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 interviews with originators of various serious sects; good bibliography, although it's list of periodicals is out-of-date.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).