ellen@ucla-cs.UUCP (03/15/85)
inspired by the messages about "Gyn/Ecology," the well-research and impassioned
book by Mary Daly, i'm posting an annotated listing of Pagan/Wiccan books,
since they reflect, to greater or lesser degrees the religion of the Goddess,
or spiritual paths which recognize the value of women, and i don't mean old
female stereotypes, though those linger on even among contemporary pagans.
(parts of this list have appeared in net.religion and net.women.only.)
(i have other more general books on female spiritual orientation, some from
a Jungian point of view (tainted in the view of many feminists as perpetuating
old stereotypes) and some discussing more standard religions and the place of
women within them.) this is not an extinsive list of all Pagan/Wiccan books,
and some of the authors mentioned here have written other worthwhile books,
which i may get to in a future posting (i'm thinking of Barbara Walker, Star-
hawk, Merlin Stone, Barbara Spretnak, etc.)
these books are of various "flavors." i recommend them because they are
well-written, interesting to read, and useful. i do not necessarily agree 100%
with everything expressed therein. i'm not an occultist nor do i think that all
of humankind's great discoveries and creations were inspired by little green
men from Sirius.
BOOK LIST
1. `Drawing Down the Moon' by Margot Adler, Beacon, 1981 (paper).
an over-view of paganism in the US. interviews with originators
of various serious sects; good bibliography, although it's list
of periodicals is out-of-date. a serious journalistic, not
sensationalistic, book. non-fiction. (unless you assume that
beliefs alien to one's own are either fiction or superstition)
2. `The Spiral Dance' by Starhawk, Harper & Row, 1979 (paper).
a BEAUTIFUL book. useful to almost anyone because of its
deep spirituality. very well-written, well-organized,
concise, poetic, expressive. the number one book about the
contemporary way of the Craft.
3. `Mother Wit: A Feminist Guide to Psychic Development; Exercises for
Healing, Growth, and Spiritual Awareness' by Diane Mariechild,
The Crossing Press, 1981 (paper).
don't be thrown by the title. a friend of mine (a man and not
a witch) uses it for guided meditation/visualization.
the book is female-oriented but NOT exclusive of males. the
author has two sons and they are included in her spiritual
practice. the Craft is good for men, too. (`Spiral Dance'
explains clearly - relates to Jung's ideas, too.) covers topics
like meditation, healing, witchcraft, self-affirmation, dream
work, spirituality for children, etc... each chapter contains
meditations and guided visualizations on the topic being discussed.
4. `Positive Magic: Occult Self-Help' by Marion Weinstein, Phoenix
Publishing Co., 1981 (paper).
this book is not really about occult matters, but about
alternative methods of self-help and personal problem solving.
the author covers topics such a magic, positive and negative
and ceremonial (she is opposed to so-called black magic);
various coersive religious cults and how to guard oneself against
them; witchcraft as a contemporary religion; using the Tarot,
astrology, I Ching for personal growth; self-affirmation tech-
niques, etc...
5. `Real Magic' by P.E.I. (Isaac) Bonewits, Creative Arts Book Co.,
1971, revised 1979 (paper).
this is the guy who got a B.A. in Magic, from UC-Berkeley,
legitimately, back in the '70's. he's rather arrogant (this
is from personal experience, not mine, but a friend's) and
he believes in things that i don't, such as various psychic
phenomenon (i'm agnostic on psi-phenomenon). he's serious,
intelligent, obnoxious, and VERY FUNNY (huh? well, Magic
is a system of paradoxes that work together. read this book
and see how).
6. "The Secrets of the Tarot: Origins, History & Symbolism" by Barbara G.
Walker, Harper & Row, 1984 (paper).
probably the most inspiring book i've read since "The Spiral Dance."
the author puts her vast research into the realm of the Ancient Ones
(for the "Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths & Secrets") to use in a book
which truly gives the Tarot back to the followers of the Old Ways.
it traces the Tarot symbolism through many times and cultures.
while the Tarot is know to have existed only since the Renaissance,
numerous authors on the occult have sought to establish its origins
in the cultures of Egypt, India, the Hebrews. most of these authors,
while wise in their fields, were not deeply knowledgable about the great
Pagan religions of the past. Walker does not try to establish the
absolute origins of the Tarot deck of cards itself, she does give deep
and far-reaching information on the roots of the symbolism contained
within it. (i was in a metaphysical bookstore recently, looking
through the Tarot section. a young woman was also searching, who
admitted to being a neophyte. i recommended Walker's book to her.
