The Pagan Book of Living and Dying

November 1, 1997
The several books about wiccans and pagans only briefly mention beliefs about an afterlife. Wiccan and pagan funereal rites seem practically nonexistent, a fact Starhawk and company discovered when her husband died, and that spurred them to assemble this useful resource. It is a collection of essays that begins by explaining pagan "thealogy" (the distinctive spelling indicates goddess study) and proceeds to actual rituals and chants, a discussion of symbolism, and the personal experiences of pagans and wiccans. There are several types of wiccan and pagan sects, and although there are connections between them, there is nothing like a synod to establish dogma or particular rituals. Yet any religious tradition must meet its adherents' strong needs for dealing with grief, which Starhawk and her coauthors answer by drawing on ancient and global mythologies. Virtually every modern mortality issue is covered in this book--physician-assisted suicide, dying from AIDS, and care of the terminally ill, among others. This is a beautiful and unique book on a very important topic. ((Reviewed November 1, 1997))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1997, American Library Association.)