I received this book for free. This does not impact my review in any shape or form. 

Her Rites: A Sacred Journey for the Mind, Body, and Soul by Christy Angelle Bauman is a spiritual self-help book about women reclaiming their identities and learning how to find meaning in life’s harshness. The book is separated into six parts. Rite of Birth analyzes how attachment styles in the past may affect relationships with one’s self and others. Rite of Initiation showcases how a woman’s fall from innocence begets her journey to self-discovery. Rite of Exile acknowledges the grief and loneliness that a woman goes through in order to truly find herself, and Rite of Creating celebrates a woman’s skills and how they build themselves and their community up by using those skills. Rite of Intuition treasures a woman’s leadership skills, regardless if they’re recognized by their community, and Rite of Legacy describes what a woman leaves behind when she is gone, and what legacies lie within her.

A lot of times, when I read about women empowerment and women’s spirituality, it’s in the framework of paganism or witchcraft. In this case, Bauman takes a traditionally patriarchal religion and turns it into an inclusive safe space that women can enjoy. A lot of times women are left out of the church completely, whether it be through the invalidation of their feelings or the undermining of their roles as leaders (i.e. mothers, teachers, pastors, ect.). Moreover, I meet a lot of women who carry religious trauma, and while many my age still identify as Christians, they’ve turned their back on the church to find something more meaningful. And I’m happy to say that this book gives such meaning. It reminds me of the likes of Danielle Dulsky and Clarissa Pinkola Estes who have found lessons for women in their own lives and stories, whether it be through the fairytales they’ve studied or the people they’ve witnessed to. 

It certainly helps that she has exercises at the end of the book. Although many women will enjoy the workshops that the book presents, I feel that men may get the same gratification. This book offers a feminist and Jungian viewpoint of the female experience and, in my opinion, can be something that men may gain insight from. Something that I definitely will be doing with my clients is more inner child work; interchanging between dominant and non-dominant hands to symbolize a conversation between your adult self and your inner child was something I could never think of. To say that Bauman had inspired me to look more into the theories is wonderful, to say the least.