GOOD THINGS Back Then Tomorrow by Peter Blue Cloud (Aroniawenrate), with drawings by Bill Crosby, 1978, 80 pp., $3.00 from: Blackberry Press Box186 Brunswick, ME 04011 When I was very little my family and I spent a lot of weekend afternoons in the front yard of the Roy's Point Reservation General Store in Wisconsin. Pit LaPoint, who ran the store, was my father's best friend, and my mother had raised six of my older brothers and sisters on the small farm next to Pit's while my father was away on the boats. Those sunny afternoons on Pit's porch were filled with "fun poking" storytelling, many of which described the creation of things and their naming, the shared values of Menomini people, and the ways to teach these to children. All those tales and the gentle humor of them come to me now as I read Peter Blue Cloud's book. All the dried-up ethnographic studies in academia can't translate the sense of the people half as well as Back Then Tomorrow. -CC Earth Rites, Vols. I & II, edited by Sherry Mestel, 1980, 82 pp. (Vol. I), 121 pp. (Vol II), $3.00 ea plus $.75 postage from: Earth Rites/Mestel 398 8th Street Brooklyn, NY 11215 Former Catholics, I've been told, are always in search of new rituals to replace the ones performed, often daily, to insure spiritual security. True to that dictum, I've dabbled in parochial practices, touring religions like continents until finally fashioning for myself a sort of pantheism without Pan, a secular sanctity. These two volumes of Earth Rites emerge from similar journeys, composed by women who pursue a spiritualism based in the earth, the movement of the planets, and the patterns made by shadows. Volume I combines herbal remedies for self-healing with herbs useful for magic. Most of the medicinal recipes are the tried January 1981 RAIN Page 11 and true ones appearing in classical herbals both ancient and modern. The magic is minimal but I like what little there is. I am especially taken with amulets, gentle charms to balance the pragmatism we're so imbued with. Volume II describes the personal rituals of women who have created a spirituality that reflects both their politicization as feminists and their need to explore ancient womancentered mythologies. These range from solemn prayers to female deities (the name's changed but the pie's still in the sky) to more joyous songs and celebrations. Still, much of the book is too mournful for my tastes. I prefer foot-stomping incantations to boil high energies into potent brews-cathartic stuff that leaves you breathless and grinning. The chorus of one such chant from the book is an example: dance dance where ever you may be I am the lady of the dance said°she I live in you as you live in me and I'll see you all in the dance said she The combined books are the carriers of a tradition. They link us to our very distant past. I look forward to a Volume III-empowered, sensuous, lively and willful. A book that will glow.-CC AMULETS bright turquoise or purple cord-for focusing on or drawing sexual attraction and passion. use basil, damiana, jasmine flowers and saw palmetto berries. green cord-for positive growth, change, movement, and expansion in your life and relationshps. use clover, hyssop, pennyroyal and sage. Excerpted from Earth Rites ·i have been hand making herbal charms for myself and my friends for 3 years. i use a wide variety of herbs for different purposes, have used each of my charms at different times, and have found all to be powerful. i have experimented with combining color magik and herb magik to increase the effectiveness of the charms. the results have been very pleasing. when i make a charm to wear around the neck, i use a small red flannel bag stuffed with an herb or mixture of herbs tied up with a cord that color corresponds with the desired characteristics of the herb(s) . these are some of the charms i've made and used: blue cord-for peace of mind, tranquility, and keeping calm in stressful situations. use catnip, chamomile, betony, lavender, peppermint, violet. lavender or orange cord-for mental powers, clear mind, writing, communication, and seeing into the future. use dried celery leaves, lavender, orange peel, marjoram. pink cord-for love, romance, sensuality and drawing admiration to yourself from others. use elder flowers, jasmine flowers, rose buds, and lavender. red cord-for fighting and winning. use basil, gentian, myrrh gum, and nettle. silver cord-for safe travelling, reflecting back energy directed toward you (protection from attacks) and going with natural cycles, use orris root, poppyseed, rosemary, and sage. carrying a whole nutmeg absorbs bad vibrations and sends out good ones. this is useful in new situations.
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