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Women's Rituals: A Sourcebook Barbara G. Walker's book of feminine bonding and empowerment rituals is worth reading for creative ideas and as a reminder of how very cool it is to be a woman.  This is for women who feel the magic of being female in their souls but are intimidated or turned off by pagan, New Age or occult-type spiritual practices. Women today instinctively know their bond; they understand in spirit what they may resist in practice: Goddess worship, witchcraft, freaky-woo crazy cult rituals they know nothing about. They are restless in society's traditional patriarchal spiritual constructs. They may be happily Christian and enjoy their church community while still craving something...else...more...They crave the Divine Feminine.
The rituals in this book are for such women, all women. There are no rules or standards for performing them. There is no deity or demon who will be pleased or displeased. These rituals are suggested for each woman to please and fulfill only herself and her sisters. In order to try the suggestions in this book, one doesn't have to "believe" anything at all. Such is the claim made by Walker in the Introduction. However, she goes on to make some pretty harsh assertions about Christian beliefs throughout the text, and the rituals are very pagan New Agey. I personally am not the least bit offended and agree 100% with her views, but somehow I doubt that women of the mainstream (Christian) faith will be so open-minded to the ideas in this book. Most of the symbols and rituals found here are identical to those found in standard Wiccan or New Age books. Women who are freaked out by such things as pentagrams, altars and cauldrons aren't going to be comfortable with these rituals. Women's Rituals is designed for groups of women, not for individuals, but solitary women can benefit from Walker's positive message and sense of feminine empowerment. If you can find another woman or two to share it with, even better. One ritual game described is particularly intriguing to me. It's called "Weaving Sisterhood" and involves tossing balls of yarn around among members of a circle. Upon catching the yarn, each person wraps it around her waist before tossing it to another. The result is a lovely spiderweb of yarn connecting the circle together. You can then do metaphorical things with the web, such as suspending a member of the group on it to be lifted up high by the others.
Review by Tess
Title: Women's Rituals: A Sourcebook
Author: Barbara G. Walker
Publisher: HarperSanFrancisco; 1st ed edition (March 30, 1990)
ISBN: 006250939X
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