Amazon.com
A professor of anthropology by training, Fagan traces the effects of climactic change on civilizations over the past 15,000 years--a period of prolonged global warning that has only accelerated over the past 150 years. In particular, he's interested in how civilizations have responded to, or been radically altered by, changes in environment. One of Fagan's most compelling examples is his detailed history of the city of Ur, in what is now modern-day Iraq. Once a great city in one of the world's earliest civilizations, it first thrived thanks to abundant rainfall and then suffered even more severely when the Indian Ocean monsoons shifted southward, changing rain patterns. By 2000 B.C. its agricultural economy had collapsed, and today it is an abandoned landscape, an assemblage of decaying shrines in the harshest of deserts. Fagan views this event as pivotal. It was, he writes, "the first time an entire city disintegrated in the face of environmental catastrophe." But not, Fagan notes, the last. In his epilogue, which covers the last 800 years of human history, Fagan explores the climatic upheavals that left 20 million dead in famine-related epidemics in the 19th century. He notes that today 200 million people barely survive on marginal agricultural land in places such as northeastern Brazil, Ethiopia, and the Saharan Sahel. If temperatures rise much above current levels, and rising seas flood coastal plains, the devastation could dwarf any disaster humankind has previously known. Fagan doesn't offer easy solutions, but he presents a compelling history of climate's role in the background--and sometimes foreground--of human history. --Keith Moerer
Book Description
Humanity evolved in an Ice Age in which glaciers covered much of the world. But starting about 15,000 years ago, temperatures began to climb. Civilization and all of recorded history occurred in this warm period, the era known as the Holocene-the long summer of the human species. In The Long Summer, Brian Fagan brings us the first detailed record of climate change during these 15,000 years of warming, and shows how this climate change gave rise to civilization. A thousand-year chill led people in the Near East to take up the cultivation of plant foods; a catastrophic flood drove settlers to inhabit Europe; the drying of the Sahara forced its inhabitants to live along the banks of the Nile; and increased rainfall in East Africa provoked the bubonic plague. The Long Summer illuminates for the first time the centuries-long pattern of human adaptation to the demands and challenges of an ever-changing climate-challenges that are still with us today.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent overview of climate's effects on human culture.......2007-10-01
This slim volume by Brian Fagan provides an excellent overview of the changes in climate effecting human culture over hundreds and thousands of years. The climate changes are shown with their global and regional effects. Professor Fagan then relates the geological changes to gross changes in human culture such as the switch from a hunter-gatherer culture to a settled development of agriculture. He proposes that drought is one of the causes of the growth of cities from villages.
This book could be of benefit in World History, American History, and European History classes in addition to basic enviromental science classes.
Climate Didn't Do It All.......2007-04-18
This is a good book on the effects of climate on history. The other reviews (11 as of this writing) tell the good points. I merely want to add a cautionary note: Dr. Fagan is prone to give only the "climate did it" side of what are often very complex arguments. Most scholars would generally agree with him, and where there are differences I think he is usually on the right side, but he can get too simplistic. Significantly, the cases he knows best are told with more nuance and detail. The story of the Chumash of the Santa Barbara area (where he lived for many years) is particularly good: he shows how they responded creatively and thoughtfully to varying climates. He is also knowledgeable about, and thus nunanced when writing about, Europe and the Atlantic. He is farther from home with the Maya; he gives the most likely scenario for their fall, which involves drought as the key factor, but does not discuss other theories (warfare, trade route shifts, distant power shifts...) that have at least enough merit to be advocated by many Mayanists. Still farther from home is the Tiwanaku case, where he credits the fall of Tiwanaku on drought that may actually have happened a century or two later than the fall. And he has the Old Kingdom of Egypt falling because drought convinced the people that the pharaohs weren't God after all. Surely the Egyptians were more sophisticated than that, and surely the situation was much more complex. Only in old travel accounts does anyone seriously hold the idea that "those other folks" are so dumb that they think the chief is a god because the volcano erupts or the river floods on time.
Looking over European history, I am struck by how little the shift from the Medieval Warm Period to the Little Ice Age affected history. It had its effect, and a lot of people died, but people usually coped well and intelligently. On the other hand, Fagan misses one beautiful case where that shift mattered a lot: the decline of steppe-nomad power and the Silk Road. The Mongols rode out to conquer the world, and the Silk Road flourished, during the Medieval Warm Period. The Little Ice Age ended this--the steppes got too prone to horrible winters that killed the livestock, and the Silk Road got difficult just as the sea lanes were opening up due to Chinese, Arab, Spanish and Portuguese advances in shipping.
Moral: climate affects history greatly, but people don't just let it happen or naively think "God done it." They respond with all sorts of creative and interesting strategies. This emerges from Fagan's book, especially when he talks about Native Americans, but the reader is cautioned to look into the full complexity of the cases he describes.
Excellent Reading.......2007-01-10
If you like Fagan's work --you will love this book! As all of his work it's engaging, insightful and a joy to read.
THE SUPERTANKER OF SOCIETY AND THE MEDIEVAL HOT STUFF.......2006-11-27
This should be a five-star review, but I have deducted a star. First the good points. Why is this book a great achievement? Because it makes an enormously convincing case - that climate is the great under-rated driver of human pre-history (up to about 3100BC, before the invention of writing), and, with a brilliant you-can't-see-the-join sweep, moves the argument through the following historical period.
It is an engaging read. The metaphors and analogies are often good. He compares early man, who adapted and survived the constant storms of climate change, with the way that a wooden yacht rides a storm. The seas may blow at storm force, or even present a 25-metre megawave. A well-battened down yacht will bob like a cork. But, a sophisticated steel supertanker will cut through all the waves as it steams on - it is designed to ignore them, so to speak. Except of course, if a megawave catches it side on, then it will roll over. And it could just hit an iceberg, we all know it has happened. The supertanker is modern civilisation, we have aircon in our houses and cars, we turn on the lights when it gets dark. The electricity could be generated by wind turbines, coal, or nuclear power. Just so long as the lights are on. But a big enough volcano, asteroid hit, or reduced solar gain triggering an ice age? That would be our megawave: we might be rolled over.
