Customer Reviews

Sisters Of The Dark Moon: 13 Rituals of the Dark Goddess

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

 

 

*Sisters of the Dark Moon* is a lovingly and beautifully written book that can add something to almost any witch's ritual "repertoire". (It's very Wiccan-oriented, so if you're not into Wicca, you might not like the way the rituals are set up.) Gail Wood's love of the Dark Goddess and the Dark Moon is evident throughout the book; you can tell this is a path she herself has explored, found rewarding, and now wants to share with others. The book focuses on ritual and meditation; the rituals are simple enough that anyone can do them. You don't need any props except your mind and soul. Even if you just read your first Wicca book last week, there won't be anything to confuse you. And no matter how long you've been on the path, there will be something here for you. There are many resources in print and online with ritual outlines for the various Full Moons of the year; *Sisters* is especially welcome because the Dark Moon is often overlooked. Each ritual is based on the zodiac sign in which the Dark Moon falls, and is self-exploratory and uplifting. Wood compares the Dark to the attic where we keep things we don't think we need or value; these rituals help us find those hidden beauties within ourselves. In the end, Wood helps us with that difficult task, "Know thyself". All in all, a gentle and beautiful book, with something for everyone. The only thing that could have improved it would be a chart of the Dark Moons for the next several years, and the signs they fall into. For the dates of the Dark Moons, try any almanac or witches' calendar; to determine the astrological signs, I recommend Daniel Pharr's *Moon Wise*, a book about lunar astrology in general, and including a lunar ephemeris.

Gail Wood's ritual/meditation approach for each of these dark journeys is unique and inspiring. The dark can be a scary place to explore, but the insights I derived from this well constructed, supportive and nuturing work were truly "enlightening". I look forward to more works from this wonderful author who obviously has a positive connection to the dark.

For what it is, this book is excellent. It offers simple,
no-fancy-equipment-necessary exercises to get in touch with
the sometimes scary "off" periods of nature. I like that
it doesn't promise great mystical insights and tremendous
power. It's a real workbook for people serious about paying
attention to all aspects of the world.

It's easy to get lost in the ready connotations of words like "dark", "left-hand path", and even something as simple as "worship". So it'd be easy to misunderstand the reasons behind this book at first glance if one were unknowledgable about such things.

Gail Wood tries to explore mysteries that are deeply feminine and sometimes mistaken for "satanist" rantings. I found it to be very interesting in its ideas, if not always in it applications. I always enjoyed reading the sections about the Dark Moon in the different zodiac houses, though sometimes I would skim through her rituals, as her poetry never really spoke to me. (Which is not necessarily a bad thing...her path is not my path.)

Not necessarily a Wicca 101 primer, nor a quintisential source for stufy, I did find that this book did give me some new insights into human behavior, and put some things that I've always thought about into "plain english".

For people studying philosophy in general or the Craft, I would recomend it.

I enjoyed reading this book. There's a lot of information even if you do not perform the rituals. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the energy of the Dark Moon.

This book was a very organized. That is one of the few things it had going for it. The problem I found was the added zodiac, and the fact that it had no real place. There wasn't even enough information to tell you about what time of year it was. And where did the information about this New zodiac "Arachne" come from. There was good information on the Dark aspects of the moon, But is still can't grasp Arachne and when exactly this happens. My advice is to take it with a grain of salt and enjoy some tidbits