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The Seven Sacred Rites of Menopause
The Spiritual Journey to the Wise-Woman Years

By K. M. Boylan
Santa Monica Press © 2000 S/C $11.95
ISBN 1-891661-1-13-2.

Reviewed by Louise Cox of Windsor CT

Kristi Boylan's focus is of the woman's soul trying to right itself of spiritual imbalances at this time of midlife passage. She validates turning inward because so often until now, most women's lives have been outer/other directed. There are seven parts to her process and they parallel to the seven sacred rites of menopause. Thoughtful affirmations for each rite are included as well as wonderful ideas for croning ceremonies!

Balance to menopause is brought through the spiritual focus of the book. She discusses many non-medical side effects some women have or begin to have as peri-menopause appears. Along with understandable descriptions of all the hormones and HRT that can play a part at this time, Included are ways to honor crones and celebrate them.

This book is profound, yet easy to read. It provides even the most skeptical with gentle and more-than-just medical aspects to consider when a women comes to the menopause life-passage.

The Listening Hand
Self-Healing Through the Rubenfeld Synergy Method of Talk and Touch

by Ilana Reubenfeld
Bantam © 2000. H/C $25.95. ISBN 0-553-11144-2.

Reviewed by Helen Larkin of Littleton, CO

Ilana Rubenfeld began her professional life as a classically trained musician who became an orchestra conductor. Her very physically demanding profession began to cause intense muscle spasms in the back and shoulders. Only temporary relief was offered by western medicine.

Desparate for help from increasing pain, she explored eastern medicine and then alternative therapies that grew from that. In this learning, she realized that though the spasms had been triggered by the conducting, their source went back in childhood to repressed emotions and thoughts at that time. So the Rubenfeld Synergy Method of Talk and Touch was born.

In clear and concise style, the author shares her story and methods of working. The reader is taken through information to enable them to use her methods without an outside practitioner. The exercises are non-invasive, gentle and broken down so one can do them alone or with a friend. She also shares methods used when counseling couples in committed relationships. Rubenfeld uses color and sound meditation to speed healing and create a more supportive environment for over-all well being.

Opening Our Wild Hearts to the Healing Herbs

by Gail Faith Edwards.
Ash Tree Publishing-2000. S/C $13.95.
ISBN 1-888123-01-X.

Reviewed by Lee Pellham Cotton of Locust Hill VA

Acclaimed by well-known herbalists Rosemary Gladstar and Susun Weed, this book is sure to become a favorite reference for your plant studies whether you are newly making the acquaintance of healing plants or you have extensive prior experience.

Edwards' book is about listening to your own wisdom, which she feel shas been transmitted to each of us from our ancestors who worked with plant allies for thousands of years. We must establish relationships with plants which are common to our locales. Plants which are easy to find and often considered weeds can be the most health-giving of all. Dandelion, plantain, chickweed and blackberry may be pests to some; to a woman open to their healing properties, they are a blessing.

An extensive section of the book introduces us to wild and cultivated herbs from peppermint to valarian. Edwards shares history,healing uses and growing preferences of each herb. Similar information is provided for oak, willow, cedar and other trees. Especially enjoyable is learning of other cultures throughout the world and how they interact with plants.

There is a well-written section on how to gather and prepare the plant material in various ways. The instructions are simple and non-intimidating and especially nice for beginners. There is an excellent index and glossary and resource list at the end.

The book is illustrated throughout with green-tinted lline drawings, as well as bits of poetry and chants. A word to the wise: readers who are not familiar with the appearances of these plants will need a better reference guide to assist them. While the illustrations in this volume are beautiful, they often don't provide a detailed picture of the growing plant. However, this book is an inspiring guide to living with and enjoying the health-giving plants which grow all around us.

Night Gardening

by E. L. Swann
Hyperion-1999. S/C $6.50. ISBN 0-7868-8952-7

Reviewed by Lee Pellham Cotton of Locust Hill VA

Night Gardening is for all of us who know that a plot of ground can be a magical place. A healing place. It is the story of Maggie Flaherty Welles and how her garden brought her self-discovery and joy until the very end.

As the novel opens, Maggie's life has fallen into ruin. A "cerebral drama," her own description of her debilitating stroke, has left Maggie shakey in mind and body. She cannot walk. She can barely talk. And she finds herself reluctant to make the monumental efforts necessary to improve her situation.

The beautiful garden Maggie and her beloved Monsignor John had created years ago behind her house is also in disrepair. Weeds cruelly choke the perennials and tender wildflowers. Even the old stone wall which has provided privacy is crumbling away after decades of harsh Boston winters. There is little money to make repairs thanks to her late husband's miserly settlement.

As the narrative unfolds, Maggie discovers the unexpected gift her enforced immobility affords. For the first time there is an opportunity to think, to question her reality. What has she given up, shut out and neglected for so many years to play caretaker to her alcoholic, aristocratic husband? Who is the real Maggie? What is important to her? Resting under the copper beech in her wheelchair, she analyzes her past for the first time in her life.

On the other side of the ancient stone wall, a talented landscape architect has been hired to create a sunning outdoor setting for Maggie's new neighbors. Tristan glimpses Maggie's garden and is entranced by the potential. He meets Maggie and is enraptured by what he describes to himself as "ghosts of wildness."

Late one evening, Tristan enters Maggie's garden and using leftover stone from next door, lays a perfect path beneath Maggie's parallel bars so she may more eaily learn to walk again. The two begin to meet secretly after sundown for what they both come to call their night gardening.

As the garden begins to flourish with this care, so does Maggie. She learns that what she is doing in the garden, she can also do in her own life.

E. L. Swann has created a book for us not only to learn from but to treasure. It is a story of growth, hope and second chances and will remain long in the readers heart.