He has such a wide sweep of the disciplines: scientific studies of ice cores and lake mud, anthropological studies of the ancient Sumerians, Egyptians, the Greeks, historians like Julius Caesar and Polybius. He is good. He knows that data from carbon dating, pollen studies, ancient written histories, geology, analyses of animal domestication, archaeological digs, and more, all have to handled with interpretive skill to make a coherent story. And the picture gets updated every time a new study rolls off the presses. I take off all my hats to him. He goes into considerable detail over the Medieval Warm Period (AD900-1300). This is important because Europe was as warm and in parts warmer then than it is today, and 21st century climatologists looking for their next tax-dollar research grant do not want you to know about it. They are willing to suppress the data and re-name it to an `anomaly', it ruins their scare-scenarios. The politicians want to sound concerned and raise your taxes too. So it's win-win for them, lose-lose for us. The Medieval Warm Period was extravagantly good for Europe, and bad for the West coast Americas, and Brian Fagan paints a fascinating diptych.
However, I come to review this book, and not to panegyricise. I do not care that his style is somewhat clichéd. I do not much mind that his unidimensional approach to climate-driven history is patently simplistic and ridiculously telescoped near the end. I can read any ordinary history, or economic history like the excellent Richard Bulliet's `The Camel and the Wheel', or Gordon & Rendsburg's `The Bible and the Ancient Near East' for an immensely better straight historical approach.
But what I object to in him in the strongest terms is what philosophers call `scientism'. (Try Mary Midgley, C.S. Lewis, John Wild, Michael Polanyi, or G.K. Chesterton for a good grab-bag of approaches to exploding this. I am coming to conclusion is better to mock it than reason with it. Dawkins is a hard-line offender on this, but there are so many others. They even start their books with stuff along the lines of, "I know I am a mere reductionist, and this is really philosophically silly, but I do not repent and recant because I know not how".) His religion and faith is science. It is belief in evolutionism, not just biological evolution. To him, other faiths (OK, let's get it out, Christianity, he cannot be that bothered to mock animists, Buddhists, or Hindus), are absurd in general. They are amusingly quaint and superstitious. His attitude to the `noble savage' of the Maya/Aztec, the Dakota Sioux, and the woadfully aggressive Celts wavers between the patronising and the politically correct multiculturally pseudo-respectful. The human sacrifice, scalping, and savage gods of the savages somehow fail to hold his attention long enough to actually write of them. (Just try watching the films `A Man Called Horse', and the sequel to get a real idea. Or read `The Epic of Gilgamesh', and the grislier bits of Greek mythology.) His equation of the beliefs of Stone Age man and the faith of builders of Gothic cathedrals is insulting, but there is more to any of them than there is to him. But modern is as modern does. He looks down on our ancestors, not at them. He is infected with what C.S. Lewis called `chronological snobbery'.
And what is science anyway? What is this god that he so worshipfully serves? It is just a description of `How Things Work'. How do plants work? Photosynthesis. How does photosynthesis work? By the chemistry of chlorophyll and capture of the photons of the sun. How does the chemistry work? By electrons being passed around, they are atomic particles, we can calculate the energy gained and lost, and glory, glory, we make bread from the plant and digest it and then we have the energy! QED, cogito ergo sum. You get the idea. Science is about mechanisms, how things work, how the knee-bone is connected to the ankle-bone. But does he `Hear the word of the Lord'? No. He does not know what it all Means, he is all Mechanism. And scientists really are just mechanics. All his many-spendoured anthropological terminological circumlocutions and prestidigitations lead to a big round `nil points' in the point-of-it-all department. `Skias onar anthropos' - 'man is but a dream of a shadow' - so said the ancient Greek, and the ancient Hebrew asked God `What is man that thou art mindful of him?', but in truth he has yet to wake up for the first time to these things. He thinks a lot, but he is not mindful. Man can live without science, and did so for thousands of years, but he cannot live even threescore years and ten without meaning. Let us not kow-tow to Science or its priesthood, either they serve us or destroy us. Only men can rule men. Ignore the soul and you lose it.
Interesting and Eye-Opening.......2006-10-06
This book is a follow-up to the author's successful The Little Ice Age. It chronicles the remarkable stablilty of the Earth's climate over the past 20K years. Fagan contends, quite rightly IMO, that most of the gains of human civilization have been made during this interglacial warming period. Agriculture's beginnings are highlighted and the minor changes in precipitation which can result in either increased fertility or aridity of populated areas. A world-wide perspective is taken in the book where contemporaneous development are discussed. Like any well-researched piece, little facts are found throughout (for instance, the bow's invention in Skandinavia, of all places). Very interesting.
Amazon.com
If you haven't seen the film version of Inherit the Wind, you might have read it in high school. And even people who have never heard of either the movie or the play probably know something about the events that inspired them: The 1925 Scopes "monkey trial," during which Darwin's theory of evolution was essentially put on trial before the nation. Inherit the Wind paints a romantic picture of John Scopes as a principled biology teacher driven to present scientific theory to his students, even in the teeth of a Tennessee state law prohibiting the teaching of anything other than creationism. The truth, it turns out, was something quite different. In his fascinating history of the Scopes trial, Summer for the Gods, Edward J. Larson makes it abundantly clear that Truth and the Purity of Science had very little to do with the Scopes case. Tennessee had passed a law prohibiting the teaching of evolution, and the American Civil Liberties Union responded by advertising statewide for a high-school teacher willing to defy the law. Communities all across Tennessee saw an opportunity to put themselves on the map by hosting such a controversial trial, but it was the town of Dayton that came up with a sacrificial victim: John Scopes, a man who knew little about evolution and wasn't even the class's regular teacher. Chosen by the city fathers, Scopes obligingly broke the law and was carted off to jail to await trial.
What happened next was a bizarre mix of theatrics and law, enacted by William Jennings Bryan for the prosecution and Clarence Darrow for the defense. Though Darrow lost the trial, he made his point--and his career--by calling Bryan, a noted Bible expert, as a witness for the defense. Summer for the Gods is a remarkable retelling of the trial and the events leading up to it, proof positive that truth is stranger than science.
Book Description
Reissued with a new preface: the Pulitzer Prize-winning book that is "quite simply the best book ever written on the Scopes Trial and its place in American history and myth."
In the summer of 1925, the sleepy hamlet of Dayton, Tennessee, became the setting for one of the 20th century's most contentious dramas: the Scopes trial that pit William Jennings Bryan and the anti-Darwinists against a teacher named John Scopes into a famous debate over science, religion, and their place in public education.
That trial marked the start of a battle that continues to this day--in Dover, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Cobb County, Georgia, and many other cities and states throughout the country. Edward Larson's classic, Summer for the Gods, received the Pulitzer Prize in History in 1998 and is the single most authoritative account of a pivotal event whose combatants remain at odds in school districts and courtrooms. For this edition, Larson has added a new preface that assesses the state of the battle between creationism and evolution, and points the way to how it might potentially be resolved.
