Caitlin's bookshelf: woo-woo en-US Sun, 21 Jul 2024 20:51:45 -0700 60 Caitlin's bookshelf: woo-woo 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg <![CDATA[Broth from the Cauldron: A Wisdom Journey through Everyday Magic]]> 52323130 280 Cerridwen Fallingstar 1631526995 Caitlin 0 4.22 Broth from the Cauldron: A Wisdom Journey through Everyday Magic
author: Cerridwen Fallingstar
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.22
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/07/21
shelves: religion-spirituality, woo-woo, library-book, currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Pagan Portals - Isis: Great of Magic, She of 10,000 Names]]> 53328852 112 Olivia Church 1789042984 Caitlin 5 4.38 Pagan Portals - Isis: Great of Magic, She of 10,000 Names
author: Olivia Church
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.38
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/12
date added: 2024/06/12
shelves: for-the-thing-maybe, religion-spirituality, woo-woo
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Morrigan: Meeting the Great Queens]]> 23206317 92 Morgan Daimler 1782798331 Caitlin 0 4.24 2014 The Morrigan: Meeting the Great Queens
author: Morgan Daimler
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/04/26
shelves: woo-woo, for-the-thing-maybe, library-book, religion-spirituality, to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft]]> 543517 The Triumph of the Moon is the first full-scale study of the only religion England has ever given the world--modern pagan witchcraft, otherwise known as wicca. Meticulously researched, it provides a thorough account of an ancient religion that has spread from English shores across four continents.
For centuries, pagan witchcraft has been linked with chilling images of blood rituals, ghostlike druids, and even human sacrifices. But while Robert Hutton explores this dark side of witchery, he stresses the positive, reminding us that devotion to art, the natural world, femininity, and the classical deities are also central to the practice of wicca. Indeed, the author shows how leading figures in English literature--W.B. Yeats, D.H. Lawrence, and Robert Graves, just to name a few--celebrated these positive aspects of the religion in their work, thereby softening the public perception of witchcraft in Victorian England. From cunning village folk to freemasons and from high magic to the black arts, Hutton chronicles the fascinating process by which actual wiccan practices evolved into what is now a viable modern religion. He also presents compelling biographies of wicca's principal figures, such as Gerald Gardner, who was inducted into a witch coven at the age of 53, and recorded many clandestine rituals and beliefs.
Ronald Hutton is known for his colorful, provocative, and always thoroughly researched studies on original subjects. This work is no exception. It will appeal to anyone interested in witchcraft, paganism and alternative religions.
]]> 512 Ronald Hutton 0192854496 Caitlin 0 4.23 1999 The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft
author: Ronald Hutton
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.23
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/05/02
shelves: to-read, history, religion-spirituality, woo-woo
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Book of Tarot]]> 1433002 354 Rachel Pollack 1578634083 Caitlin 0 woo-woo, currently-reading 4.29 1980 Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom: A Book of Tarot
author: Rachel Pollack
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.29
book published: 1980
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/03/31
shelves: woo-woo, currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess]]> 73869 326 Starhawk 0062516329 Caitlin 0 4.03 1979 The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess
author: Starhawk
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1979
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/01/20
shelves: to-read, religion-spirituality, woo-woo
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Pagan Portals - Celtic Witchcraft]]> 28139525 104 Savage Mabh 1785353144 Caitlin 0 3.87 Pagan Portals - Celtic Witchcraft
author: Savage Mabh
name: Caitlin
average rating: 3.87
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/01/05
shelves: to-read, for-the-thing-maybe, religion-spirituality, woo-woo
review:

]]> Pagan Portals - Raven Goddess 49335455 104 Morgan Daimler 1789044863 Caitlin 0 4.43 Pagan Portals - Raven Goddess
author: Morgan Daimler
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.43
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/01/05
shelves: to-read, for-the-thing-maybe, religion-spirituality, woo-woo
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Pagan Portals - Ishtar and Ereshkigal: The Daughters of Sin]]> 49813743 112 Scott Irvine 1789043212 Caitlin 0 2.62 Pagan Portals - Ishtar and Ereshkigal: The Daughters of Sin
author: Scott Irvine
name: Caitlin
average rating: 2.62
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/01/05
shelves: to-read, for-the-thing-maybe, religion-spirituality, woo-woo
review:

]]> Pagan Portals - Aphrodite 48772917 104 Irisanya Moon 1789043476 Caitlin 0 4.21 Pagan Portals - Aphrodite
author: Irisanya Moon
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.21
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/01/05
shelves: to-read, for-the-thing-maybe, religion-spirituality, woo-woo
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Art of the Occult: A Visual Sourcebook for the Modern Mystic]]> 50358154
Mystical beliefs and practices have existed for millennia, but why do we still chase the esoteric? From the beginning of human creativity itself, image-makers have been drawn to these unknown spheres and have created curious artworks that transcend time and place � but what is it that attracts artists to these magical realms?

From theosophy and kabbalah , to the zodiac and alchemy ; spiritualism and ceremonial magic , to the elements and sacred geometry � The Art of the Occult introduces major occult themes and showcases the artists who have been influenced and led by them. Discover the symbolic and mythical images of the Pre-Raphaelites ; the automatic drawing of Hilma af Klint and Madge Gill ; Leonora Carrington 's surrealist interpretation of myth , alchemy and kabbalah ; and much more.

Featuring prominent, marginalised and little-known artists , The Art of the Occult   crosses mystical spheres in a bid to inspire and delight . Divided into thematic chapters (The Cosmos, Higher Beings, Practitioners), the book acts as an entertaining introduction to the art of mysticism â€� with essays examining each practice and over 175 artworks to discover.

The art of the occult has always existed in the margins but inspired the masses, and this book will spark curiosity in all fans of magic, mysticism and the mysterious .]]> 240 S. Elizabeth 0711248834 Caitlin 0 4.25 The Art of the Occult: A Visual Sourcebook for the Modern Mystic
author: S. Elizabeth
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.25
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/10/14
shelves: to-read, religion-spirituality, woo-woo
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Goddess is in the Details: Wisdom for the Everyday Witch]]> 6434585 "Deborah Blake has created a practical method of weaving the spiritual into the daily chores of the mundane world in which we must live."―Edain McCoy, author of Advanced Witchcraft and If You Want to Be a Witch]]> 240 Deborah Blake 0738714860 Caitlin 0 4.14 2009 The Goddess is in the Details: Wisdom for the Everyday Witch
author: Deborah Blake
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/08/25
shelves: to-read, religion-spirituality, woo-woo
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Badass Ancestors: Finding Your Power with Ancestral Guides]]> 50695592 256 Patti Wigington 0738764981 Caitlin 0 4.01 Badass Ancestors: Finding Your Power with Ancestral Guides
author: Patti Wigington
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.01
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2020/08/24
shelves: to-read, religion-spirituality, woo-woo
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Making Magic: Weaving Together the Everyday and the Extraordinary]]> 40630095
"We all have a deep capacity to make magic . . .
. . . and to do it as easily as we breathe or open our eyes. This is not a matter of belief. You can discover your own capacity for magic in your own direct experience."
� Briana Saussy

When you think of magic, do you imagine something supernatural, extraordinary, or beyond your everyday reality? Many of us are drawn to magic because we think there’s something "out there" that can bring enchantment and wonder back into our lives.

Yet there’s a secret to real the extraordinary is much closer than you may think.

With Making Magic, expert teacher Briana Saussy invites you to discover a practice of magic that will bring a new depth and power to each moment, act, and choice of your life. Through teaching stories, wisdom from a wide variety of world traditions, and no-nonsense practices you can easily weave into your daily routine, Briana will help you reconnect with the wild and creative force of magic that is always around and within you, waiting for you to remember.

As you explore this path of transformation, you’ll discover resources of magic that permeate your life,

â€� Doors and thresholds―ways we "cross between worlds"
â€� Communication―creating magic with your voice, body, intentions, and relationships
â€� Holy helpers―ancestors, angels, saints, and spirit beings who guide and support you
â€� Water and washing―access the revitalizing energy of water when you drink or bathe
â€� Textiles and threads―how to loosen, mend, or bind up supportive energies
â€� Candles and fire―elemental power to bring light to darkness and burn away what no longer serves you
â€� Kitchen magic―using food to nourish your whole self and reconnect you with nature
â€� Talismans―infuse your beloved objects with sacred purpose and supportive power

"Magic is the most real part of any ‘real life’―the spark illuminating the authentic core of every experience," writes Briana Saussy. If you are ready to enter a world that is ripe with possibility and rediscover the electric wildness of your life, here is an essential resource for Making Magic as only you can.]]> 224 Briana Saussy 1683642481 Caitlin 3 Jailbreaking the Goddess: A Radical Revisioning of Feminist Spirituality, it feels to me like an important book for people to read, but that it wasn't for me. As in, the concepts weren't earth-shattering, or that different, to me.

But i can see it being pretty important for anyone who's just starting to look into magical spirituality, & those who may call themselves a "baby witch". I've seen so many post on an Amino saying, "Where should I start?" to the point that it seems like it's every other post. It is specifically just about magic, as Saussy sees it, not within the restraints or constructs of any religion. There's no Wicca or any Paganism here. The author only ever really refers to spiritual beings, including any deities, in the chapter on "holy helpers". She takes magic out of any religious context (except when citing a few examples in certain religious traditions), & she maintains throughout the book that magic is a "wild" creature. This doesn't feel all that revelatory to me, hence my "eh, it's okay" review, but i feel like this viewpoint could be very important & helpful for the "baby witches" out there. The book doesn't hold your hand, but still gives some guidelines, so it's a nice middle road.

The language felt weird to me at times. This is a personal preference, though, so i feel like it almost doesn't count. But when you use the phrase "show up" over & over again, even three sentences in a row, i'm getting irritated & starting to feel like the editor should've done something there. I'm no writer, but even i know there's other ways to say that. I literally starting inserting different words while reading any time "show up" was used, because it was that overused.

