Archive for the ‘Book Reviews’ Category

triple-goddessIt was during the very womanly act of pregnancy that I lost my sense of womanliness. In the act of becoming a mother, that I let go the other parts of feminine self. I lost myself, I lost my sense of sacredness, my sense of sexuality. I felt adrift from myself. It was on the journey to rediscover the sassy, confident woman I once was that I first fell in love with the luscious Lady Lister. Not a woman who has all her shit together, not a woman filled with shoulds and quick fixes, but a woman totally immersed in the sacred act of being her messy, beautiful self. In her passion, I learned to listen to my own passions. In circles with other women, I learned to listen to others asking the same questions as myself, and better yet we all encouraged each other to find those answers within. With the sacred She behind me, I got up off my knees and started walking towards myself. I came home to myself.

Part of that process was getting to grips with my body once more. Not just rediscovering my sexuality, not just learning to love my ever changing form, but actually understanding my personal cycles and seasons. Getting to know my monthly flow and how that affects me throughout all aspects of my life was a game changer for me. Suddenly I understood how to time my periods of productivity, activity, creativity and rest with my natural body rhythm. I stopped pushing myself to meet deadlines on days when I knew I would feel tired and emotionally drained, and I started booking more networking activities around the peak of my fertility cycle. My stress levels lowered, I became more conscious of my personal needs, and overall I coped with my day to day life better – all because I stopped treating my monthly bleed as a burden and started working with it instead of against it.

This whole learning curve was inspired by Lisa Lister and her desire to support women in unlocking their own lady code. I listened and watched as Lisa pulled together her knowledge and wrote the book known as Code Red: Know Your Flow, Unlock Your Super Powers + Create a Bloody Amazing Life. Period.

Code Red“So, there’s a code.
A lady code.
It’s ancient, it’s deeply spiritual and more than that, it’s powerful.
Fiercely powerful.
So powerful that it’s barely been spoken about in over 2,000 years.

Your menstrual cycle.

Yep, your period is way more than PMS, carb cravings and lady rage, your menstrual cycle/period/ragtime/ – insert whatever you call your ‘time of the month’ here – is actually a 4-part lady code, that once cracked, will uncover a series of monthly superpowers that can be used to enhance your relationships with others, build a better business, have incredible sex + create a ‘bloody’ amazing life.

Code Red, from the creatrix of thesassyshe.com, Lisa Lister, is a call to action. A rallying cry thats calls you to explore, navigate and most importantly, love your lady landscape.

You’ll learn how to live and work in complete alignment with the rhythms of nature, the moon and your menstrual cycle, be inspired by insights from Wise and Wild Women like Meggan Watterson, Alexandra Pope and Uma Dinsmore Tuli and gain access to easy-to-follow strategies and SHE flow practices. You’ll be invited to re-connect with your true nature as a woman, tap into the transformative power of your innate feminine wisdom and use your menstrual cycle as an ever-unfolding map to crack your lady code.”

Honestly, I cannot recommend this book enough – and I am not the only one. Get down and dirty with yourself, learn the power of the period, and find your rhythm. Go on ladies, the sacred She is calling you.

“Code Red is a modern priestess guide for women to go within and use their feminine cycles to lead the good life.  Lisa Lister is sounding the call for you to heal your cycle, accept your ever changing body, and honor your feminine soul. This is the essential foundation and practice for you to get in your ‘FLO’ and  become the powerful force of nature that you are designed to be!”
Alisa Vitti, Hormonal Health Expert and Author of WomanCode

“Lisa Lister doesn’t mess around. She’s here to break boundaries and barriers that have been created by what society defines ‘normal’ and in turn, remind us what’s real. Teaching and leading other girls to honour their divinity inside and out is no easy task and for that reason alone, I respect Lisa wholeheartedly. As far as I’m concerned, Lisa is part angel, part goddess and part rocker – she writes in a way that’s friendly, honest and captivating. This book is filled with ‘aha!’ moments from beginning to end. Let Code Red help you recognize your monthly flow – as a reminder you are fiercely feminine.”
Kyle Gray, Bestselling Author of Angel Prayers

The Woven Word cover(Reblogged From A Bad Witch’s Blog)

Found a wonderful review of my book The Woven Word on A Bad Witch’s Blog. I am so glad and grateful that people are discovering and connecting with the book, and I am inspired by the positive responses to the rites and ceremonies. I truly hope my book will be of use to others, and I am blessed by every review – thank you!