she mentioned that she'd heard of it (with widened eyes) and backed
away from me. i noticed from some other books she had near by that
she was a Christian, so i recommended another book, which i use,
which has a strong Christian leaning (i replace all references to Jesus
or God with references to my Lord and Lady Goddess.).) (no, these are
not faces, just completing the sentences and parentheses:-)
A QUOTE from the section on Major Acana 6:
"The 666-Beast was originally the beast with two backs, the
Primal Androgyne, said to resemble a man & woman in sexual
union. Like the hexagram, it described, 666 was a sexual
charm sacred to triple Aphrodite (Astarte). Pythagorean
mystics called her number 6 the perfect number, or The Mother.
In Latin six was 'sex', in Egyptian 'sexen,' meaning to
embrace or copulate. A derivative Egyptian word 'seshemu,'
"sexual intercourse," had as its heiroglyph a phallus inserted into an arched yoni-gate. The word was repeated in Sufi love
rituals and became the magic charm that opened the gate of
the secret uterine cave in Arabic fairy tales - that is,
Open Sesame. Hence the number 6, 'sex', which Christian
authorities call the number of sin, was especially appropriate
to the sixth Tarot trump with its message of love."
she quotes many & varied sources (with a rich bibliography). i don't
want to argue about some of the syntheses of ideas she makes (perhaps
she's reaching a bit, but such great ideas!). read with an
unfettered mind. this book was so exciting to me (intellectually -
the above quote was randomly selected, i assure you), i couldn't put
it down! (honestly!)
7. "MotherPeace, A Way of the Goddess" by Vicki Noble, Harper & Row, 1983,
paper.(this publisher seems to be coming out with a lot of Pagan
books! (they also publish Starhawk's "Spiral Dance") do they see a
trend?)
this book goes along with a completely new Tarot deck, composed of
circular cards containing mostly female imagery, and designed by the
author and Karen Vogel. i waited many months before i finally
gave in and bought the deck, too. (it's a bit more expensive
than most Tarot decks, but was WELL WORTH the investment.)
the book describes a way of thinking that reaffirms femaleness,
feminism, the power of women. this book can definitely be used
without the Tarot cards (there are color illustrations of most cards,
and black & white of all) to rethink spiritual and psychological
matters, and could probably be used to construct rituals celebrating
Women.
[anyone out there with more Tarot insights to share? i use it as
a meditation tool, and i do spreads for myself when i am anxious
about some situation - not as a future predictor, but as a way
of "getting my thumb on the pulse of the problem." it doesn't
"solve" the problem, but it certainly helps me focus - by giving
clarity to what is troubling me, i can relax with it a bit.
maybe i should do a posting on tarot books - anybody else?]
what follows is a book-list of pagan/wiccan books which include rituals
to celebrate a woman's various changes: menarche, regular (or so) menses;
birth, abortion, or other related occasions; and menopause.
[this was originally posted to net.women.only, which is why this particular
slant. most of these books are useful for other purposes as well; however,
most are woman-oriented.]
8 & 9. "The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries, Part I (c. 1978 & 1982) &
Part 2 (c. 1980)" by Z. Budapest, self-published, paper.
available from: Susan B. Anthony Coven No.1
P.O.Box 11363
Oakland, CA 94611
this is a book written by a very publicly avowed feminist and lesbian
witch. she practices a form of Dianic witchcraft (contemporary Goddess-
oriented paganism). Dianic witches are more than generally separatist,
that is, they worship only the Goddess and not the Horned God,
and they tend to be exclusively female; males are often not welcome in
their circles (although they are NOT necessarily lesbians). Z. and her
coven members have developed a number of touching rituals dealing
with women and their bodily changes. i'm not a lesbian or a
separatist, but i find these books a real source of inspiration.
women CAN celebrate our bodies!
by the way, i will add that i have some friends who are Dianic witches,
most of whom are not lesbians, and some of whom are heterosexual men.
[these books contain info on spells, herblore, history (herstory),
and many wonderful year-cycle rituals - all with a definite female/
feminist leaning.]
