Celestially Auspicious Occasions: Seasons, Cycles, & Celebrations

by Donna Henes

From ancient times to the present there have been special days that mark the passage of time, announce the arrival or retreat of the sun, moon, and stars, and signify holy days and holidays alike. Celestially Auspicious Occasions presents a fascinating cross-cultural exploration of the rites and rituals inspired by heavenly events, from Valentine's Day to the blue moon to connection between ancient Egyptian beliefs and Easter eggs.

Genres: Nonfiction, Occult, Astrology

236 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1996

About the author

Donna Henes is an internationally renowned urban shaman, ritual expert, award-winning author, popular speaker and workshop leader whose joyful celebrations of celestial events have introduced ancient traditional rituals and contemporary ceremonies to millions of people in more than 100 cities since 1972. She has published five books and is included in six anthologies, a CD, an acclaimed Ezine and writes for The Huffington Post, Beliefnet and UPI Religion and Spirituality Forum, and serves as a ritual consultant for the television and film industry. Mama Donna, as she is affectionately called, maintains a ceremonial center, spirit shop, ritual practice and consultancy in Exotic Brooklyn, NY where she works with individuals, groups, institutions, municipalities and corporations to create meaningful ceremonies for every imaginable occasion.

Sign up for Mama Donna's newsletter!

'Unofficial Commissioner of Public Spirit of NYC.' –The New Yorker
'For 35 years Ms. Henes has been putting city folk in touch with Mother Earth.' –New York Times
'Part performance artist, part witch, part social director for planet earth.' –The Village Voice
'A-List exorcist!' –NY Post
'The Original crystal-packing mama.' –NY Press
'Insightful, funny, a treasure. One of the best 'goddess gals' around.' –Olympia Dukakis

www.DonnaHenes.com
www.TheQueenOfMySelf.com
www.mamadonnasspiritshop.com
www.treeoflifefunerals.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donna_Henes

Watch her videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/MamaDonna...

Read her on the Huffington Post:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/author...

Connect with her on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/MamaDonnaHenes
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Que...

Follow her on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/queenmamadonna
https://twitter.com/thequeenbook

Reviews

[Tristy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Donna Henes is a force to be reckoned with and her writing is lovely and funny and full of wonderful information about spirituality, mythology and ritual. This is my favorite of her many publications. If you are ever in New York, go and visit her magical tea garden!

[Megan Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting overview of the Sabbats, and how cultures around the world celebrate the sun, the moon, the stars, eclipses, etc. This book also delves into time as a construct. Lots of great quotes throughout from various cultures!

[Min · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the most important aspects of reading, and thereby learning, is accuracy. This book was published in 1996, therefore, it has had decades to misinform readers.
Several historical, and mythological points are presented as fact, when they are, most often, gross misunderstandings, and falsehoods repeated through the years.
The errors that stick out most to my memory is the Easter-Eostre-Astarte connection (there isn't one), and the tale that eggs stand on their end only on the Equinox (they can do this any time of the year).

There are several other points that this book offers that should be automatically doubted for authenticity. I could never, in good conscious, recommend this book for anything other than a demonstration of what passed for "acceptable", especially in the 90s frenzy to feed the market for "pagan" themed books.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kinda neat.