Customer Reviews:
De-simplification.......2007-08-21
A Tennessee newspaper called the Scopes trial at the time a 'publicity stunt'. Meaning publicity for the city of Dayton.
America never ceases to surprise me. Until not so long ago I had never heard of the Scopes trial. I stumbled over it once in a while when reading about the disputes between Christian fundamentalists and 'science', specifically evolutionists. I imagined something like a fight of the titans, Evolution versus Creation.
Not so. Now I learn from Larson that everything was a little different. (This is by now also a cliche: things are not what they seem. Are they ever?)
Actually it had aspects of a farce.
The more interesting aspects are not the farcical ones though, but rather how this event was the focal point not so much of two strong opponents clashing, but of a much more diverse field of issues.
I had forgotten that evolution, by the mid 20s, was a different thing from what it seems now. First of all, the so-called Darwinian synthesis had not yet happened, which led to 'neo-Darwinism', basing Darwin's theory of natural selection on knowledge of genetics (of which Darwin himself had had no idea yet).
In the 20s, Darwinism was much more attached to the smelly and dead ideology of so-called Social Darwinism (for which Mr.Darwin should not be blamed), than it is nowadays. At that time, eugenics were still considered an honorable pursuit, it appears. That was the attempt to improve mankind's genetic substance by a kind of human breeding program. Going for Nietzsche's Uebermensch. Now we know how it ended with the Nazis' euthanasia programs. Even World War I, which had been over not so long past, had brought implications of 'Darwinism' in the ideology of Wilhelminian militarism. Overall a rather dubious surrounding and not as squeaky clean as pure science.
At the same time there was the aftermath of the social earthquakes that WWI had shaken loose: the Russian revolution, the spreading hysteria in America about the 'Red Scare', labor prosecution, leading to McCarthyism later on. And among the Christian denominations the fight between the modernists and the fundamentalists, whose primary opponent seems to have been their deviating fellow Christians more than the evolutionists, who became sort of a derived target.
The trial itself is a ridiculous affair about a substitute teacher who used a book which mentions evolution, which broke a newly introduced law against teaching evolution in Tennessee. What a joke. Particularly as the teacher volunteered to be the defendant in this mock trial.
The book also de-simplifies the aftermath by showing how the real events were mystified in later texts, and by showing how fundamentalism, rather than accepting defeat, just moved away from the general public into an own strong subculture.
The Facts, yes--but still more Drama than Debate.......2007-08-15
In order to be credible to all sides in a highly-partisan cultural war, professor of law and history Edward J. Larson in his book "Summer of the Gods: The Scopes Trial And America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion" had to present the facts and nothing but the facts ("so help him God" or not). This is the book's necessary strength and its unfortunate weakness. I would like to have heard more reflection.
Much light could come just from placing the historical scene in a larger context. For example, what connections can be made between the meaninglessness and despair of World War I, the recent Marxist-Leninist revolution, the red scare of the 20's, Darrow's agnosticism and membership in the Communist party, and the fears of an attack on traditional values and beliefs this all must have engendered?
The facts about this "great," or at least highly significant, all-American trial are so often the exactly opposite of the myths that survived so long! Perhaps we now need a anthropologist of culture and religion to analyze how we could go so long believing utter falsehoods, and all without force of propaganda or threat of gulag.
Surely on the deeper issues of the philosophical debate between science and religion as reflected in American culture, Mr. Larson, whose background is exactly in this type of historical study, could lend a hand. Certainly he has done us a great service by his meticulously objective work for this well-deserved Pulitzer Prize winning effort, but there is little philosophical thought to be found.
The Scopes courtroom led to more drama than debate, more chance than justice or toleration. Both sides claimed to win, but all sides actually lost. Both the real trial and the mythic one reflected in the movie "Inherit the Wind" (and other cultural renderings passed down as folklore)--both failed to even satisfactorily debate let alone struggle with the underlying conflicts or seek answers to America's larger quest for clarity of identity.
Neither built toward a consensus. Hence our ongoing crazy cultural wars with Ten Commandments tablets allowed here but not there, all supported by highly reasoned legal arguments on both sides that will all look more like myth and superstition to the next eon--hopefully. Our capitalistic Mark Twainish show trial was mercifully free of the menace of Stalin's show trials of the 30's. Nevertheless, by failing to address the challenges of this chapter in our over-politicized mythic struggle, we neither evolve nor practice true religion.
Nevertheless, as a starting touchstone "Summer of the God's" deserves a place on all our book shelves. It has inspired me to want to read a biography about William Jennings Bryan, and Darrow's autobiography as well.
Great coverage of the trial; of its aftermath, not so much..........2007-07-05
The author did a great job of demystifying the trial, a task long overdue. The question was whether a state or community could prohibit teaching any theory or doctrine in the public classroom, and jury had decided that it could. If young Scopes was teaching Marx's theory of class struggle in history class, I think the outcome would have been the same, though I doubt there would have been even a fictionalized account opening on Broadway, thirty years later.
Yet somehow, because the theory in question was Darwinism, and because the trial was held in the Bible Belt, it has been misrepresented from the get-go as another icon in the ever continuing "...debate over science and religion." Unfortunately, this is the subtitle of this work, and the reason at least one star was dropped from my rating.
The author continued to equate "anti-evolutionists" with "Fundamentalists" throughout his book, which extended into the last decades of the 20th Century, long after the equation was valid. By this time, several scientists, many without any strong religious beliefs, had poked serious holes in Evolutionary theory, developing a formalized concept called "Intelligent Design." Furthermore, several other scientists, though not willing to dispute macro-evolution overall, had serious reservations about supporting Darwin's Natural Selection mechanism for the development of new species. Thus, Punctuated Equilibrium appeared on the scene, championed by the late Harvard paleontologist, Dr. Stephen Jay Gould, which weakened the theory most often taught in school, and understood by the public, even more.
Unfortunately, the author decided not to include these scientific controversies, perhaps not wanting to "dirty up the water."
But in doing so, he chose to represent the ongoing reluctance of some state and local school boards, some far from the Bible Belt, to teach Darwinism as anything more than a theory, as purely a product of "Fundamentalism."
He probably should have stopped his narrative about a chapter earlier...
The Echoes of the Past .......2007-05-28
Summer for the Gods
The echoes of the past continue to reverberate. Although it's been eighty years since the Scopes Trial, the debate over the teaching of the origins of life goes on.
The monumental intellectual battle pitted Williams Jennings Bryan against Clarence Darrow following the indictment and arrest of a Dayton, Tennessee public school teacher for violating a state law forbidding the teaching of evolution.
