When I saw this year’s selection for the cover ‘Apple Trees at Moonrise’ by John C. Menihan, it took my breath away. Although not well known, Menihan’s work is in some of the best worldwide collections. Known for his prints and lithographs, Apple Trees is acrylic on board and shows how our Earth is the soul of the Moon just as the Moon can be our Earth’s soul.

There may be no annual calendar which is so respectful of the Mother of Nature. Printed in the U.S. using soy-based ink and recycled paper, it’s a wonder that we continue to be so blessed, year after year.

- excerpt of review from THE UNICORN

The ’10 Lunar Calendar (Dedicated to the Goddess in Her Many Guises), Luna Press, 15511, Kenmore Station, Boston, MA 02215, Nancy FW Passmore, ed., wall calendar, $23.00
I first came to know the Lunar Calendar in the early years of The Unicorn. What a blessing it was to have such an enlightened and refreshing approach to keeping track of time. Our Moon certainly was an influence in my life and I have memories of being up all through the night, riding my bicycle out into the farmland and arriving home at sunrise so my family would think I’d simply risen early and was working in the gardens. As a published poet, one of my finest works was of the Full Moon, as an artist the oil painting I created of a Full Moon hangs today in our temple, 35 years later.
Having a calendar which marks time by the Moon makes such sense. Every year, this devoted editor puts together this amazing calendar. Working with Robert Graves’ The White Goddess as the foundation for the lunar associations with trees, this calendar ought be in the home of every Wiccan, even as Graves’ influence has permeated all of the modern Craft.
I love this year’s bright and playful cover! How the times have changed. As this year’s calendar teaches us, Julius Caesar outlawed the lunar calendar in 45 bc and the Roman Church followed after. Use the 2010 Lunar Calendar to stand up for our heritage, to learn to live and dance in rhythm with the Moon.
Printed locally (not outsourced) and using soy-based ink on recycled paper, you deserve a copy of this calendar. And so do your friends. Give a gift which is truly of the lunar spirit!

*********************************
Rev. Paul Beyerl
The Rowan Tree Church
revpaul@therowantreechurch.org
http://www.therowantreechurch.org/

THE '09 LUNAR CALENDAR: DEDICATED TO THE GODDESS IN HER MANY GUISES

"A beautiful calendar that helps us see time as a spiral."
-Starhawk

"...the Grandmother of all Goddess calendars...this year continues the long tradition of combining beauty with a wealth of information...the lunar months in all their glory.  Highly recommended."

-Sagewoman

THE BELTANE PAPERS

A Journal of Women’s Mysteries

The ’04 Lunar Calendar

28^th Annual Edition

This unique lunar calendar is in its 28^TH year – where were you and what were you doing in 1975?  Nancy Passmore was putting together the first one of these, nine years before the first fledgling form of TBP appeared,  This makes the Lunar Calendar more than a calendar – it’s also a touchstone and an icon of the women’s spirituality movement, and fortunately so for many many people, some of whom rallied this past year when Luna Press was in dire straits and helped “to keep (this) little moon boat afloat.”

Each of the thirteen calendar pages have all the phases of the moon arranged in an elliptical form and includes information on one of the sacred trees (to learn more about them, read Robert Graves’ classic The White Goddess), and each year’s edition includes new appropriate, interesting and provocative art and poetry.  At the back is a year’s worth of moon phases on one page, charts of moonrises and moonsets for San Francisco and London, how to interpret and use the calendar and a lengthy bibliography that includes The Beltane Papers.  It is this calendar’s subtitle and dedication that Cybill Shepherd quoted in her now-famous Golden Globe acceptance speech a few years ago: dedicated to the Goddess in Her Many guises.

Why a moon calendar?  For one thing, moon time was the first “calendar” time, as women counted their cycles by the phases of the moon;  the first moon calendar of record is in the right hand of the Venus of Laussel.  It is a natural and easily visible-to-the-naked-eye method of keeping track of the months and seasons of the year.  It’s where the term “month” comes from!

 This makes a great gift to yourself or to any woman you know.  And of course Nancy Passmore has been one of TBP’s Advisory Council members and supporters for a long long time…

 - review by Marione

GODDESSING REGENERATED

Opening Up / Revealing Her Mysteries

The ’04 Lunar Calendar: Dedicated to the Goddess in Her Many Guises, Nancy FW Passmore editor, The Luna Press 

Back from the brink of folding, but fine as ever, The ’04 Lunar Calendar  is a visually and energetically rich compilation of musings and information from a most talented array of co-conspirators in this 28^TH annual lunacy, based upon the 13 lunar months of the Celtic tree calendar which serve as inspiration for much of the art and poetry.  Accompanying the month of Saille-willow, Sarah Fuhro’s “Willow and Moon” begins:

Oak pulls lightning from the black sky, 

but Willow, full of green water draws Moon,

invites her to pause from ascent or descent.

The Lady likes to nestle in  the tresses of Saille,

to slurp again upon the silver tube

which joins Moon to Willow’s roots.

 Other poets include our own Asphodel Long, Lourdes Theusen, Marge Piercy, and Robert Graves, whose poem “This Holy Month” during the time of Tinne-holly (overlapping with half of August), describes:

 The demon who throughout our late estrangement, 

Followed with malice in my footsteps, often 

Making as to stumble . . . 

