Book Review

The Sin Eater’s Last Confessions

By Ross Heaven

Ross takes us through a gentle, nostalgic and personal journey to the village of his youth and shares with us his relationship with Adam Dilwyn Vaughan - a sin eater and recluse who lived on the margins of the village.  

 

The Sin Eater’s Last Confessions is a moving portrayal of the author’s apprenticeship into what the he describes as a dying profession.  The Celtic tradition of sin eating is recorded along with Ross’s own initiatory experiences and the introduction to plant spirits, energy healing and this aspect of the UK’s own shamanic heritage.

 

A unique book in shamanic literature where the author makes it clear that not all information is given and in true bardic style, much is left up to the reader to fill in the blanks.  Ross offers several exercises for readers to try which are generally similar to those in other shamanic traditions.  However, as with many books of this ilk, proof of the tradition is unavailable and readers are almost encouraged to take the reminiscences with a ‘pinch of salt’ and use the story to find their own unique path within their own culture.

 

You can find a copy here