The controversy focused attention...not much of it favorable... on the South, which was still smarting from the Civil War and Reconstruction.
In "Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's continuing Debate over Science " Edward J. Larson takes the reader through the background of the Scopes matter; the involvement of the ACLU, which was seeking a test case at the time; and the role of the Prosecution and Defense. The media (or, the Press at the time) had an important role as well -- the Baltimore Sun's acerbic H.L. Mencken covered the story, and on one day of the trial journalists filed 200,000 words by telegraph. Larson's Pulitzer-prize winning account is an enjoyable and entertaining read. His "afterword," which compares the Scopes matter to the current debate between Science and "Intelligent Design", is especially useful. The recent attempts to restrict academic freedom in Kansas and other jurisdictions illustrate the currency of the debate.
A recent Google search revealed 29,600,000 hits for "intelligent design." There are societies, institutions, and now even a Museum designed to promote Creationism. (Interestingly, William Jennings Bryan founded his own college, Bryan College, to promote his views, much as the late Rev Jerry Fallwell.)
Larson makes ample use of the papers of Bryan, Darrow and other principals in the trial and contemporary news accounts. His book is an entertaining, enlightening, and gracefully-written addition to the literature on the subject.
As another reviewer has noted, the legal background of the story is of particular interest... particularly given than in 1925, many general principles which we take for granted today (for example, the application of the Establishment of Religion Clause to State as well as Federal law ) didn't exist at the time.
Pulitzer-prize winning book.......2007-04-30
It's easy to see why Edward Larson won a Pulitzer prize for this book. It's a fascinating, well-written account of the Scopes trial that avoids the hyper-partisanship that usually surrounds the issue.
Larson doesn't come across as an obnoxious evolutionist or an obnoxious creationist. Instead he comes across as a truly professional historian who gives a thorough and fair account of this famous trial.
Book Description
NEW and Improved Summer Bridge Activities for 2006!
This year the bestselling summer workbook features new covers, new activities, new reading lists, updated bonus sections, and a whole lot more to give kids a summer learning experience they won't forget! Designed to keep kids busy, happy, and learning between grades, the NEW Summer Bridge Activities continues to focus on math, reading, writing, and language arts, but also includes new activities in science plus Factoids and fun to-do lists to keep brains and bodies active. Assignments build on one another as children review skills they have just mastered and preview the grade ahead!
New features include Super Summer Science experiments, skills checklists, updated reading lists, revised assignments to meet more diverse state curriculum standards, an updated bonus section, plus an updated cover and a new-look interior.
* Super Science experiments give kids a hands-on learning experience as they discover interesting facts about the world around them.
* Fun Factoids provide kids with fun tidbits of information to get their minds revved up for the educational assignments.
* Updated bonus section incorporates the new food pyramid and helps kids learn how to eat healthily.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent program!.......2007-07-06
This program is exactly what I was looking for. We call it "summer homework". It's just enough to remind my son what he learned all year and review it. We also purchased the Summer Bridge Math and the Summer Bridge Activities for Grades K-1. The pages are fun, bright, and colorful. I plan to use this program also for my younger son when it's time.
Keeps their minds active during summer break.......2007-07-03
I have three daughters - ages 9, 6 & 3. My 9 year old will be entering 4th grade this year and the 6 year old will be entering 1st. My 9 year old struggled at the start of 2nd grade. It took her almost a whole month to get back into the swing of things. So, last summer I bought a Summer Bridge Activities book for her. She sailed right into 3rd grade. Her teacher agreed that it made a difference. This summer, I'm having both the 6 year old and the 9 year old use their Summer Bridge Activities books as well as read as time allows. I can already see it helping keep them fresh on what they've already learned in school and I'm sure they will be ready to go in September!
One side note - I bought a similar book at KMart called "Summer Activities" published by Cookie Jar Publishing for $4.99. Guess what....it is almost the same book as Summer Bridge....I mean the same exact pages/activities!!! The only difference is that Summer Bridge has a few extra pages/activities. I wasn't very happy when I discovered this!
My kids love it.......2007-06-09
They just began doing the pages but my kids just love them. They are easy to follow , with a lot of color pictures, my kids want to do more pages per day. They just have fun studying.
Too EASY!.......2007-05-31
My son is bright, but not brilliant and even the end of this book is way too easy for him. I've ordered the 1-2 book and I hope that will be better suited to his abilities. On the other hand, the 2-3 book is just about right for my other child. I guess we just have to remember that all of our children are different (duh!).
Excellent Summer Activity.......2007-05-13
I recently purchased this for my son. My daughter and I have been using Summer Bridge since Kindergarten. She definately enjoys the books. She asks me to purchase her one each summer! She is now finishing 4th grade and is eager to start her Summer Bridge book.
The book becomes part of our summer routine. Everyday she does her Summer Bridge page and reads for one hour. After she completes those activities, she is free to play or we all go to the pool.
The activities are fun. The each page (front and back) takes 15 minutes to 30 minutes to complete. The activities in the first two sections are designed to review the material learned during the previous school year. The last section begins to expose the student to material they will learn in the upcoming school year. The first section is 15 days, the second is 20 days and the third is 15 days. Each day the student completes one page. When the student completes each section the receive a "reward" or "treat" that their parent has agreed to in advance. I try to limit the reward to about $5 (unless they want to go somewhere educational like the zoo). In the past our rewards have included a trip to the used book store, going to Dairy Queen, or a trip to the local zoo.
Customer Reviews:
I like this less than others do.......2006-01-21
Given all the glowing reviews prior to mine, I feel compelled to offer an alternative viewpoint.
I find Mary Summer Rain's writing style very annoying and thus difficult to read. I find her relationship with No-Eyes irritating and extremely distracting from the message of the book.
Of course, perhaps I am overlooking the whole point. Maybe it is her interaction with her teacher that is the point of the book and teachings about end-times are just incidental.
I am at only at page 100 and have had a hard time reading more than a few pages at a time (and I haven't yet discovered anything about the future other than it is going to be bad). Now that I read in a review below that there is a list at the end of the book, I plan to skip straight to that and spare myself the misery of reading everything to that point.
Obviously others have liked it very much, but it is definitely not something I will read over and over (in fact, I won't finish it). Nor will I recommend it to others.
I suggest you find a copy of one of Ms. Summer Rain's books at the library. Check it out. If her style of writing fascinates rather than disturbs you, then by all means read this and her other books. If, like me, you cannot stand her style, then you have saved yourself the cost of the book.
