Carl McColman leads us to the brink of lessons no book can teach, then frees us to go forward to learn them, trusting the God who meets us at every step of the unknown way. — Barbara Brown Taylor
If you don’t know about Carl McColman, you should. — Brian D. McLaren
Carl McColman gives you much wise direction and broad understanding of contemplative practice. Here is your teacher! — Richard Rohr
I’m a doctor, not an engineer. — Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy
Okay, so that last quote didn’t have anything to do with me. Or did it? If it were me talking, I’d say, “I’m a writer, not a publicist.” But in this day and age, authors are expected to do their own marketing, which is why I am sitting here at the computer creating this blog post about all my books.
As of this writing (early 2024), I have twenty published books (and am working on #21). All of my books are spiritually themed, but they cover a wide terrain within the spiritual world, usually reflecting whatever I happen to be interested in at the time. Scroll down and you’ll see books about Christian mysticism, Neopagan spirituality, Celtic wisdom and various shades in between. Over the years I have been moved by how people have responded to this eclectic library I’ve created. There are readers who prefer just one or another of the topics I write about, and others who love it all. I’m grateful for every reader, no matter how specific or broad your interests might be. Thank you, thank you for reading — you all mean the world to me.
So here, in one handy blog post, is a list of all my books, covering all the themes and including books that have gone out of print over the years. Scroll down to see the cover art, read a brief description of each, and to see how you can to order them (even if it’s just scrounging for used copies). If you’ve already enjoyed one or a couple of my books, I hope you’ll find a new treasure here. And if you’re new to my work — well, there’s plenty to choose from. I’m listing them starting with the most recent release and then going in reverse chronological order. That’s for the practical reason that the newer books are the ones more likely to be in print.
Happy exploring…
Coming in June 2025 — Pre-order Now!
Read the Bible Like a Mystic
Contemplative Wisdom and the Word
Many contemplatives are troubled by how difficult passages in the Bible can be used to promote sexism, homophobia, hostility to other faiths, and other problems — but a sterile, “academic” reading of the sacred text can seem spiritually unfulfilling. Read the Bible Like a Mystic reminds us that there is an ancient “third way” of approaching the Bible: reading scripture not with the narrow view of a fundamentalist or the skepticism of scholars, but with the contemplative heart of a mystic. This approach understands that much of the Bible was never meant to be taken literally, yet maintains that spiritual wisdom, guidance in prayer, and encouragement for deep intimacy with the Divine are encoded throughout the sacred text.
Where to buy Read the Bible Like a Mystic:
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Broadleaf Books
Bookshop.org • Books-a-Million
www.anamchara.com (autographed copy)
The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism
Completely revised and significantly expanded, The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism offers a beautiful vision of mystical Christianity as a radically inclusive, egalitarian and embodied contemplative wisdom tradition. The Big Book of Christian Mysticism was a bestseller upon its publication in 2010, and has remained one of the most popular books on its topic ever since. This edition is a completely revised and significantly expanded new version of this book that has been called “a masterpiece of scholarship and wisdom” (Carolyn Myss).
Where to buy The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism:
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Broadleaf Books
Bookshop.org • Books-a-Million • Cathedral Bookstore in Atlanta (autographed copy)
Christian Book Distributors • Indiebound.com • www.anamchara.com (autographed copy)
Eternal Heart
Where do we meet the mystery that the mystics call “union with God”? In our hearts, of course! This book looks at the mystical life from the perspective of the heart — and the many gifts of love and grace that can be found within. Weaving together ideas from the Bible, world contemplative wisdom, and the insights of the great mystics, this book leads the reader on a journey into the splendor of the human heart — a journey to the heart of God. Christine Valters Paintner said, “Reading Eternal Heart left my heart kindled by both joy and possibility!”
