Customer Reviews

Be Blessed

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

 

 

Denise Dumars has brought us a unique perspective to the Pagan lifestyle. In this, her latest book, she shares her humor and years of wisdom with daily devotions for busy Wiccans and Pagans. That covers just about all of us, doesn't it?

The book is divided into eight chapters covering everything from waking in the morning to retiring at night and all that happens in-between in the modern Pagan's life. The book is written to bring the mundane everyday activities into the sacred. Any of the affirmations, rituals or meditations can be utilized on any day of the year (or any phase of the Moon).

For me the book got off to a rocky start with humor in which the tone was closer to disrespectful than funny. I almost stopped reading when I reached the section in Chapter 4 on how to talk to a God. Maybe someone else would be comfortable calling Thor "dude" and meeting Him for a drink at a roadhouse, but I am definitely not on a number of levels. Maybe I am old fashioned, but I tend to approach the Divine with a bit more honor and respect than if they are my bosom buddies from childhood.

In spite of my discomfort, I kept reading and was rewarded with some very insightful and useful meditations and devotional suggestions in later chapters. There was also less of the joking that fell short of funny. In spite of the flippant tone in many parts of the book, it was a good read, and the author did make her point. I would suggest that before buying this book you flip through it and see if the humorous parts are more to your liking than they were to mine.

W. Lyon Martin Author/Illustrator of An Ordinary Girl, A Magical Child

Be Blesséd, Daily Devotions for Busy Wiccans and Pagans provides a new sub-genre to the growing list of pagan books. Be Blessed could be called a prayer book for pagans, except that it provides so much more than mere words to offer to our gods and goddesses and to ourselves.

We've all seen book after book of spellwork available, but this is the first book I've seen that offers a purely spiritual perspective for pagans. It provides a framework for integrating daily devotions into your pagan life. If you're at all familiar with prayer books from Christian traditions, you'll understand what the author is attempting to provide. Many Christian traditions have prayers for each occasion, often for each time of the day or week. Denise Dumars sets her Wiccan and pagan devotions in a similar fashion.

Ms. Dumars also includes anecdotes from a variety of traditions with examples of to fashion a devotion for a particular tradition. Her visualization scripts are very readable, and it seems that she did substantial research on the individual tradition to provide an authentic experience for the devotee. But any of these exercises and devotions can be customized for your needs.

For example, the book opens with chapter "Greeting the Sun" and gives appropriate affirmations to begin the day. Also included are chi gong exercises to rev up the body as well as the spirit. Other chapters include the very well-presented "Self-Esteem for Life", chapters on work, health, relationships and one about dialogue with Deities. Each chapter follows a similar format. Long time practitioners of any tradition may take exception to some of the advice about talking to deities. Ms. Dumars does follow an informal format in her writing, which makes this book very readable. However, not everyone will feel comfortable calling a deity "a bud." And in fairness, she doesn't advocate using that term with every deity.

Ms. Dumars does not try to give in-depth guides and invocations for each pantheon and every pagan persuasion; rather, she frames her chapters to cover a time or situation, and suggests affirmations and meditations that can be customized to an individual's needs. Her well-taken point is that all time can be sacred time, and that as pagans, we can feel the divine at all times.

I did enjoy reading this book, and I would recommend it especially to someone new to paganism that came from a background where daily prayers were a part of their spiritual practice. It is a very positive book, the affirmations are very well written and it gives the reader a springboard to launch their own daily devotions. If the only concept you take away with you from this book is that making time for the sacred in your life is a priority, then it is time and money well-spent.

~review by Karen Phillippi, for
Facing North [...].

Denise Dumars offers her version of a pagan prayer book that is light and offers itself as a guide, a foundation, a place to begin when we are learning our spiritual path.

I read through this as suggested and found many basics that will enable anyone new to the path to get a good handle on the actual practice of personal spirituality. I found it bordered on Wiccan, but it can be adapted to fit just about any personal path.

The material includes daily rituals and personal exercises for building self esteem. "Mindfulness", a term I've heard used in other belief systems, is introduced into the pagan concept and there is a good meditation on "being in the moment".

There are also chapters on Deities, work, dealing with sickness and health, and working everyday magick.

