Laura Perry - author, artist, creator

Today I'm reviewing a lovely book that really captures the essence of the Goddess Spirituality movement and makes it meaningful for people - both women and men - in ordinary life. I enjoyed talking with the author on her radio show a few weeks back about Minoan spirituality and its egalitarian values. This book emphasizes similar values and gives a wide variety of interesting viewpoints. Mythology drives culture and hence politics and the economy, so in order to change politics and economics, we have to change the mythology. That is exactly what Karen Tate has been doing for nearly a decade now with her radio show Voices of the Sacred Feminine. Her new book, also titled Voices of the Sacred Feminine , is an anthology that collects many powerful thoughts about Goddess spirituality as a tool for implementing that change on a personal, community and world level. Some of the pieces are essays written for this collection and some are transcripts of interviews from the radio show...

I've just been introduced to a new goddess. Actually, she's a very old goddess, but one I had only heard of in passing, in discussions of Druid groves. Joanna van der Hoeven's marvelous little book, Pagan Portals Dancing with Nemeton a, explores the human relationship not only with this goddess but also with the concepts of sacred space and boundaries. Known as the Lady of the Sacred Grove, Nemetona teaches us that we are each a kind of living, moving sacred space, and the way we interact with other people, animals and the places we visit affects us (and them) at a very deep level. That's a truly profound concept that we often give lip service to in Pagan practice, but it underlies so much of the Pagan worldview, I think we would do well to focus more closely on it and learn to understand the implications of this interconnection more clearly. This book is a big step toward that end. Like the other titles in the Pagan Portals series, this is a fairly short book bu...

I'm delighted to announce that I have just begun a new, monthly blog series on the PaganSquare/Witches & Pagans website. I'll be blogging about Minoan spirituality in the modern world. My first post, about how I stumbled onto this particular path, is here: Walking the Minoan Path: Easier Said than Done I will offer a new post at the end of each month. If you have particular topics you'd like to see me address (related to Minoan paganism, of course) please let me know.

I have to admit, I haven’t been particularly intrigued by any of the books I’ve come across about Fairy Witchcraft. That is, until now.  This is not a fluffy, New Age, everything-is-goodness-and-light book, and for that I am grateful. Pagan Portals Fairy Witchcraft is a concise introduction to making a connection with the Fairy world and working with those energies in your personal magical practice. Like the other books in the Pagan Portals series, Fairy Witchcraft is a slim volume, but it is packed full of information. Ms. Daimler provides a great deal of background about folk belief in Fairies, particularly in the Celtic world, so the reader will understand that they are not the delicate, sweet, gossamer-winged creatures of Victorian fantasy. They are, in fact, ancient beings with a great deal of power who are not always friendly to humans. Working with them has its dangers, and Ms. Daimler makes that very clear. Ms. Daimler shares her own experiences with the Fairies as...

I’ve just read an unusual book, but it’s one we need. Divorcing a Real Witch by Diana Rajchel addresses a real need not just in the Pagan community but in the world at large. As progressive and modern as we think we are, many people still find divorce to be an awkward, uncomfortable subject, whether they’re the ones experiencing it themselves or whether they’re trying to deal with the event in a friend or family member. This book helps the reader work their way through the issues divorce brings up, both practical and spiritual. Nowhere does Ms. Rajchel condescend or preach. This is a book about making it through a difficult time and healing from it. She is very right to point out that people, especially women, feel a great deal of pressure to get married and provide their parents with grandchildren, among other requirements. To this end, many people view divorce as a failure. It is not. It is often the best solution to a bad situation. Ms. Rajchel walks the reader through sever...

Today I'm reviewing a unique book titled  Starcat's Corner: Essays on Pagan Living . Find all my book reviews here . This book is different – in a good way. It’s a collection of essays the author wrote over the course of a decade, each one focused on a practical method for observing the turning of the seasons as a Pagan in a society in which that spirituality is the minority. There is a certain ritualy-ness to some of them (don’t we all like a little ritual in our lives?) but most of them focus more on deepening earth-oriented spirituality through daily life, a sort of Pagan mindfulness, if you will. I was delighted to read the essay about Pagan homeschooling – yes, there are more of us out there than you might think. And Starcat’s thoughts on incorporating Pagan spirituality into everyday activities from gardening to journaling to working a job help ground our collection of traditions in real life in a very hands-on way. Of course, it’s delightful to gather at the S...

Today I'm reviewing a book in the Shaman Pathways series, titled The Druid Shaman: Exploring the Celtic Otherworld , by Danu Forest. Find all my book reviews here . I really didn't know what to expect from this book; Druidry and shamanism are two traditions that are not often linked, and as a shamanic practitioner, I'm far more familiar with the latter. But as I read, I was fascinated and impressed. Danu Forest makes the case for Druidry, in its original form, as the native shamanic tradition of the Celts. The shape-shifting and world-traveling heroes from ancient Celtic tales draw us into the customs and practices of the ancestral Celts with their music, their tools, their rituals. While Ms. Forest gives plenty of  background regarding the Celtic spiritual traditions, particularly those with a shamanic bent, this is largely a practical book. It takes the reader through the process of creating shamanic tools, finding spirit allies in nature, connecting with the anc...

If you're looking for a bit of fiction to take you away from the dreariness of winter (or the exhaustion of summer, if you're in the southern hemisphere), I recommend The Casquette Girls by Alys Arden. I have always loved stories that combine the mythical with the mundane, the historical with the modern. The Casquette Girls delivers, in spades. New Orleans in post-hurricane devastation is the setting for this intriguing tale that weaves together the history of the city with the experiences of one young woman whose life turns upside down thanks not only to the storm damage but also to the eruption of magical forces – both benevolent and malign – in her life. This gripping novel could easily be categorized as paranormal suspense, young adult fiction, fantasy, even thriller, but I think it transcends all those genres. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say that the city of New Orleans itself is the main character, in all its entrancing, charismatic timelessness. The city dr...