Of course, i did read this right after finishing Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, which could also explain why my reaction was more "eh" than "yeah!" But i also do feel like this is a beginner kind of book, albeit a new kind. It's not the "Teen Witch" of yore (that even i flipped through, & was willing to buy Silver Ravenwolf's "history" of Wicca). It doesn't pigeonhole magic, or the reader, into any one spiritual tradition, & it's much more open. Saussy encourages the reader to find their "own magic" & meanings to things, to the point where it felt too much to me. Even timekeeping, which felt confusing, pointless, & backwards to me.

It got to a point where it felt like any traditional anything meant nothing, as the author kept telling the reader to find their own correspondences for things. Which is great, & is something past books on magic haven't done, but again, it felt like it was taken to a point where any traditions may as well be thrown out the window. This is probably more personal preference, but especially since i'd just read Braiding Sweetgrass, it felt like a kind of hubris, as if saying, "You should look to what you think! It doesn't matter what or who came before." It felt uneven & unbalanced; for me, i didn't feel a middle road between traditions & one's own intuitions. That's really the thing that would hold me back from recommending this book to anyone just starting to look into magic, & i don't even follow any traditions or belong to any religion. I don't even do rituals, & what little i actually do is pretty much my own thing, based on my own intuition & thoughts & the like.

Overall, it's an okay book. It wasn't anything new to me, & it felt kind of unbalanced. I would maybe suggest it to "baby witches" & anyone else wanting to look into magic as part of a spiritual path, but not on its own: definitely in conjunction with other resources, be they books or websites or whatever. ]]> 3.89 Making Magic: Weaving Together the Everyday and the Extraordinary
author: Briana Saussy
name: Caitlin
average rating: 3.89
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2019/11/21
date added: 2019/11/27
shelves: for-the-thing-maybe, library-book, religion-spirituality, woo-woo
review:
This book wasn't bad, but it also wasn't amazing, to me. Like Jailbreaking the Goddess: A Radical Revisioning of Feminist Spirituality, it feels to me like an important book for people to read, but that it wasn't for me. As in, the concepts weren't earth-shattering, or that different, to me.

But i can see it being pretty important for anyone who's just starting to look into magical spirituality, & those who may call themselves a "baby witch". I've seen so many post on an Amino saying, "Where should I start?" to the point that it seems like it's every other post. It is specifically just about magic, as Saussy sees it, not within the restraints or constructs of any religion. There's no Wicca or any Paganism here. The author only ever really refers to spiritual beings, including any deities, in the chapter on "holy helpers". She takes magic out of any religious context (except when citing a few examples in certain religious traditions), & she maintains throughout the book that magic is a "wild" creature. This doesn't feel all that revelatory to me, hence my "eh, it's okay" review, but i feel like this viewpoint could be very important & helpful for the "baby witches" out there. The book doesn't hold your hand, but still gives some guidelines, so it's a nice middle road.

The language felt weird to me at times. This is a personal preference, though, so i feel like it almost doesn't count. But when you use the phrase "show up" over & over again, even three sentences in a row, i'm getting irritated & starting to feel like the editor should've done something there. I'm no writer, but even i know there's other ways to say that. I literally starting inserting different words while reading any time "show up" was used, because it was that overused.

Of course, i did read this right after finishing Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, which could also explain why my reaction was more "eh" than "yeah!" But i also do feel like this is a beginner kind of book, albeit a new kind. It's not the "Teen Witch" of yore (that even i flipped through, & was willing to buy Silver Ravenwolf's "history" of Wicca). It doesn't pigeonhole magic, or the reader, into any one spiritual tradition, & it's much more open. Saussy encourages the reader to find their "own magic" & meanings to things, to the point where it felt too much to me. Even timekeeping, which felt confusing, pointless, & backwards to me.

It got to a point where it felt like any traditional anything meant nothing, as the author kept telling the reader to find their own correspondences for things. Which is great, & is something past books on magic haven't done, but again, it felt like it was taken to a point where any traditions may as well be thrown out the window. This is probably more personal preference, but especially since i'd just read Braiding Sweetgrass, it felt like a kind of hubris, as if saying, "You should look to what you think! It doesn't matter what or who came before." It felt uneven & unbalanced; for me, i didn't feel a middle road between traditions & one's own intuitions. That's really the thing that would hold me back from recommending this book to anyone just starting to look into magic, & i don't even follow any traditions or belong to any religion. I don't even do rituals, & what little i actually do is pretty much my own thing, based on my own intuition & thoughts & the like.

Overall, it's an okay book. It wasn't anything new to me, & it felt kind of unbalanced. I would maybe suggest it to "baby witches" & anyone else wanting to look into magic as part of a spiritual path, but not on its own: definitely in conjunction with other resources, be they books or websites or whatever.
]]> Astrology for the Soul 120993
Astrologer Jan Spiller shows you the key to discovering your hidden talents, your deepest desires, and the ways you can avoid negative influences that may distract you from achieving your true life purpose, as revealed in your chart by the position of the North Node of the Moon. With insight and depth impossible to gain from the commonly known sun-sign profiles, the enlightening self-portrait offered by the Nodes of the Moon can explain the life lessons you came here to learn and how to achieve the fulfillment and peace you desire. Jan Spiller shows you how to locate the all-important North Node of the Moon in your astrological chart and provides a detailed interpretation of its influence and exclusive exercises to help you learn about:

� The SPECIAL TALENT that is waiting for you, a unique gift that could easily be turned into professional success
� The SELF-DEFEATING TENDENCIES in your personality that can hold you back and sabotage relationships
â€� The LOVE PARTNER who can be your soul mate—and the partner whose hold over you can lead to heartbreak
� The TRAP or temptation from a past life that can lead to disaster if you are not forewarned
� The HEALING AFFIRMATIONS designed to help you release your positive energy and strengthen the qualities that can bring you true happiness]]> 528 Jan Spiller 0553378384 Caitlin 0 4.30 Astrology for the Soul
author: Jan Spiller
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.30
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/11/26
shelves: to-read, for-the-thing-maybe, religion-spirituality, woo-woo
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Mary Magdalene Revealed: The First Apostle, Her Feminist Gospel & the Christianity We Haven't Tried Yet]]> 42452986 --WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER-- The Gospel of Mary Magdalene reveals a very different love story from the one we've come to refer to as Christianity. Harvard-trained theologian Meggan Watterson leads us verse by verse through Mary's gospel to illuminate the powerful teachings it contains.

A gospel, as ancient and authentic as any of the gospels that the Christian bible contains, was buried deep in the Egyptian desert after an edict was sent out in the 4th century to have all copies of it destroyed. Fortunately, some rebel monks were wise enough to refuse-and thanks to their disobedience and spiritual bravery, we have several manuscripts of the only gospel that was written in the name of a woman: The Gospel of Mary Magdalene.

Mary's gospel reveals a radical love that sits at the heart of the Christian story. Her gospel says that we are not sinful; we are not to feel ashamed or unworthy for being human. In fact, our purpose is to be fully human, to be a "true human being"- that is, a person who has remembered that, yes, we are a messy, limited ego, and we are also a limitless soul.

And all we need to do is to turn inward (again and again); to meditate, like Mary Magdalene, in the way her gospel directs us, so that we can see past the ego of our own little lives to what's more real, and lasting, and infinite, and already here, within.

With searing clarity, Watterson explains how and why Mary Magdalene came to be portrayed as the penitent prostitute and relates a more historically and theologically accurate depiction of who Mary was within the early Christ movement. And she shares how this discovery of Mary's gospel has allowed her to practice, and to experience, a love that never ends, a love that transforms everything.]]> 264 Meggan Watterson 1401954901 Caitlin 0 4.22 2019 Mary Magdalene Revealed: The First Apostle, Her Feminist Gospel & the Christianity We Haven't Tried Yet
author: Meggan Watterson
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2019/08/27
shelves: to-read, for-the-thing-maybe, religion-spirituality, woo-woo
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Sacred Enneagram: Finding Your Unique Path to Spiritual Growth]]> 33098676
The Sacred Enneagram is a trustworthy, richly insightful guide to finding yourself in the enneagram’s 9-type profiles, and applying this practical wisdom for a life transformed. Far more than a personality test, author Chris Heuertz writes, the enneagram is a sacred map to the soul. Lies about who we think we are keep us trapped in loops of self-defeat. But the enneagram offers a bright path to cutting through the internal clutter and finding our way back to God and to our true identity as God created us.

Chris Heuertz� life was forever changed after he learned about the enneagram 15 years ago. Today, he leads enneagram workshops all over the world. Join Chris as he shows you how this ancient tool can help you awaken to the gifts God has given you, find freedom from your personal patterns of sin and fear, and grow in acceptance of your identity as you grow with God.

In conversational style with compelling stories, The Sacred Enneagram will show you


How to understand the 'why' behind your type, beyond caricatures and stereotypes
How to align your type with prayer postures
How to identify and find freedom from self-destructive patterns
How to grow in spiritual discernment
How to face your past wounds and step toward healing
How to awaken your unique gifts to serve today’s broken world
Chris’s own journey with the enneagram is an accessible introduction and exploration of how the enneagram can change your life, because to the extent that we are transformed, the world will be transformed.]]> 272 Christopher L. Heuertz 0310348277 Caitlin 2
I picked it up because all the blurbs on the cover said "this book will change your life, you will not be the same after reading it." At first i had put it back down, but then it felt like i was rejecting a challenge, so i bought it. Thankfully, since it was a book sale at the library (though not an ex-library book), it wasn't expensive.

The book itself, as an object, is welcoming & aesthetically pleasing. Many of the pages have "ripped"/deckled (ish) edges, & the cover is soft to the touch. The design is clean & minimal, but not in a way that feels sparse.

