I picked this book up used because books about women’s issues and spirituality tend to interest me. After I started looking through it, I found that it was part poetry, part meditation, and part workbook. At only 123 pages- and some of the pages are blank or have few words on them- I thought it might be a rip-off. I was wrong; some parts are surprisingly deep for how slight they are.
Even though it says nothing about it on the cover, a surprising amount of writing is devoted to dealing with depression. She looks at depression almost as a normal state- a gift, even, that causes us to look within. Having dealt with depression my entire life, I hate the idea that depression is a normal state. I agree with her that having a circle of women, ones who surround us all our lives, would make it easier to deal with depression, or any mental state, for that matter. (it also bothers me that we are ignoring men with depression)

I do feel it would be good to have these circles of women, good to know we were not alone walking through life. It would be good to have guidance, and to know someone had our backs. Some people are not lucky enough to have that. It’s not an ingrained piece of our society.

Every chapter ends with a line about “How would your life have been if…” you had a circle of women surrounding and backing out. I did appreciate those; I may take the time to at least think about those and maybe even write it down. They are good meditations even if I don’t have a drum circle. This would be a good workbook for a women’s group. And, perhaps most important, I feel these ideas would be equally good for all sexes and genders. We all need someone to have our back. We all need people to explain how life works, and what is happening to us as we grow up, and as we age. ( )

inspirerend boek voor de specifieke behoeften van vrouwen op hun levensreis

Full review available at http://paganbookreviews.com/2009/05/30/circle-of-stones-by-judith-duerk-may-bbbr...

I first read this book when I was starting to get over struggling with my childhood religion. All growing up I found myself lost and disconnected from anything spiritual despite my religious surroundings. This book helped me to find myself, find the inner strength to walk away from my childhood religion, and walk to my own spirituality. I highly recommend this book to all women who wish to deepen their spirituality, within or without their religion. ( )

Make sure you get the most updated version. I got the older version by mistake and had to borrow the newer version from a friend. It is an excellent resource for women's retreats. ( )