Where to buy Eternal Heart:
Amazon.com • Barnes & Noble • Books-a-Million • Bookshop.org
Christianbook.com • Verbum/Logos/Faithlife
Indiebound.org • Broadleaf Books (publisher’s website)
The Spirit of the Celtic Gods and Goddesses
(with Kathryn Hinds)
Here’s a new edition (with a beautiful new cover, new foreword by Courtney Weber, and a new afterword by yours truly) of the book I co-authored with Kathryn Hinds on the mythology and spirituality of the Celtic Gods and Goddesses. Looking particularly at the mythologies of Ireland and Wales, this is a book that weaves together history and spirituality to inspire anyone interested in how ancient Celtic myth and legend continues to be meaningful today.
Where to buy Spirit of the Celtic Gods and Goddesses:
Amazon.com • Barnes & Noble • Books-a-Million • Bookshop.org
Indiebound.org • Weiser Books (publisher’s website)
Unteachable Lessons
Unteachable Lessons proclaims that the most important lessons in life can’t be taught, or learned from a book or a course. Only life can teach us our most important lessons. My most personal book to date, written just a few years after the death of my stepdaughter, Unteachable Lessons draws largely from my own life to illustrate why wisdom can never be limited to the words in a book. It seems counter-intuitive (Unteachable Lessons is a book about how you can’t learn wisdom from a book) but it’s heartfelt expl0ration of mysteries of life such as love, grief, loss, prayer, and trust make this a book as universal as it is unusual. Read this not only to explore the essential mystery of wisdom — read it also to get to know me and my family better.
Where to buy Unteachable Lessons:
Paperback: Amazon • Barnes & Noble • ChristianBook.com
Independent Bookstore (Online or Near You)
www.anamchara.com (autographed copy)
Ebook: Kindle • Nook • Kobo • Verbum • Logos
Invitation to Celtic Wisdom
An Invitation to Celtic Wisdom was originally envisioned as “The Little Book of Celtic Wisdom” — but the publisher eventually decided to give it the “Invitation” title to more accurately reflect the tone of the book. Portions of this book originally appeared in my now out of print earlier book 366 Celt, but there’s plenty of new material in this book as well. It draws on myth, folklore, poetry, and the tales of Celtic saints and heroes, to explore the spiritual tradition of the Celtic peoples — a tradition rooted in hospitality, love of nature, and a mystical sense of the presence of God. The Celtic way is more important than ever in our increasingly fractured and troubled times. It’s not just for people who have Irish, Scottish or Welsh ancestry — this is a universal wisdom for all people.
Where to buy An Invitation to Celtic Wisdom:
Paperback: Amazon • Barnes & Noble
Independent Bookstore (Online or Near You)
www.anamchara.com (autographed copy)
Ebook: Kindle • Nook • iBooks • Kobo
The Little Book of Christian Mysticism
Like Christian Mystics (see below), The Little Book of Christian Mysticism was designed as a companion volume to The Big Book of Christian Mysticism. Whereas the “Big Book” is an overview of the topic, and Christian Mystics is a survey of the most important mystics over the history of the Christian tradition, the “Little Book” invites readers to meet some of the great mystics through their own words. With close to 400 quotations from the Bible and many of the great mystics, this is a devotional introduction to mystical wisdom through the voice of the mystics themselves.
Where to buy The Little Book of Christian Mysticism:
Paperback: Amazon • Barnes & Noble
Independent Bookstore (Online or Near You)
www.anamchara.com (autographed copy)
Ebook: Kindle • Nook • iBooks • Kobo
Christian Mystics
This book was explicitly designed/created to be a companion volume to The Big Book of Christian Mysticism. There have been plenty of books about the Christian mystics themselves published over the years. Some are arranged alphabetically — they read like reference books. Others are arranged chronologically — they read like history books. So with this book, I tried something different: grouping the mystics together according to different qualities that mark their particular contribution to spirituality. So there are sections devoted to visionaries and to philosophers, to saints and to heretics, to soul friends and to poets, etc. The idea is to celebrate the fact that mystics come in all shapes and sizes — which, hopefully, invites readers to prayerfully consider what their unique way of expressing/manifesting Divine Love might look like. As more than one commentator has noted: a mystic is not a special kind of person; rather, each person is a special kind of mystic. Hopefully, this book can help anyone to discern their own special way of walking the mystical path.