But the book itself... I couldn't get into it. It's not a difficult read, per se, but the words made very little sense to me. Like, i still don't know what Heuertz means by the "True Self". I don't understand why he refers to prayer "postures", when the "postures" aren't physical. Maybe there was a lot of the whole "Finding words for this is difficult", but it made for a confusing read that didn't ever fully engage me. My mind constantly wandered when i tried to read this, & as time went on, i kept wishing i was finished with it. It's kind of a downer when you're glad to finally finish a book because that means you don't have to read it anymore.

And while it's maybe a good thing that Heuertz essentially forces one to read everything about all the types-- maybe as a way to try & prevent navel-gazing, i don't know-- it doesn't help the readability. I have no clue what my supposed Enneagram type is, & the suggestion that it's "the description that hurts the most" doesn't actually help me. And it's not because i can't look at my dark side, or the the hurtful things i can do & say, it's because i can read the negatives of most of these types & basically go, "Same." So even though the author claims he wants to "get past" the Ego or whatever (which seems a common fixation in most spiritually-inclined works & honestly bugs the shit out of me), it means that you go through the book kind of unmoored. You have no real way to even try to root yourself in the concepts, because unless you already know your type, you're just reading everything to read it. And i took online tests/quizzes, trying to determine mine, & surprise, surprise, every one gave me a different answer.

So the terminology, even with definitions, didn't make sense, & i felt no real connection or relation to the book, partially because i didn't know where i potentially fit. I made an educated guess, based off of what i read & those online quizzes, but the book still didn't engage me. And let's really be real, people are going to want to know about themselves first & foremost, before anyone else. But that is usually an entry point. Once you have that, & even just start to understand yourself, you can then branch out to understanding others. Wanting to know about you isn't immediately narcissistic, & isn't immediately negative.

This kind of goes hand in hand with my annoyance about how this & other books tend to talk about/treat the Ego, as if our Ego is All Wrong, & our Sole Purpose is to Destroy/Kill Our Ego. Heuertz brings this confusing concept of one's "True Self" into this, as well, claiming that identifying ourselves through our personality is our "False Self" that blocks us from spiritual growth, connection with Spirit (he uses God, of course), & finding our path "home" to ourselves. Maybe this would have more impact if i understood what he means by "True Self". But regardless, i get annoyed at this whole "true/false" dichotomy that exists in so much "spiritual" media. Polarization is simplistic at best, & dangerous at worst. If nothing else, if i understood Heuertz's terminology, i would be able to argue my point better, but since i have no clue what he means, i can't.

I knew going in that the framework was Christian. People may need a heads up regarding that. The author doesn't necessarily hit you over the head with it, but he does refer to God, & applies each of Jesus's temptations to the Enneagram types. He also frames everything as not just "coming home" to our "True Selves", but explicitly to God, as well. He talks about God's love & things of that nature, which, if you aren't expecting it, might distance you from the material, as well. I personally found that the Christianity angle wasn't too overpowering, & that if someone of a different spiritual/religious path was interested in the book, they could have a good chance at reading it without feeling that it was "Christians only". Your mileage, of course, may vary.

This was one of those books i wanted to like. I knew nothing about the Enneagram going in, so i was looking to learn, &.... i still know nothing about the Enneagram. I don't know how the book could be bettered, because i don't feel i really know what it was trying to say in the first place. Obviously, for some people, it's an important book that means something to them, & i'm not invalidating that at all. But for me, it made no sense, & i didn't retain anything from it. I'm not interested in the Enneagram all that much anyway, & that hasn't changed after reading this. I'm honestly just glad to have finally finished it, & to not have to read it again.]]> 3.92 2017 The Sacred Enneagram: Finding Your Unique Path to Spiritual Growth
author: Christopher L. Heuertz
name: Caitlin
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2017
rating: 2
read at: 2019/08/08
date added: 2019/08/09
shelves: religion-spirituality, woo-woo
review:
I struggled to get through this book. It's not a large one, but it took me over two months to get through it. I don't even know if i can articulate why it was so difficult, other than i guess i just didn't connect with it & what it was saying.

I picked it up because all the blurbs on the cover said "this book will change your life, you will not be the same after reading it." At first i had put it back down, but then it felt like i was rejecting a challenge, so i bought it. Thankfully, since it was a book sale at the library (though not an ex-library book), it wasn't expensive.

The book itself, as an object, is welcoming & aesthetically pleasing. Many of the pages have "ripped"/deckled (ish) edges, & the cover is soft to the touch. The design is clean & minimal, but not in a way that feels sparse.

But the book itself... I couldn't get into it. It's not a difficult read, per se, but the words made very little sense to me. Like, i still don't know what Heuertz means by the "True Self". I don't understand why he refers to prayer "postures", when the "postures" aren't physical. Maybe there was a lot of the whole "Finding words for this is difficult", but it made for a confusing read that didn't ever fully engage me. My mind constantly wandered when i tried to read this, & as time went on, i kept wishing i was finished with it. It's kind of a downer when you're glad to finally finish a book because that means you don't have to read it anymore.

And while it's maybe a good thing that Heuertz essentially forces one to read everything about all the types-- maybe as a way to try & prevent navel-gazing, i don't know-- it doesn't help the readability. I have no clue what my supposed Enneagram type is, & the suggestion that it's "the description that hurts the most" doesn't actually help me. And it's not because i can't look at my dark side, or the the hurtful things i can do & say, it's because i can read the negatives of most of these types & basically go, "Same." So even though the author claims he wants to "get past" the Ego or whatever (which seems a common fixation in most spiritually-inclined works & honestly bugs the shit out of me), it means that you go through the book kind of unmoored. You have no real way to even try to root yourself in the concepts, because unless you already know your type, you're just reading everything to read it. And i took online tests/quizzes, trying to determine mine, & surprise, surprise, every one gave me a different answer.

So the terminology, even with definitions, didn't make sense, & i felt no real connection or relation to the book, partially because i didn't know where i potentially fit. I made an educated guess, based off of what i read & those online quizzes, but the book still didn't engage me. And let's really be real, people are going to want to know about themselves first & foremost, before anyone else. But that is usually an entry point. Once you have that, & even just start to understand yourself, you can then branch out to understanding others. Wanting to know about you isn't immediately narcissistic, & isn't immediately negative.

This kind of goes hand in hand with my annoyance about how this & other books tend to talk about/treat the Ego, as if our Ego is All Wrong, & our Sole Purpose is to Destroy/Kill Our Ego. Heuertz brings this confusing concept of one's "True Self" into this, as well, claiming that identifying ourselves through our personality is our "False Self" that blocks us from spiritual growth, connection with Spirit (he uses God, of course), & finding our path "home" to ourselves. Maybe this would have more impact if i understood what he means by "True Self". But regardless, i get annoyed at this whole "true/false" dichotomy that exists in so much "spiritual" media. Polarization is simplistic at best, & dangerous at worst. If nothing else, if i understood Heuertz's terminology, i would be able to argue my point better, but since i have no clue what he means, i can't.

I knew going in that the framework was Christian. People may need a heads up regarding that. The author doesn't necessarily hit you over the head with it, but he does refer to God, & applies each of Jesus's temptations to the Enneagram types. He also frames everything as not just "coming home" to our "True Selves", but explicitly to God, as well. He talks about God's love & things of that nature, which, if you aren't expecting it, might distance you from the material, as well. I personally found that the Christianity angle wasn't too overpowering, & that if someone of a different spiritual/religious path was interested in the book, they could have a good chance at reading it without feeling that it was "Christians only". Your mileage, of course, may vary.

This was one of those books i wanted to like. I knew nothing about the Enneagram going in, so i was looking to learn, &.... i still know nothing about the Enneagram. I don't know how the book could be bettered, because i don't feel i really know what it was trying to say in the first place. Obviously, for some people, it's an important book that means something to them, & i'm not invalidating that at all. But for me, it made no sense, & i didn't retain anything from it. I'm not interested in the Enneagram all that much anyway, & that hasn't changed after reading this. I'm honestly just glad to have finally finished it, & to not have to read it again.
]]> A Book of Pagan Prayer 559742 320 Ceisiwr Serith 1578632552 Caitlin 0 4.11 2002 A Book of Pagan Prayer
author: Ceisiwr Serith
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/12/11
shelves: to-read, woo-woo, for-the-thing-maybe, religion-spirituality
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Modern-day Druidess: A Practical Guide to Nature Spirituality]]> 1342499 * How to become a modern-day Druidess
* The relevance of nature spirituality and the Druidic tradition today
* How to create and work with a sacred grove, the Sun and the Moon, and the natural world: trees, animals, herbs and their meanings
* How to use Druidry as a form of self-empowerment.]]> 272 Cassandra Esaon 0749924071 Caitlin 0 3.52 2003 The Modern-day Druidess: A Practical Guide to Nature Spirituality
author: Cassandra Esaon
name: Caitlin
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/12/11
shelves: to-read, woo-woo, for-the-thing-maybe, religion-spirituality
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Celtic Lore & Spellcraft of the Dark Goddess: Invoking the Morrigan]]> 11054759 Experience the life-transforming beauty of Celtic Witchcraft by calling upon the Morrigan—the Celtic embodiment of the victory, strength, and power of the divine feminine.

In this comprehensive and hands-on guide, Stephanie Woodfield invites you to explore the Morrigan's history and origins, mythology, and magic. Discover the hidden lessons and spiritual mysteries of the Dark Goddess as you perform guided pathworkings, rituals, and spells. Draw on the unique energies of her many expressions—her three main aspects of Macha, Anu, and Badb; the legendary Morgan Le Fay; and her other powerful guises.

From shapeshifting and faery magic to summoning a lover and creating an Ogham oracle, the dynamic and multifaceted Dark Goddess will bring empowering wisdom and enchantment to your life and spiritual practice.

