John and Caitlin Matthews, Oxford, Authors

John Matthews (born 1948) and Caitlín Matthews (born 1952) are English writers. Together, they have written over 150 books and translated into more than thirty languages. Their work also includes

Tarot The tarot (, first known as '' trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots ...

packs, a card-based storytelling system, screenplays, and songs. The Matthews began working in the 1970s while in London. They wrote and published ''The Western Way'' in 1985. This followed the lead of Christine Hartley's ''The Western Mysteries Tradition'' (1968) by identifying and promoting a

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an mystical tradition to offset the then-current domination of Eastern mysticisms from India and China. The book included meditations to enable readers to make contact with their inner worlds. Historian

Ronald Hutton Ronald Edmund Hutton (born 19 December 1953) is an English historian who specialises in Early Modern Britain, British folklore, pre-Christian religion and Contemporary Paganism. He is a professor at the University of Bristol, has written 14 b ...

considers this an influential work. They also edited ''The Encyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom'' (2000), devised the Storyworld series (2009) and, most recently, created ''The Steampunk Tarot: Gods of the Machine'' (2012). The Matthews studied with two of the leading esotericists of the time, Gareth Knight and Dolorous Ashcroft-Nowicki. From 1988 to 1992, they served as joint-presiders of the

Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids The Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids or OBOD is a Neo-Druidic organisation based in England, but based in part on the Welsh Gorsedd of Bards. It has grown to become a dynamic druid organisation, with members in all parts of the world. The conc ...

. Since 1989, they have run the Fellowship of Isis Lyceum, Domus Sophiae Terrae et Sancte Gradalis in Oxford. The Matthews are also both members of the Archpriesthood Union as custodians of the legacy of the Fellowship of Isis. John and Caitlín Matthews are active teachers on the

New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars consi ...

workshop circuit. They teach their versions of the Celtic mysteries,

Neo-shamanism Neoshamanism refers to new forms of shamanism. It usually means shamanism practiced by Western people as a type of New Age spirituality, without a connection to traditional shamanic societies. It is sometimes also used for modern shamanic rituals a ...

, the Goddess and King Arthur. In 2011, The Matthews were jointly listed 86th in the Watkins list of the 100 most spiritually influential living people worldwide. They currently live in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, UK.

John Matthews

John Matthews (born 1948) has been involved in study of the mysteries of Britain including the

Arthurian Legends The Matter of Britain is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. It was one of the three great Wes ...

and the Grail Myth, for almost fifty years. He has published over ninety books on myth, the Arthurian Legends and Grail studies, including ''The Grail: Quest for the Eternal'' (1981), and most recently ''The Camelot Oracle'' (2012, with Will Worthington). He has also published short stories, a volume of poetry, and several children's books, most notably ''Pirates'' (2006) which was on the

New York Times best-seller list ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

for twenty-two weeks. His book ''Arthur of Albion'' (2009) won a gold

Moonbeams award Moonbeams was a children's cancer charity based in Edinburgh, Scotland, which became the subject of a much-publicised local controversy in 2003. Following court action, it emerged that the charity had income of nearly £3 million over a period ...

. He has taught throughout

and the

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and has acted as advisor for a number of media projects including the Jerry Bruckheimer film "

King Arthur King Arthur ( cy, Brenin Arthur, kw, Arthur Gernow, br, Roue Arzhur) is a legendary king of Britain, and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In the earliest traditions, Arthur appears as a ...

" (2004). He has appeared on the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

and

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

programs on Arthur and the Holy Grail, and shared a

BAFTA award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...

for his work on the educational DVD made to accompany "King Arthur". He has acted as a guest editor and member of the editorial board for the international journal ''

Arthuriana ''Arthuriana'' is a quarterly journal published by the North American branch of the International Arthurian Society. Its focus is on the Arthurian legend. The four annual issues are published in February, May, October, and December. History The j ...

''.

Caitlín Matthews

Caitlín Matthews (born 1952) was born in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, of British and

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

parents, and from an early age was aware of a spiritual dimension to life. She was initiated into the

Fellowship of Isis The Fellowship of Isis (FOI) is an international spiritual organisation devoted to promoting awareness of the Goddess. It is dedicated specifically to the Egyptian goddess Isis because the FOI co-founders believed Isis best represented the en ...

in 1977 and was subsequently ordained as priestess in 1988. She continues as arch-priestess in the Arch Priesthood Union, as one of the custodians of the Fellowship of Isis. Following the publication of ''The Western Way'' she has written over sixty books including several works on the divine feminine, and the worlds of early Welsh and

Irish literature Irish literature comprises writings in the Irish, Latin, English and Scots ( Ulster Scots) languages on the island of Ireland. The earliest recorded Irish writing dates from the 7th century and was produced by monks writing in both Latin an ...

