Red Moon Passage: The Power and Wisdom of Menopause [Hardcover]

Bonnie Horrigan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 9, 1996

An inspiring collection of interviews with and profiles of a diverse group of strong, mature, wise women, all of whom view menopause as a life-affirming, spiritually enlightening transformation, Red Moon Passage features discussions by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Carol Pearson, Kachinas Kutenai, Paula Gunn Allen, and many others.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

Articulate feminists of diverse backgrounds share their similar thoughts about menopause as a transforming spiritual experience. Horrigan, publisher of the journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, sought out eight women whose work she admires- -a healer, an English professor who is also a shaman, an anthropologist, a Jungian psychoanalyst and performance artist, an Apache medicine woman, a college dean, a part-Cherokee, part-Seneca songwriter, and a feminist writer--and interviewed them for their views on menopause. Every interview is accompanied by a glowing tribute from the author, who presents her interviewees as remarkable, wise, and deeply spiritual and insightful women, and herself as the novice who gains in wisdom as she listens to them. The women explore the female psyche through visions, parables, ancient myths and legends, and tales of goddesses, archetypes, and matriarchies. The book's title has a mythic ring, but it is a phrase Horrigan devised to evoke a positive image of menopause as a transforming journey out of a time of monthly bleeding into a time of creativity not based on reproduction. Menopause, the reader is reminded often, is to be viewed not as an ending but as a beginning. For women in touch with their spirits, as the author and her interviewees presumably are, menopause is a time not simply of biological change, but of spiritual transformation marking the beginning of the most powerful years of a woman's life. Devotees of Joseph Campbell will find much that is familiar here, and the author's advice to follow one's heart echoes Campbell's counsel to follow one's bliss. Inspirational reading for New Age feminists, especially comforting to those approaching menopause. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From the Inside Flap

An inspiring collection of interviews with and profiles of a diverse group of strong, mature, wise women, all of whom view menopause as a life-affirming, spiritually enlightening transformation, Red Moon Passage features discussions by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Carol Pearson, Kachinas Kutenai, Paula Gunn Allen, and many others.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 242 pages
• Publisher: Harmony; 1 edition (July 9, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517703866
• ISBN-13: 978-0517703861
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,539,809 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fine and sensitive insight into the passages of women

, June 3, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Red Moon Passage: The Power and Wisdom of Menopause (Paperback)

Bonnie Horrigan has served a fine favor to women who
confront the mysterious passage of menopause as
both a physical and a spiritual transition. She
provides answers with compassion, depth with
clarity, and wisdom without complexity.

Ms. Horrigan has created a book which all men and all women
will do well to absorb as part of their life-insights collection.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Red Moon Passage, August 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Red Moon Passage: The Power and Wisdom of Menopause (Paperback)

This book is an exciting find. The wonderful selection of mentors for women seeking ways to survive a sometimes very tulmultous time in their lives gave me hope for a my heart and body being wiser for the experience. I would recommend this fine text to anyone who wants to understand the path of the maturing female.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Such postive mentors !, April 16, 2004

By 

Susanna Duffy (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Red Moon Passage: The Power and Wisdom of Menopause (Paperback)

How wonderful to find such positive guides and mentors in this cofusing time of life. The loss of our menstrual cycle makes us disconnect for a while from our own rhythms, passing through the menopausal journey is an in-between state, and it's easy to be confused about our own place in the whole scheme of things.

These women have been there, and they have words to guide