]]> 432 Stephanie Woodfield 0738727679 Caitlin 0 4.30 2011 Celtic Lore & Spellcraft of the Dark Goddess: Invoking the Morrigan
author: Stephanie Woodfield
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.30
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/12/04
shelves: to-read, woo-woo, religion-spirituality
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles: Their Nature and Legacy]]> 765665 422 Ronald Hutton 0631189467 Caitlin 0 4.11 1991 The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles: Their Nature and Legacy
author: Ronald Hutton
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1991
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/12/04
shelves: to-read, history, woo-woo, for-the-thing-maybe, religion-spirituality
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth: Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer]]> 868595
With the long-awaited publication of this book, we have for the first time in any modern literary form one of the most vital and important of ancient myths: that of Inanna, the world's first goddess of recorded history and the beloved deity of the ancient Sumerians.

The stories and hymns of Inanna (known to the Semites as Ishtar) are inscribed on clay tablets which date back to 2,000 B.C. Over the past forty years, these cuneiform tablets have gradually been restored and deciphered by a small group of international scholars. In this groundbreaking book, Samuel Noah Kramer, the preeminent living expert on Sumer, and Diane Wolkstein, a gifted storyteller and folklorist, have retranslated, ordered, and combined the fragmented pieces of the Cycle of Inanna into a unified whole that presents for the first time an authentic portrait of the goddess from her adolescence to her completed womanhood and godship. We see Inanna in all her aspects: as girl, lover, wife, seeker, decision maker, ruler; we witness the Queen of Heaven and Earth as the voluptuous center and source of all fertile power and the unequaled goddess of love.

Illustrated throughout with cylinder seals and other artifacts of the period, the beautifully rendered images guide the reader through Inanna's realm on a journey parallel to the one evoked by the text. And the carefully wrought commentaries providing an historical overview, textual interpretations, and aannotations on the art at once explicate and amplify the power, wonder, and mystery embedded in these ancient tales.

Inanna--the world's first love story, two thousand years older than the Bible--is tender, erotic, frightening, and compassionate. It is a compelling myth that is timely in its rediscovery.

"A great masterpiece of universal literature."--Mircea Eliade]]> 227 Diane Wolkstein 0060908548 Caitlin 0 4.13 1983 Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth: Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer
author: Diane Wolkstein
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.13
book published: 1983
rating: 0
read at: 2013/11/21
date added: 2018/12/04
shelves: history, woo-woo, for-the-thing-maybe, favorites, religion-spirituality
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Goddess Path: Myths, Invocations, and Rituals]]> 226530 The Goddess Path by Patricia Monaghan.

The Goddess Path can be your guide to speed you on your spiritual quest. Think of this book as a signpost on your spiritual travels, designed to help you nurture your own connection to the goddess and share in her boundless wisdom. Call her into your life with beautiful and ancient invocations. Create your own rituals to honor the lessons she has to teach. As you ponder life-changing questions and venture on brave new experiments, you fan the divine spark into flame--and, in that fire, you are transformed.

The Goddess Path includes myths, symbols, feast days, ancient invocations, and suggestions for connecting with the following goddesses for these purposes and more:

-Amaterasu for clarity
-Aphrodite for passion
-Artemis for protection
-Athena for strength
-Brigid for survival
-The Cailleach for power
-Demeter and Persephone for initiation
-Gaia for abundance
-Hathor for affection
-Hera for dignity
-Inanna for inner strength
-Isis for restorative love
-Kali for freedom
-Kuan-Yin for mercy
-The Maenads for ecstasy
-The Muses for inspiration
-Oshun for healing love
-Paivatar for release
-Pomona for joy
-Asule and Saules Meita for family health

Monaghan, a faculty member at DePaul University, is a leader of the contemporary goddess movement. In The Goddess Path, she presents a means to work with the goddess, using ancient and modern techniques that will thrill and amaze you. For new levels of peace, joy, and increased closeness to the Divine, get The Goddess Path.
]]> 268 Patricia Monaghan 1567184677 Caitlin 4 4.03 1999 The Goddess Path: Myths, Invocations, and Rituals
author: Patricia Monaghan
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at: 2016/08/02
date added: 2018/12/04
shelves: woo-woo, for-the-thing-maybe, religion-spirituality
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Goddess Alive!: Inviting Celtic & Norse Goddesses Into Your Life]]> 694193 288 Michelle Skye 0738710806 Caitlin 0 4.11 2007 Goddess Alive!: Inviting Celtic & Norse Goddesses Into Your Life
author: Michelle Skye
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/12/04
shelves: to-read, woo-woo, for-the-thing-maybe, religion-spirituality
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Woman with the Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail]]> 278433 Alternate cover edition can be found here.

Margaret Starbird's theological beliefs were profoundly shaken when she read Holy Blood, Holy Grail, a book that dared to suggest that Jesus Christ was married to Mary Magdalen and that their descendants carried on his holy bloodline in Western Europe. Shocked by such heresy, this Roman Catholic scholar set out to refute it, but instead found new and compelling evidence for the existence of the bride of Jesus--the same enigmatic woman who anointed him with precious unguent from her alabaster jar.

In this provocative book, Starbird draws her conclusions from an extensive study of history, heraldry, symbolism, medieval art, mythology, psychology, and the Bible itself. The Woman with the Alabaster Jar is a quest for the forgotten feminine--in the hope that its return will help restore a healthy balance to planet Earth.]]> 240 Margaret Starbird 1879181037 Caitlin 2
The most interesting parts of the book, for me, were actually the discussions of the early Christians, & of how Jesus could have been seen in his own time, especially with the links in the story that connect him to the well-known dying-and-reborn god. I found the political implications really fascinating to read about. And maybe it's because i'm not learned in this area, but they also sound believable. The believability of Starbird's claims, however, decreased for me as i read on, about what she claims is proof of the heretical belief of the Magdalen as the Sangraal.

I understand that people cloak their true meanings in symbolism & metaphor, which makes it difficult for all us after to truly decode their meanings. I get that. I get that it's a way for "heretical" ideas to survive-- not just going underground, but by basically forming a secret code. And i also understand that information that goes against "the norm" gets destroyed if it isn't coded. That's not a ~conspiracy theory~ thing, that's what people do time & again throughout history. And of course artists are going to not only pull on a rich history of symbol & myth & metaphor, but if they're involved with anything "heretical" & against the norm, they might also work those symbols in, too. But then the question for all this is: how do you distinguish all of this? How do you tell whether or not someone was copying, or they were taught that symbol X (haha, literally in this case, the X) meant This Thing, or even that they took this as a personal symbol, ascribing a personal meaning to it-- or that they were a part of a heretical, underground belief system?

Starbird claims that it's "obvious". As if you can just tell who's using a symbol to mean "heretical teachings ahead" & who's just slapping it down. This is mystifying to me, honestly. When the visual tradition is so rich & full of symbols throughout ages & cultures, & there's so many roads to interpretations, how can she make such claims with certainty? Does she have, for example, some diary of Botticelli's that indicates that he was truly trying to send this heretical message-- even though he was painting the Madonna & Child? I agree with the assertion that artists know what they're doing when they include specific symbology-- even today, us art students can get grilled over "why did you include this element in the work"-- but claiming that it's "obvious" when an artist is referencing the heretical church seems untrue. After all, if it was "obvious", then why wouldn't someone like Botticelli have been hunted down & interrogated, & his paintings subject to scrutiny at the least, & perhaps destruction at the extreme? Wasn't the point to not be "obvious"? It doesn't make sense to me.

If it was "obvious" to the author because of research she had done, then i wish she would have let us more in on the secret. Reading this, i felt like the old math class mantra "Show Your Work" should've been applied here. I didn't understand where Starbird was pulling these meanings & associations from; i felt that only the barest explanation was given, & it wasn't enough. If this research was what changed the author's mind from disbelief to belief, i would want to know all of it, & why it was so compelling.

A brief example would be the horn, which Starbird claims symbolized shattering the "rock" of Peter's church. This explanation she gives seemed to me to pulled out of nowhere. Later, she mentions the horn Oliphant in the Song of Roland that shatters rock, again linking it back to "Peter's church"-- but at no point does she seem to back up this claim, unless i really missed something. What convinced her that this is what the horn symbolized? How many horns in tales are there that shatter rock? And even then, how does she immediately link it to "shattering" the orthodox Roman Catholic Church? Just because "Peter" means "rock"? It feels tenuous at best, & i can honestly see why there's people who've read this book who feel it's all conspiracy theory. Symbols don't get pulled out of just anywhere; they get built on top of what's already recognized by people, so that people of the time will understand them. Obviously symbols change throughout history, & their meanings can become obscured as the times & cultures change. But my point here is: if this is what the horn symbolized, where is its origin in becoming this symbol? If it can't be traced, at least make mention, & perhaps include what makes you feel so strongly swayed by its presence.

A technical aside would be that the use of exclamation points bothered me. As did the statements where the author wrote "I believe..." & things like that. The exclamation points is just a personal thing, but the latter, i feel, also takes it out of a factual context. Not only was i left wondering where were the strings to attach the claims to some sort of evidence, but i also felt that the "I believe" statements made it even more difficult to see the book as being research-based. Because instead of saying, "Here are the facts I gathered that appear to point in this direction," Starbird instead says, "This is what I believe these things mean," & then gives scanty supporting evidence. Is this, then, the case with the horn? That Starbird "believes" its meaning was the shattering of orthodox doctrine, whether or not there's solid evidence to back her up? And if there is solid evidence, again: show it. Don't state beliefs instead of showing your research, your work, your evidence that would actually back up what your hypothesis is. If this work was meant to be taken seriously as evidence for the Lost Bride of Jesus, i feel that it was hurt by such statements of "belief", because belief is not evidence or solid research. Belief is not irrefutable.

I wanted to see more evidence. I wanted it to be more open, as well, because Starbird's claims of "This is what This Means & that's It" seem fairly questionable. Again, where is her evidence & proof? How can she tell who was cognizant of using potentially heretical symbols & who was "merely copying"? What about all the other possible readings? Because what Starbird presents seems so tenuous, it seems especially strange to me that she is so adamant in her assertions as to What These Things Mean.

