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When my phone rang one day early in 2004, it was an acquisitions editor
at RedWheel/Weiser. "We like the way you write," she said to me. "Would
you write a book for us?" "Sure thing," I replied. "What would you like
me to write?" "We want a daily calendar book," she said. "Call it
365 Pagan. And put lots of goddesses in it."
So I signed the contract and wrote the book. To meet their deadline, for six months I wrote every morning (which means I wrote thirty or thirty-one daily pages every two weeks), edited (so I could still pay the rent) every afternoon, and did research every evening.
What I found out when I sent them the completed manuscript, however, was that they'd wanted a frothy little gift book. What I'd sent them was a real book, with real scholarship, real history, real writing. It was too long. But when you're writing a calendar book, you can't just lop sixty pages off the end; you have to trim every single day. They wanted 300 words per page, max. I edited each page down to 301 words.
Here's part of the review from Publishers Weekly. I'm pleased by it and hope you'll be intrigued enough to buy the book.
Ardinger's latest contribution to pagan literature is a short-essay book of days jammed with facts about goddesses and saints, alongside an assortment of random pop culture references and personal musings. The author of several books including Finding New Goddesses, Ardinger is a regular encyclopedia of knowledge not only about paganism but more broadly about significant women figures and goddesses in history (think Julian of Norwich, Mother Teresa, and Isis, all of whom make appearances among the 365 days). … Chocolate lovers will surely delight to learn the story behind Lady Godiva (July 10) and those uninitiated into the history of Sophia (December 16) will be happy to learn of her illustrious past.
One thing I discovered in writing Pagan Every Day was that if you've studied enough metaphysics, then you can find a nice metaphysical meaning in nearly anything. As I did for Barbie, Miss Piggy (the Goddess of Everything), and Dirty Dancing. Following are four new days from the book (one for each season).
My friend Lilith, the astrologer, tells me that people whose sun sign
is Pisces are overwhelmed by feelings. They’re the folks who make mountains
out of molehills. Feelings, she says, “are great, sprawling, nebulous,
messy, and almost uncontrollable creatures.” When you let your feelings
take over, any scenario is possible. When we let our feelings run our lives,
things can become way too interesting. What are we in addition to our feelings?
Although it was somehow decided in the 20th century that people are all
basically alike (Freud said we were all driven by sex; Adler, by power;
Sullivan, by social solidarity; the existentialists, by a seeking after
the true self), that’s a false democracy. The evidence for variety is strong
and goes back at least to the Greeks. Hippocrates described the four temperaments
(sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic, and melancholic), the “four humours” were
well known in the Renaissance, and Jung’s description of four “function
types” is well known.
Thirty years ago, building on the work of Jung and others, David Keirsey
and Marilyn Bates created sixteen temperament types. More recently, Dawna
Markova characterized people as auditory, visual, or kinesthetic. These
typologies may not be perfect, but they’re worth considering. Reader, find
copies of books by these authors and take their tests. Find out how you’re
classified and see if it agrees with your own idea of yourself. If you
find any surprises, see if you can understand why you’re not quite who
you think you are.
The Pisces fish swim up and down. What are your ups and downs? Where are your head and your heart? Is there balance in your life? We may be idealistic pagans, but we also have to work and live in the world as it is: let’s aim for equilibrium in every part of our lives.
Is there a pagan among us who does not have a garden? My garden consists
of plants in pots, some lined up on crates and tables outside my windows
along the building’s common patio, some hanging in wrought-iron holders
up the stairs to the second story. It gets chilly enough here that some
of my plants die back in the winter, but most survive all year. Because
the front of the building faces west, in the summer I have to move plants
into shade and water them frequently. Because it’s a potted garden, I need
to be tending it every day so the plants don’t die.
Reader, how do you tend your garden? If you live where it gets cold, what
kind of gardening do you do in the winter? Do you get out the seed catalogs
and plant books and study them and make lists? When do you begin your spring
dreaming and planting? Are you fortunate enough to have a yard and a real
garden? I’ve heard that women prefer flowers, whereas men generally grow
edibles.
We also plant metaphorical gardens. Maybe they should be called karmic
gardens. The word “broadcast” comes from the way farmers once sowed seed.
They’d take a handful out of the bag over their shoulder and fling it out
across the ground to fall where it might or be carried away by the wind.
Let’s think about the seeds we’re broadcasting. Some of our seeds fall
close to home, but many fly across the Net and the Web and end up who knows
where. That makes for very big gardens, And some unexpected blooms. You
know what they say—what goes around comes back around. As you sow, so shall
you reap.
In 1040, it is said, Leonfric, earl of Mercia and lord of Coventry, laid
such onerous taxes on the people that they were starving. When Lady Godiva,
his wife, begged him to be merciful, he challenged her. If she would ride
naked through the town, he would rescind the taxes. Godiva ordered that
all windows be covered at noon and that all townspeople stay indoors. She
mounted her white stallion and rode through the town, her long hair as
her only garment. Only one man dared to look at her; his name has come
down to us as Peeping Tom. He was struck blind, as all who spy upon women
should be.
Lady Godiva, whose story comes from the Flores Historiarum (ca. 1236),
was not just any medieval English noblewoman. This folktale is about a
goddess, possibly Epona, and the purpose of her ride is bestow blessings
upon the people, their houses and work, their fields and crops. She is
goddess of the abundance of summer, a symbol of beauty to be preserved
in a darkening world.
Perhaps Godiva, after whom beautiful chocolate is named, is also goddess
of the beauty of summer. Hers is more than human beauty; perhaps this gentle
lady embodies the beauty of the earth. In the summertime our planet is
at her most fruitful. Flowers are at full bloom and fruits and vegetables
are pulling ripening sunshine into their flesh. Under the blessings of
Our Mother Sun, animals born with the spring are growing up and learning
whatever animals learn. In midsummer, insects are busy and birds and fish
are prospering. Beauty is walking upon the earth. She is riding among us.
Unlike Tom, we have permission to gaze upon her and worship her, the eyes
of our imagination will see her glory until midsummer comes again.
Fortuna Redux was the Roman goddess of successful journeys and safe returns.
I’m sure she has been invoked, if only unconsciously, by every explorer
who ever set foot on unknown land. Even if we don’t plan to return, it’s
good to know there’s still a home back there and a goddess keeping an eye
on us whether we’re outward bound or on a return trajectory.
Augustus erected an altar to Fortuna Redux after he returned from a long
journey through Asia, and her temple was erected by the emperor Domitian,
who was forever doing battle to keep the empire together and himself on
the throne. There are also numerous coins that show the goddess sitting
on her throne.
If we seek good fortune in the journeys of our lives, I’m hard pressed
to think of better advice than we get from Sachel Paige (1906–1982), said
to be the best pitcher in the Negro Baseball League:
Avoid fried meats which angry up the blood. … Keep the juices flowing
by jangling around gently as you move. Go very light on the vices, such
as carrying on in society. The social ramble ain’t restful. Avoid running
at all times. Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.
In 1948, Paige was hired by the Cleveland Indians, who won the pennant
thanks to his fast ball. He also played for St. Louis and Kansas City and
was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971. Crones and sages will
love his comment on getting older. “Age is a question of mind over matter,”
he said. “If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.”
Reader, are you inward bound or outward bound? Are you jangling gently as you’re moving? Have you looked back lately? Is anything gaining on you? Call on Fortuna Redux!
Do you want to know what happened in pagan history or in my imagination today? What I wrote about on your birthday? BUY THIS BOOK. You can buy a signed copy from me and you can find it at your local bookstore or on line. If it's not on the shelf in your bookstore, please ask them to order it.