I wasn't a 'new mom' when i read this book, but found it helpful when doing research for a birthing ritual for a friend...it reveals so many views of impending motherhood from many different cultures...very informative and very touching. I wish i'd had it when i first found out i was pregnant!

This book is a rare gem. It compiles many famous writers' comments concerning pregnancy and birth. It portrays pregnancy and birth as beautiful and spiritual.

It also includes different spiritual perscpectives on the different phases of pregnancy and birth. It incudes Native American, Celtic, Polynesian,...poems that describe pregancy and birth.

I used this book to find a poem for my sons birth announcement.

When I saw this book I knew that this was the perfect life-long gift for my daughter-in-law, Amy, who is well on her way to becoming a midwife. Along with her already inspirational and spiritual self, she will surely treasure this book, it is so Amy!! When I saw the Zuni prayers and poems I was even more excited as this is where she and my son are living!

This book would make a lovely gift for a mom-to-be, a book to be savored during the nine months of pregnancy and beyond. It's kind of like a crash course in motherhood for new moms, overflowing with thought-provoking readings on what it means to be a mother, but putting it that way makes it sound boring, which it is not at all. It's an amazingly poetic and beautifully designed book.

This book is the ideal gift for any mother-to-be. It features thought-provoking mini-essays about how pregnancy transforms you, and the text is liberally sprinkled with quotations from literature, interesting cultural facts, and eye-catching photos and illustrations. It's kind of a cross between The Pregnant Woman's Comfort Book by Jennifer Louden and The Pregnancy Journal by A. Christine Harris -- two other books that I love. Celebrating Motherhood is a very special book indeed. I intend to include in the list of recommended readings for future editions of my books The Mother of All Pregnancy Books and The Mother of All Baby Books. Highly recommended.

If you don't need information on the medical aspects of pregnancy or if you're like me and have a full shelf of expert opinions on motherhood and pregnancy, this might just be the book for you. It's short reading selections from a variety of sources and traditions, meant to keep you sane and centered during pregnancy and motherhood. I purchased it at about 7 months and feel like I will keep reading it after baby arrives. It's also a good gift idea for a pregnant friend who already has enough bouncy seats, pacifiers, diapers, baby doo-dads, and other "necessities."

Read this book and recharge your Mommy batteries.

I offer many praises to Dr. Sami Aldeeb Abu-Salieh for writing this book and Dr. Sheldon Gosline for translating it into English. They have provided us with the first clear picture of Muslims in the West. Although much of the research is specific to Islam in Europe and Switzerland in particular, the conclusions are universal to all western nations. Dr. Aldeeb spent a lifetime studying this subject and his knowledge is totally evident. The translation into English of the original French and Arabic text was a massive task. It was undertaken with great care. If you are at all interested in the subject of Islam you must see this work!

This work is an outstanding compilation of Islamic and western law concerning all aspects of life. It is a subject that touches all of us since the tragic events of Sept. 11th.

Translated into English by Sheldon Lee Gosline, Muslims In The West: Redefining The Separation Of Church And State is accessibly written by Sami A. Aldeeb Abu-Sahlieh (Director of Islamic Law, Swiss Institute of Comparative Law, Lausanne) who drew upon his more than twenty years of personal and professional experience to examine the cultural, social, and political interactions of Muslims in Switzerland. Individual chapters address everything from conflicts of religion and the right to worship, to issues involving religious cemeteries and burial grounds. A very thoughtful and insightful work offering principles and wisdom that can be generalized to the Western world as a whole, Muslims In The West is an original and welcome contribution to Islamic Studies reference collections and supplemental reading lists.

So Welcoming Ways quotes Thomas Moore, in introducing one of its beautiful rituals to introduce children into the world.

This book is a fantastic collection of traditions and ideas for welcoming our newborns into our lives and homes. While I plan to have a traditional Catholic baptism when my baby is born, this book gave me several additional ideas to help honor my child before this date. All family members are incorporated into the ceremonies, to give the child a sense of becoming part of a whole, who is eager to have them join into the family.

World customs are mentioned, and it was a treat to read what other countries do to celebrate their babies. We have become disconnected with the rituals that make up life, and this book is a wonderful way to help new parents develop a way to mark the huge step of welcoming a new child into the home.

This is an amazing book that is beautifully written and packed with ideas. It has several sample welcoming ceremonies that you can do, but it also provides enough information for you to make up your own using different elements of each. I loved the cultural information and the suggestions for creating altars. I think this would make a great baby shower gift and is a must read for all pregnant women.

This is a book that needs to be on the shelf of every parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, god-parent, parent educator, OB-GYN, Midwife, NICU nurse,adoption agency, and anyone else who has contact with infants & families.

I am a parent of two daughters, ages 4 & 6, and I am saddened that I did not have this book when they were born. Yet, I am also a parent educator, and hope to provide many pre-natal families information about this book and the value of traditions. I also plan to give this book as a gift to all of my friends & family who are or will be expecting a child---I feel that it is as important to them as the prenatal information they receive.

The illustrations are beautiful, the text and content inspiring, and the cost exceptional for a book that will/should be passed down generationally.

Published only a few years ago, and still in print, this work has already become THE classic resource for the history of astrology especially as it pertains to Jewish faith and practices. Dr. Ness is the ultimate expert in this field and his study is essential.

Dr. Ness has provided us with the most complete resource for the study of zodiac mosaics in Synagogues and of the history of astrology in general. This book is a must have for all Jewish scholors and astrologers alike!

When I found this book, I knew nothing about the serious study or history of astrology. I was amazed to learn a great deal from this study. Dr. Ness presents an engaging, readable, and often humorous look at astrology and Jewish synagogue mosaics. The illustrations are useful and the annotated bibliography is a great resource!

Archaeogender is probably the most profound study on gender in archaeology available. Every subject discussed is completely researched, yet it is presented in a witty and engaging style. How we are defined by society is something I had not seriously understood until now. This book is profoundly important!

Dr. Gosline wrote the most provocative study of sex and culture that I have ever read. This is an incredible study that has something for everyone. It begins with a detailed evaluation of feminist and queer theory. Then I was led through a series of fascinating case studies. They not only reveal how gender roles are created in every society, but also provide a key to decoding the symbols that define those roles. This is an amazing theoretical work and practical guide to the Natufians of prehistoric Israel, ancient Egypt, India, Nigeria and even China. The research is as flawless as the conclusions are profound!

Every single angle and dot of Egyptian hieratic are explored in this volume, building psychological profiles of ancient Egyptian scribes. I always wondered why hieratic was considered so hard by Egyptologists when it was, after all, the way all Egyptian scribes wrote! Prof. Gosline has finally solved the mystery of how to decode the system of this ancient writing.

Professor Gosline begins this book with an incredible study of the A1 hieroglyph of the Gardiner sign list. Organizing hundreds of different variations into a logical system he goes on to present a chronological study, similar to pottery seriation... this is a landmark breakthrough in understanding ancient handwriting!

This is probably the first book ever to have color plates of coins... and in vivid detail. All aspects of Pilate's life are studied here, including the controversy over his coins appearing on the TURIN SHROUD!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and cannot wait for the others in the series. It makes a big step in de-mystifying hieratic.

I always wondered why hieratic was considered so hard by Egyptologists when it was, after all, the way all Egyptian scribes wrote! Prof. Gosline has finally solved the mystery of how to decode the system of this ancient writing. It is like finding a new Rosetta Stone!

Look no further than this book for an explination of how ancient Egyptians wrote!