For example, she seems bent on believing that Botticelli having the infant Jesus hold a pomegranate is a reference to Jesus' fertility. She keeps claiming the pomegranate is in his lap, when in the two images presented in the book, the pomegranate is only in the baby's lap in one of them. She also neglects to mention that in both images, the Virgin is holding onto the fruit, along with her child. It's also interesting, given her previous focus on meanings in the older religions of the Middle East & surrounding areas, that she only focuses on the pomegranate as a fertility symbol. She ignores the West's most blatant & well-known association here: with Persephone, the Queen of Hades. She ignores the pomegranate's connotations as a cthonic symbol, as even the symbol of a ruler via Persephone's ruling over the underworld jointly with Hades. It's a symbol of death & rebirth-- with ties in more with Starbird's previous mentioning of the dying-&-risen gods & consorts than any sort of connotation of fertility. But every time she mentions pomegranates, it's always about fertility: nothing about death & rebirth, nothing about potentially marking one as a ruler. Nothing about the fact that the Madonna in both referenced paintings is also holding onto the pomegranate. The author says, "This means fertility of Jesus, the end." Not only is it tenuous, but it also shuts down any other reading of the symbol. It seems that Starbird is convinced that other readings are those that the orthodox Catholic Church forced onto the work, while still maintaining that her reading is the correct one, the one that the artist meant to convey. It's kind of ironic.

The bibliography is also only four pages long. I know it says "selected", but again, this feels like a lack of showing the work. I'm currently reading Charles C. Mann's 1491, & the bib for that book starts of page 471 & ends on 531. Starbird's bibliography is from pages 191 to 194. Mann's book is discussing issues that are nearly constantly in flux due to newer findings, as well as trying to talk about & discover civilizations about whom there may be no written record. Civilizations who may have been wiped out, had their cities & writings & culture destroyed, etc. He also talks to people in many fields throughout his book: archaeology, history, Indigenous peoples. None of this is present in Starbird's book. Yes, she references certain works with regards to symbols (of course, disagreeing with the authors because her reading is always in line with the Grail heresy), & of course she references the Bible often, but that's it. She doesn't speak with anyone involved in fields like archaeology, & her bibliography again, like i said, doesn't show her work.

It also doesn't help when she refers to Merlin Stone's When God Was A Woman, & last i checked, the idea of the once-upon-a-time peaceful, matriarchal, goddess-worshipping ancient peoples who lived in harmony & sang "kumbaya" had pretty much been discredited. It also doesn't help that, when referencing triple-aspected goddesses, Starbird sticks to the tired stereotype of the maiden/mother/crone, despite the evidence that not all triple-aspected goddesses have ever fit into these categories (for example, Hecate- though many neo-Pagans definitely try). Of course, this book was originally published in 1993, so maybe it's unfair of me to mark all that against it.

Ultimately, this book fell very, very short for me. It presents interesting ideas that can be very compelling, & really spark the imagination, but it doesn't reinforce those ideas with hard evidence. The author's assertions of "belief" are unhelpful, as belief isn't evidence & research that holds up under scrutiny, while also allowing other views to be examined. The author paradoxically admonishes the orthodox church of forcing meanings onto symbols, while also claiming that her readings of the symbols are the correct ones, because there's somehow no mistaking that they reference the Grail heresy.

Like i said at the beginning, i really wanted to like this book. I wanted to learn something, discover something, have the metaphorical doors blown wide open. I didn't get that, & i can't help but find it surprising that what gets presented in the book is what supposedly swayed Starbird so strongly that she went from trying to discredit the Lost Bride concept to believing in it. I want something more scholarly when it comes to evidence & research, something that explores as many possible angles as it can, & actually presents something solid behind its claims. Unfortunately, this isn't the book for that.]]> 3.92 1993 The Woman with the Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail
author: Margaret Starbird
name: Caitlin
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1993
rating: 2
read at: 2016/09/03
date added: 2018/12/04
shelves: for-the-thing-maybe, woo-woo, religion-spirituality
review:
I really wanted to like this book. I really wanted to get into the proof of, if not that Mary Magdalen & Jesus were close, that this was, as Margaret Starbird claims in the beginning of the book, a widely held belief by people in the Middle Ages in certain areas of Europe, at least. I really wanted to uncover something, to learn something, to discover something that had been lost.

The most interesting parts of the book, for me, were actually the discussions of the early Christians, & of how Jesus could have been seen in his own time, especially with the links in the story that connect him to the well-known dying-and-reborn god. I found the political implications really fascinating to read about. And maybe it's because i'm not learned in this area, but they also sound believable. The believability of Starbird's claims, however, decreased for me as i read on, about what she claims is proof of the heretical belief of the Magdalen as the Sangraal.

I understand that people cloak their true meanings in symbolism & metaphor, which makes it difficult for all us after to truly decode their meanings. I get that. I get that it's a way for "heretical" ideas to survive-- not just going underground, but by basically forming a secret code. And i also understand that information that goes against "the norm" gets destroyed if it isn't coded. That's not a ~conspiracy theory~ thing, that's what people do time & again throughout history. And of course artists are going to not only pull on a rich history of symbol & myth & metaphor, but if they're involved with anything "heretical" & against the norm, they might also work those symbols in, too. But then the question for all this is: how do you distinguish all of this? How do you tell whether or not someone was copying, or they were taught that symbol X (haha, literally in this case, the X) meant This Thing, or even that they took this as a personal symbol, ascribing a personal meaning to it-- or that they were a part of a heretical, underground belief system?

Starbird claims that it's "obvious". As if you can just tell who's using a symbol to mean "heretical teachings ahead" & who's just slapping it down. This is mystifying to me, honestly. When the visual tradition is so rich & full of symbols throughout ages & cultures, & there's so many roads to interpretations, how can she make such claims with certainty? Does she have, for example, some diary of Botticelli's that indicates that he was truly trying to send this heretical message-- even though he was painting the Madonna & Child? I agree with the assertion that artists know what they're doing when they include specific symbology-- even today, us art students can get grilled over "why did you include this element in the work"-- but claiming that it's "obvious" when an artist is referencing the heretical church seems untrue. After all, if it was "obvious", then why wouldn't someone like Botticelli have been hunted down & interrogated, & his paintings subject to scrutiny at the least, & perhaps destruction at the extreme? Wasn't the point to not be "obvious"? It doesn't make sense to me.

If it was "obvious" to the author because of research she had done, then i wish she would have let us more in on the secret. Reading this, i felt like the old math class mantra "Show Your Work" should've been applied here. I didn't understand where Starbird was pulling these meanings & associations from; i felt that only the barest explanation was given, & it wasn't enough. If this research was what changed the author's mind from disbelief to belief, i would want to know all of it, & why it was so compelling.

A brief example would be the horn, which Starbird claims symbolized shattering the "rock" of Peter's church. This explanation she gives seemed to me to pulled out of nowhere. Later, she mentions the horn Oliphant in the Song of Roland that shatters rock, again linking it back to "Peter's church"-- but at no point does she seem to back up this claim, unless i really missed something. What convinced her that this is what the horn symbolized? How many horns in tales are there that shatter rock? And even then, how does she immediately link it to "shattering" the orthodox Roman Catholic Church? Just because "Peter" means "rock"? It feels tenuous at best, & i can honestly see why there's people who've read this book who feel it's all conspiracy theory. Symbols don't get pulled out of just anywhere; they get built on top of what's already recognized by people, so that people of the time will understand them. Obviously symbols change throughout history, & their meanings can become obscured as the times & cultures change. But my point here is: if this is what the horn symbolized, where is its origin in becoming this symbol? If it can't be traced, at least make mention, & perhaps include what makes you feel so strongly swayed by its presence.

A technical aside would be that the use of exclamation points bothered me. As did the statements where the author wrote "I believe..." & things like that. The exclamation points is just a personal thing, but the latter, i feel, also takes it out of a factual context. Not only was i left wondering where were the strings to attach the claims to some sort of evidence, but i also felt that the "I believe" statements made it even more difficult to see the book as being research-based. Because instead of saying, "Here are the facts I gathered that appear to point in this direction," Starbird instead says, "This is what I believe these things mean," & then gives scanty supporting evidence. Is this, then, the case with the horn? That Starbird "believes" its meaning was the shattering of orthodox doctrine, whether or not there's solid evidence to back her up? And if there is solid evidence, again: show it. Don't state beliefs instead of showing your research, your work, your evidence that would actually back up what your hypothesis is. If this work was meant to be taken seriously as evidence for the Lost Bride of Jesus, i feel that it was hurt by such statements of "belief", because belief is not evidence or solid research. Belief is not irrefutable.

I wanted to see more evidence. I wanted it to be more open, as well, because Starbird's claims of "This is what This Means & that's It" seem fairly questionable. Again, where is her evidence & proof? How can she tell who was cognizant of using potentially heretical symbols & who was "merely copying"? What about all the other possible readings? Because what Starbird presents seems so tenuous, it seems especially strange to me that she is so adamant in her assertions as to What These Things Mean.

For example, she seems bent on believing that Botticelli having the infant Jesus hold a pomegranate is a reference to Jesus' fertility. She keeps claiming the pomegranate is in his lap, when in the two images presented in the book, the pomegranate is only in the baby's lap in one of them. She also neglects to mention that in both images, the Virgin is holding onto the fruit, along with her child. It's also interesting, given her previous focus on meanings in the older religions of the Middle East & surrounding areas, that she only focuses on the pomegranate as a fertility symbol. She ignores the West's most blatant & well-known association here: with Persephone, the Queen of Hades. She ignores the pomegranate's connotations as a cthonic symbol, as even the symbol of a ruler via Persephone's ruling over the underworld jointly with Hades. It's a symbol of death & rebirth-- with ties in more with Starbird's previous mentioning of the dying-&-risen gods & consorts than any sort of connotation of fertility. But every time she mentions pomegranates, it's always about fertility: nothing about death & rebirth, nothing about potentially marking one as a ruler. Nothing about the fact that the Madonna in both referenced paintings is also holding onto the pomegranate. The author says, "This means fertility of Jesus, the end." Not only is it tenuous, but it also shuts down any other reading of the symbol. It seems that Starbird is convinced that other readings are those that the orthodox Catholic Church forced onto the work, while still maintaining that her reading is the correct one, the one that the artist meant to convey. It's kind of ironic.