Mixed Emotions.......2005-11-25
I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this, the second book in the "No-Eyes'" series. I had been blown away by the first book "Spirit Song", and wondered if the same would be true of this one.
First, I must say that Mary's writing style really appeals to me - she has the ability to draw the reader into her experiences, with descriptions that allow you to vicariously hear/see/smell/touch whatever she is talking about at the time - it's an amazing journey, to say the least!
In "Phoenix Rising", Mary brings to light her lessons re: No-Eyes' vision concerning our future - the future of the earth, and everyone who resides here. This future appears quite grim, at least at first, until the "cleansing" is complete, and a new way of living - a decidedly more positive way of living - comes into being.
Many horrible events are prophesied - ones that would make anyone shudder - and it's these events that are to be used as a warning that additional horrors are on the way. Many specific examples re: these events are given, and I couldn't help but notice that some things on this list have either already occurred, or are occurring as I write this - although only a few...
My first reaction as I began reading this book was fear. But as I continued, my belief that we can still turn things around came to my mind. I do realize that there is currently much negativity in our world, but I do see things changing (albeit slowly) - I see more & more people interested in changing their thoughts from negative ones to more positive ones.
To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure how I feel about the idea of the "end of the world" - or at least the end of the world as we know it. I've tended to be put-off by doomsday prophesies - as there have been so many that never came to pass, and many people who have taken extreme actions in an effort to protect themselves from things that just don't wind up happening.
Having said that, I don't believe that this book is a fabrication - I tend to think that it does reflect what No Eyes
saw. But maybe this is just one possible future - dependent on too many variables for us to number...
I gave this book 4 starts instead of 5 mainly because of what was said in the last chapter - as I found this part quite judgmental. In it Mary states that no one should put a price on helping others - she uses the fact that people charge for seminars and the like that are really meant to help people grow spiritually. While I agree that there are some outrageous price tags out there for this "enlightenment", there are many people who still charge "affordable rates". The fact is that many people who offer this guidance do so for a living - they need to be compensated so that they can live - and to say that they are wrong for doing so just doesn't sit well with me; espeically since I'm sure this author is making money from the selling of these books - and there's nothing wrong with that, she needs to have money to survive - but as such, it's quite judgmental to say that no one else should earn their living by helping others...
I agree that no one should be turned away who needs comfort and guidance, and that's why many of us in the "helping professions" use such means as bartering, or sliding scales to ensure that all who are in need are helped. But to say that they should not be compensated for what they do puts a sour taste in my mouth.
Overall, this book has much to offer by way of making the reader think about their lives & how they are choosing to live it, the state of affairs on our planet, what may occur to our earth (and us), as well as what role we are allowing our government to play in our lives. As such, I would highly recommend it to those who are interested in books re: spirituality & our planet earth.
A Look At Things To Come.......2005-09-29
It is scary to imagine how this book ties into the events happening in our world today. This book will make you stop and think about the way our world is changing and the predictions of coming events.
well, that was different.......2005-09-15
i just finished reading "phoenix rising" and all i can say is alrighty then. definitely not what i expected from a mary summer rain book, but most assuredly an interesting read. it truly was an eyeopener as to what some of the recent world events mean and how to "survive" them. if you like mary summer rain or are interested in finding/following your true path in life - then read this book; you'll find out how.
Be Prepared To Be Shocked... and Inspired!.......2003-02-25
... WOW! ... If, after having read this book, you do NOT seriously reconsider WHERE you are living in relation to the surrounding circumstances of your immediate environment, if you do NOT reconsider the WAY you have been relating to that environment as well as to your fellow human beings and all of the other creatures who share that environment with you, and if you do NOT reconsider your goals and means to those goals as far as whether they are in HARMONY with both Nature as well as Spiritual Laws, then - if what this book prophesizes is true - you may be in BIG TROUBLE in the coming years ahead. ... This is no joke!
... This book picks up where SPIRIT SONG left off. It fills in more detail into the teleological understanding of End-Times prophecies from the Native American perspective of No-Eyes - the wise, old, blind teacher of Mary Summer Rain. If you liked SPIRIT SONG, you are going to LOVE this second book in the series, Phoenix Rising. It leaves no stone uncovered.
... Mary Summer Rain writes, on page 48: "As we listened to the nonstop chatter of the scampering squirrels, each of us was lost in our private musings. I wondered at the great number of unaware people I saw around me every day. Didn't they realize that there were great things in the offing? I saw no physical evidence of preparation, physical or spiritual. Oh, I knew of separate groups of mountain folks who believed and were taking every opportunity to physically prepare for the bleak future, but, on the whole, everyone appeared to be obsessed with worry over the most trivial matters. I found this incredibly difficult to accept. The general unawareness of the masses made them look like mindless robots living out their individual lives with blinders on. I thought about the times when I'd overheard people idly comment on the strange occurrences of this or that, yet nobody was ever aware enough to connect the strange occurrences together. Nobody bothered to fit the puzzle pieces of the signs together. Nobody was aware enough to see the entire picture for what it represented."
... Funny, how blind prophets - Native American or otherwise - seem to have more insightful vision than people with normal sight do! We can thank No-Eyes for sharing her visions and wisdom with Mary Summer Rain, and we can thank Mary Summer Rain for sharing them all with us. She has presented us with all of the connected pieces of the entire picture of the prophetic puzzle! Whether your eschatological beliefs are pre-Millennial or post-Millennial, embrace the faith in a Rapture, or even simply cling to the stand that you will one day die, be judged, and hopefully go to a place called Heaven, it doesn't matter - ALL of these prophecies may take place and come true BEFORE any of those final, Biblical, tribulation time events of the Apocalypse ever take place. If this is, indeed, the truth, then Mary Summer Rain has done us all a great service - and we are very grateful to her, and thank her with all our hearts. ... YOWZA! - The Aeolian Kid
Average customer rating:
- Religion, religion, religion!
- "Faith" and civil rights in Mississippi.
- A College Student's review
- Where was God during the Civil Rights Movement?
