Greetings! Thanks so much to Shandy for allowing me this opportunity to share with your audience.
The Earth Child's Handbook is an educational, craft and activity book for children and families who follow a pagan and earth-centric spiritual practice. One of the topics covered in the books is that the Pagan concept of Deity. Pagans often conceive of Deity as a reflection of the sexes, a God and a Goddess. Traditional Paganism assigns associations to each of these deities.
From Chapter 4 of The Earth Child's Handbook Volume 1
In most cultures and ancient Pagan traditions you will find the Moon associated with The Goddess and women, while the Sun is generally associated with The God and men. This is not always the case; many cultures have Sun Goddesses, and Moon Gods. The Goddess Brigid is a Celtic Sun and Fire goddess, while The God Min is a Moon god in Egypt.
But while there are these exceptions it does seem that cultures across our planet and far apart tended to picture the Moon as a representative of the Goddess and the Sun as a representative of the God. Each however must exist in the company of the other. The God cannot exist without the Goddess and the Goddess cannot exist without the God. They are one. In addition to Moon Goddesses and Sun Gods, you will find many other kinds of Gods and Goddess in many different cultures. There are Gods and Goddesses for just about anything you can think of; battle, wisdom and learning, harvest, planting, death, rebirth, home and family. There are even patron Gods and Goddesses for things like professions such as a salesperson!
All these different Gods and Goddesses are a way of making our connection to Spirit more personal. The concept of Spirit or what some people call ?GOD? can be overwhelming at times. It is a pretty big thing to grasp, and everyone has a different idea of what it is. In fact some people spend their whole lives trying to figure out what it means to them. So don?t feel bad if you find this topic confusing. It is for a lot of people.
Ancient people probably felt the same way. This may be why they came up with different Gods and Goddesses to begin with. If they had a specific problem such as needing to find a lost item, it was a blessing and a comfort to go to the Goddess of lost things and seek her help. This one Goddess would be available to help you find your lost item and focus on just that task alone. If they were sick they might turn to a God of healing for assistance with getting better.
Many Pagans these days feel that all of these ancient goddesses and gods are just different aspects and names for One Goddess and One God. Many also believe that the Goddess and God are in turn one as well. One Deity, and one Spirit. Some call this Spirit ?GOD? or ?GODDESS? or ?SPIRIT? out of convenience (it gets a bit tedious to keep saying ?the Goddess and the God all day long.) The images of different Goddesses and Gods help us to better understand the concept of Spirit and connect personally with it?s presence here on Earth, in our universe, and in ourselves.
The Earth Child?s Handbook - Crafts and Inspiration for the Spiritual Child
Books 1 & 2
Brigid Ashwood
Genre: Pagan Parenting, Pagan Kids
Book 1
ISBN-10: 1479265519
ISBN-13: 978-1479265510
Book 2
ISBN-10: 147927108X
ISBN-13: 978-1479271085
Book Description:
The Earth Child's Handbook is a primer, reference, craft and activity book series for families that follow Pagan, Wiccan and Earth Based spiritual paths.? Designed to appeal to all age groups (and grown-ups too!), the books address common Pagan beliefs and practices, explaining the principles and traditions behind them.?
Each chapter features:
Recipes
Instructional craft projects
Coloring pages, mazes and word searches
Color, cut and assemble projects
Younger children will delight in the coloring pages and paper crafts. Older children will find educational fun with word searches, mazes, connect-the-dots and instructional crafts. And parents might find it a lifesaver with easy recipe ideas and inspiration for teaching and building Pagan traditions.
The Earth Child's Handbook - Book 1 features chapters on the joy of family and diversity, honoring the earth and the principles of the four elements, the universe and Pagan beliefs regarding the Sun and the Moon, explanation of Deities, and an introduction to Magick and Ritual with simple spells and exercises.
Special topics include Shapeshifting, Runes, Book of Shadows, Animal Guides, Chakras, Meditation, Astrological Signs, The Elements, Cycles of the Moon, Magickal Correspondences, Sun Deities, Moon Deities, Triple Goddess and Triple God, The Four Quarters and Casting a Circle.
Featured activities include making a Chakra shirt, rain stick, homemade face paints, herbal infusions, bath salts, a moon phase wheel, moon cake recipe,? a complete "color, cut and assemble" paper altar and much, MUCH? more.
The Earth Child's Handbook - Book 2 features chapters on the Seasons, the 8 Pagan Sabbats and the Wheel of the Year. Each Sabbat chapter includes facts, traditions, correspondences and information about that holiday as well as recipes, altar decorating ideas, rituals and crafts, coloring pages, mazes and word searches.
Special topics include Seasonal Altars, Solstice Sabbats, Equinox Sabbats, Quarters and Cross Quarters.
Featured activities include cinnamon ornaments, Yule wrapping paper, Brigid's cross weaving, handmade paper, flower beads necklace, Beltaine masks, prayer flag, magickal broom and much, MUCH more.
