ellen@ucla-cs.UUCP (12/15/84)
i'm including here an edited portion of something a posted months ago
to a different news.group. i thought i'd add it here (and may add more
information later, if folks like) because of Ginger's beautiful message
regarding the celebration of the menses. i've also expanded it a bit,
because of the nature of this group.
what follows is a book-list of pagan/wiccan books (brief). i'm sending
it since several include rituals to celebrate a woman's various changes:
menarche, regular (or so) menses; birth, abortion, or other related occasions;
and menopause.
" here are several books i would recommend, of various flavors.
i recommend them because i feel they are well-written, interesting
to read, and useful. i do not necessarily agree 100% with everything
expressed therein. i'm not an occultist nor do i think that
all of humankind's great discoveries and creations were inspired
by little green men from Sirius.
BOOK LIST
1. `Drawing Down the Moon' by Margot Adler, Beacon, 1981 (paper).
an over-view of paganism in the US. interviews with originators
of various serious sects; good bibliography, although it's list
of periodicals is out-of-date. a serious journalistic, not
sensationalistic, book. non-fiction. (unless you assume that
beliefs alien to one's own are either fiction or superstition)
2. `The Spiral Dance' by Starhawk, Harper & Row, 1979 (paper).
a BEAUTIFUL book. useful to almost anyone because of its
deep spirituality. very well-written, well-organized,
concise, poetic, expressive. the number one book about the
contemporary way of the Craft.
3. `Mother Wit: A Feminist Guide to Psychic Development; Exercises for
Healing, Growth, and Spiritual Awareness' by Diane Mariechild,
The Crossing Press, 1981 (paper).
don't be thrown by the title. a friend of mine (a man and not
a witch) uses it for guided meditation/visualization.
the book is female-oriented but NOT exclusive of males. the
author has two sons and they are included in her spiritual
ctice. the Craft is good for men, too. (`Spiral Dance'
explains clearly - relates to Jung's ideas, too.) covers topics
like meditation, healing, witchcraft, self-affirmation, dream
work, spirituality for children, etc... each chapter contains
meditations and guided visualizations on the topic being discussed.
4. `Positive Magic: Occult Self-Help' by Marion Weinstein, Phoenix
Publishing Co., 1981 (paper).
this book is not really about occult matters, but about
alternative methods of self-help and personal problem solving.
the author covers topics such a magic, positive and negative
and ceremonial (she is opposed to so-called black magic);
various coersive religious cults and how to guard oneself against
them; witchcraft as a contemporary religion; using the Tarot,
astrology, I Ching for personal growth; self-affirmation tech-
niques, etc... "
for this news.group i would also suggest
5. "The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries, Part I (1979) & Part 2 (1980)"
by Zsuzsanna E. Budapest,
order from: Susan B. Anthony Coven #1
P.O.Box 11363
Oakland, CA 94611
this is a book written by a very publicly avowed feminist and lesbian
witch. she practices a form of witchcraft (contemporary Goddess-
oriented paganism) which Dianic. Dianic witches are basically
separatist, that is, they worship only the Goddess and not the
Horned God, and they are exclusively female; males are not welcome
in their circles. Z. and her coven members have developed a number
of touching rituals dealing with women and their bodily changes.
i'm not a lesbian or a separatist, but i find these books a real
source of inspiration. we CAN celebrate our bodies!
Book 1 is a basic introduction to Dianic witchcraft, rituals
(moonthly :-) that is on full and new moons), celebrations, with the
pagan and woman-celebrating origins of most of our more conventional
holidays. Book 2 covers rituals, spells, and history in depth.
by the way, i will add that i have some friends who are Dianic witches
who are not lesbian.
6. "Earth Rites, Vol. 1 (1978, 1980) & Vol. 2 (1978, 1981)"
by Sherry Mestel, paper, order from:
Earth Rites Press
c/o Mestel
398 8th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11215
these are not formal books, but contain information gathered from
many women. Vol. 1 covers Herbal Remedies, most rather vague,
and many covering "women's problems, i.e., associated with
menstruation, menopause, pregnancy, and birth; it includes about
7 pages of Herbs for Magic, as well. Vol. 2 covers Rituals,
compendia of rites, rituals, invocations, performance pieces, etc.,
made by women, mostly on the East Coast, in honor of Women, the
Goddess, Mother Earth, to heal, to cure, to curse (those raping
women and the Earth). these books are inspiring, because they show
how women can come together to publicly celebrate their Woman-ness.
7. "The Crone's Book of Words" by Valerie Worth, paper, (1971), Llewellyn
Books, St. Paul, Minnesota (may be out of print - i got mine
second-hand).
contains rituals, prayers, spells in the form of poems (chants?).
includes self-affirmations, and other personally healing formulae.
8. "Womanspirit, A Guide to Women's Wisdom" by Hallie Iglehart, paper
(1983), Harper & Row.
Not to be confused with a now defunct Quarterly of the same name,
this book is not a purely Pagan book, as most of the above are,
but a book to aid women in the search for their spiritual nature.
it shows many possibilities: women's spiritual heritage;
using meditation, inner guides, group meditation; using dreams,
recreating, planning, and working on them, solo and in groups;
discovering and creating collective & personal mythology;
women as healers, for the self and for others; creating rituals;
and a final chapter covering harmony, wholes, cycles, including
ideas for creating menarche, menstrual, and menopause rituals.
with photographs, exercises for individuals and groups, etc.
warm and loving.
9. "MotherPeace, A Way of the Goddess" by Vicki Noble, paper.
this book goes along with a Tarot deck. it shows a completely new
Tarot, circular cards, with images mostly female. i waited many
months before i finally gave in and bought the deck, too. (it's a bit
more expensive than most Tarot decks, but was well worth the
investment.) the book describes a way of thinking that reaffirms
femaleness, feminism, the power of women. this book can definitely be
used without the Tarot cards (there are color illustrations of most
cards, and black & white of all) to rethink spiritual and psychological
matters, and could probably be used to construct rituals celebrating
Women.
10. "God Herself, the Feminine Roots of Astrology" by G. Thorsten, paper.
( 1980) Avon Discus book
new images of the Zodiac - a goddess or heroine for each of the
12 houses. reaffirm ourselves month by month through the stars.
(now what i want to find is the book describing "Arachne," the
13th sign, probably associated with Persophone, the planet in our
solar system beyond Pluto).