The bibliography is also only four pages long. I know it says "selected", but again, this feels like a lack of showing the work. I'm currently reading Charles C. Mann's 1491, & the bib for that book starts of page 471 & ends on 531. Starbird's bibliography is from pages 191 to 194. Mann's book is discussing issues that are nearly constantly in flux due to newer findings, as well as trying to talk about & discover civilizations about whom there may be no written record. Civilizations who may have been wiped out, had their cities & writings & culture destroyed, etc. He also talks to people in many fields throughout his book: archaeology, history, Indigenous peoples. None of this is present in Starbird's book. Yes, she references certain works with regards to symbols (of course, disagreeing with the authors because her reading is always in line with the Grail heresy), & of course she references the Bible often, but that's it. She doesn't speak with anyone involved in fields like archaeology, & her bibliography again, like i said, doesn't show her work.

It also doesn't help when she refers to Merlin Stone's When God Was A Woman, & last i checked, the idea of the once-upon-a-time peaceful, matriarchal, goddess-worshipping ancient peoples who lived in harmony & sang "kumbaya" had pretty much been discredited. It also doesn't help that, when referencing triple-aspected goddesses, Starbird sticks to the tired stereotype of the maiden/mother/crone, despite the evidence that not all triple-aspected goddesses have ever fit into these categories (for example, Hecate- though many neo-Pagans definitely try). Of course, this book was originally published in 1993, so maybe it's unfair of me to mark all that against it.

Ultimately, this book fell very, very short for me. It presents interesting ideas that can be very compelling, & really spark the imagination, but it doesn't reinforce those ideas with hard evidence. The author's assertions of "belief" are unhelpful, as belief isn't evidence & research that holds up under scrutiny, while also allowing other views to be examined. The author paradoxically admonishes the orthodox church of forcing meanings onto symbols, while also claiming that her readings of the symbols are the correct ones, because there's somehow no mistaking that they reference the Grail heresy.

Like i said at the beginning, i really wanted to like this book. I wanted to learn something, discover something, have the metaphorical doors blown wide open. I didn't get that, & i can't help but find it surprising that what gets presented in the book is what supposedly swayed Starbird so strongly that she went from trying to discredit the Lost Bride concept to believing in it. I want something more scholarly when it comes to evidence & research, something that explores as many possible angles as it can, & actually presents something solid behind its claims. Unfortunately, this isn't the book for that.
]]> Journey to the Dark Goddess 14467901 241 Jane Meredith 1846946778 Caitlin 0 4.11 2012 Journey to the Dark Goddess
author: Jane Meredith
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2018/12/04
shelves: to-read, woo-woo, for-the-thing-maybe, religion-spirituality
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Brigid: History, Mystery, and Magick of the Celtic Goddess]]> 24365660
Each chapter ends with guided meditations and exercises that help readers tap into Brigid’s healing powers. Inside you’ll find Brigid-focused spells, blessings, recipes, and rituals for love, harmony, protection, and much more.]]> 256 Courtney Weber 1578635675 Caitlin 0 4.23 2015 Brigid: History, Mystery, and Magick of the Celtic Goddess
author: Courtney Weber
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at: 2015/07/03
date added: 2018/12/04
shelves: woo-woo, for-the-thing-maybe, library-book, religion-spirituality
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Way Of Wyrd: Tales Of An Anglo-Saxon Sorcerer]]> 767358 237 Brian Bates 1401905013 Caitlin 0 3.99 1983 The Way Of Wyrd: Tales Of An Anglo-Saxon Sorcerer
author: Brian Bates
name: Caitlin
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1983
rating: 0
read at: 2004/05/05
date added: 2018/12/04
shelves: woo-woo, for-the-thing-maybe, religion-spirituality
review:
date obviously not exact, but im guessing mid to late 2004. was suggested to me by a man who worked at Borders & it basically introduced me, i think, to spiritual & religious concepts outside of the "usual".
]]> <![CDATA[The Earth Path: Grounding Your Spirit in the Rhythms of Nature]]> 84243 256 Starhawk 0060000937 Caitlin 4
Of course, because i'm sure Starhawk is no scientist, & because this was published over 10 years ago, i do wonder about some of the more scientific claims made in the book. I would be very interested to see what might have changed or come to light scientifically since 2004. Which is not meant to discredit the knowledge of those who aren't scientists, but engage in practices like permaculture, & who are knowledgeable about the land on which they live. In fact, i'd also like to know more about things like that, & if there's anything about them that has changed/come to light/been discovered since '04.

Overall, it was very readable, & didn't feel overwhelmingly woo; it actually felt, appropriately, grounded & realistic, even when talking about magic. ]]> 3.94 2004 The Earth Path: Grounding Your Spirit in the Rhythms of Nature
author: Starhawk
name: Caitlin
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2004
rating: 4
read at: 2016/03/23
date added: 2018/12/04
shelves: woo-woo, for-the-thing-maybe, religion-spirituality
review:
I found this book much more readable than Dreaming the Dark-- which i'd tried to read in the past & ultimately gave up on, because i didn't feel hope in it. This book feels more hopeful, like there's things we can actually do to try to help the planet. A bonus is the fact that the ~Burning Times~ weren't mentioned at all (like they are in Dreaming the Dark-- another reason i got rid of the book).

Of course, because i'm sure Starhawk is no scientist, & because this was published over 10 years ago, i do wonder about some of the more scientific claims made in the book. I would be very interested to see what might have changed or come to light scientifically since 2004. Which is not meant to discredit the knowledge of those who aren't scientists, but engage in practices like permaculture, & who are knowledgeable about the land on which they live. In fact, i'd also like to know more about things like that, & if there's anything about them that has changed/come to light/been discovered since '04.

Overall, it was very readable, & didn't feel overwhelmingly woo; it actually felt, appropriately, grounded & realistic, even when talking about magic.
]]> <![CDATA[Outrageous Openness: Letting the Divine Take the Lead]]> 23013997
“What if the Divine is constantly igniting roadside flares to get our attention? What if there actually is a Supreme Organizing Principle with an unbridled sense of humor? And what if we each have this ardent inner suitor who’s writing us love letters every day that often go unopened?â€�

Whether we know it or not, we all experience the touch of the Divine in our lives every single day. After twenty-five years spent consulting and advising tens of thousands of people from all over the world, Tosha Silver realized that almost all of us have similar concerns: “How do I stop worrying? How can I feel safe? Why do I feel so alone?â€� and often, “Who am I really?â€� For the passionately spiritual and the bemusedly skeptical alike, she created Outrageous Openness . This delightful book, filled with wisdom and fresh perspectives, helps create a relaxed, trusting openness in the reader to discover answers to life’s big questions as they spontaneously arise.

Outrageous Openness opens the door to a profound truth: By allowing the Divine to lead the way, we can finally put down the heavy load of hopes, fears, and opinions about how things should be. We learn how to be guided to take the right actions at the right time, and to enjoy the spectacular show that is our life.]]> 224 Tosha Silver 1476793484 Caitlin 4 The Mystic Heart. But, as explained in the beginning of the book, it was more a compilation of blog posts by Tosha Silver. The chapters, therefore, are very brief & quick to read, & may be repetitive, especially when read one after the other.

Usually, i would disregard a book with ideas like this. I think i mostly kept reading because Silver's writing is so personable, and also because she didn't paint herself as a guru who had a perfect life. She is open about her own problems dealing with anxiety, & a physical illness that laid her very low when she was younger. Not that she gets into the nitty gritty of all that, but it makes her seem more human. I also liked Silver's description of herself as "spiritually polyamorous": she loves Jesus, Ganesh, Kali; the list goes on.

Of course, as others have said, there is the repetition, which hopefully would be lessened in Silver's other books. And i still do feel that skepticism-- i'm an open-minded skeptic-- that comes with the whole idea of what Silver believes.

At the same time, what do i have to lose? If i think-say something along the lines of what Silver proposes-- "The perfect thing is available & there, it will come in the right timing"-- what do i have to lose? I still put in the same amount of work trying to get where i'm going. Why not give it a try? It reminds me of the Wiccan saying "In perfect love & perfect trust," as well as the Christian concept of "Let go and let God." Though i tend to be (& stay) cynical, why not just see what happens? Who knows what could happen.]]> 4.40 2011 Outrageous Openness: Letting the Divine Take the Lead
author: Tosha Silver
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2017/09/30
date added: 2018/12/04
shelves: for-the-thing-maybe, woo-woo, library-book, religion-spirituality
review:
I wasn't sure what to expect with this book, honestly. I thought it would be something scholarly, something more akin to The Mystic Heart. But, as explained in the beginning of the book, it was more a compilation of blog posts by Tosha Silver. The chapters, therefore, are very brief & quick to read, & may be repetitive, especially when read one after the other.

Usually, i would disregard a book with ideas like this. I think i mostly kept reading because Silver's writing is so personable, and also because she didn't paint herself as a guru who had a perfect life. She is open about her own problems dealing with anxiety, & a physical illness that laid her very low when she was younger. Not that she gets into the nitty gritty of all that, but it makes her seem more human. I also liked Silver's description of herself as "spiritually polyamorous": she loves Jesus, Ganesh, Kali; the list goes on.

Of course, as others have said, there is the repetition, which hopefully would be lessened in Silver's other books. And i still do feel that skepticism-- i'm an open-minded skeptic-- that comes with the whole idea of what Silver believes.