- A vivid and perceptive evocation of an age
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God's Long Summer
Charles Marsh
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
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ASIN: 0691029407 |
Amazon.com
Charles Marsh thinks historians who argue the civil rights movement was about rights have made a big mistake. In God's Long Summer: Stories of Faith and Civil Rights, he takes a different stance. He says the civil rights movement was about God. Marsh defends this controversial thesis with five profiles of civil rights leaders (ranging from cotton fieldworker and political activist Fannie Lou Hamer to the Imperial Wizard of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan of Mississippi, Sam Bowers), each of whom understood their work in fundamentally theological terms. Marsh's fluid, engaging prose aims to persuade readers that the ongoing fight for civil rights is best understood in spiritual terms and to arm believers with a clear understanding of the ultimate stakes of this country's continuing struggle with racism. --Michael Joseph Gross
Book Description
In the summer of 1964, the turmoil of the civil rights movement reached its peak in Mississippi, with activists across the political spectrum claiming that God was on their side in the struggle over racial justice. This was the summer when violence against blacks increased at an alarming rate and when the murder of three civil rights workers in Mississippi resulted in national media attention. Charles Marsh takes us back to this place and time, when the lives of activists on all sides of the civil rights issue converged and their images of God clashed. He weaves their voices into a gripping narrative: a Ku Klux Klansman, for example, borrows fiery language from the Bible to link attacks on blacks to his "priestly calling"; a middle-aged woman describes how the Gospel inspired her to rally other African Americans to fight peacefully for their dignity; a SNCC worker tells of harrowing encounters with angry white mobs and his pilgrimage toward a new racial spirituality called Black Power. Through these emotionally charged stories, Marsh invites us to consider the civil rights movement anew, in terms of religion as a powerful yet protean force driving social action.
The book's central figures are Fannie Lou Hamer, who "worked for Jesus" in civil rights activism; Sam Bowers, the Imperial Wizard of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan of Mississippi; William Douglas Hudgins, an influential white Baptist pastor and unofficial theologian of the "closed society"; Ed King, a white Methodist minister and Mississippi native who campaigned to integrate Protestant congregations; and Cleveland Sellers, a SNCC staff member turned black militant.
Marsh focuses on the events and religious convictions that led each person into the political upheaval of 1964. He presents an unforgettable American social landscape, one that is by turns shameful and inspiring. In conclusion, Marsh suggests that it may be possible to sift among these narratives and lay the groundwork for a new thinking about racial reconciliation and the beloved community. He maintains that the person who embraces faith's life-affirming energies will leave behind a most powerful legacy of social activism and compassion.
Customer Reviews:
Religion, religion, religion!.......2005-05-06
There's a lot of in-bickering within the intellectual community as to the primary motivation for any particular event. People who have majored in political science will argue that politics is always the key. People who have majored in sociology will argue that it's social change that's the key. People, like myself, who have majored in religion will always seem to find that religion is the key.
Perhaps that's why I like this book so much.
Marsh undertakes an exhaustive study of various figures in the struggle for (and against) Civil Rights. Perhaps my favorite chapter is actually the one about the Grand Imperial Wizard of the White Knights in Mississippi, Sam Bowers. It's rare to see much study devoted to the opposition and I value the effort that Marsh has put into it. Furthermore, the man is note-crazed. He has upwards of 100 footnotes for each chapter, all indexed in the back with killing accuracy. If nothing else, the bibliography he employed is fantastic enough to warrant buying the book.
I can understand, though, how people who are not students of religion would be turned off by this work. He argues the point until he's blue in the face, leaving the reader possibly a bit shocked and overwhelmed. Reading this, you're guaranteed to learn more about Bible doctrine and faith-based initiative than you perhaps ever really wanted to know. I love it, but I can certainly understand how others may not.
I strongly suggest this book for students of religion and students of Civil Rights history. I also recommend it for those who wonder "what the other side thinks" if they are curious about how religious scholars attribute everything to faith. It's a really great book and I love Marsh's clean and thorough style of writing. It's uncluttered and his organization is brilliant.
"Faith" and civil rights in Mississippi........2003-03-26
Highly recommended account of the role of "faith" in the lives of five prominent figures in Mississippi during the civil rights movement. Saints (Fannie Lou Hamer, Edwin King, Cleveland Sellers) and sinners (Sam Bowers and Douglas Hudgins) are both represented. Hudgins and other Jackson elites come off nearly as loathsome as Bowers. Marsh's prose is brilliant, providing for a lively and inspiring read.
A College Student's review.......2001-04-19
God's Long Summer covers a very exciting and troubled time in American History. The various points of view Marsh used to complete this book is the key to understanding this time period. However, the unnecessary abundance of religious references and the slow pace of the book make it almost unreadable. It is heartbreaking to read through one uninteresting point of view, to discover the next chapter is just as dull.
Where was God during the Civil Rights Movement?.......1999-04-15
Marsh's book is a truly poignant view of real Southern people during the civil rights movement. He is able to capture each of the five individual's quite different understandings of God and His actual place in their lives during this time of great struggle. Marsh takes you on a journey of different Christian imaginations as he examines the beliefs of an outstanding woman fighting for her rights as a black woman, an ex-headmaster of the Ku Klux Klan, a black militant leader, a middle-of-the-road preacher, and a white minister who managed to "cross-over" racial lines and fight for freedom. These are wonderful and heartfelt stories being presented by Marsh, and must be read by anyone who has lived through the time of the civil rights movement.
A vivid and perceptive evocation of an age.......1998-08-12
Marsh clearly has his saints and his villains, but anyone with a scintilla of compassion who lived through the age would be hard-pressed to disagree with his judgments. He brings his subjects to life and dissects their Christianity (or their perversion of it). When you finish the book you will be all the happier for the vindication of Fannie Lou Hamer and all the more repulsed by the enduring power of cowardly and hypocritical clergymen.
One cavil: For a book published by a school as distinguished as Princeton University, it has an alarming number of typographical errors.
Product Description
GENERAL FEATURES: Finished the Third Grade and ready for Grade Four? Summer Bridge Activities is just the thing with over 150 pages of fun-learning to help you. Reading, Writing, Arithmetic and Language! Build confidence and self-esteem by reviewing and previewing classroom skills in preparation for the year ahead. Activities are written by award-winning Educators and the winner of the National Parenting Seal of Approval and Parent's Choice Award. They are endorsed by Teachers, Principals and Parents and proven successful. Designed for ages between grades three and four.
Customer Reviews:
Well thought out work book.......2007-07-21
My soon-to-be 4th grader has been working through the book this summer, and we have found it to be very rewarding. The math and reading exercises are age-appropriate and he has enjoyed doing them. I also like the suggestions for other activities through the summer. Just remember to remove the answer pages before leaving your child alone with the book! Normally we worked through the book together but one day I left for a few minutes, and was surprised by a fast and perfect completion of the day's work!
