The Seven Days of My Creation: Tales of Magic, Sex and Gender

Review by Richard Solly for The Seven Days of My Creation: Tales of Magic, Sex and Gender
Rating:
Despite the length of The Seven Days of My Creation, I could not put it down until I had finished it. I am amazed that this book has not been taken up by a major publisher. Jani Roberts writes eloquently and engagingly. She has had a uniquely interesting life, which she shares with her readers with immense honesty. Hers is the tale of an English lad who ends up becoming an Australian lady; of a Catholic priest who becomes a Wiccan priestess. She avoids the bitterness and negativity that can mar the outlook of some converts from one faith to another and retains immense respect for much of the Catholic Christian tradition, looking for points of contact between her Christian past and her Pagan present. She describes in great detail the psychological struggle of one who from a young age felt as if he had been born into the wrong body – the eventual operation being a way of liberating the spirit within rather than simply altering the body without. Along the way, Jani shares a phenomenal amount of information about religious history, Aboriginal Australian culture and spirituality and the struggle for social justice in the face of the duplicity and aggression of massive multinational mining companies. Her lifetime of dedication to this work for justice, especially for Indigenous Peoples, colours this description of her inner journey. The book is a triumph of honesty, integrity and the balancing of spiritual and political struggle.