.

The journey is a magical and powerful one, evoking both ecstasy and melancholy, for lost ancestors, for the frailties of mankind, and for the sometimes harsh lessons of worldly life. However, it is an optimistic tale, one that stirs up great hope for the eventual destiny of the boy, and for all his kin.

Its central message is one of hope – that there is some reward beyond this life, and that all our struggles on this earth are not in vain.

Newgrange: Monument to Immortality - publication date October 25th

Many people who visit the ancient and magnificent Newgrange monument in the Boyne Valley are driven by some deep longing to connect with their most distant roots. The giant 5,000-year-old megalithic construction evokes awe and wonderment, and often a sense of melancholy for the community of people who created it from stone and earth in the remote past, a people now lost to time.

The cover of the new book

For the past three centuries, archaeologists, antiquarians, and researchers have been probing Newgrange in the hope of revealing something about its purpose, and something about the mysterious people of the New Stone Age who created giant structures using primitive technology. In this fascinating book, Anthony Murphy shows that Newgrange is not only a uniquely special place, but that its construction was carried out not by a grizzly mob of grunting barbarians, but rather by an advanced agrarian community who had developed keen skills in the sciences of astronomy, engineering and architecture.

Newgrange: Monument to Immortality goes deep into the mind and soul of our neolithic ancestors to better understand what led them to build this remarkable monument. In a deeply moving, poetic and philosophical exploration, Murphy looks beyond the archaeology and the astronomy to reveal a much more profound and sacred vision of a sophisticated people who were driven to create this marvellous testament to their time.

The book has gone to the printer and, all going well, should be available to purchase in late October. To pre-order your copy, visit The Liffey Press website.