Dancing Up the Moon; A Woman's Guide to Creating Traditions That Bring Sacredness to Daily Life

Most of us have very little tradition in our lives yet crave a stronger feeling of connection and meaning. This guidebook builds on the knowledge that women already possess in celebrating events and inspires them to commemorate other life-changing passages as well

Lysne's guide to "living the sacred every day" asserts that women, as keepers of tradition, "have always honored the sacred" by acting as the central figures in family activities that acknowledge loved ones and mark life passages. The rituals of which it mainly consists are sorted into four sections concerned, respectively, with "Honoring Womanhood," "Honoring Motherhood," "Honoring Personal Transitions" (e.g., career changes, miscarriages, abortions, moving in or out of residences, the loss of body parts--quite a range), and "Honoring Relationships," a field that includes the likes of friendship changes, divorce, and respecting living elders. Although all the rites Lysne describes are richly textured, deeply felt, and intuitively developed, Lysne also encourages readers to develop their own, lest this excellent addition to the literature of contemporary spirituality become a set of behavioral recipes. Whitney Scott