Crafting the Body Divine: Ritual, Movement and Body Art [Paperback]

Yasmine Galenorn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2001

Yasmine Galenorn presents a nurturing guide for loving the body and allowing it to become a more expressive vehicle for the spirit within. Offering personal revelations as well as interviews, rituals, exercises, visualizations, spells, and practical tips, she helps readers achieve balance in their physical and spiritual self-perceptions.

Beginning with the author’s insights on body image, self-esteem, and soul, CRAFTING THE BODY DIVINE presents health and beauty tips geared to radiating a positive self-image, and looks at how society defines beauty and how individuals can liberate themselves from the restrictions of such ideals. The second part of the book focuses on movement as ritual, and exercise as the experience of spiritual energy. Finally, Galenorn explores body modification, such as tattooing and piercing, as personal expressions of spirit.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn writes urban fantasy for Berkley: both the bestselling Otherworld/Sisters of the Moon Series for Berkley and the bestselling Indigo Court urban fantasy series. In the past, she wrote mysteries for Berkley Prime Crime, and nonfiction metaphysical books. Her books have hit the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists numerous times. Yasmine has been in the Craft for over 30 years, is a shamanic witch, and describes her life as a blend of teacups and tattoos. She lives in Kirkland WA with her husband Samwise and their cats.

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: Crossing Press (November 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1580911048
• ISBN-13: 978-1580911047
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #708,818 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn writes two bestselling urban fantasy series: the Otherworld Series (Sisters of the Moon Series), and the Indigo Court Series, both for Berkley. She's also written a paranormal mystery series (the Chintz 'n China Series) for Berkley Prime Crime, a short-lived mystery series (the Bath & Body Series) under the name of India Ink, again for Berkley Prime Crime, and eight metaphysical nonfiction books (Llewellyn Publications and Crossing Press).

Yasmine is a shamanic witch, and walks an eclectic path. She considers her life a blend of teacups and tattoos--the former in her china closet, the latter on her skin. She's a theatre major, a graduate of the Evergreen State College (Olympia WA). She lives in the Seattle WA area with her husband and is the mother of four cats.

Because so many people ask, you pronounce her name this way: Yaz-mihn (NOT Jasmine--it's a "Y", not a "J"). Last name is pronounced: Gal-eh-norn The accent is on the first syllable.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Love your body, Health & Beauty book., September 6, 2004

By 

Grail (Wellington, New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crafting the Body Divine: Ritual, Movement and Body Art (Paperback)

It's in the pagan section, it's by a pagan author - but like another review said, there's not that much specifically pagan content.

It's basically about loving your body, with the first section being mainly on accepting your body, nutrition, and cosmetics etc., section two is "Movement as Ritual" ie dance & belly-dance, and section three is on "Altering Body: Altering Spirit" basically all about tattoos, mainly her tattoos.

The book is mainly about what the author has dealt with (speaking from experience is good), so if you've ever had problems with the way you view your body (eating problems), you like paying attention to your appearance (it has cosmetic & shampoo recommendations), like belly-dancing or tattoos, this may be the book for you - unfortunately, none of the above applied to me, and she didn't do much research on anything *not* directly relating to her.
I.e. the interviews were with one friend who's disabled, another who did a marathon, *her* masseuse, and *her* tattooist.

Another example is from the body piercing section, something she didn't have a personal interest in:
In a list of 12 piercings, she mentions *9* genital piercings, and only 3 standard ones - ears, navel & nipple. What's with that? Why not mention more common ones such nose, lip, eyebrow, etc., etc.? They're more common than a 'hafada' or 'apadravya'.
She seemed very fixated on the sexual ones. She also mentions piercings may produce a 'psychic portal', but maybe doesn't realise that one of the *most* common traditional uses of piercings is to protect entrances to the body (most are near body openings, i.e. ears, nose, mouth etc.).

Her focus in the movement section was mostly dancing & yoga, which are ok, but, again, I would have appreciate more variety because while they're ok, they're not my thing.

Basically, speaking from experience is all very well, but some research might have been nice - I was starting to crave someone else's opinion - anyone's!

I think my major misconception about the book was that it would have a more pagan focus, as I ended up going to quite a bit of effort to get hold of this, and it is basically just a mainstream health & beauty book (which I would never have bought if I'd realised) with the addition of a focus on tattooing.

While I personally didn't get anything from the book (which was really disappointing, because I absolutely *loved* her other pagan books) if you're more similar in personality to the author, and not expecting an overly religious focus, you would probably get a lot more out of it than me.
:)

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!, April 11, 2002

By 

Felix (California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Crafting the Body Divine: Ritual, Movement and Body Art (Paperback)

A frank, honest, and personal book about learning to live in and love your body, with a Pagan twist on the topic. Topics range from eating healthy to body modification (tattoos, piercings, etc).

Lots of great advice, a great attitude is presented here, and it's storylike enough to make it interesting from cover to cover. Doesn't come across preachy or "witchier-than-thou" in any way.

Thanks Yasmine! Keep up the good work!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A worth reading book..., May 26, 2004

By 

Gypsi Hart - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crafting the Body Divine: Ritual, Movement and Body Art (Paperback)

This book caught my attention when I read that the author talked about body acceptance and body modification such as tattoos. (I love both subjects). In the end I learned more about that and more. I love Yasmine's way of writing, as if she's talking to you over a cup of tea...or coffee. She doesn't mind giving examples from her own life so the reader can relate. I also got some new rituals to try in this book and learned more about different gods and goddesses that I never learned about or are not widely known. As a result of reading this book, I am currently reading Sexual Ecstasy and the Divine by her. This book is under the Pagan catagory, but can be read by people who are not Pagan.