Great Summer work books.......2007-07-12
I have been using these workbooks in my preschool program during the summer for 5 years now and even my son's Catholic School are now highly recommending them to work out of over the summer. I will never to with any other work book than Summer Bridges and the price was very reasonable for the size of the workbook!
good..... for busy work.......2007-01-24
If you want busy work for your child, these are a great series. They can do page after page on their own without much inquiring thought processes.Our school made parents buy these for the summer and I hated them!
Fun and Educational.......2006-07-26
My daughter has enjoyed this book. I believe it is keeping her skills sharp so she will be prepared for 4th grade.
Buy these books a year ahead.......2002-07-04
I bought this for my grandson and granddaughter, who have just finished the third and fourth grades, in hopes it would help them keep up the skills they learned and get them a little ahead for next year. I also bought the 1-2 for our just-finished first grader.
Having observed what it took to get our oldest grandson through the school system and prepare him to compete for the best colleges (he won a scholarship to West Point), and having raised and educated four children of my own, I'm probably (dare I say it?) more qualified than a teacher to judge what's best in terms of academic materials. (I have also taught at the elementary level as well as in college.)
This material is too repetitive in terms of lessons already learned. It doesn't provide enough new material to be interesting, much less challenging. Reading to and with them provides more in terms of education than these workbooks. They're just too easy.
To be fair, the book did half of what I'd hoped. It does help them keep the skills they acquired. It doesn't, however, move him ahead. I will have to provide exercises to do that on my own.
The competition for top-notch colleges today is fierce. It will probably only get "fiercer" in the future. I'll be looking for -- and developing -- other sources to help my grandchildren excel in their schoolwork.
Book Description
NEW and Improved Summer Bridge Activities for 2006!
This year the bestselling summer workbook features new covers, new activities, new reading lists, updated bonus sections, and a whole lot more to give kids a summer learning experience they won't forget! Designed to keep kids busy, happy, and learning between grades, the NEW Summer Bridge Activities continues to focus on math, reading, writing, and language arts, but also includes new activities in science plus Factoids and fun to-do lists to keep brains and bodies active. Assignments build on one another as children review skills they have just mastered and preview the grade ahead!
New features include Super Summer Science experiments, skills checklists, updated reading lists, revised assignments to meet more diverse state curriculum standards, an updated bonus section, plus an updated cover and a new-look interior.
* Super Science experiments give kids a hands-on learning experience as they discover interesting facts about the world around them.
* Fun Factoids provide kids with fun tidbits of information to get their minds revved up for the educational assignments.
* Updated bonus section incorporates the new food pyramid and helps kids learn how to eat healthily.
Customer Reviews:
Great summer program.......2007-06-27
A friend told me about this book and it has been great for my soon-to-be- starting Kindergartener. It is a great review of things she already learned at pre-school and she loves the idea that this is helping her get ready for school. The summer has just started and she is 1/2 way through the book.
Love this series.......2006-07-05
I have been using this series with my children for the last few years...I love it. Their teachers are always impressed with the amount on knowledge they retain over the summer!! I highly recommend this series.
My preschooler loves it.......2005-07-29
This book is not teaching my son anything new but he enjoys it. The book is what it says a review of what they did the year before. I like it because its not difficult for him and he can breeze right through. He does enough work so he doesn't forget what he's learned and each day is very short so I don't lose his attention. The incentive contracts is a great motivation system.
Good activity book for summer........2000-06-30
This book is a nice introduction to kindergarden work. I'd particularly recommend it for kids who already like doing "worksheet" type activities. My son's older brother has started the 45h-5th bridge activity book, so both signed the contracts in the beginning-if they complete 20 days they get a trip to the toy store, and both work on their books at the same time. This is no substitute for interactive learning, or playing, or reading to them, but keeps skills from getting rusty, and in the case of my pre-kindergardener gets him thinking about the sorts of things he'll be doing next year.
Book Description
SIMPLY SINGING provides up-to-date technical and scientific information, as well as insights into the real world of the stage performer. The book is divided into three parts -- "Technique" chapters that ground you in the basics of singing, "Performance" chapters that offer practical suggestions for applying these basics, and an extensive "Song Anthology." Each chapter ends with a list of "Helpful Hints" and exercises, enabling you to immediately put into practice what you've just learned.
Book Description
NEW and Improved Summer Bridge Activities for 2006!
This year the bestselling summer workbook features new covers, new activities, new reading lists, updated bonus sections, and a whole lot more to give kids a summer learning experience they won't forget! Designed to keep kids busy, happy, and learning between grades, the NEW Summer Bridge Activities continues to focus on math, reading, writing, and language arts, but also includes new activities in science plus Factoids and fun to-do lists to keep brains and bodies active. Assignments build on one another as children review skills they have just mastered and preview the grade ahead!
New features include Super Summer Science experiments, skills checklists, updated reading lists, revised assignments to meet more diverse state curriculum standards, an updated bonus section, plus an updated cover and a new-look interior.
* Super Science experiments give kids a hands-on learning experience as they discover interesting facts about the world around them.
* Fun Factoids provide kids with fun tidbits of information to get their minds revved up for the educational assignments.
* Updated bonus section incorporates the new food pyramid and helps kids learn how to eat healthily.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent!.......2007-08-15
I really like this workbook for summer practice, review and introduction of new material. This book includes a variety of subjects especially math.
Great summer time workbook.......2007-08-01
My daughter loves these workbooks. They have a great calendar and pacing marks. She sets the goals and goes for them.
Refreshment for the Summer Brain.......2007-07-03
I have used this series for my children for years. This year they actually reminded me to purchase them. Much of what was learned in school can become fuzzy when mixed with the sand and surf of summer. This workbook series helps keep it fresh. We usually do three pages every three days, paired with 30 minutes of daily reading. Still plenty of time for swimming, water balloons, and catching fireflies, and your child will return to school knowing that Marco Polo is not just a game you play in the pool!
This edition has a good balance of math, science, social studies, and language arts. By reviewing what they learned in 4th grade, and using the opportunity to research included information that they may not be familiar with, your child can start the 5th grade with confidence.
Summer Bridges are Great.......2007-06-14
I get a copy of Summer Bridges Activities for my sons every summer. They are great for preventing Summer Brain Drain and have great ideas for Summer activities.
Summer Studies = Summer Fun.......2007-05-07
My daughter and I have used this series for five years now. The older she gets the more she enjoys her summer studies. This book is great! It is always broken down into three sections and has reward charts to track progress. We also love the Summer Reading List in the book, and look the books up at our local library. I really enjoy the Better Bodies Better Behavior section and the flash cards as well. Each day's work and reading takes less than an hour. Definately worth the money, get it every year!