 

 

 

 

“Book Review: The Woven Word – A Book of Invocations and Inspirations

Over the years I’ve collected quite a few books of pagan rituals that I look at when I’m asked to put together a ceremony. Some are better than others, of course, and these days I’m picky about buying any books to add to my collection. However, a new publication I’m really pleased I’ve got is The Woven Word: A Book of Invocations and Inspirations by Romany Rivers.

Publisher Moon Books describes it as: “A creative compendium of invocations, inspirations and blessings for the novice or adept to design personal, unique and magical rituals.”

The first part of the book offers simple poems, chants and prayers for specific purposes – such as purification, invocation or blessing. They can be easily slotted into rituals or used on their own. Some are relatively traditional, others less so. Take for example this elegant but simple “shower cleansing”:

Wash away the stress and strain
Wash away the hurt and pain
Refresh and cleanse my tired soul
To reconnect, to make me whole

The second part of the book contains complete rituals. As well as ceremonies for the usual seasonal festivals, there are ways to honour rites of passage from baby blessings and handfastings to rituals at death. The latter include last rites when a person is dying and a requiem for someone who has died.

As we are approaching Samhain, and this month on my blog I have been looking at various aspects of death, here is a short quote from The Woven Word’s passing over ritual:

Dearest Beloved, you are not alone
I am here to help guide you home
If your soul is ready now to depart
Then leave without a heavy heart
With forgiveness and without fear
For those you love will hold you dear

I wish I had had those words to say when I was sitting a bedside vigil for my father and then my mother before they died.

Moon Books says about The Woven Word on its website: “This is a pagan tome of poetry and prose designed for rituals, festivals and celebrations. Working with deities, Romany has chronicled invocations and evocations for many Gods and Goddesses, and created clear and crafty quarter calls, circle castings, celebratory prose and meditations. Ritual is broken into its component parts allowing for easy reference and personal adaptation.”

What I would add is that Romany’s words are beautiful, simple and powerful. As I read the book I could not only see myself using its rites without adaptation, I also felt that I wanted to use them. And to be honest that’s rare for me. With most of the other books of rituals I own, I find myself changing the words quite a bit to suit my personal taste or simply using them for inspiration and writing my own invocations or whatever based on them. I know I will be using many of the refrains and rites in The Woven Wordin the years to come.”

Links and previous related posts
The Woven Word: A Book of Invocations and Inspirations
http://www.moon-books.net/

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Romany’s Random Reviews presents:

Available on Amazon

Available on Amazon (Please follow the picture link)

The Leader Within – Articles on Community Building, Leadership and Personal Growth By Shauna Aura Knight

“I often say that the secret to leadership – and to conflict resolution – is relentless personal work.”– Shauna Aura Knight

I recently had the opportunity of reading The Leader Within, a book by Pagan Activist and Author Shauna Aura Knight. Being familiar and appreciative of the articles and essays that Shauna shares online, I looked forward to finding the time to read through this selection of articles and explore some of the topics she has previously raised on blogs in greater depth. The book didn’t disappoint, it is absolutely crammed with a wide range of articles on conflict resolution, management strategies, boundaries and burnout, and grass roots style leadership. I love the fact that Shauna does not shy away from the really hard topics, and instead tackles sexual, physical and emotional abuse; ethics and taboos; mental illness; and even button-pushing subjects like fundraising and finances in a concise and upfront manner. (more…)