This is a nice book, but is very basic. The beginner will see it as a possible starting point. boudica

Reading Be Blesséd: Daily Devotions for Busy Wiccans and Pagans is like having a kitchen-table chat with author Denise "Dion-Isis" Dumars over herbal ice tea on a sweltering summer day. While the Introduction shows this priestess of Isis Isis, Thoth, and Yemaya to be an organized, competent guide, Dumars's first chapter proves her to be an easygoing companion, and jokester to boot. Be Blesséd details numerous simple ways to infuse every aspect of even the busiest life with spiritual energy and meaning. The book encourages both excellent self-care and the nurturing of respectful, friendly relationships with the gods and goddesses of your choosing. (Dumars calls Thor the Dude of Dudes, a very accessible buddy-type; visualize him dispensing his wisdom from a bar stool, beer mug in hand.) Best of all, Be Blesséd feels like a book written by an explorer who genuinely lives what she teaches and enjoys life very much.

First and foremost, I find this book far more light-hearted and whimsical than it should be. The author uses a fair amount of humor, and that's fine; I think humor is a great tool for learning, but it should have no place in a book that proclaims to be a tool for developing and maintaining a daily Wiccan/Pagan spirituality. One great example of what I'm talking about is what another reader mentioned: In the chapter on speaking to the Gods, Ms. Dumars refers to her patron deity as "dude" and goes on to tell you to treat your deities like casual friends. I'm sorry, maybe I'm old school, but I speak to the God and Goddess with respect and reverence; not as though we're having cocktails at Applebees.

Secondly - and this was my biggest issue - is that Ms. Dumars uses tons of different pantheons throughout her book, both in prayers and meditations. If you don't work with the Egyptian pantheon of Gods (which she is most fond of), then a lot of the devotionals and prayers will be of no value to you OR you'll need to rewrite them. Ms. Dumars could have easily stuck to the generic terms "Lord & Lady" for this. I felt very uncomfortable putting into action any of her devotions when I don't work with specific pantheons, and especially not the pantheons she uses throughout the book.

This book will NOT be a "thought of the day" or an "activity of the day" to keep your faith alive. To be honest, I'm really not sure what this book is. The author often rambles on with personal stories that have absolutely no relevance to the topic at hand. She tries to infuse too much personal experience and humor into something that should have been a work of daily devotionals.

All in all, I would not recommend this book to anyone seeking a Wiccan/Pagan perspective on daily devotionals. This book is being returned for a refund. Promptly.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit, especially her section concerning talking with deities. Most books gloss over this, or say "connect with your deity and give an offering." She goes so far as to suggest general offerings for pantheons, which I found to be extremely useful. I have not found a list of suggested offerings outside the standard candle/incense. I found her humor to be endearing, and she presents the idea of gods being closer than other authors do. I found this book to be a very good one, with useful suggestions and affirmations.

I loved _The Dark Archetype_, which Dumars co-wrote with her friend Lori Nyx, and so I had to give this book a read.

Dumars didn't let me down; I very much liked most sections of this book. Please note that, despite the subtitle, this is not a "daily devotions" type of book with a prayer for each day of the year. This is more of a guide to integrating various simple, daily practices into your life, along the same lines as Dianne Sylvan's _The Circle Within_. I heartily recommend both books.

Dumars discusses mindfulness, bringing the Sacred to work, guidelines for writing your own guided meditations, and personal relationships with Deity, among other topics. She also brings a saucy, irreverent sense of humor to the material. If you've read _The Dark Archetype_, this isn't surprising! Some readers don't like the humor. I do. Your mileage may vary.

The one thing I didn't like was a completely irrelevant section in which she snarks about polyamory. While I don't think she was making fun of the practice itself but instead making fun of those who are self-righteous about being poly, it still rubbed me the wrong way. It sort of came out of the blue in the middle of the section on love magic. (Yes, it's a topic relating to love, but she doesn't really tie it in with the other things she says on the subject. The snark just sits there, sore-thumb-like.)

This book is not for someone looking for an in-depth pagan rituals book. Rather, it is for someone who is looking to either add on to rituals and practices they already perform, or someone looking for a place to begin exploring the pagan path. I found this book very helpful in giving me some ideas on where I wanted to go with my belief system and my explorations. I also liked the humor and the way the auther was able to explain things and give reasons for certain activities. It was a very informative book and gave me a lot of ideas on how to enrich my own spirituality. I would recommend this book not only for pagans, but for open-minded seekers that want to explore new ways to experience spirituality.

I recently purchased this book and I was a little disappointed. While it has a lot of useful information and other things, I didn't like how light it seemed. The chapter on self-esteem especially.

Not very happy with this book. I thought that I was getting a book that would give me a daily thought to meditate on and give me something to think about for the day. I've managed to get through a couple of pages, keep in my bathroom to read in the morning to inspire me for the day, and I was sadly disapponted with it. Not much to go on for us busy Wiccans to carry us through the day. Daily Devotions are supposed to uplift you and give you something to think on that will make you feel better through the day. This doesn't do it! If you are looking for somethin of this nature, buy the Lewellyn calender.