Today I'm reviewing Brendan Howlin's new book about following the Druid path in a modern urban setting. The official publication date is March 2014 but you can pre-order it now from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk as well as all the other Amazon platforms. The term ‘Druid’ brings to mind groups of people in long white robes chanting in circles in the middle of the forest. How on earth is it possible to be a Druid in the middle of a concrete-and-steel city? Mr. Howlin explains exactly how it is not only possible, but valuable and even pleasurable. There is life everywhere, even in the most built-up of manmade places, and learning to truly see that life and connect with it is the start of a special kind of spirituality. Rather than outlining the tenets and practices of Druidry in encyclopedic form, Mr. Howlin takes the reader through a series of exercises which bring recognition of the living world and connection with it as well as the ability to relax and focus on life as ...

A Modern Celt is my favorite kind of pagan book: one that makes historical traditions and sources relevant for the modern reader. Mabh Savage has turned out a useful work that will resonate with anyone interested in Celtic spirituality. Steeped in Celtic lore and mythology from an early age, Ms. Savage understands that not every person will connect with every deity, but that the Celtic tradition as a whole has deep meaning for many modern Pagans. To this end she introduces us to the Irish gods and goddesses, not just as they appear in the ancient tales, but as they have shown themselves in her life and the lives of those close to her. In addition to discussing the deities, Ms. Savage takes the reader through the wheel of the year from the viewpoint of modern Celtic spirituality, offering glimpses into the meaning of each major point on the circle and inviting us to explore them more deeply ourselves. She also shares wonderful stories from her fellow Celtic Pagans, showing us t...

Morgan Daimler’s book Where the Hawthorn Grows is an unusual entry in the growing marketplace of books about Celtic and Druidic spirituality, and I was very pleased to read it. While Ms. Daimler talks about being a modern Druid in North America and keeping ancient beliefs alive by bringing them into the modern age and allowing them to change to fit the current world, her main thrust is a reasoned effort at remaining true to the ideals of the ancient Celts as we know them through the texts and other historical sources that have come down to us. Following the threads of an ancient tapestry of spirituality and culture, she discerns the pattern the Druids wove centuries ago and exhibits it to us as a practical underpinning for modern pagan life. To begin with, Ms. Daimler clarifies her own stance as a reconstructionist and Druid, including a clear definition of reconstructionism since it’s so often misunderstood, so often the source of argument and dissent within the broader pagan co...

This is Part 3 of a three-part series. Find Part 1 here and Part 2 here . As I explained in a previous post , I have embarked on a bread-baking project to honor two of my female ancestors and, by association, all the women whose DNA I carry and on whose shoulders I stand. My first recipe in the Bread of the Grandmothers Project was the biscuits my maternal grandmother made . This post details my adventure in cornbread-making, just the way my great-grandmother did it. Like her daughter-in-law and all the other women in their families, Grandma Crews was a farmer’s wife, which is a job in itself. She raised six boys, took care of the garden and the chickens, and cooked three meals a day, every day. She also gave me my very first lesson in folk magic. On one of the many days I spent with Grandmother during my childhood, she and Granddaddy needed to go into town to take care of some business. They didn’t want a fidgety five-year-old tagging along with them so they dropped me off ...

Today I'm reviewing a book by Yvonne Ryves that offers some fascinating do-it-yourself ideas for finding connection with the natural and spirit world. It's well worth your time to read it. Do you feel a connection with the natural world around you but don’t know how to incorporate that feeling into your life in a tangible way? Have you encountered any number of medicine wheel or web-of-life spiritual traditions that feel familiar but aren’t exactly the right fit for you? This little book has some practical answers for you. I was gratified to read Yvonne Ryves’ book Web of Life, part of the Shaman Pathways series by Moon Books. It offers a set of exercises for finding your own way, your own unique connection with the natural world and the spiritual world within it. Instead of prescribing a pre-fab tradition, Ms. Ryves takes the reader step by step through the process of developing their own spiritual practice that has meaning and purpose for them, from connecting with th...

This is Part 2 of a three-part series. Find Part 1 here and Part 3 here . As I explained in a previous post , I have embarked on a bread-baking project to honor two of my female ancestors and, by association, all the women whose DNA I carry and on whose shoulders I stand. This post details my adventure in biscuit-making, just the way my grandmother did it. My maternal grandparents, James and Noreen Crews, on the front step of their farmhouse My maternal grandmother learned to make biscuits as a young girl. This ability was a basic life skill for her, an expected activity for girls and women in the rural South in the early part of the 20th century. First her father then, after she was married, her husband expected freshly-baked bread on the table at every meal, three times a day, 365 days a year. She started out baking her daily bread in a wood stove and eventually graduated to a gas oven, but her recipe never changed. When I was that young I called her Nana; being the oldes...

This is Part 1 of a three-part series. Find Part 2 here and Part 3 here . My ancestors have a special place in my life. They provide a focal point for my shamanic practice and they give me a sense of purpose and direction. I know who I am because I understand who they are. The earliest religious traditions probably centered around the ancestors, those on whose shoulders we stand. It is not necessary to have a good relationship with your living relatives or even to know who they are (adoptees, take note) in order to honor your ancestors. The people you come from live on within you, in your blood, in your bones. Your DNA is their DNA. In fact, your mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA for short) traces back through the female line in your family to the ultimate grandmother of all your grandmothers. If you are a man, your Y chromosome does likewise for the grandfather of all your grandfathers. They live in you. There are many different ways of honoring the ancestors, many varied traditions fro...