. Her work reflects both the older academic sources and the newer Celtic mystical ones, but leaves out, according to Hutton, "the scholarly publications of the 1980s, many of which have radically altered existing views of the sources for our knowledge of the ancient Celts." Matthews has led workshops in Britain and elsewhere, including the

Temenos Academy The Temenos Academy, or Temenos Academy of Integral Studies, is an educational charity in London which aims to offer education in philosophy and the arts in what it calls "the light of the sacred traditions of East and West". The academy's bac ...

, London;

Regent's Park College, Oxford Regent's Park College (known colloquially within the university as Regent's) is a permanent private hall of the University of Oxford, situated in central Oxford, just off St Giles'. Founded in 1810, the college moved to its present site in ...

; the

University of Jyväskylä The University of Jyväskylä ( fi, Jyväskylän yliopisto) is a research university in Jyväskylä, Finland. It has its origins in the first Finnish-speaking Teacher Training College (the so-called Teacher Seminary), founded in 1863. Ar ...

in Finland, the

University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; pt, Universidade de Lisboa, ) is a public research university in Lisbon, and the largest university in Portugal. It was founded in 2013, from the merger of two previous public universities located in Lisbon, th ...

in Portugal, and at Studium Generale of the Arnhem Institute for the Arts in Netherlands.

Criticism

Ronald Hutton, commenting on Caitlín Matthews' works, states that she "falls below the standards required of a professional historian. She makes no attempt to distinguish between the relative value of sources, so those from the seventh century and from the seventeenth are put together with no sense of context." He also states that she conditions her work to the needs of her audience and that she has incorrectly suggested parallels between Celtic lore and Native American religion.

Bibliography

Caitlín & John Matthews

* ''The Western Way: A Practical Guide to the Western Mystery Tradition''. Volume I: The Native Tradition, Arkana, 1985 Volume 2: The Hermetic Tradition, Arkana, 1986. A revised and updated edition was published in one volume under the title Walkers Between the Worlds (Inner Traditions, 2002) * ''The Arthurian Tarot: A Hallowquest'', Aquarian Press, 1990 * ''The Encyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom: A Celtic Shaman's Sourcebook'', Element, 2000 * ''King Arthur's Raid on the Underworld: The Oldest Grail Quest'', Gothic Image, 2008 (paintings by Meg Falconer) * ''The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures'', Harper Element, 2009 * ''StoryWorld'', Templar, 2009 * ''The Steampunk Tarot: Gods of the Machine'', Connections, 2012

John Matthews

* ''The Grail: Quest for the Eternal'', Thames & Hudson, 1981 * ''The Celtic Shaman'', Element Books Limited, Shaftesbury, Dorset, 1991 (Great Britain) * ''Taliesin: Shamanism and the Bardic Mysteries in Britain and Ireland'', Aquarian Press, 1991 (Reprinted as ''Taliesin: The Last Celtic Shaman'' (Inner Traditions, 2000)) * ''King Arthur: From Dark Age Warrior to Mythic Hero'', Carlton, 2004 * ''The Grail Seeker's Companion'', Thoth, 2004 (with Marian Green) * ''The Wildwood Tarot'', Connections, 2011 (with Mark Ryan) * ''The Lost Tarot of Nostradamus'', Connections, 2012 (with Wil Kinghan) * ''The Camelot Oracle'', Connections, 2012 (with Will Worthington) * ''The Mystery of Spring-Heeled Jack: From Victorian Legend to Steampunk Hero'', Destiny Books, 2016

Caitlín Matthews

* ''Mabon and the Mysteries of Britain: An Exploration of the Mabinogion'', Arkana, 1987 * ''The Elements of the Goddess'', Element, 1989 * ''The Elements of Celtic Tradition'', Element, 1989 * ''Arthur and the Sovereignty of Britain: King and Goddess in the Mabinogion'', Arkana, 1990 * ''Sophia Goddess of Wisdom: the divine feminine from black goddess to world-soul'', HarperCollins, 1991 * ''Celtic Wisdom Sticks: An Ogham Oracle'', Connections, 2001 * ''Sophia, The Bride of God'', Quest, 2001 * ''Singing the Soul Back Home: Shamanic Wisdom for Every Day'', Connections, 2002 * ''The Psychic Protection Handbook: Powerful Protection for Uncertain Times'', Piatkus, 2005 * ''Celtic Visions: Seership, Omens and Dreams of the Otherworld'', Watkins, 2012

References

External links

Hallowquest
John and Caitlin Matthews Homepage *
Caitlín Matthews
at LC Authorities, 37 records {{DEFAULTSORT:Matthews, John And Caitlin Arthurian scholars English children's writers Holy Grail Married couples