10. & 11."Earth Rites, Vol. 1 - Herbal Remedies (c. 1978 & 1980) & Vol. 2 -
Rituals (c. 1978 & 1981)" by Sheri Mestel, self-published, paper.
available from: Earth Rites Press
c/o Mestel
398 8th Street
Brooklyn, NY 11215
these are not formal books, but rather compendia of rites, rituals,
invocations, thearer & performance pieces, art shows, etc., made by
women, mostly on the the East Coast, in honor of Women, the Goddess,
Mother Earth, to heal, to cure, to curse (only those raping women and
the Earth). herbs are discussed, both medicinally and ritually (again,
this is not in-depth or all-inclusive). this is inspiring, because it
shows how women can get together and publicly celebrate their
Woman-ness.
12. "The Crone's Book of Words" by Valerie Worth, Llewellyn Publications,
St.Paul, Minnesota, 1971, paper. (may be out of print - i got mine
second hand).
contains rituals, prayers, spells in the form of poems (chants?).
includes self-affirmations, and other personally healing formulae.
[this book is not exclusively woman-oriented]
13. "WomanSpirit, A Guide to Women's Wisdom" by Hallie Iglehart, Harper & Row,
Publishers, 1983, paper.
Not to be confused with a now defunct Quarterly of the same name,
this is not a strictly Pagan book, as most in this list are, but a book
to aid women in the search for their spiritual nature. it shows many
possibilities: witchcraft, politics, dream work, healing, personal
explorations, etc. with photographs, exercises, etc. warm & lovely,
strong & practical.
14. "God Herself, the Feminine Roots of Astrology" by Geraldine Thorsten,
Avon Books, 1980, paper.
a new/old vision of the Zodiac - a female images for each of the 12
houses (priestesses & goddesses (& their male consorts, on occasion).
reaffirm the eternal power of Women month by month through the stars.
(now what i want to find is the book describing "Arachne," the 13th
sign - there's an out-of-print book or two on the subject; anyone out
there have one they'd be willing to part with?).
contacting Pagan groups is not always easy, because of persecution
on the part of believers in other traditional religions, fundamentalist
Christians in particular, and general lack of understanding on the part
of most people who unfortunately know little about the true beliefs of
less established religions. one way to find out what's
going on is to go to metaphysical book stores and those bizarre occult
shops which exist in most big cities, take classes, and watch for
flyers and announcements.
there are many sensationalistic books on related subjects (witchcraft,
the occult, ritual magic, satanism) and i have a few of them, too.
in many cases, the authors are believers in the subjects on which they
write, but, unfortunately, these books are not intelligently written or
well-organized. these play right into the hands of antagonistic non-
believers by enforcing old stereotypes, but they can be fun and funny
to read. sure, i get a little angry at them sometimes, but i can laugh
about them, too.
i would like to hear how people feel about these books, after reading them.
i also read on art history, yoga, tantrism, taoism, sufism, gnosticism,
as well as buddhism, and occasionally on Judaeism-Christianity-Islam,
tho' the last batch remain too paternalistic and patriarchial for me.
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''' ``` jagardner@watmath.UUCP (jagardner) (03/19/85)
[...] Synchronicity that a list of pagan/feminist books should be posted to net.books just as I have begun to be interested in such things. I come to the study through the back door of Jungian psychology. As the poster mentioned, Jung has undergone some criticism that his system perpetuates patriarchal attitudes towards women. In fact, I think it is fairer to say that Jung himself had patriarchal attitudes towards women (he was a product of his age, like anyone else). However, Jungian psychology can be adapted to a less patriarchal stance and this is now being done. I recommend the book "Goddesses in Everywoman" by Jean Shinoda Bolen, as another book that deals with women and pagan themes. Bolen is a Jungian psychologist who suggests that the seven most important Greek goddesses are representative of archetypes that live inside every woman. The goddesses are divided into three groups: the "virgin" goddesses Artemis, Athena, and Hestia, who have "independent" natures of one form or another; the "vulnerable" goddesses, Hera, Demeter, and Persephone, who depend on others for a meaning in life; and the "alchemical" goddess Aphrodite, who manages to combine independence and contact with others. As with all archetypes, none of these influences are necessarily good or bad -- they simple ARE. The point of the book is that recognizing the strengths and weaknesses that accompany each archetype can free a woman from unknowing submission to psychological forces. Jim Gardner, University of Waterloo