-
Book Review-Pagan Portals: Celtic Fairies in North America by Morgan Daimler
Book Review Pagan Portals: Celtic Fairies in North America By Morgan Daimler Publisher: Moon Books 110 page E-Book Release Date: November 1st, 2024 Those of you who read my reviews, and columns, have probably figured out that I’m a huge fan of the Pagan Portals series by Moon Books. Pagan Portals are short booklets, usually no more than 120 pages, that focus on a topic, deity, practice or something relating to paganism and/or witchcraft. They’re excellent for beginners and advanced practitioners alike, and I always find myself coming back to them for inspiration and reference. That said, Celtic Fairies in North America is the perfect addition to my library of works on Fairies and the Fae. Fairies…
-
Book Review-Pagan Portals: Mestra The Shapeshifter: Ancient Heroine of the Sacred Grove by Dianna Rhyan
Book Review Pagan Portals: Mestra the Shapeshifter: Ancient Heroine of the Sacred Grove By Dianna Rhyan Publisher: Moon Books 136 page E-Book Release Date: November 1st, 2024 Pagan Portals: Mestra the Shapeshifter is another installment of the Pagan Portals series by Moon Books, and a favorite series of mine. Rhyan tells the story of Mestra from the literary sources that are available, and weaves these sources into a story of Mestra, from birth, to her eventual shapeshifting to flee the oppression of men wishing to marry her. She is the Heroine of the Sacred Grove, and can often be found in the forests, rivers and streams as a bird, an animal, the gentle breeze…
-
Book Review-Pagan Portals: The Fallen Women of Mythology: Goddesses, Saints and Sinners by Lady Haight-Ashton
Book Review Pagan Portals: The Fallen Women of Mythology: Goddesses, Saints and Sinners By Lady Haight-Ashton Publisher: Moon Books 100 page E-Book Release Date: October 1st, 2024 Pagan Portals: The Fallen Women of Mythology: Goddesses, Saints and Sinners is the book I think many, especially women, in the United States could probably find benefit from reading. I don’t like to get political, especially in reviews, but the results of Tuesday really put the need for this book at a peak. Human rights to me aren’t political issues. I’m not sure I know where to begin; this book encapsulates so much divine rage from the oppression of women over the millennia (and…
-
Book Review-Pagan Portals: Sulis: Solar Goddess of the Spring Waters by Rachel Patterson
Book Review Pagan Portals: Sulis: Solar Goddess of the Spring Waters By Rachel Patterson Publisher: Moon Books 106 page E-Book Release Date: October 1st, 2024 Pagan Portals: Sulis is a continuation of one of my favorite booklet series for Pagans, and on a goddess that is getting more attention and her mysteries are once again being unearthed. Sulis is a goddess I got to know back in 2020 during the pandemic, and since she has appeared and reappeared at seemingly sporadic times in my life. Not much is known about her compared to other Celtic goddesses such as Rhiannon or The Morrigan, and much evidence of her worship has been lost…
-
Book Review: Pagan Portals: Dragon Magic by Rachel Patterson
Here Be Dragons… Pagan Portals: Dragon Magic by Rachel Patterson is another lovely addition to one of my favorite Pagan publication series. For those unfamiliar, Pagan Portals is a series of short, introductory books on various deities, magicks, etc., by Moon Books. I received an e-book copy of this wonderful book, and it doesn’t disappoint, either, especially if you’re a lover of Dragons and their lore, myths, and power. Patterson begins by addressing myths from around the world pertaining to Dragons, from Chinese myths, to Ancient Greek, Roman and Egyptian myths, various Catholic and Orthodox myths with Dragons, Middle Eastern, Celtic and Norse, and even more world myths of Dragons, giving the unfamiliar…
-
Book Review – Where Fairies Meet by Daniela Simina
Book Review Where Fairies Meet By Daniela Simina Publisher: Moon Books 96 Pages Release Date: June 1, 2023 Are Fairies real or just traveling mythological stories that mirror the cultural and religious beliefs present at their time? In this delightful and short read, Daniela Simina shares historical Romanian and Irish Fairielore, while allowing the space and pondering for the reader to decide for themselves where the evidence leads. Although stories are shaped by society and the stories evolve according to translation, the numerous accounts of Fairie encounters over human history makes one wonder how these stories have stood the test of time and continue to emerge even…
-
Book Review – Pagan Portals: Harvest Home by Mélusine Draco
Book Review Pagan Portals: Harvest Home by Mélusine Draco Moon Books 96 Pages Publication date: August 25, 2022 This book, one of a series of Pagan Portal shorts, focuses on two of the three harvest festivals: Lammas/Lughnasadh and the Autumnal Equinox/Mabon. Mélusine Draco presents the history, customs, traditions, symbolism, and folklore associated with a variety of autumn festivals from “ye olden days,” when emphasis switches from the goddess to a “male domination of the seasonal rites.” Harvest celebrations occur over a number of weeks, as the crops are gathered, culminating with the cutting of the last sheaves of Lammas grain,…
-
Book Review – Pagan Portals: Demeter by Robin Corak
Book Review Pagan Portals: Demeter by Robin Corak Published by Moon Books 128 pages Publication date: October 1, 2022 Pagan Portals: Demeter by Robin Corak is a short, well-researched book offering a modern, magical, and psychological approach to working with the ancient goddess. Corak begins with Demeter’s story as it is relayed in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, along with a few mythological tidbits from other ancient sources to give different perspectives of the goddess. The book moves on to discuss the rites specific to the historic worship of Demeter, to provide a basis for the personal work to follow.…
-
Book Review – Pagan Portals: The Temple Priestesses of Antiquity by Lady Haight-Ashton
Book Review Pagan Portals: The Temple Priestesses of Antiquity by Lady Haight-Ashton Publisher: Moon Book Publication Date: July 29, 2022 128 pages Temple Priestesses are sadly a thing of the past. These women were revered and held in high esteem, unlike a lot of women nowadays. This book was not only empowering, but informative and a joy to read. Lady Haight, a Third Degree Gardnerian High Priestess, wrote this, not just intellectually, but with such reverence that I could not put it down. She explains the life of the ancient Temple Priestesses and how society saw them as if she was there and experienced it herself. I learned…
-
Book Review – Pagan Portals: Polytheism: A Platonic Approach by Steven Dillon
Book Review Polytheism: A Platonic Approach by Steven Dillon Publisher: Moon Book Publication Date: March 22, 2022 144 pages Polytheism is the belief in multiple gods. When I got this book to review, I was expecting a completely different book than what I got. I am polytheistic so I was quite excited by the title. I thought this sounded like an interesting approach and possibly a book I could give to any of my monotheistic friends so that they could maybe get a better understanding of what polytheism was. Sadly, that was not what I got. Instead of a book easy for anyone to read and understand, this…
