A book signing for “Moon Mother, Moon Daughter,” a celebration of the divine feminine spirit by Janet Lucy and Terri Allison, will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Jan. 21 at Paradise Found, 17 E. Anapamu St., Santa Barbara.
The local authors first heard the call to write a book together 25 years ago when their four daughters were queuing up to come of age.
They had both read the bestseller, “Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls” by Mary Pipher, about the frightening ways pre-teen girls lose their voices and their true selves in today’s culture and began to ask themselves some questions:
How would it be different if mothers looked forward to their daughters’ first steps into womanhood with the same anticipation and excitement as they had for her very first steps toward walking? What if there was a whole community of women waiting to receive her into womanhood? What if there was a way for mothers and daughters to walk together?
Their quest to find new resources led them to the discovery of an ancient, worldwide moon goddess culture. Here they knew they’d found the inspiration they were looking for, and sat down to write together.
With the moon as a guide and a symbol,” Moon Mother, Moon Daughter —- Myths and Rituals That Celebrate a Girl’s Coming of Age” (Fair Winds Press 2002) introduced a whole new approach to the coming-of-age years as a time to strengthen the mother-daughter connection with the support of
community and to celebrate female gifts and wisdom.
Since the first edition publication in 2002, women from all over the world have reached out to affirm the vision and value of ancient wisdom and traditions based in community and spirit.
Inspired by requests for a companion guide to facilitate groups, they have created “Moon Circles Facilitators Guide” (Seven Seas Press 2022) as a response. This guide, to be used alongside the original book, is an expansive version with added new voices and language to be
more inclusive and reflective of our diverse humanity.
“After all,” affirm the authors, “we all live under the same moon.”
The authors have also created a companion journal filled with moon quotes and the lunar phases titled, “By the Light of the Moon,” for women and girls of all ages.
email: mmcmahon@newspress.com
FYI
All three of the “Moon Mother, Moon Daughter” books are available at Paradise Found, 17 E. Anapamu St., Santa Barbara; Chaucers, 3321 State St., Santa Barbara, and Heritage Goods and Supply, 5100 Carpinteria Ave., Carpinteria. For more information, visit www.sevenseaspress.org.
