Astrological Datebooks, Calendars, and Cards - Featuring Art and Writing by Women
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The Last Wild Witch review by Ruth Mountaingrove
The Last Wilde Witch by Starhawk with illustrations by Lindy Kehoe. Mother Tongue Ink, 2009, 36 pages, hard cover, $18.95
The Last Wild Witch will make being a witch popular with children who may be afraid of those witches they have seen at Halloween.
Fairy tales serve a useful purpose though the child sitting on your lap may not be aware of what they are learning.
In The Last Wild Witch we learn that perfectionism is perhaps not the way to go. It becomes dullsville when a way of life does not allow for a little wildness or change.
So there is the wild witch stirring her cauldron and beating her drum calling us to find the richness of like.
When I was six I was given a book of fairy tales and learned there were leprechauns, fairies, little green elves and trolls who lived under the bridge and demanded pay before you could cross over. Very scary.
I did not know how to read so my mother read them to me as she would do later with Alice in Wonderland Through the Looking Glass and At The Back of the North wind.
The illustrations in The Last Wild Witch are imaginative. They swirl and swoop. There are bright colors and there are children who have a little wildness in them.
Their parents, of course, are very stiff and proper and are alarmed at their children’s wildness. The children sneak out at night to go visit the wild witch.
This book is very PC. There are brown children, green children, blue children, and violet.
Before you read The Last Wild Witch to a child read it aloud to yourself. Know where the fish are, the birds, the deer, skunk and other denizens of the wild forest. Then, when you are asked by your child, you can point them out to her.
There is repetition in the text to the delight of the child because she will be memorizing the words and she can join in with you and be “reading”. Dr. Seuss understood that and Starhawk does too.
The Last Wild Witch seems like a lovely gift for a child, a daughter, a niece, a lesbian friend or a lesbian couple who are raising a child or children.
Ruth Mountaingrove
WeMoon 2010: Reinvent the Wheel
I have a 13yr old friend. I gave her her first We'Moon for her 13th bday. Yesterday, she showed me these amazing collages she had made throughout the book, multi-layered collages, images from one part of the book put where they had meaning for her, words from astrological readings in the book put where they would remind her throughout the year...oh goodness, these young wimmin raised by amazons are amazing! I also showed her where she could record her moons, should it come this year...it was the most most most amazing gifting experience i have had in a very long time...thank you for making it possible.
Spokes from the Center: Review of We’Moon 2010 By Helen Laurence
“I speak of total revolution and must therefore turn around,” writes Elizabeth Page Roberts, a Brooklyn activist. These words appear for the last week of January in the 29th Edition of my favorite calendar: We’Moon 2010: Reinvent the Wheel, a publication of Mother Tongue Ink. Revolving, cycling, recycling, re-imagining…this latest edition acknowledges the necessity and celebrates the possibility of creating a sustainable dynamic among people, earth, and all life.
Like a bicycle forced into a rocky ditch, where the rider wobbles and nearly falls, our movement on the planet has begun to look absurd even to many who, until recently, never questioned the ways in which we struggle against the earth, foiling Nature’s wisdom and soiling Her as we lurch along. We’Moon 2010 offers, through delightful art and writing, the ways and means to get ourselves out of the ditch. For “Moon VI. Spokes of Community,” accompanied by a painting of many hands forming a wheel, Naomi Shihab Nye has contributed “Gate A-4.” Answering an announcement in the Albuquerque Airport Terminal seeking a speaker of Arabic, the author finds herself befriending a distraught Palestinian elder. The woman’s fears eased, they are soon sharing mamool cookies, talking poetry, and smiling with travelers from California to Argentina. “…this is the world I want to live in. The shared world,” she writes. “This can still happen anywhere. Not everything is lost.”
Dedicated to those who are re-imagining
our dwellings, We’Moon 2010 offers the possibility of creating our own
shelters from readily available materials. How have we come to a culture
of homelessness shoved up against one of outrageously expensive and
often toxic homes? Is it a failure of the imagination to assume we must
work our entire lives just to pay for our dwellings? In “Moon XII. Restore
Balance,” we discover photos of a shelter built by MudGirls Natural
Building Collective, and a small wood structure titled “Estrella at
Home” photographed by Dolphin. On the November page for Full Moon in
Taurus, an exerpt from Biomimicry by Janine Benyus asks, “How would
Nature do it?” In this time of dangerous tension between the Center
and the rim, it’s no surprise that a housing crisis should have arisen.
In forsaking questions of impact for our larger home, we have forsaken
ourselves.
