Barbara Ardinger - A Womans Book of Rituals and Celebrations

A distinctive book, emphasizing the presence of the Goddess in daily life. From power and peace rituals to blessings for our children and foremothers, this down-to-earth guide is for all who seek to connect with the sacred Goddess.

A delightful and down-to-earth excursion into realms mystical and magical. A do-it-yourself class in basic ritual that sings with the love of the Goddess.

A very readable little book full of wonderful information, insights, and wisdom; well-written, well-produced. An excellent book for anyone wanting to discover and know the Goddess who is all around us.

In this lush book of rituals and celebrations, voiced in beautifully poetic language, Barbara Ardinger presents to us a multiplicity of ways to go between the worlds: to honor ourselves, our female ancestors, our children, our Mother Earth, and the Great Round which makes up the seasons of our world. As a lover of the ancient ways, I particularly enjoyed A Blessing for Our Foremothers: an honoring of our mothers, grandmothers, great-great-grandmothers, heras,divine women: all those womenhistoric and prehistoricwho, having been interwoven into the fabric of our lives, have contributed to who we are. As we honor our female line, so we honor ourselves at our very foundations, and so we re-form spiritual foundations for our own lives.

A journey into the world of Goddess Thealogy and practice that will positively change your life without asking you to make any radical changes in your present lifestyle.

In this wonderfully down-to-earth book on the how and why of Goddess rituals, author and Witch Barbara Ardinger shows us how to bring rituals and the Goddess into our lives in the most basic ways. The authors writing is laced with a wonderful sense of humor that undercuts what might sound like preachy dogma in the hands of a less-skilled writer. This is the best general book on designing rituals Ive seen to date. The balance of theory with examples and ideas is just right, resulting in a well-written, user-friendly volume that is suitable for any woman interested in Goddess spirituality or Witchcraft.

Rich with poetry and blessings, this is a guide to practicing the presence or the Goddess in everyday life. Rituais are simple and profound; an excellent introduction to womens spirituality.

A Womans Book of Rituals is down-to-earth in the best and fullest sense of the term: rooted in and nourished by the wisdom of our mother planet. With mirth and reverenceBarbara Ardinger presents the tenets of what she calls an equal-opportunity religion,reminding us that any woman (indeed anyone!) can know the Goddess and practice her presence in daily life. Barbara Ardingers pithy prose is a pleasure to read and her rituals are rich with poetry, including an uproarious paean to the Goddess Gotcha!

A creative, down-to-earth approach to discovering the Goddess written for the woman who is curious about what the re-emergence of the Goddess is all about, and an excellent place for the novice to get her toes wet.

Wise, witty and delightfully original, this is an unconventional and user-friendly guide to the world of Womens Spirituality.

Rituals & Celebrations is truly a treasure! Woven with heartfelt joy, deep wisdom, and delightful wit, it offers meaningful and empowering rituals, blessings, invocations, and even a drumming lesson for guiding us through the Earth and Lunar seasons as well as the intimate seasonsof personal transitions. What a blessing it is to have this well-written, practical, down-to-earth guidebook for helping us embrace and honor the Goddess in our lives.

This is a very interesting and useful account for those who refer to unencumbered ritual,and for all women who wish to honor and explore feminine spirituality and womens traditions.

1995 by Barbara Ardinger, Ph.D.

Published by New World Library

58 Paul Drive

San Rafael, CA 94903

Cover design: Kathy Warinner

Text design: Stephanie Young

Composition: Stephanie Eichleay

Word Processing: Deborah Eaglebarger

All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, or transmitted in any form, without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or other, without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ardinger, Barbara, 1941

A womans book of rituals and celebrations / by Barbara

Ardinger. p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 1-880032-57-0 (acid free paper)

1. WomenReligious life. 2. Goddess religionRituals.

3. Goddess religionPrayer-books and devotionsEnglish.

4. Devotional calendars. 5. Ritual. I. Title.

BL625.7.A55 1992

291.3'8'082dc20

ISBN 1-880032-57-0

Second edition, 1995

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

F irst, as always to my son, Charles Ardinger. Hes a true blessing in my life. Then to all the Goddesss childrenwomen, men, kids, cats, snakes, and flowersthat Ive met at rituals and who have enriched my life. Weve danced, drummed, sung, talked, and giggled together. Weve worshipped and played together at large and small, planned and spontaneous rituals, and weve learned what the practice of the presence of the Goddess really is.