Review: SUMMONING THE FATES by Z. Budapest

I've decided to start featuring book reviews whenever I read anything magical.  Fiction, nonfiction, it's all fair game! 


Summoning the Fates by Zsuzsanna Emese Budapest
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Zsuzsanna Budapest is a leading figure in the women's spirituality movement, yet somehow this was my first encounter with her as a writer. I really enjoyed this book. Budapest looks at life through astrology, focusing on the Norns and the Fates as guides for different phases of life. Instead of the Western concept that the round numbers (like 30, 40, and 50) mark dramatic change, Budapest advocates for a complex astrological cycle.

Although I didn't understand some of her ideas, my own life seems to line up to what she's saying: evidently, the first major transitional period in life occurs sometime between the ages of 26 and 30, where the first self gives way to the second self. I certainly feel like I'm starting my second identity as a writer!

Her writing style is conversational and filled with folk tales and rituals, making this an easy read. Don't read the epilogue: it's a bit more, um, biased than the rest of the book. If you enjoyed Sue Monk Kidd's "Dance of the Dissident Daughter", "Summoning the Fates will be right up your alley.

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