About the Author:
Brigid Ashwood is an artist, illustrator, blogger and author of various and sundry titles such as The Earth Child's Handbook (Books 1 & 2), Oracle of the Tarot Deck and more.
She is a core contributor to Wired's GeekMom Blog and creates freebies for Geeky Kids with her monthly Printable Fun feature.
Her artwork ranges from New Brow contemporary, Pop Surrealism, Steampunk, Fantasy and Fairy illustration, Celtic Knotwork, Witchy Pin-up to New Age, Pagan and Goddess imagery.
Facebook page for book:
Art & Blog
Wired Blogger author Page
Earth Excerpt from Book 1
Earth
Earth is more than just the planet we live on or the dirt under our feet. You might think of the Earth as the body of the Great Goddess, our Mother, our Creator. The Earth sustains us; in it grows food for us to eat and other materials to help our daily lives. Her trees provide us with air, shelter, and shade. All of the four elements are related to each other, and cannot exist one without the others. This is especially true in their relationship to Earth, for all of these elements are found on and are part of the Earth itself. Air breezes through the trees on our Earth, Water runs through her streams, and Fire glows deep inside her core. If Earth is her body then Air is her breath, Water her blood and Fire her Spirit and Soul.
Recycling
Recycling is a big part of being an Earth conscious and responsible person. If you wish to learn more about the type of general recycling you can do in your home check at your local library for more information. There you can find out which materials, such as bottles, cans, newspapers and cardboard are recycled in your area. In addition to participating in community recycling efforts you can also recycle or reuse items
in your own home. Try some of the craft recycling tips below and help to preserve the resources of our precious Earth.
For sparkly silver craft paper save potato chip bags. Cut off the top and bottom and slice one side open so that the bag lies flat. Clean the shiny silver side with window cleaner and a rag.
Save small plastic food containers with lids, such as yogurt containers to store homemade clays, paints, and bath products.
Some frozen foods come in plastic trays with compartments that are good for dividing up craft supplies and paint colors while working on a project.
Save cylindrical shaped containers such as snack chip containers or powdered drink containers, these make great molds for soap, candles and ice.
Save interesting and beautiful plastic and glass containers to repackage bath crafts to give as gifts. Save junk mail and divide it up roughly by color to use in paper making.The Heavens Excerpt from Book 1
The Heavens
When you look up at the sky what do you see? Sure you see the Sun, and at night the Moon and the Stars, but did you know that there is a whole lot more up there than meets the eye? Ancient people didn?t have cities full of electric lights to brighten up their night sky. They looked to the Moon and the Stars to light their evenings. When they looked up at the heavens the stars were so clear and bright in comparison to the darkness of evening around them that they were struck with awe.
When the ancient people looked at their world and the stars, Sun and Moon above it, they noticed the relationships that existed there. They saw the ebb and flow of the oceans tide with the phases of the Moon. They saw the changing of the seasons with the Sun?s position in the sky. They noticed changes in their environment when a comet flashed across the sky, and they observed how children born under certain signs had similar natures.
Ancient people saw such awesome power exhibited by our Sun that they knew the Sun must be God?s representative to us in our day sky; a reminder that God is always there to protect us, provide for us, and love us. These same people looked to the Moon in the darkest nights to light their way, they saw how the phases of the Moon guided the cycles of women, and recognized the Moon as Goddess? representative to us in our night sky.
Just as the Earth is a symbol and living representative of the Great Goddess, so is the Moon a symbol of her as well, and the Sun a symbol of God. And each of these things is a reminder to us, of the everlasting presence of our divine parents the Goddess and the God, who in their love for each other, their love for us, and in return our love for them, are one and the same.
Some Pagans call the united God and Goddess, Spirit. Spirit is the fifth element. It is all around us, and in us. It is the love of the Goddess and the God.
Moon Excerpt from Book 1
Phases of the Moon
Our Moon gets its glow from the Sun. Sunlight is reflected off of it?s surface enabling us to see the Moon from Earth. The Moon orbits around the Earth, the Earth in turn orbits around the Sun. The Moon?s cycle around Earth takes about twenty-eight days.
As the Moon orbits Earth we see it from different perspectives and with different amounts of the Sun?s light illuminating it. This cycle is a gradual and continuous process, with the Moon appearing slightly different just about every day. However traditionally this gradual change is recognized as having eight distinct phases.
Magick Moon Phases Wheel
To see which phase the Moon is in all you have to do is look outside in the evening. Many people use the phases of the Moon in conjunction with special spiritual meditations or for help with spell work. You will learn more about spells and rituals in another chapter of this book. In the meantime have fun making this Moon phase wheel.
To use your wheel, find out the current phase of the Moon from a calendar, the internet or take a look at the real thing. Once you know the Moon?s current phase, line up the wheel window with the picture of the Moon that matches its current phase. Line up the name of that phase underneath the picture. Lastly line up the magic tips disc for that phase. Now you? re ready to appreciate the phases of the Moon!
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Source: http://mamaknowsbooks.blogspot.com/2012/11/book-tour-earth-childs-handbook.html
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