Circle Round: Raising Children in Goddess Traditions

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0553378058 ISBN 13: 9780553378054

Publisher: Bantam, 2000

In our rushed, stressed society, it's sometimes difficult to spend meaningful time as a family. Now Starhawk, Diane Baker, and Anne Hill offer new ways to foster a sense of togetherness through celebrations that honor the sacredness of life and our Mother Earth.

Goddess tradition embraces the wheel of life, the never-ending cycle of birth, growth, love, fulfillment, and death. Each turn of the wheel is presented here, in eight holidays spanning the changing seasons, in rites of passage for life transitions, and in the elements of fire, air, water, earth, and spirit. Circle Round is rich with songs, rituals, craft and cooking projects, and read-aloud stories, as well as suggestions for how you can create your own unique family traditions. Here are just some of the ways to make each event in the cycle of life more special:

Mark Summer Solstice by making sweet-smelling herb pillows for good dreams
Send a teenager off to college with the Leaving Behind and Carrying With rituals
Comfort an injured child with the Tree of Life meditation
Commemorate a loved one by planting or donating a tree

As a one-of-a-kind resource for people of many faiths and beliefs, Circle Round will be a beloved companion in your home for years to come.

Review:

The 20th-century reclamation of Goddess traditions has evolved from a small counterculture revolution of the mid-1900s to the birthright of an entire generation of children and young teenagers. However, the parents--who were adults when they first turned to paganism--are discovering that raising children in a pagan tradition can prove difficult amidst the near void of resources to assist them in teaching this way of life. Relying on age-old learning methods, such as songs and storytelling, Circle Round fills this void with techniques that are truly rooted in traditions. This priceless resource offers guidelines for helping children discover the different facets of the Goddess tradition--from altars to sabbats--and suggests recipes, creative projects, and other activities resuscitating the values of family in our latchkey society. --Brian Patterson

From the Publisher:

From the Earth to our hearts...

Festivals for holidays from Halloween to Fall Equinox

Moon and sun celebrations

Home altars and seasonal decorations

Craft projects

Sacred baking and recipes

Rituals for children and adolescents

Family activities for ordinary days and weekends

Blessings for birth and rites of passage