Where to buy Christian Mystics:
Paperback: Amazon • Barnes & Noble
Independent Bookstore (Online or Near You)
www.anamchara.com (autographed copy)
Ebook: Kindle • Nook • iBooks • Kobo
Befriending Silence
In 2012 I made his life profession as a Lay Cistercian: a layperson under the formal spiritual guidance of Trappist monks. The wisdom of the Trappists — who are part of the Cistercian family of Christian monastics — formed some of the most beloved of contemplatives and mystics in our time, including writers like Thomas Merton, Miriam Pollard, Thomas Keating, Basil Pennington, William Meninger, and Michael Casey. Others, like Cynthia Bourgeault, Richard Rohr, and Judith Valente (and yours truly) were deeply influenced by the Trappists. Befriending Silence is an insightful and down-to-earth introduction to Trappist/Cistercian spirituality, written especially for people who are not themselves called to become monks or nuns. The quiet, deeply contemplative spirituality of the Cistercians can be a blessing for anyone: and Befriending Silence offers insight into how such blessings can make a difference in your life.
Befriending Silence received the “Georgia Author of the Year” Award for best inspirational/religious book of 2015 by an author based in Georgia.
Where to buy Befriending Silence:
Paperback: Amazon • Barnes & Noble • ChristianBook.com
Independent Bookstore (Online or Near You)
www.anamchara.com (autographed copy)
Ebook: Kindle • Nook • Kobo • Verbum • Logos
Answering the Contemplative Call
“How can I get started in contemplative prayer?” “What does it take to truly follow the path of the great mystics?” Questions like these would arise from people who attended my retreats and who were reading The Big Book of Christian Mysticism. So I wrote Answering the Contemplative Call to support and encourage anyone who feels like a beginner in the contemplative or mystical life. This book assumes no prior knowledge of mystical or contemplative spirituality: it’s means to help anyone get started on the adventure of going deeper in the interior life, in response to the silent presence of Divine Love. If you are a contemplative beginner — or just looking for a user-friendly “refresher” — then Answering the Contemplative Call might just be for you.
Where to buy Answering the Contemplative Call:
Paperback: Amazon • Barnes & Noble • ChristianBook.com
Independent Bookstore (Online or Near You)
www.anamchara.com (autographed copy)
Ebook: Kindle • Nook • iBooks • Kobo
The Lion, the Mouse and the Dawn Treader
The Lion, the Mouse and the Dawn Treader is a commentary on C. S. Lewis’s book The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, showing how that children’s book offers readers an insightful template into the dynamics of the spiritual life. Lewis was guided by two “templates” in writing his book: first, an ancient Celtic folktale known as the immram, or wondrous sea-voyage, in which great saints like Brendan the Navigator sought to reach paradise itself. But on another level, Lewis also built his adventure story around the traditional stages of the Christian mystical life: from the interior transformation of inner purification, to the deep contemplative transformation of the illuminative way, to the final splendor of Divine Union: the unitive life, described by C.S. Lewis as “reaching Aslan’s country.”
This book will delight fans of C. S. Lewis with new insights into one of his classic stories, and will also help the more casual reader to understand the rich meaning behind this charming children’s adventure.
To fully appreciate The Lion, the Mouse and the Dawn Treader, readers are advised to read it alongside C. S. Lewis’s Narnia adventure, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Each chapter in my book corresponds to the same chapter in Lewis’s, giving you food for thought as you make the journey to Aslan’s country at the very end of the Narnian world.