At the same time, what do i have to lose? If i think-say something along the lines of what Silver proposes-- "The perfect thing is available & there, it will come in the right timing"-- what do i have to lose? I still put in the same amount of work trying to get where i'm going. Why not give it a try? It reminds me of the Wiccan saying "In perfect love & perfect trust," as well as the Christian concept of "Let go and let God." Though i tend to be (& stay) cynical, why not just see what happens? Who knows what could happen.
]]> <![CDATA[The Mystic Heart: Discovering a Universal Spirituality in the World's Religions]]> 398051 308 Wayne Teasdale 157731140X Caitlin 3
There were some "off" things that jumped out at me, though. One was that every mention of deity was formulated as "God"-- as in, male-gendered. I'm sure that in '99, Neo-Paganism & paths along those lines were not exactly mainstream in any way, but it's still noticeable. Even when discussing Hinduism, which has a large pantheon, there was no mention of deity in the female-gendered sense. It felt very traditional, in that sense, not as open as it could have been.

When it came to discussions of the various faiths, Judaism and Islam seemed to be very overlooked. When Teasdale was supposed to be discussing the three Judaeo-Christian faiths, the majority of the discussion was focused on Christianity, with only brief mentions of the Kabbalah & Sufism. This was disappointing from both a learning standpoint & an integrative standpoint. There was, for instance, only one quote from Rumi in that section, and no quotes from any mystics based in Kabbalah or Hasidism. The rest was completely centered around Christianity, with numerous references to John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila.

This carried throughout the rest of the book. I was left with only hints of most other religions and spiritualities, with the exception of some Buddhism and Hinduism (at least, on the very mystical level). It's understandable that Teasdale may primarily focus on Christianity, as that's his primary frame of reference. But in a book that's focused on moving towards a more interfaith, interspiritual paradigm? It seemed counter intuitive to what Teasdale wanted to achieve. How can we discuss interspiritual mysticism without directly referencing all the mystical paths brought up? I'm sure there's a wealth of knowledge from all paths that could have been quoted.

There was something else that was bothering me about the book, but at this time, i've forgotten what it was. That seems positive; to me, at least.

Despite all this sounding very critical, i did appreciate the book. On the whole, it is a very thoughtful book with an idealistic premise. Teasdale's writing never feels forceful or hurried, nor does it feel stilted. His is a vision that all spiritual paths could lead us all, hand in hand, to a better future, where everyone prospers in peace, and it does come across in his book.]]> 4.11 1999 The Mystic Heart: Discovering a Universal Spirituality in the World's Religions
author: Wayne Teasdale
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1999
rating: 3
read at: 2017/08/21
date added: 2018/12/04
shelves: for-the-thing-maybe, woo-woo, library-book, religion-spirituality
review:
I finished this book over a week ago, & have been trying to write up a review ever since. I liked this book, don't get me wrong. It is a calm, & calming, kind of book, due to its subject matter & the way Wayne Teasdale writes. It's a very hopeful book, which feels incredibly poignant when you see it was published in 1999. Even so, it's still powerful; it gives a vision of what all the spiritual paths could achieve by working in concert.

There were some "off" things that jumped out at me, though. One was that every mention of deity was formulated as "God"-- as in, male-gendered. I'm sure that in '99, Neo-Paganism & paths along those lines were not exactly mainstream in any way, but it's still noticeable. Even when discussing Hinduism, which has a large pantheon, there was no mention of deity in the female-gendered sense. It felt very traditional, in that sense, not as open as it could have been.

When it came to discussions of the various faiths, Judaism and Islam seemed to be very overlooked. When Teasdale was supposed to be discussing the three Judaeo-Christian faiths, the majority of the discussion was focused on Christianity, with only brief mentions of the Kabbalah & Sufism. This was disappointing from both a learning standpoint & an integrative standpoint. There was, for instance, only one quote from Rumi in that section, and no quotes from any mystics based in Kabbalah or Hasidism. The rest was completely centered around Christianity, with numerous references to John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila.

This carried throughout the rest of the book. I was left with only hints of most other religions and spiritualities, with the exception of some Buddhism and Hinduism (at least, on the very mystical level). It's understandable that Teasdale may primarily focus on Christianity, as that's his primary frame of reference. But in a book that's focused on moving towards a more interfaith, interspiritual paradigm? It seemed counter intuitive to what Teasdale wanted to achieve. How can we discuss interspiritual mysticism without directly referencing all the mystical paths brought up? I'm sure there's a wealth of knowledge from all paths that could have been quoted.

There was something else that was bothering me about the book, but at this time, i've forgotten what it was. That seems positive; to me, at least.

Despite all this sounding very critical, i did appreciate the book. On the whole, it is a very thoughtful book with an idealistic premise. Teasdale's writing never feels forceful or hurried, nor does it feel stilted. His is a vision that all spiritual paths could lead us all, hand in hand, to a better future, where everyone prospers in peace, and it does come across in his book.
]]> <![CDATA[Jailbreaking the Goddess: A Radical Revisioning of Feminist Spirituality]]> 26796675
In a woman's lifetime, she will go through several different cycles of beginnings, potential, creation, mastery, and wisdom. This fivefold model is not an adaption of the threefold. It is a new system that embraces the powerful, fluid nature of the lived experience of women today.

Join Lasara Firefox Allen as she explores the nature of the five archetypes; gives examples of what areas of life each might preside over; lists goddesses that fit within each archetype; suggests ways to begin building relationship with the different archetypes; and provides simple rituals for recognition, transition, and invocation.]]> 288 Lasara Firefox Allen 0738747971 Caitlin 3
Actual Review: 5/12/17
I was really excited to read this book, but in the end, i don't think it was meant for me.

The information and viewpoint of the book, for me, wasn't new. I was glad to see it and read it, knowing that others would read it & have a new viewpoint to try. I'm really surprised that Llewellyn, of all publishers, published this book, with its talk of cultural appropriation, decolonization, and accepting trans women as women (among other points).

But aside from that, it wasn't anything ground-breaking for me, personally. For me, maybe because i'm younger & used to use Tumblr religiously, these concepts were almost matter of fact. Of course cultural appropriation is bad, of course trans women are women, etc etc.

I think this book is more for Pagan people who hunger to see themselves in Paganism, as well as those Pagan people who are open to having their minds expanded. As in: POC Pagans, trans Pagans, elderly Pagans, and those who subscribe to concepts like the Triple Goddess & "wombyn", but are receptive to having their views changed.

It could also be because i don't identify as "a Pagan". I can be pagan, have Pagan tendencies, etc, but i don't consider myself one. I don't do ritual, so those parts of the book were not of interest to me (especially in part 2). I also don't identify as a woman, despite my pronouns, so the emphasis on "We are Women, we Know Things" was uncomfortable at times.

On the whole, i would encourage people to read this book and build off of it. It would be great if it would open up new conversations and lead people to reevaluate their beliefs, especially those based in gender essentialism and white supremacy. For myself, however, it wasn't anything new.]]> 4.00 2016 Jailbreaking the Goddess: A Radical Revisioning of Feminist Spirituality
author: Lasara Firefox Allen
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2016
rating: 3
read at: 2017/05/10
date added: 2018/12/04
shelves: woo-woo, for-the-thing-maybe, library-book, religion-spirituality
review:
to see if it's not super cissexist

Actual Review: 5/12/17
I was really excited to read this book, but in the end, i don't think it was meant for me.

The information and viewpoint of the book, for me, wasn't new. I was glad to see it and read it, knowing that others would read it & have a new viewpoint to try. I'm really surprised that Llewellyn, of all publishers, published this book, with its talk of cultural appropriation, decolonization, and accepting trans women as women (among other points).

But aside from that, it wasn't anything ground-breaking for me, personally. For me, maybe because i'm younger & used to use Tumblr religiously, these concepts were almost matter of fact. Of course cultural appropriation is bad, of course trans women are women, etc etc.

I think this book is more for Pagan people who hunger to see themselves in Paganism, as well as those Pagan people who are open to having their minds expanded. As in: POC Pagans, trans Pagans, elderly Pagans, and those who subscribe to concepts like the Triple Goddess & "wombyn", but are receptive to having their views changed.

It could also be because i don't identify as "a Pagan". I can be pagan, have Pagan tendencies, etc, but i don't consider myself one. I don't do ritual, so those parts of the book were not of interest to me (especially in part 2). I also don't identify as a woman, despite my pronouns, so the emphasis on "We are Women, we Know Things" was uncomfortable at times.

On the whole, i would encourage people to read this book and build off of it. It would be great if it would open up new conversations and lead people to reevaluate their beliefs, especially those based in gender essentialism and white supremacy. For myself, however, it wasn't anything new.
]]> <![CDATA[Prayers of the Cosmos: Meditations on the Aramaic Words of Jesus]]> 88564 112 Neil Douglas-Klotz 0060619953 Caitlin 0 to-read, woo-woo 4.39 1990 Prayers of the Cosmos: Meditations on the Aramaic Words of Jesus
author: Neil Douglas-Klotz
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.39
book published: 1990
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/10/26
shelves: to-read, woo-woo
review:

]]> The Faery Teachings 721955 284 Orion Foxwood 0979140226 Caitlin 0 to-read, woo-woo 4.31 2003 The Faery Teachings
author: Orion Foxwood
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/10/26
shelves: to-read, woo-woo
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Avalon Within: A Sacred Journey of Myth, Mystery and Inner Wisdom]]> 8256031
Jhenah Telyndru, founder of the Avalonian Tradition, invites you on a unique spiritual path of healing and personal revelation built upon the beloved Avalon mythology. Connect with the Goddesses of Avalon through guided journeys and powerful rituals. Explore Glastonbury's Sacred Landscape with eight pages of gorgeous color photographs. Develop legendary Avalonian skills--such as the Sight and the art of Glamour--to heal wounds of the soul and unlock the sacred wisdom at the core of your being.