Before all of us, a choice: a suffering and dying system or a healing,
vibrant entity? In We’Moon 2010 we receive the inspiration to re-invent
the wheel, to create new connection to shelter, food, earth, health,
work, each other. Calendar, horoscope, ephemeris, herbal advisor, art
book, and collection of wise words, this book is one to treasure beyond
the year ahead.
We'Moon 2010: Reinvent the Wheel reviewed By DV Trimmer
We'Moon has much to offer within each satisfying volume, as useful as it is beautiful, and the 29th edition, We'Moon 2010: Reinvent the Wheel, is exemplary. 240 pages of art, advice, affirmation, information, encouragement and invocation go well beyond what one expects from a datebook. We'Moon is, indeed, an appointment book, which serves also as a Lunar calendar, a handbook for harmonizing with natural cycles, and a compendium of international women's culture.
Reinvent the Wheel draws us in with a striking, high-energy cover featuring Teresa Wild's “Firedancer,” a woman seeming almost to control fire with her balance and composure. Inside we find Annie Ocean's gorgeous photograph of many hands on a well-worn drum. These images, and all within the pages to follow, impart a sense of empowerment and reverence. Our world is our responsibility, and using We'Moon can be a daily reminder to move through the year in a deeply conscious way.
We are offered tools such as planetary and asteroidal ephemerides, astrological portraits for each Zodiac sign, information on vibrational medicines and Moon signs, even concise explanations for the beginner who may not be familiar with glyphs, signs, aspects and phases. The wise creators of We'Moon give us signposts by which to navigate the fluctuating energies of natural seasonal rhythms, and the reassurance needed to face environmental crisis and broad societal shifts. 2010, the Year of the Tiger, is a time to take on tasks both fearsome and joyful in order to restore balance and justice to our communities. Reinvent the Wheel is a fine guide through this sea change in our collective consciousness.
For nearly thirty years We'Moon has been amassing a treasure trove of words and images reflecting a diverse unity among women from around the globe. This material is always useful, but in challenging times of upheaval and transformation, it becomes indispensable. Here we guide one another through seasonal, astrological, and even human revolutions. Through our sisterhood we gain a richer understanding of the whole of humanity and our place within the grander cycles of the universe. We are called to heal, to restore harmony, to flow, evolve, invent, so that we all may survive, and flourish.
We'Moon provides you with the space to record your own plans, dreams and discoveries next to the movements of planets, Sun, and Moon. This is an invitation to reflect on our interconnectedness, gain a sense of humility and purpose, and value our own stories as much as those we find already on the page. We become part of this deeply rooted lineage of "love, lore, and lessons learned" (in the words of We'Moon founder, Musawa). Using We'Moon establishes a habit of awareness in which we honor those who came before us and learn to act responsibly in what we hand down to future generations. Creative solutions in Reinvent the Wheel range from the DIY ethic of the MudGirls building collective to the intuitive wisdom of Biomimicry, and the recognition of the sovereignty of seeds in the face of genetic patenting. There's even a visual meditation on global cooling. Each moment of emergency is also a moment of opportunity; the answers offered in the pages of We’Moon are intriguing, as are the questions posed, like this one from Kate Rose Bast in her “Letter from Gaia”: "What will you birth?”
Review of WeMoon ’09: At the Crossroads
by Flordemayo,
member of the International Council of 13 Indigenous GrandmothersThis is the first time I have seen anything like We’Moon. It makes me feel very happy, very contented. It is an eye-opener for a beginner and confirmation for the elderly. All this information in a tiny little book! This is an incredible calendar of guidance and information. The beauty I received from We'Moon is from the giving of the heart. Every one put in a little bit of themselves: poetry, art, photographs, etc. So it’s about the beauty of the gift. There is such incredible information—on everything: on how we are walking in this beauty.
I showed the We’Moon to all the Grandmothers when we were in Spain, coming into Barcelona to do our water ceremony with 700 women. I showed it around when we were on the bus. Every Grandmother was able to relate to something. Wow!, they were all saying!
There are so many beautiful things that touched me: the writing about the Path of the Little Sister, the Global Crisis art, the poem “I Cry Too,” Code Pink and Women in Black, the poem “Leap of Faith,” the Labyrinth Meditation, the Medicine Bag with Crow—I could go on and on. The beautiful Owl on the cover! I have thought about how the women who make We’Moon are able to compile so much information, that women know this is happening and send information. Like the cover says, rhythms for women: in this small book is guidance for life, help to not feel alone. The Spirit of the Feminine is there.
