Lorica: Celtic Voices Against Racism - Paperback

by Marjory Bennet (Contribution by), Justin Coutts (Contribution by), Bruce Epperly (Contribution by)

I bind unto myself today
the clarity to see what has been hidden,
the courage to speak when silence is easy,
the humility to confess what I do not know,
and the love that holds all people
as kin beneath the sky.

This is a book of word-power. It brings together voices from across the Celtic spiritual spectrum-Pagan and Christian, mystic and scholar, poet and prophet-to confront the spiritual wound of racism and the myths of supremacy that still divide and damage our world. Each chapter is offered not as an abstract reflection but as a modern-day lorica: a prayer of forceful protection-in the form of an essay, meditation, and action-lifted up in a time of peril and oppression.

But it is not enough to write prayers or say prayers. It is not enough to theorize about racism while another Black man dies in the street, another immigrant family is detained, or another trans woman of color is murdered. This book calls us to take up the practice of daily undoing racism, not as a performance but as a cost-bearing commitment. Our loricas must become our lives.

May this book be only a beginning.