Barbara Ardinger - Practicing the Presence of the Goddess. Everyday Rituals to Transform Your World

First, as always, to my son Charles and, now, to his terrific girl friend, Phish. Charles is a poet, Phish is an artist. I love seeing how much in love they are and how their creativity blooms in astonishing ways.

Second, to my brother, Dale Rohne, and his partner, Tim Spaulding. In the spring of 1999, Dale was diagnosed with a nasty type of cancer, and all through the summer we wondered if he would live. As I begin writing this (November, 1999), however, there is good news: Dale has phoned to say the cancer is in remission. He has the love of his sister and his community to help with the healing.

Third, to Munro Magruder, Marketing and Subsidiary Rights Director, and Georgia Hughes, Editorial Director, New World Library. When Georgia joined the staff of NWL early in 1999, Munro handed her a copy of A Womans Book of Rituals & Celebrations. Georgia read the book, liked it, and phoned me. Wed like you to rewrite the book, she said, and well publish it in an elegant new edition. Thats one of the best phone calls Ive ever received.

Although I ordered Dale to stay alive till the book was published, the cancer metastacized and he died on June 1, 2000.

so Im just sitting here,

sitting through the years dark night,

waiting, wondering, watching.

Is there anything I can do?

Light a candle, someone tells me,

Cast a circle. Let the magic begin.

So I light and cast and let.

And its still, and its dark,

and Im wondering when the light will rise.

Light your candle, Someone murmurs,

Cast the circle of your need, She whispers,

The magic is always in you, She says.

Again I light, again I cast, and I let it be,

and o wonders arise Im still here,

working, playing, being in the world.

Her candle thats always you and me,

Her circle thats our blessed dreamlit world,

Her magic thats you and me, community,

working, playing, being in the world

Barbara Ardinger, Ph. D.
Winter Solstice, 1999

Smiling is a sacred act. Singing Ma in the shower and manipulating my computer mouse are also sacred acts. The rustling leaves outside the window and the check I wrote to my favorite charity are sacred objects when I remember who I am not just a woman or a daughter of the Goddess, but an embodiment of Her wisdom and loving kindness. Again and again, Barbara Ardinger brings us home to the goddess within ourselves and in all that surrounds us here on Earth.

With her ever present wit and wisdom, Barbara gifts us again and again as she shows us the numerous ways we can practice the presence of the Goddess in our daily lives as well as within formally defined saced space. Beyond personal rituals to bless and empower ourselves, she explains the modern feminist spirituality movement in a manner I have never seen so concisely presented. She explains the rudiments of altars, invocations, trance, grounding, the symbols, elements, and etiquette of ritual all the time making it clear that we sacred women must listen to ourselves and be guided by our own divine wisdom to create what is meaningful to us in ceremony and in our lives.

Practicing the Presence of the Goddess is an offering for the novice, the solitary, and the Wiccan Priestess. By creating an imaginary coven called Spring Green Circle, Barbara makes it easy to understand the interpersonal dimension and the gathered power which is possible by practicing in a group. Her scholarship and friendly style of writing make her a true teacher, one whose power is so settled within herself that she is a catalyst, igniting the creative power of her reader. All practitioners of womens spirituality will find the wisdom of the Goddess, of Barbara, and of herself in this book.

Practicing the Presence of the Goddess closes with rituals to bless our selves, our foremothers, and our children. In this way, Barbara draws us into the spiral of time, connecting the visible to the invisible. There, between the worlds, we weave a sacred tapestry, the web of womens wisdom. When you complete your first reading of Practicing the Presence of the Goddess, you are sure to find yourself full of light, glowing from your center, reminded to live with intention, reminded of who you are, a goddess with tools and insight to put to use. Get ready to receive your blessings!

Burleigh Mutn
author of Return of the Great Goddess
Amherst, Massachusetts
July 10, 2000

After Georgia Hughes phoned me, the first assignment I gave myself was to reread the two editions of Rituals & Celebrations. What did I write ten years ago? Five years ago? As I read, I sometimes said to myself, Gee, this makes sense. The writing is still pretty good, too. Other times, however, it was, Whoa how nave I was. Or, I sure dont believe that anymore. Time to rewrite!