Yet,

We both know well he was the same demon, 

Arch-enemy of rule and calculation, 

Who lives for our love, being created from it, 

Astonishes us with blossom, silvers the hills 

With more than moonlight, summons bees in swarms 

From the Lion’s mouth to fill our hives with honey, 

Turns flesh into fire, and eyes into deep lakes; 

And so may do once more, this holy month. 

 Each year I always look forward to Agusta Agustsson’s delightful and often whimsical artwork, and her accompanying image of lion-begotten bees to his poem does not disappoint.  Other artists include Cathy Weaver Taylor, Sandra Stanton, and Donna Iona Drozda, with Joan S. Anderson’s beautifully delicate “Ceremonial Coat:  Full Moon Rising Jacket” gracing the cover.  And Jean Vallon’s poignant image, “Sharing a Dream of Peace” during the month of Fearn-alder, reminds us of the precarious state of world affairs, but does so with a stately serenity.

 All 13 lunations begin at the New Moon and spiral counterclockwise through the month, with information provided about the astrological signs throughout the lunar cycle, the times of Moonrise and setting, and the Celtic tree name of each month with a rubbing of the corresponding leaf.  Editor Nancy F. W. Passmore ends her explanation of “Why a Lunar Calendar” with:

 Our ancestors were intimately familiar with the movement of earth, sun and moon, something too often obscured by our modern buildings, artificial lighting, and popular mythologies and mysogynies.  Yet her powers remain intact and  as vital as they have always been.  This is where The Lunar Calendar becomes such a useful tool:  even when invisible to us on earth because of clouds, sun, smog, etc., a glance at the calendar will “reveal” her face.  The Lunar Calendar actually provides you with two calendars:  one a record of the moon’s many changes, the other a complete cross-reference to the “familiar” day, dates, and times.  Look up!

Congratulations, Nancy, on your lunatic survival!  You spiraled out of the waning, just like She always does.  And so it is, and Blessed Bee!

"...the most original, creative, and informative calendar available today. The bottom line: Get this calendar!"

The '02 Lunar Calendar

"It is with great joy that I have the privilege of reviewing the 26th annual edition of this exceptional work.  Many years have passed since we first reviewed The Lunar Calendar in The Unicorn. It made a great impact upon me, providing a graphic way to measure the passage of time in lunar days.  Each of the thirteen lunar months is corresponded with the magickal trees in green.  All inks are soy-based and the paper is recycled.  Not only is the homage to the Mother in words, it is also in deed.

     As always, the wide variety of artwork is breathtaking and we are delighted to see Unicorn artist Cathy Taylor represented with her exuberant spring hare and egg/serpent designs.

     If you cannot believe me when I say that this is a calendar which can only enhance your life, try visiting www.thelunapress.com and see for yourself.  Of course, web site pictures do not compare to the published calendar, a true work of love."

The '02 Lunar Calendar

"I can't believe I just discovered this remarkable and original calendar in its 26th year of publication!  What's so different about  The '02 Lunar Calendar is that unlike traditional calendars based on the Gregorian grid of the seven-day week, this one is based on the phases of the moon.  Graphically, each month is depicted as an elliptical spiral of 28 moons, each in its distinct phase and position in apogee or perigee from the earth, and each labeled with the day, date, rising and settings times, and other significant astrological and astronomical data.  What's more, the months teach the names of the Celtic/Druidic tree-alphabet from Robert Graves' The White Goddess.  Aside from being just beautiful, this calendar is an education--and a true 'lunatic' inspiration."

The Lunar Calendar 2001

"When I realized this year's Lunar Calendar is 25 years old, it sunk in that I've had that work "dedicated to the Goddess in Her many guises" by Nancy FW Passmore on my walls and desk (and sometimes floor) my entire adult life.  Although I've lived many places, the Lunar Calendar has been a constant seeping into my consciousness for over half of my life.

The cyclical spiraling depiction for each page of the 13 Celtic tree lunar months, accompanied by the leaf imprint and symbol for that cycle, is a unique feature of  The Lunar Calendar.  This year's contributors of poetry and artwork include Asphodel Long, Robert Graves, Lourdes Thuesen, Robert Spellman, Jabulani, Agusta Agustsson, Sarah Fuhro, Epona, Sarah Teofanov, and Marge Piercy.  Jamie Hogan's cover art, "Sacred Vessel, " is a playful, vibrant piece of a crowned Black Mermaid Goddess popping out of a spiral seashell under the watch of a Full Moon."

--JOY RELEASING/SUN GODDESS BRIGHTENING, 2000

"A favorite among many of our Rowan Tree Members...Nancy does a remarkable job in providing us with this beautiful calendar....This is one of our most highly recommended calendars...there may be no other calendar so filled with love."

--THE UNICORN

"The '01 Lunar Calendar from Luna Press is an extraordinary teaching calendar that makes it easy to follow moon cycles and energies...This structure facilitates life planning and actions following the cycles of the moon and is useful both to newbies and longtime moon-cycle followers."

--NEW AGE RETAILER

 "...features excellent graphics and inspired poetry...it adds a touch of the Goddess to any room."

MEZLIM N'CHI MAGAZINE