Amazon.com
Summer solstice celebrants will find plenty of inspirational rituals, magic spells, and recipes in Anna Franklin's Midsummer. As in her previous book about the early fall festival of Lammas, Franklin can be whimsical as well as reverent. From the building of a magical bonfire to the staging of elaborate solstice rituals involving priests and priestesses, Franklin offers something for every level of pagan. In the section on "Midsummer Magic and Divination," Franklin gives instructions for placing various herbs and charms beneath the pillow to welcome prophetic dreams. Those who are inspired by the more romantic Shakespearean take on Midsummer's Eve can try some of Franklin's love divination techniques, such as flicking an apple seed toward the ceiling to see if your love is requited. Franklin also gives specific instructions for performing the "Rites of Midsummer." For instance, "The altar should be decorated with golds and yellows--this theme is echoed through candles, clothes and flowers.... Centrally placed should be a sun wheel or sun representation." And for the Martha Stewart-style pagan there are some excellent recipes, including Anise Tea and Comfrey Fritters. --Gail Hudson
Book Description
Celebrate Midsummer-A Day of Warmth and Light, A Night of Fairy Folk and Magic
Midsummer is one of the most ancient, widespread, and joyful Pagan festivals. The sun rises to the height of its power on the summer solstice, and Midsummer Eve is filled with fairy mischief and magic. Anna Franklin reveals the origins and customs of this enchanting holiday with:
Myths and lore: The gods and goddesses of Midsummer, rolling wheels, the Midsummer tree, circle dancing, and torchlight processionsMidsummer magic and divination: Fairy contact, spells, empowering magical tools with solstice sun energy, Midsummer Eve pillow divinationTraditional summertime treats: Elderflower Fritters, Gooseberry Fool, Coamhain Soup, Strawberry Wine, Heather Ale, Clary Sage TeaSeasonal rituals: Rite of the Oak King and the Holly King, Cornish Flower Ritual, Witch Rite for Midsummer Day, Drawing Down the SunMidsummer herb craft: Gathering and drying herbs for magical oils, incenses, inks, and teas; herb recipes, from Amun Ra to Sun Goddess OilFirst Runner Up for the 2003 Coaltion of Visionary Resources (COVR) Award for Best Non-fiction Book
Customer Reviews:
A fun book on Summer Solstice.......2007-06-07
This book is a great collection of everything under the sun for solstice. The author really threw in a little bit of everything - ancient holiday customs, spellwork, recipes, and suggested rituals for the holiday. The sections are well marked, and well layed-out, so it's easy to flip through and find something quickly.
The only downside to the material is that in covering such a mix of topics, the information is very surface, and only a smattering of sun deities and cultures get touched on. Of course this is not meant to be a dry scholarly tome, but a fun book to flip through and use. I recommend it to anyone wanting to celebrate their own SS or just read more about it.
Get the whole series.......2007-05-07
Each Llewellen book has a cool introduction about the history of the holiday. I recommend all the sabbat books in this series - - they have a lot more information than in any individual sabbat book.
So what ARE the customs?.......2007-05-05
Midsummer is my favorite time of celebration. The longest day of the year is recognized by numerous cultures and embraced by people all over the world. What is it all about, really? It is a magickal time with many traditions and customs to honor it. Anna Franklin explains them all and invites you to embrace the holiday.
Franklin begins with the origins of the Summer Solstice. Technically, the word Solstice means "sun stands still" and the sun may appear to do just that on the longest day. But there is much more to it than that. Midsummer is one of four solar festivals that mark the wheel of the year. It is likely a time that has been noted since people started taking notice of such things, thousands of years ago. The Celts and Druids, the Saxons, Finnish, Romans, Greeks, Islams, Russians, Europeans, Spanish, Americans, and many others, all have some part in the history and traditions known as Summer Solstice.
So what ARE the customs? They are as varied and many as there are those who honor the day. Some more notable customs include bonfires, torchlight processions, circle dancing, and divination. Then there are the very simplest of customs, such as my children staying up late to fill a jar with fireflies and letting them go again with a wish before bed. Franklin explains them all, very well, and goes on to explain the details of the customs and what brought them about. She even explains the conflict of the actual date of the day, the eve and the confusion of the name MID summer, when in many areas, Summer has just begun at the time of celebration.
Being a magickal time, optimum for fairy spotting, and other mystical adventures, "Midsummer" includes a few tips on divination, including Tarot card directions, the use of Runes, playing cards, and Oghams. The use of crystals and gems is something that many cultural traditions adhere to; the inclusion of a list of properties and descriptions is a useful portion of the book. Since Midsummer is the best time to make a magickal wand, Franklin offers instructions, advice and a list of wood properties for your information and a little story of how she followed the teachings in her own quest for a branch. And what book on Midsummer would be complete without a few spells for the beginner to work?
Herb craft is something easily worked on at this time of year, as the herbs have been growing nicely and can even benefit from your taking a sprig or two to dry. "Midsummer" offers plenty of recipes for the herbalist to enjoy, from a simple tea for the nerves to detailed guides to making incense. More substantial recipes for traditional Midsummer foods are also included.
Detailed directions for Rites and Rituals, including handfasting, fill a complete chapter. What follows are several useful appendixes of such things as animal totem descriptions, a calendar of festivals, and Gods and Goddesses. You could not find a more complete guide to the Summer Solstice, and what's more is the tone in which Anna Franklin offers this information is embracing and encouraging. For anyone wanting to celebrate the Summertime, from the simple joy of catching fireflies to the student of cultural traditions, and the experienced circle dancer, "Midsummer" is a must have for your collection. (Review originally written on 6/17/03)
Summer Magick.......2007-03-29
I have not fully read this one yet, but when looking up certain things, I find it has the same layout as my books on the first three holidays. Full of old traditions, lore, which I LOVE, recipes, and positive spells and rituals to make everyday life just a little happier. I would recommend these and any of the holiday books to anyone who really wants to learn about the old ways and incorporate them into their lives.
Another fun book!.......2003-11-27
Lots of great ideas and history on midsummer customs - drawing from ancient times. There's a whole chapter on divination (tarrot, runes etc) - fairy contact too. Crystals and their properties are discussed as is making a wand, and working with herbs to make special oils and teas etc. There are a number of recipes. There's a section on animal totems for midsummer but I've found better books on totems (check out Jamie Sams). Of the differnt Sabbat books, this one seems to have more spells, potions, divination and magic. It a really fun book and I'm glad I bought it - I'll certainly be doing some crafting from it but I'm only giving it 4 stars because I think the whole relationship/connection to mother earth is too light.
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