Drawing on Celtic mythology, Arthurian legend, and Druidic lore and exploring the way of the priestess as alluded to in Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon, the Avalonian path empowers women everywhere to transform their lives by seeking the Goddess and the Sovereign self within.]]> 311 Jhenah Telyndru 0738719978 Caitlin 0 4.25 2010 Avalon Within: A Sacred Journey of Myth, Mystery and Inner Wisdom
author: Jhenah Telyndru
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2010
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/10/06
shelves: to-read, woo-woo, for-the-thing-maybe
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Witch's Halloween: A Complete Guide to the Magick, Incantations, Recipes, Spells, and Lore]]> 1710542 256 Gerina Dunwich 1598693409 Caitlin 1 woo-woo, dnf 4.08 2007 Witch's Halloween: A Complete Guide to the Magick, Incantations, Recipes, Spells, and Lore
author: Gerina Dunwich
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2007
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2017/08/16
shelves: woo-woo, dnf
review:
I had this book years ago and tried to read it, but it's so full of misinformation (the Burning Times? Wicca an ancient religion? really???????) that I got rid of it.
]]> <![CDATA[The Tarot Bible: The Definitive Guide to the Cards and Spreads]]> 1108639 400 Sarah Bartlett 1402738382 Caitlin 0 4.31 2006 The Tarot Bible: The Definitive Guide to the Cards and Spreads
author: Sarah Bartlett
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/02/28
shelves: to-read, for-the-thing-maybe, woo-woo
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Science of the Craft: Modern Realities in the Ancient Art of Witchcraft]]> 1734956 Non-fiction 308 William H. Keith Jr. 0806526335 Caitlin 0 4.10 2005 The Science of the Craft: Modern Realities in the Ancient Art of Witchcraft
author: William H. Keith Jr.
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/02/28
shelves: to-read, science, woo-woo, for-the-thing-maybe
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Plant Spirit Journey: Discover the Healing Energies of the Natural World]]> 7049050 288 Laura Silvana 0738718637 Caitlin 0 4.06 2009 Plant Spirit Journey: Discover the Healing Energies of the Natural World
author: Laura Silvana
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/02/28
shelves: to-read, for-the-thing-maybe, woo-woo
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need]]> 120991 461 Joanna Martine Woolfolk 1589793102 Caitlin 0 4.24 1982 The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need
author: Joanna Martine Woolfolk
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1982
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/02/28
shelves: to-read, woo-woo, for-the-thing-maybe
review:

]]> Goddesses Who Rule 546714 272 Elisabeth Benard 0195121317 Caitlin 0 3.69 1999 Goddesses Who Rule
author: Elisabeth Benard
name: Caitlin
average rating: 3.69
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/02/28
shelves: to-read, for-the-thing-maybe, woo-woo
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Magical Souvenirs: Mystical Travel Stories from Around the World]]> 611716
A chance encounter that leads to a spiritual awakening. An awe-inspiring coincidence. A soulful connection to a strange new place.  Magical Souvenirs brings together over 60 true accounts of mystical journeys of both the body and the spirit.

From a vacationer in Egypt who suddenly recites an obscure prayer in flawless Arabic, to a prisoner who mentally travels back to her childhood and wakes up with a fresh-picked daisy in her hand, to a couple visited by the spirit of their deceased son in a New Mexico church, Magical Souvenirs takes readers on an inspirational odyssey to other places and worlds. Whether you are traveling to historic landmarks, sacred sites, or the mysterious depths of the soul itself, these touching and uplifting stories will transport you to a realm where prayers are answered and where everyday miracles happen.]]> 256 Arielle Ford 0452283051 Caitlin 0 woo-woo 4.23 2002 Magical Souvenirs: Mystical Travel Stories from Around the World
author: Arielle Ford
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at: 2016/12/17
date added: 2016/12/17
shelves: woo-woo
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Whispers from the Woods: The Lore & Magic of Trees]]> 244467
By exploring a variety of mysteries and traditions of trees, Whispers from the Woods helps readers get reacquainted with the natural world and find their place in the earth's rhythm. Covering more than just Celtic Ogham and tree calendars, this book includes meditation, shamanic journeys, feng shui, spellcraft, and ritual. In addition, it has a reference section with detailed information on fifty trees, which includes seasonal information, lore, powers, attributes, and more.

Finalist for the Coalition of Visionary Resources Award for Best Wiccan/Pagan Book]]> 288 Sandra Kynes 0738707813 Caitlin 0 4.08 2006 Whispers from the Woods: The Lore & Magic of Trees
author: Sandra Kynes
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/08/31
shelves: to-read, woo-woo, for-the-thing-maybe
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Cassell's Encyclopedia of Queer Myth, Symbol and Spirit: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Lore]]> 280692 400 Randy P. Conner 0304704237 Caitlin 0 4.19 1997 Cassell's Encyclopedia of Queer Myth, Symbol and Spirit: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Lore
author: Randy P. Conner
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.19
book published: 1997
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/08/31
shelves: to-read, queer, woo-woo, for-the-thing-maybe
review:

]]> Be Here Now 29254 416 Ram Dass 0517543052 Caitlin 0 4.30 1971 Be Here Now
author: Ram Dass
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.30
book published: 1971
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/08/31
shelves: to-read, woo-woo, for-the-thing-maybe
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Way of Four: Create Elemental Balance in Your Life]]> 762560 336 Deborah Lipp 0738705411 Caitlin 0 4.12 2004 The Way of Four: Create Elemental Balance in Your Life
author: Deborah Lipp
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2004
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/08/31
shelves: to-read, woo-woo, for-the-thing-maybe
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Garden Witchery: Magick from the Ground Up]]> 821999 304 Ellen Dugan 0738703184 Caitlin 0 4.19 2003 Garden Witchery: Magick from the Ground Up
author: Ellen Dugan
name: Caitlin
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2016/08/31
shelves: to-read, woo-woo, for-the-thing-maybe
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Goddess: Mythological Images of the Feminine]]> 1729152 "Exciting and important."
-Library Journal

"Remarkable."
-Psychological Perspective

"Direct and intimate."
-The Journal of Analytic Psychology>]]> 254 Christine Downing 0826409172 Caitlin 2 woo-woo, for-the-thing-maybe a) & the chapter on Gaia, felt more understandable to me for some reason. The others, like the chapter on Artemis, felt like a disconnected jumble with academic references & quotations that went over my head. It sometimes felt like Downing's language became confused & bogged down at points, as well.

However, i definitely want to reread it, because i feel as if on a second reading, i may begin to understand things better, &/or to maybe spend more time with them. I don't feel that it's a bad book, but i did often find myself wishing for some clarification that used less jargon (which is not the same as wishing it to be "dumbed down").

The title is misleading, i think. I picked it up because i was under the mistaken assumption that the book would be about looking at actual images-- depictions, artworks-- of the Goddesses discussed therein, & going from there. Downing rarely discusses visual images & depictions of the Goddesses; in fact, there is only ever one image per chapter, & right at the very beginning of it. I supposed Downing is discussing "images" in the sense of how the Goddesses are & have been perceived throughout time; nevertheless, it feels like the wrong word choice. I don't have a better suggestion, admittedly, but "images" doesn't feel correct after reading the book.

Overall, it is a read that probably shouldn't be taken lightly, & also not discarded in irritation, even if you come close to wanting to do so. It's probably helpful if you have some background knowledge in psychology, since Downing seems to constantly reference it, & probably other academics that i can't identify. She does, of course, weave in her own personal stories, which at best work to reenforce the more academic bits of the writing. At the worst, they feel disjointed & confusing, leaving me to wonder what the connection between certain things was, & why they were included. I kept reading because i wanted to understand what was being discussed, & because at times i felt the book was able to convey something wonderfully, i want to try reading it again, to see if i'm able to understand more, especially in those chapters where i felt the most confused.]]> 3.85 1981 The Goddess: Mythological Images of the Feminine
author: Christine Downing
name: Caitlin
average rating: 3.85
book published: 1981
rating: 2
read at: 2012/07/08
date added: 2016/08/31
shelves: woo-woo, for-the-thing-maybe
review:
I think this book will benefit from a second reading, because this first time around, it felt very much like a mixed bag to me. Even though Downing starts off with an explanation of what she wants to set out to do in the book, it still seemed unclear to me exactly what she was talking about. For the majority of the book, i felt confused. I found myself thinking numerous times that, in order to fully understand what Downing was talking about, one would have to be acquainted with Freud & Jung, along with the other writers she mentions & quotes throughout the text. A few parts, like the chapter on Athene (& i would have liked some explanation as to why Downing spelled it so, as opposed to Athena) & the chapter on Gaia, felt more understandable to me for some reason. The others, like the chapter on Artemis, felt like a disconnected jumble with academic references & quotations that went over my head. It sometimes felt like Downing's language became confused & bogged down at points, as well.

However, i definitely want to reread it, because i feel as if on a second reading, i may begin to understand things better, &/or to maybe spend more time with them. I don't feel that it's a bad book, but i did often find myself wishing for some clarification that used less jargon (which is not the same as wishing it to be "dumbed down").

The title is misleading, i think. I picked it up because i was under the mistaken assumption that the book would be about looking at actual images-- depictions, artworks-- of the Goddesses discussed therein, & going from there. Downing rarely discusses visual images & depictions of the Goddesses; in fact, there is only ever one image per chapter, & right at the very beginning of it. I supposed Downing is discussing "images" in the sense of how the Goddesses are & have been perceived throughout time; nevertheless, it feels like the wrong word choice. I don't have a better suggestion, admittedly, but "images" doesn't feel correct after reading the book.

Overall, it is a read that probably shouldn't be taken lightly, & also not discarded in irritation, even if you come close to wanting to do so. It's probably helpful if you have some background knowledge in psychology, since Downing seems to constantly reference it, & probably other academics that i can't identify. She does, of course, weave in her own personal stories, which at best work to reenforce the more academic bits of the writing. At the worst, they feel disjointed & confusing, leaving me to wonder what the connection between certain things was, & why they were included. I kept reading because i wanted to understand what was being discussed, & because at times i felt the book was able to convey something wonderfully, i want to try reading it again, to see if i'm able to understand more, especially in those chapters where i felt the most confused.
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