Customer Reviews

365 Goddess: A Daily Guide to the Magic and Inspiration of the Goddess

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I consider myself to be a Christian woman but I believe in the female (as well as the male) divine. I have always had daily prayer time when I also read from scripture. I initially ordered this book because it is a requirement for a class I am taking. What a gem this book is! The daily meditations can be followed by date or you can let God/Goddess lead you. Not only do you learn about a different Goddess each day but you learn about a corresponding world holiday/observance. There are also mini-rituals (not weird at all) that you can do if you please. For example the suggestions for the Goddess that I read about today were to give food to a local pantry and/or sprinkle grain around your home for the birds to lift up your thoughts and prayers to the female divine. If you are a Christian and have felt drawn to learn about the feminine/female divine but are afraid to, this is a great book to start with. Nothing threatening at all. Give it a try.

In a world where our dreams and culture are shaped by Big Money interests, what a joy to rediscover and reaffirm the rich cultural diversity of our planet and the pervasiveness of the goddess throughout the world. The small daily rituals that anyone may perform lend magic and meaning to each day. I look forward in the morning to which goddess comes next (and haven't cheated by looking ahead yet!) A brilliant concept, Ms. Telesco, wonderfully executed and fascinating. More icing on an already nourishing cosmic cake? If you publish another edition and your publisher gives you more page space, please include an illustration or symbol of each goddess.

This is the best little book on daily Goddesses that I have come across. A Goddess for every day with Her symbols and a way to honer Her. It is not a year calander so can be used every year. It just lists day and months. If you are in any of the Goddess honoring religions this is a must have book.

There is a lot packed into this book. Considering there are 365 goddesses, the review has a "reader's digest" type feel to it, but certainly not lacking in ideas or information. Lots of great activities, and wonderful cross-referenced appendicies in the back that make this book functional for a wide variety of goals and needs.

"So when you find the apathy bug biting at your heels, when you feel like your daily routine has become drab, when you yearn for a spiritual anchor to hold you firm in life's hectic storm, or when you want some real soul food, look to the Goddess and her scintillating magic for help and sustenance." - From the book

Like a crystal, there are many facets to the Goddess and which distinct face you see depends largely on culture and spiritual tradition. In 365 Goddess, author Patricia Telesco has amassed historical, thematic, and symbolic information in the form of a daily devotional. Spanning worldwide cultures and holidays, each day of the year is devoted to a particular goddess. Holidays, festivals, and feasts are also noted and the author correlates these with attributes of particular goddesses.

The author shares the themes, symbols, and historical/cultural influence of each goddess, as well as a section "To Do Today". These exercises or meditations are designed to highlight and reinforce the energy of a particular goddess. The author also provides an overview of each month, including metaphysical insights. For example, Telesco explains where the name "December" comes from, the lengthening of the nights and the connection to rituals of light (like Yule), and the magical focus of purification, healing, and banishment.

365 Goddess draws from many traditions, including Zoroastrian, Swedish, Lakota, Spanish, Haitian, Slavic, Afghanistani, Roman, Hopi, Polish, Cabalistic, Scandinavian, Chilean, Essene, African, Catholic, and many more.

The devotional for December 12 is dedicated to Bamya. The Persian festival of Sada falls on this day. The themes for this goddess are victory, banishing, protection, and overcoming. Light and fire are her symbols. About Bamya, Telesco writes:

"In Zoroastrian tradition, this goddess guides the sun god Mithra's vehicle through the sky. More important, as the goddess of twilight, her presence signals the beginning of today's festival."

The "To Do Today" section includes several paragraphs explaining the festival of Sada, thoughts on Bamya's counsel for the day, a candle ritual, and a prayer offered to this goddess.

Although 365 Goddess is organized according to date, it doesn't have to be used this way. Instead, you could turn to a random page for spiritual insight. Alternatively, you could consult the Topical Index in the back of the book. For example, if you're looking for a devotional or ritual dealing with the theme of change, several dates are provided. Other topics include the element of Air, Charity, Karma, Maturity, Protection, Rest, Sexuality, Wealth, and many more.

I enjoy using this book as a daily reminder of the many faces and energies of the Goddess. It's also interesting to read about goddesses I've never heard of, as well as learn about various cultures, holidays, and celebrations from around the world. 365 Goddess is a great devotional for those wanting to integrate the Divine Feminine into their lives, as well as those interested in Goddess mythology.

This book is a lot of fun and I really recommend it to people with busy schedules. Not only did it teach me about a ton of goddess's that I had never heard of but it gave me a way to incorperate my spirituality in my mornings.

Just being able to read "the Goddess of the day" is a way for me to connect to my practices, especially considering that my mornings are hectic. Its a way for me to take a 5 minutes out of my day and connect with the Lady upstairs.

But, now the reason why I gave it a 4. I found some information lacking, and some dates that didn't really seem to match up with the Goddess listed for that day.

But overall the book is worth buying, and its something you will deffinetly use over and over.

it would be a MUCH better reference if telesco had consistently put the religion associated with the goddesses. there is not much info about the goddess, and she occasionally forgets to give us even the most basic of background on the goddess of the day. she lists catholic saints as goddesses. she used the greek goddess callisto for a korean holiday. there are some goddess descriptions i have found to be... inaccurate (nice way to say it...) upon further research. all in all, kind of a waste of money.

The information in this book is so wrong that it is an embarrassing read. I will write example to clarify this.

The goddess of the day 13 december is Lucina: "It is very likely that this swedish goddess was the prototype for Saint Lucy." It goes on to tell how we in sweden begins the day by lighting a candle to represent the goddess's presence. Lucina is a roman goddess. And we do have celebrations on this day, but the reason for this is that in the old calander winter solstice were on 13 december. On the rest of the scandinavian days

Idun is said to be born of flowers.

Dag, May 14 is actually not a goddess at all but a god.

July 29 Here we meet goddess Voluspa: "This Nordic goddess was born before all things, with the knowledge of all time within her." Voluspa is no goddess but the first poem in the poetic Edda, and simply means the prophecy of the seeress in old icelandic.

Norse patheon is what I know best, hence this examples. However I think the rest of her information is inaccurate as well and the "lesson" about Blodeuwedd very disturbing as a feminist.

The book is also very shallow, the information about the cultures and goddesses one or two sentences. The "last words" in the book stating that "Every atttempt has been made to put the holidays and celebrations throughout these pages into their proper cultural context and honoring them in that setting." Doesn't exactly ring true to me.

I expected a little more depth when I got this book; however, I am impressed with the magnitude of information covered here. There are Goddesses well-known and Goddesses lesser known; holidays well-known, and very interesting holidays with their customs from around the world that I've never heard of. I enjoy having a page a day to read from this book, and find it to be more of a world culture book with a Goddess slant, than a Goddess devotional type book.

Keep this book nearby to look at each morning for a daily contemplation and small ritual to keep in touch with Nature and the many faces of the Goddess within yourself.

Small, yet significant, and moving rituals for everyday life.