Sunday, April 3, 2011
Paganism – An Introduction to Earth-Centered Religions by Joyce and River Higginbotham.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Chakra Clearing - Awakening Your Spiritual Power to Know and Heal By Doreen Virtue, Ph.D.
Chakra Clearing
just about all one really needs to know. Of course, one can make a study of Chakras and really get into it; but, this is a good basic guide for those of us who want to understand them on a really basic level. Those of us who want to make use of a wonderful system of healing and self awareness, but, at the same time, we don’t want to make it our life’s study.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Be Blessed - Daily Devotions For Busy Wiccans and Pagans
Be Blessed
Daily Devotions for Busy Wiccans and Pagans
By Denise Dumars
Welcome back to Agrimony’s Book Nook. Pour a cuppa, get comfy and let me tell you about a book that I love and find incredibly useful. Tonight’s book is Be Blessed, Daily Devotions for Busy Wiccans and Pagans by Denise Dumar.
If you are anything like me, and, I am not sure how I feel about that either way, sometimes you get stuck in a rut. We know that doing certain things daily makes us happier, healthier and wiser. Exercise, eating well, meditating and paying attention to our spiritual life – we KNOW we are better for doing these things, yet sometimes we let things slide. I don’t know why exactly, when I figure that one out I will be sure and share.
Anyway. We slide, we want to do better, we want to get back to the way we felt when we were newer on our path. When we followed closely everything our teacher told us. Or our book suggested. But how?
Do we dig out our notebooks or books and just do that? No, we don’t. What we do, if we are wise we reach for Be Blessed by Denise Dumars.
Ms. Dumars is a Isian minister and Priestess and co-founder of the Iseum of Isis Paedusis in
Be Blessed guides you in a gentle, loving way to reestablishing a daily practice that works for you. Or setting one up – I also highly recommend it for newer folks as well. Ms. Dumars never talks down, she makes you feel you are sitting in her parlor, having a cuppa with her and listing to her share her wisdom, just like the very best teachers do.
She also shares some amazingly wonderful guided meditations – so not the normal Tree ones. Not that I don’t love a good Tree meditation, but, I do like some variety. My favorite in the book is Goin’ to the Roadhouse: (with) Thor. I LOVE this one so very much. But, Ms. Dumars also gives clear instructions to create your own. I love that too.
Topics include, Greeting the Sun, Self Esteem for Life (regular visitors to the Nook, KNOW how I feel about that), Mindfulness, Dialogues With Deities: How to Talk to a God, That 4 Letter Word: Work, In Sickness and in Health: Yours and Others, Everyday Magick, And a Good Night to All, Physician, Heal Thyself along with useful Appendixes and an Index.
Greeting the Sun, the opening chapter shares terrific ways to get going in the morning. I adore her including this Morning Prayer:
I am born of earth and sky
I awaken with the morning dew and sunray
I hold my arms out to embrace the world
I reach for the spark of life divine
I am dust and water walking
Which is taken from The Egyptian Book of the Dead.
In the Chapter Everyday Magick she includes some simple, yet highly effective tips for Clearing and Balancing the Chakras. I know when I am feeling strange, a visit to my Chakra centers is often in order and this balancing and clearing works.
These are just some of the fabulous goodies you will find in Be Blessed.
This book is a perfect gift. It is one I keep handy as I refer to it fairly often. Be Blessed is a daily guide which doesn’t spoon feed you, it gives you the tools to feed your self. Check out Be Blessed, which is available at finer bookstores on and offline, and Be Blessed.
Thanks for stopping by the Nook! Have a great week and Be Blessed, Be Blessed, Be Blessed!
Monday, March 7, 2011
An Ordinary Fairy
Thanks to Cuzin Casey and Lady Ruthann for giving me this chance to branch out in my contributions to Akaska Temple Live.
The book I am reviewing tonight is An Ordinary Fairy by John Osborne
Normally, I don’t read fantasy/science fiction, I don’t do vampires, fairies, etc. And I don’t read a lot of what might be classed as “Pagan” Fiction, as what I little I have read in the past, was so badly done with Witches being portrayed in the Hollywood fashion, as either evil or very unrealistic, and well, I just don’t like that.
A while back, though, Ruthann asked if I knew of this book. She had recently heard of it, that it was set in Hoopeston, IL. Hoopeston as you may or may not know was home to the Correllian Tradition and their Witchschool for a few years. And way back I was involved with them. I have always found Hoopeston to be a great small town, one my family and I really enjoy visiting. By and large the people there are nice and the pace of life is endearing.
So I did a little research and found this book. The author has the Prologue and First Chapter on the book’s website. I read it, not knowing what to expect and liked it so much I bought the book.
The story is set in Hoopeston. On of the main characters, Noah Phelps is a photographer for a regional magazine. With an assignment to photograph rural Midwestern ponds, Noah decides to base this trip out of Hoopeston, which as a solitary Wiccan, he knows is home to Witchschool. Having said that, Witchschool plays no real role in the book and is no longer in Hoopeston.
While in Hoopeston, a friendly local steers Noah to a spectacular (although fictional) pond south of town. Noah meets the charming owner, Willow, who is just an ordinary fairy.
But there isn’t anything ordinary about this book. The author is very adept at description, so good that you feel like you are there. The characters are realistic and endearing. The story is enchanting. The mystery in the story is very well done.