Where to buy The Lion, the Mouse and the Dawn Treader:
Paperback: Amazon • Barnes & Noble • ChristianBook.com
Independent Bookstore (Online or Near You)
www.anamchara.com (autographed copy)
Ebook: Kindle • Nook • Kobo
The Big Book of Christian Mysticism
(Old Edition)
My best known book, The Big Book of Christian Mysticism has been hailed as “a masterpiece of scholarship and wisdom” (Carolyn Myss) and was recognized as one of the best spiritual books of 2010 by the Spiritual & Practice website. This book explores Christian mysticism not as a theological or academic discipline, but as a contemplative practice: an invitation for ordinary people to embrace the ways of silence and stillness as a path to responding to Divine Love. An Amazon.com bestseller, this book has been used as a seminary textbook and a study guide for prayer groups — but its main purpose remains to be a resource for anyone who wants to integrate mystical and contemplative spirituality into their own lives. Please note that in 2023 a significantly revised and expanded second edition of this book was published as The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism. But if you would like to purchase a copy of the original edition, please use the links below.
Where to buy The Big Book of Christian Mysticism:
Paperback:Amazon • Barnes & Noble
Independent Bookstore (Online or Near You)
Ebook: Kindle • Nook • iBooks • Kobo
366 Celt
366 Celt is structured as a daily devotional, but it really follows a narrative arc, and none of the readings are tied to a specific date. So you can use it for daily reflection, or just read it all the way through. This book was written when I was discerning that I wanted to return to a more intentional practice of Christian spirituality (after several years identifying as Pagan) so it is very much a blend of Christian and Pagan approaches to Celtic spirituality. Thankfully, Celtic spirituality handles that kind of interspiritual approach quite well.
Where to buy 366 Celt:
This book is out of print, although used copies can be found at Amazon or via ISBN.NU.
Magic of the Celtic Gods and Goddesses
(with Kathryn Hinds)
This is the first edition of the book that was reprinted as Spirit of the Celtic Gods and Goddesses. The text is identical, but the first edition lacks the foreword and afterword of the original; plus the cover art is (in my humble opinion) much better for the new edition (see above). The first edition is now out of print, but if you want to try to track down a copy, you can always check ISBN.NU.
Before You Cast a Spell
I was at a conference in Orlando and had dinner with my editor and several other folks. A woman who ran a Wiccan bookstore in New Jersey was regaling us with the challenge of always getting inquiries from teenagers who wanted a quick spell to lose weight, or get a boyfriend, or something along those lines. Before I realized what I was doing, I blurted out “There should be a book about the ethics of magic!” Everyone at the table looked at me, and my editor said, “We’ll, you’re an author.” Before You Cast a Spell is the result. But it’s not just a book designed to get teenagers to think about what they really want; it’s a reflection on the very idea of magic-as-wish-fulfillment, arguing instead that the energy of creative power is something we all possess — and we all ought to learn to use wisely and well.
Where to buy Before You Cast a Spell:
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Red Wheel/Weiser (the Publisher)
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Celtic Wisdom
After the success of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Paganism (see below), my editor asked me what other topic I’d be willing to create an “Idiot’s Guide” around. I pitched two ideas: Christian mysticism and Celtic wisdom. She turned down the mysticism idea (of course, I eventually did write an introductory book on mysticism for a different publisher), but she gave the green light to the Celtic book. I loved this book especially because it gave me a chance to talk about how Celtic wisdom is essentially interspiritual (crossing the lines separating Christianity and Paganism) — a theme I would revisit in several subsequent books.
Where to buy The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Celtic Wisdom:
• The paperback version of this book is out of print, but used copies are available online through sources like Amazon or ISBN.NU.
• Ebook editions are still available, especially for the Kindle, Nook, and Apple Books ebook readers.
When Someone You Love is Wiccan
The Well-Read Witch (see below) was never destined to be a big seller, but apparently it did well enough that the publisher asked me for another book. As someone with strong ties to Christianity and yet deeply interested in Pagan and Wiccan spirituality, I thought a book designed specifically to explain Wicca and Paganism to non-Pagans might be useful. I’ve received a lot of positive feedback over the years from folks who have found this book useful. The book does not set out to argue or debate, it is merely an overview for anyone who’d like to learn more.
