Pagan Every Day: Finding the Extraordinary in Our Ordinary Lives - Softcover

Ardinger, Barbara

Softcover

ISBN 10: 157863332X ISBN 13: 9781578633326

Publisher: Weiser Books, 2006

Synopsis

Barbara Ardinger teaches us that a contemporary spiritual experience can show up in some of the most unexpected places- such as The Muppet Show and Dirty Dancing. Clearly Pagan Every Day is not your ordinary goddess-a-day or spell recipe book! Rather than writing about the usual sabbat rituals and offering the standard goddess-speak, Ardinger offers 366 (365 plus one to grow on) literate and witty entries on various topics that provoke readers with new ideas and new ways of exploring paganism as a spiritual practice. Included are the holy days of other cultures, pagan elements in literature, lessons from history, famous pagans, and popular culture and paganism. Ardinger teaches us to look for undercurrents of esoterica not only in witch movies or fantasy -television, but in the mainstream culture. Take February 2- reflect on the movie Groundhog Day and how it symbolizes karma and reincarnation. Intertwined are some more traditional pagan beliefs, with a contemporary twist. On August 17, Ardinger retells the familiar story of Odin and his search for runes and transforms it into a shamanic journey for each of us to find our own runes. Jane Goodall, Judy Chicago, John Donne, Miss Piggy, Harry Potter, the Ghosts of all those Christmases, Mary Magdalene, not to mention Saturn, Diana, Sonnenwenda, Adonis, Aphrodite- they all have their places in Pagan Every Day. Pagan Every Day offers good reminders that every day offers something ordinary and luminous at the same time.

About this title

About the Author:

Barbara Ardinger, Ph.D. is a Witch, teacher, and freelance writer and editor. Her book reviews have appeared in SageWoman, PanGaia, newWitch, Gnosis, and other magazines. She earned her doctorate in English Renaissance Literature and has studied the Tarot, Reiki, numerology, color healing, and the Qabalah. She holds a third degree initiation from a secret occult order, is an initiated Dianic Witch, and has been a member of the Fellowship of Isis since 1978. Ardinger is the author of several books including Goddess Meditations, Practicing the Presence of the Goddess, and A Woman's Book of Rituals and Celebrations. The chambermaid for her 20-year-old cat, she lives in Long Beach, California.

From Publishers Weekly:

Ardinger's latest contribution to pagan literature is a short-essay book of days jammed with facts about goddesses and saints, alongside an assortment of random pop culture references and personal musings. The author of several books including Finding New Goddesses, Ardinger is a regular encyclopedia of knowledge not only about paganism but more broadly about significant women figures and goddesses in history (think Julian of Norwich, Mother Teresa, and Isis, all of whom make appearances among the 365 days). Loosely organized into monthly themes with, for example, January taking up "home and community" and July and August taking up "water" and "fire" respectively, Ardinger attempts to give some rhyme and reason to the plethora of information. Chocolate lovers will surely delight to learn the story behind Lady Godiva (July 10) and those uninitiated into the history of Sophia (December 16) will be happy to learn of her illustrious past. But the real question for general readers is whether a calendar of random, though often interesting, reflective paragraphs, with a lot of comments directly to the reader and casual prose thrown in here and there, is worth the investment. For readers looking for pagan trivia, though, Ardinger's book of days is the ultimate find. (Aug.)Correction: The review of The Language of God: AScientist Presents Evidence for Belief by Francis S. Collins (Free Press, PW, May 29) should have been starred.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Weiser Books
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 157863332X
• ISBN 13: 9781578633326
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 379