Alexei Kondratiev 1949 – 2010

May 28, 2010 By Jason Pitzl-Waters 3 Comments

Word has come to us that noted Celtic scholar, linguist, and author Alexei Kondratiev passed away last night due to an apparent heart attack. His writings on Celtic religion and spirituality, which included the ground-breaking book “The Apple Branch: A Path to Celtic Ritual”, were highly influential on both Celtic-oriented Druidic groups and the nascent Celtic Reconstructionist movement. He was a passionate defender of Celtic language and culture, and regularly advocated that Pagan religions that drew from Celtic culture should immerse themselves in the living Celtic languages and communities.


Alexei Kondratiev

“For those of us who speak only English, the treasure-trove of the Celtic consciousness is still behind a locked door. But the key to unlock the door is there, within our grasp. Anyone of us can, at any moment, decide to fit the key to the lock and be on the other side.”

In addition to his insightful writings, Kondratiev was fluent in all six extant Celtic languages, and conducted classes on the Irish language at the Irish Arts Center in New York since 1985. Kondratiev was also an officer in the Celtic League American Branch, a board member of the now-dormant group Imbas (which hosts many of his online writings), and co-led the Protean Mnemosynides Coven with his partner Len Rosenberg (Black Lotus). He even wrote a comic-book about a Druid that immersed the character within Celtic culture. His wide-ranging and influential participation in the modern Pagan movement can not be adequately measured, but suffice to say he had a huge impact on many individuals, myself included.

“The battle is not over yet. The six Celtic languages are still alive, if not well. In them are stored, as on a disk, several millennia of a people’s unique experience, waiting to be given a new dynamic expression by that generation who will dare to break the colonial shackles of fear and self-doubt. Now more than ever do we need the devil-may-care valour of the Celtic warrior. Now more than ever do we need the druidic clarity of vision, the bardic ability to draw resources from the unlimited potential of the Otherworld. We must, as they did, have the imagination to give flesh to life-giving myth, and the will to work its pattern into our existence. Time is indeed short. Everyone of us who has felt the beauty of the Celtic world-vision must act, each in our individual ways, now, before it is too late. Gwnewch rywbeth!! Do something!!”

All honor to Alexei Kondratiev, may his journey to the Otherworld reunite him with his ancestors, and provide him communion with his gods. My deepest condolences to his partner, Len, his family, friends, and co-religionists.

Filed Under: Paganism, Religion Tagged With: , , , , 3 Comments
  • jane sibley

    I’ve known Alexei for many years. Stood in awe of him for as many. He was an incredible man, so learned in so many fields. He did me the great honor of beta-reading my latest book, “The Divine Thunderbolt: Missile of the Gods” (Xlibris) and I was thrilled that he only identified 4 booboos/omissions, and 3 of those were not in the chapter on the Celts. His knowledge of Slavic, as well as general Continental languages, folklore, and religion permitted him to do unusually in-depth comparisons and contrasts of same. Sort of like Joseph Campbell, but here, I’d put my money on Alexei. Farewell, old friend, someday we’ll meet again in the Beautiful Lands, and let’s share some mead and get into another one of those lovely chewy discussions!

  • http:www.comicbookradioshow.com/Alexei99.html Ken Gale

    I wanted you to know that a one-hour radio show I did with Alexei the day before St. Patrick’s Day in 1999 has been posted on to my web site. It was not long after “The Apple branch” had been published and we compared writing prose and writing comic books and writing nonfiction with writing fiction. There were also many tidbits of Celtic culture and you get to hear some of Alexei’s wonderful sense of humor. He inspired some interesting listener phone calls, too. There is also an obituary to him by me on the same page.

    http:www.comicbookradioshow.com/Alexei99.html

  • Scott Kurtz

    I am just learning of Alexei's death now, about nine months after it occurred. It is quite a shock to hear of this. I had been out of touch in recent years, not because of disagreements but because our paths had simply seemed to part.. I met Alexei back in the late 1970s at one of the New York City Empiricons. I remember one time when Alexei and I were talking at great length to a somewhat less than coherent Lin Carter. Alexei would no doubt remember the rather macabre yet humorous circumstances. We used to have lengthy discussions about science fiction (J.G. Ballard's Vermillion Sands and elemental disaster novels, Theodore Sturgeon, Gene Wolfe, etc etc etc), fantasy (Tollkien), modern classical music (especially the work of Olivier Messiaen, Lou Harrison, and Boris Tishchenko). I had thought about contacting him recently after learning about the death of the Russian composer Boris Tishchenko (who was Shostakovich's favorite pupil). The depth and breadth of his knowledge and enthusiasms was truly awesome. I regret not having communicated with him for so long.