At several points in the book, Noah falls back on his Witchcraft skills, and performs a spell or ritual or two. I really credit the author with getting all of this very, very right.
Truly, An Ordinary Fairy is a book that is hard to put down. And while I loved all of it, I was left wanting more. Luckily, according to the author’s blog, he is at work on the next book.
The book is available in paperback, which Amazon has just lowered the price on, and at Amazon for the Kindle, and at Smashwords. Author’s website is anordinaryfairy.com
An Ordinary Fairy is the perfect book to curl up with on a cold winter’s night. Or any time you want to read a really good novel that sparkles with an unordinary magic.
We Took To The Woods
We Took To The Woods
Louise Dickinson Rich
Welcome to Agrimony’s Book Nook. My little on the air cottage , pull up a chair, grab a cuppa and let me tell you about a book I just love, We Took To The Woods, by Louise Dickinson Rich.
Despite my love of modern conveniences, being an avid consumer and city girl, deep in my heart I have always had an urge to live in a remote cabin. I have no idea where this comes from.
Sometimes I satisfy this desire with vacations or getaways were we stay someplace like this. We are planning a brief getaway now. Of course the cabins we stay in are usually somewhere in the Ozarks and have amenities such as running water, indoor plumbing and electricity.
But I always end up wondering, what would it be like to live remotely all the time? Reading We Took To The Woods gives me an idea.
This gem of a book, was published in 1942. Don’t let that deter you from picking this up. If you didn’t know that going in, it would take a while to realize it.
Louise Dickinson Rich had the dream of living in a cabin in
This book goes through her life, in the form of chapters that answer the questions she is most often asked. Such as “Why Don’t You Write a Book?” “But How do You Make A Living?” “Don’t You Ever Get Bored?” “Is It Worthwhile?” amongst them.
Louise and her family live in two remote
Louise does an awesome job of describing her life. One is left with the feeling that they are living it with her. A page turner, this memoir moves along at a novel’s pace.
Reading this book, I realized several things. The longing to cut oneself off from society, isn’t exactly a rare longing. And that living more authentically is a desire we all have, and, can all realize. Maybe we can’t all Take To the Woods, but, we can adopt some ways of living more simply.
We Took To The Woods is still widely available. At Amazon and others you can find by Googling. Google We Took To the Woods and you will find some websites and blogs where other fans of Louise have posted pictures of her homes and talk about what this book means to them.
Thanks for listening and I hope you join us next week when I will have another review. Have a great week!
Fierce Style
Fierce Style
Christian Siriano
It seems to me that developing self esteem is one of those things that fails to come easy to many of us. And I think having good self esteem is an important part of being a well rounded individual. Being able to truly feel that the opinions of others doesn’t matter, or rather the opinions of only certain people matter can be one of the hardest lessons we have to learn. And I feel we have to learn that or we will continue to be stuck trying to please others and won’t go on to grown and fully develop into the fantastic person we are meant to be.
One area I think is important to having good self esteem, is having and being comfortable with one’ s own sense of style. When we feel good, we find it easier to face the world. And feeling good about our appearance is, in my opinion, one of the hardest lessons to learn.
We are bombarded with images and opinions. It is easy to pick up the idea that one must have a certain body style, certain hair style, certain clothes in order to look good. I think it is easy to look at magazines for example and come away depressed if we don’t feel we measure up to the models inside.
Christian Siriano was the winner, and, youngest to date, of the reality show, Project Runway a few years ago. I am not a fan of a lot of reality shows, but, some time back, my husband and I began watching, and enjoying Project Runway. It is a competion of aspiring fashion designers. After Christian won, Tim Gunn, one of the hosts of Project Runway, and a fashion industry executive, called Christian the next big American fashion designer. I think he is correct, in the time since the show, Christian has done great work and he is showing up all over, from Payless Shoes, to Speigal, to Victoria’s Secret, to department stores and online. I am happy about this, I think he deserves wonderful things to happen to him, and I think he will impact the fashion industry in a very positive way.
Fierce Style is a lovely book. I am glad I bought it in hardback, and not for my kindle. The photography makes it an awesome book to look. It is part memoir, part advice. Christian shares his experiences growing up marching to a different drummer. He shares how he developed self esteem, and developed his own sense of style. He offers tips and ideas for developing your own. He has great advice for developing your own image and also finding out what suits you in all facets of life. While this is a guide to developing your own fashion sense, it is also a guide to developing life sense.
There are excellent tips for overcoming obstacles. One of Christian’s fearless tips, that I just love, is “even if something seems out of your league or out of the ordinary, be bold and go for it.” He follows this up with ways to do this. Simple idea? Maybe but, one that is important to learn, and one I needed to be reminded of.
I sincerely wish I had had this guide when I was 18, or in my early 20’s. It would have made life much easier. It is absolutely top of my list of books I recommend for self actualization and development. It is a ideal gift for the teen or young adult you know that is struggling with finding their way in this scary world. And it is an ideal refresher for the rest of us.
Fiece Style is available at most booksellers and online at Amazon.com
Welcome to the Book Nook
Welcome to Agrimony's Book Nook. This is a separate blog for my book reviews and thoughts on books. I will also include free Kindle and ebook links on here. I am part of the "adorably certifiable" gang at Akasha Temple Live, which is broadcast on blogtalk radio every Sunday and Thursday at 8 p.m CST (http://www.blogtalkradio/akashatemple) I am Associate Producer and do book reviews every Sunday.