Customer Reviews

Moon Mother, Moon Daughter: Myths and Rituals That Celebrate a Girl's Coming-of-Age

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

OK, I cheated. I'm a male and I read a chick book.

I read a chick book by, for, and about chicks. I know: I'm not supposed to. The cover is pretty damn clear-lots of red and purple (none of it associated with sunsets, gun barrels, or violent bloodshed), loosey goosey fonts and title, women authors, and a foreword by someone that wrote the woman's comfort book!

This all screams new age chick stuff that by gender, inclination, and cultural boundaries I avoid.

My excuse? I have a preteen daughter and another coming up in her shadow with all the subtlety of a heat-seeking missile. Everyone around our house is busy. Life is on fire, and right smack in the middle of it all, these girls of mine are growing up.

So I picked up MoonMoon (as I started calling it) and tried to squelch my private image of women's moon groups as gatherings where they drop their drawers in a semi-circle and moon the moon so to speak.

Even overlooking my stumbling male entrance, the authors were not prepared for me. They write, as I mentioned above, for and about chicks in the form of mothers and daughters (as if men never had daughters). But without belaboring my own passage into and through the book, I'll just say that I started getting some of my (Dad) needs met as soon as I hit the first chapter.

The blending of content the authors used was effective. Instead of dragging me through long diatribes on new age coming-of-age theology (if you will), they interlaced their philosophies with cookbook recipes for events and practices, individual and family experiences, and demystifying retellings of pivotal female myths.

It remains, cover-to-cover, a chick book, but I still gleaned what I wanted for my daughters and myself. I exited at the Moon end with some excellent ideas about what I can do with my daughters and what I can steer them towards and away from as they pass through these years.

I assume for chicks it's a great read.

This is a very special book - written with tremendous love & wisdom. At a time when we are increasingly digitized and disconnected, Moon Mother, Moon Daughter brings us back to the intimacy of relationship with great insight and creativity. It is a unique exploration of the many facets of this important transition for women and girls and I recommend it highly!

This book is a must have for navigating the often stormy seas of female adolescence, and for celebrating and honoring the changes. The authors have an intimate voice, and tons of practical experience. I recommend it highly.

OK, I cheated. I'm a male and I read a chick book.

I read a chick book by, for, and about chicks. I know: I'm not supposed to. The cover is pretty damn clear-lots of red and purple (none of it associated with sunsets, gun barrels, or violent bloodshed), loosey goosey fonts and title, women authors, and a foreword by someone that wrote the woman's comfort book!

This all screams new age chick stuff that by gender, inclination, and cultural boundaries I avoid.

My excuse? I have a preteen daughter and another coming up in her shadow with all the subtlety of a heat-seeking missile. Everyone around our house is busy. Life is on fire, and right smack in the middle of it all, these girls of mine are growing up.

So I picked up MoonMoon (as I started calling it) and tried to squelch my private image of women's moon groups as gatherings where they drop their drawers in a semi-circle and moon the moon so to speak.

Even overlooking my stumbling male entrance, the authors were not prepared for me. They write, as I mentioned above, for and about chicks in the form of mothers and daughters (as if men never had daughters). But without belaboring my own passage into and through the book, I'll just say that I started getting some of my (Dad) needs met as soon as I hit the first chapter.

The blending of content the authors used was effective. Instead of dragging me through long diatribes on new age coming-of-age theology (if you will), they interlaced their philosophies with cookbook recipes for events and practices, individual and family experiences, and demystifying retellings of pivotal female myths.

It remains, cover-to-cover, a chick book, but I still gleaned what I wanted for my daughters and myself. I exited at the Moon end with some excellent ideas about what I can do with my daughters, what I can steer them towards and away from as they pass through these years, and a good list of things to tell the little wife to do, as well (yeah, right!).

I assume for chicks it's a great read.

"Conventional femininity cannot be our guide. We are reinventing the feminine. And most of us have barely begin to appreciate the value of the enormity of this task."
--Hope Edelman, Motherless Daughters

Moms: Wouldn't it be nice to anticipate and have as much joy in your daughter turning into a woman as you did with her first smiles, steps and words? Wouldn't it be great to have the confidence in guiding your daughter as she crossed the threshold into womanhood? Moon Mother, Moon Daughter: Myths and Rituals that Celebrate a Girl's Coming-of-Age can help you discover and embrace such a journey with your daughter.

Moon Mother, Moon Daughter: Myths and Rituals that Celebrate a Girl's Coming-of-Age is chewy and concise, informing moms about how they can honor the sacredness of being female. Authors Lucy and Allison weave moon and goddess mythology and provide a myriad of activities for moms and daughter to do independently and together--to encourage reflection, introspection, understanding, and celebration of becoming and being a woman.

Among topics addressed in the book are the value of spending time alone, how to guide your daughter in awakening and connecting to her inner wisdom and intuition, how to guide her in finding and having confidence in expressing her voice, and the power of honoring your body.

As the cover of Moon Mother, Moon Daughter promises, the advice has new-age overtones, using the moon as a guide and metaphor (the most sacred feminine) throughout the book. However, any mom (including this one) can easily draw upon the ideas and tweak them to fit into and guide her relationship with her daughter. This is a terrific book with wonderful goddess mythology to share and empowering ideas from which to borrow. This mom is looking forward to using some of them with her daughters.

Note: Moon Mother, Moon Daughter: Myths and Rituals that Celebrate a Girl's Coming-of-Age is geared for moms of daughters ages ten-thirteen.

by Judy Miller
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women