Where to buy When Someone You Love is Wiccan:
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Red Wheel/Weiser (the Publisher)
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Paganism
My literary agent had a good working relationship with one of the editors of the popular “Idiot’s Guides” series of books, and so she encouraged me to develop several ideas for possible books for that line. Given my interest in contemporary Paganism, this seemed to be a natural book for both me to write and the publisher agreed; it sold very well and set the stage for me to write several more books on Pagan spirituality (as well as another Idiot’s Guide, on Celtic wisdom). Two decades later, the book seems too focused on Wicca and therefore not as comprehensive as it could/should be; nevertheless, it’s a handy beginner’s guide to one of the most colorful and unconventional of new religious/spiritual movements.
Where to buy The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Paganism:
• The paperback version of this book is out of print, but used copies are available online through sources like Amazon or ISBN.NU.
• Ebook editions are still available, especially for the Kindle, Nook, and Apple Books ebook readers.
• An audiobook version is available through Audible.com or Amazon.
The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Paganism
(Audio Edition)
The Well-Read Witch
I had been interested in Neopagan, Wiccan, and Goddess-oriented spirituality since my college days, but for years I explored that interest primarily through books: I read whatever book I could find on these topics (this was before the Internet was widely available). With this book I surveyed the literature I had been reading: books by, about, and of interest to the Wiccan/Pagan community. Published in the fall of 2001, it is necessarily dated now, but it does provide a snapshot of what some of the best books were for students and practitioners of nature-based spirituality, especially at the turn of the millennium. Like any “recommended reading” list, it is unavoidably incomplete and reflects the author’s own bias (with a preference for European and especially Celtic paganism), so if you read it, feel free to argue with it. That’s what makes books like these fun.
Where to buy The Well-Read Witch:
This book is out of print, although used copies can be found at Amazon or via ISBN.NU.
Embracing Jesus and the Goddess
It seemed like a radical idea at the time: a book that would call for a spiritual integration of the contemplative teachings of Christ with the revival of devotion to the Goddess (sort of a Christian/Pagan rejoinder to Thich Nhat Hanh’s Living Buddha, Living Christ). Noted Wiccan author Francesca De Grandis praised it, saying “This is a necessary book with a cutting-edge message that fills me with hope.” In retrospect, it was a victim of spectacularly unlucky timing: Embracing Jesus and the Goddess was published in September 2001, and in the aftermath of 9/11 received almost no media attention (everyone at that time was much more interested in the relationship between Christianity and Islam). Twenty years on, this book seems perhaps naive and somewhat Pollyannish: but for anyone who wonders why not bring together the Divine Feminine with one of the great wisdom teachers of the world, here is a little book to gently affirm that possibility.
Where to buy Embracing Jesus and the Goddess:
Although this book is now out of print, used copies can be found online — check out Amazon or ISBN.NU, where you’ll find links to several e-commerce stores that specialize in rare and secondhand books.
The Aspiring Mystic
After my first book, Spirituality, was published, I thought it would be helpful to write a companion volume that would take a more practical, practice-oriented approach to spirituality. The result was The Aspiring Mystic, a book intended to offer down-to-earth guidance and inspiration for spiritual seekers of any (or no) religious background.
Where to buy The Aspiring Mystic:
First published in 2000, The Aspiring Mystic is now out of print,
but you can look for used copies through Amazon or ISBN.NU.
Spirituality
Here’s where it all began: my first book was published in 1997 and reprinted with a new introduction in 2008. The inspiration for the book came one day while I was shopping at Tower Records (back when you had to go to a store to buy new music, and not just download it online). The thought occurred to me: is it possible to explain spirituality using music and other cultural references, rather than just relying on religious language and ideas? While the book does not entirely avoid religion as a path to exploring spirituality, it does seek to emphasize culture and community as meaningful paths into the in interior life — whether or not religion is meaningful to you.
Where to buy Spirituality:
Both editions of this book are now out of print, but used copies can sometimes be found at Amazon, ABEBooks or other online retailers. For the 2008 reprint, try Amazon or ISBN.NU which will provide links to several used booksellers.
