Of all the calendars that will come out that show us what a Goddess is, I think this one
actually captures the spirit of a Goddess better than any other.
Paul Mason, the artist, has done an outstanding job in painting the Goddesses that are used
in this calendar. The life and spirit of each comes shining through clearly in each
painting, almost as though he had a Celestial Camera to capture these on film.
Of equal beauty are the poems by Patricia Monaghan wrote for each of the Goddesses and the
paragraph describing the Goddess in the front of the calendar. Each of those paragraphs
gave me information on Goddesses that I had never heard of before and enough information to
get me started in finding my own information on them if I were so inclined.
In opposition to The Witches' Calendar (also from Llewellyn), there is little information
on the days themselves. The moon phases are marked, the holidays are also delineated,
Pagan and National. At least there will be no writing in of "Imbolc" on the appropriate
day.
The spaces provided for the calendar are generous, so using this as a scheduling tool will
be easy. THere are not horizontal lines separating the days, so there could be some bleed
over of events from one Thursday to the next, but that can be a help rather than a
hindrance.
For the artwork alone, one should get this calendar. I have a feeling that when 2002 is
over, many who pick this calendar up will be cutting it to pieces and hanging the pictures
around their house, or using them as their Goddess images on their altar.
This calendar is also not obviously pagan, so it can be used by those who are still in the
broom closet with ease. The words of the poems are large enough that a casual observer
will be able to read it while possibly missing the entry for "Mabon" on the calendar itself.
I give this calendar 4 stars out of 5. This is one that I plan on taking to work and
displaying with pride.
Reviewed by Daven
|