One of the biggest things I’ve been thinking is that We’Moon has been doing this for so many years [28] and has this much world information—it has almost 30-year old roots (I think of Winona LaDuke’s article “Our Relatives with Roots" (in the book). I believe all this information should be dedicated to the Goddess, and put into one book for all of us. The beauty of We’Moon is the beauty of oneness, putting all these nations under the same umbrella. We can’t separate ourselves from one another; we drink the same water, breathe the same air, we are under the same sun. This handful of information is sustenance for all of us, young or old. It doesn’t matter where you come from, you can see the relation.
And now I learn that a 30-year Anthology of We’Moon is being planned for 2011. This is very important. With the Grandmothers Council, when we put all our ages together, we are 870 years old—and when we speak, we speak with almost 900 years of feminine wisdom! In the Mayan calendar, every year we gain 13 years. The Grandmother Council has been meeting for 4 years now, but in Mayan terms, the Council is 52 years old and entering the Fourth Cycle of Eldership. So, when We’Moon’s 30 year Anthology happens, it will speak with 390 years of wisdom! It will be very important for future generations. I have absolute blessings for this Anthology. We can walk with this wisdom.
We’Moon is a vehicle of food for the soul. It is clear to me every young girl should be born with this book. It is brilliant. Thank you to We’Moon for all this work.
For more information visit the websites listed here:
Grandmothers Council Website
Flordemayo's Institute of Natural and Traditional Knowledge
WeMoon Grandmothers dedication page
Review of WeMoon ’08: Mending the Web
By Hayward Webster
A We’Moon ’08 Contributor
Blessed Be! The glorious ’08 edition of We’Moon, Gaia Rhythms for Women is now birthed and ready to go out into the world. We’Moon might appear, at first glance, to be a date book; it is also a lunar calendar brimming with astrological information, a reminder of earth-centered Holy Days, and a gathering of inspirational words and images from women all over the planet.
In a time when women around the world are reaching out to all people, creatures, elements, Goddesses, angels, and Mother Earth herself in a desire to restore balance, connection and healing, the gifts within We’Moon ’08 are precious. This year’s theme, Mending the Web, provides us each with exquisite guidance on our paths during this pivotal time. The art and written words herein reach deep into the core of each of us, reminding us of our essence, calling forth our strengths, acknowledging our shadows, comforting our pains, and rekindling our hopes. Stories and rituals are passed on which unite us with our ancestors and transport us, filled with focus and courage, toward the future. (“We are changing the paradigm with our dream.” excerpt, Heidi Eich-Dittberner, page 91).
For me, a vital energy radiates from every page, and I am summoned to join a spirit stream of transformation. (“Aren’t we really one body, each of us cells? One galaxy, each of us stars?” excerpt, Meredith Heller, page133).
There are seamless collages and vivid images of nature and spirit with far-reaching perceptions and rich colors that expand my consciousness. Much of this artwork is overlaid or coupled with poems, the two fitting so well together that they create a resonate harmony, and open me to new dimensions.
Thirteen aspects of reweaving are explored: Making Peace, Deepen with Nature, Embrace the Shadow, Creature Kin, etc., so that each reader may find in We’Moon ’08, threads which give reassurance and renewal.
The array of contributors is a celebration of diversity which spans many ages, cultures, and countries. Included are word crafters, painters, healers, gardeners, astrologers, and dreamers, to name a few. Some are renowned, some hitherto unsung. Their works were sifted out of thousands of possibilities by “weaving circles” of women who gave great care in consideration of each piece. All the offerings in We’Moon ’08 convey insight, wisdom and vision.
We’Moon ‘08 shows a complete commitment to healing Mother Earth: the inks are soy-based; the paper is recycled; We’Moon is a signatory of TREEty (a partnership between New Leaf Paper and The Breast Cancer Society), and a member of Co-op America Green Business Network.
There are women, and men aligned with the feminine, who consider consultation with We’Moon a daily necessity, and those who may close their eyes and pick a page when the urge comes upon them: all will find the ’08 volume of We’Moon a worthy companion.
The profound and uplifting bounty of We’Moon ’08 invites us each to take up a strand of inspiration and to join with the Earth and the Stars in a weaving dance of restoration and promise.
We'Moon Raves
“I am thrilled to be a part of We’Moon 2008. I have been using your calendar for years and years!!! Thank you for the incredible work We’Moon is doing. The much-needed shift in consciousness towards a more female-centered and woman-honoring world is inspiring in so many of us. It is a blessing to be part of the We’Moon community.”
—Alice WalkerBack to Top
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