Wilde, Lyn Webster

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WILDE, Lyn Webster

PERSONAL: Female. Education: Cambridge University, B.A.

ADDRESSES: Home—London, England. Offıce—Isle of Avalon Foundation, 2-4 Glastonbury High St., Somerset BA6 9OU, England. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Broadcaster and documentary filmmaker, writer, and lecturer. Leader of seminars on Celtic consciousness.

WRITINGS:

Working with Your Dreams: Linking the Conscious and Unconscious in Self-Discovery, Blandford (London, England), 1995.

Celtic Women: In Legend, Myth, and History, illustrated by Courtney Davis, Sterling Publishing Group (New York, NY), 1997.

On the Trail of the Women Warriors: The Amazons inMyth and History, Thomas Dunne Books (New York, NY), 2000.

Becoming the Enchanter: A Journey into the Heart of the Celtic Mysteries, J. P. Tarcher/Putnam (New York, NY), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS: Lyn Webster Wilde is a former broadcaster and filmmaker in Great Britain who has immersed herself in ancient Celtic lore as a means of religious self-discovery. In her books, most notably On the Trail of the Women Warriors: The Amazons in Myth and History and Becoming the Enchanter: A Journey into the Heart of the Celtic Mysteries, Wilde draws upon her own life history and experiences while investigating mythic and mystical traditions central to pre-Christian Europe.

On the Trail of the Women Warriors comprises Wilde's search for the Amazons, a legendary tribe of warrior women described by the ancient Greeks. Wilde travels through the Near East and the steppe region of Russia, as well as parts of Africa, and she uncovera archaeological and anthropological evidence of women who fought and ruled with men. As a Publishers Weekly reviewer put it, the author's "passionate, well-researched treatise on the Amazonian warriors . . . illuminates myth and history." Booklist critic Julia Glynn likewise found the work "an intriguing and thought-provoking account" that is "highly enjoyable and educational."

Wilde's personal involvement with Celtic lore is revealed in her books Celtic Women: In Legend, Myth, and History and especially Becoming the Enchanter. In Becoming the Enchanter she describes her own self-discovery as a "woman warrior" with a mission to reacquaint modern English and American readers with ancient holy traditions of the British Isles. The book is not a breathless paean to easily achieved religious rapture, but rather a candid reflection on how the religious quest can affect personal relationships and alter formerly accepted beliefs. A Kirkus Reviews critic found the book flawed, commenting: "If visions, per se, can have the ring of illegitimacy, these do." Conversely, a Publishers Weekly reviewer concluded: "Readers who like to flirt with the supernatural . . . will relish this trek through the borders of consciousness." The same reviewer described Wilde as an "endearingly down-to-earth writer."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, June 1, 2000, Julia Glynn, review of On theTrail of the Women Warriors: The Amazons in Myth and Mystery, p. 1847.

Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2002, review of Becoming the Enchanter: A Journey into the Heart of the Celtic Mysteries, p. 1295.

Library Journal, June 1, 2000, Rose Cichy, review of On the Trail of the Women Warriors, p. 142.

Publishers Weekly, June 5, 2000, review of On theTrail of the Women Warriors, p. 83; September 9, 2002, review of Becoming the Enchanter, p. 61.

Times Literary Supplement, July 2, 1999, Kathleen Jamie, review of On the Trail of the Women Warriors, p. 31.