The Body of the Goddess: Sacred Wisdom in Myth, Landscape and Culture [Paperback]

Rachel Pollack (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 28, 2003

Embark on a literal and spiritual journey of discovery and rediscovery as you explore the ancient world of women-centered culture and the reemergence of goddess consciousness in modern women's lives. Part celebration, part travelogue, and part historical research, this compelling work takes you on a tour of places of historical significance, offering explanations and discussions of artifacts and drawings and their relationship to the goddess of earth and cosmos. Visit Greek temples, prehistoric caves, stone circles, giant passage mounds, and other monuments. At each site, the author draws upon her own experiences and adeptly combines them with ancient traditions, archaeology, and mythology to beautifully conjure landscapes imprinted with the symbolic form of women.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Rachel Pollack was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1945. She holds an honours degree in English from New York University, a Masters in English from Claremont Graduate School and has taught English at New York State University. The author of several books, she is the winner of the Arthur C. Clarke award for science fiction for Unquenchable Fire.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Vega (October 28, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1843331268
• ISBN-13: 978-1843331261
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #873,742 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unique insights on Goddess religion, November 24, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Body of the Goddess: Sacred Wisdom in Myth, Landscape and Culture (Paperback)

Rachel Pollack's unique insights are an important addition to the literature on Goddess religion.

She brings alive the visual impact of the body of the Goddess in landscape--including the surroundings of sacred sites in Europe--in a way I've not experienced in other books. She sheds new light on parts of Greek mythology I previously felt were hopelessly fragmented by patriarchy. In particular, her moving discussion of the Persephone myth transforms many of the most disturbing aspects of the patriarchal version of this myth into a metaphor of the continuing power of the Goddess and of women.

Add to this, Pollack's fearless look at sexuality, gender fluidity and gender-changing in ancient Goddess religions and you have a wonder-filled tour de Source.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolute must-have for any Goddess worhipper, May 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Body of the Goddess: Sacred Wisdom in Myth, Landscape and Culture (Paperback)

Wow. What a book. It's totally changed my view of human history (and, more to the point, herstory) and brought fresh insights about the Goddess. The dawn of civilization and religion, the matrifocal civilization of Catal Huyuk and Crete, the Gallae, and the Eleusinian Mysteries are all covered, with a spin on such things as landscape, the labrys, and the Venus of Willendorf that I've never seen elsewhere.

Oddly enough, she manages to miss the central mystery of the Attis myth -- that He was reborn as a woman -- but all in all, this is an absolute tour de force.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Goddess Is Alive and Magic Is Afoot, March 23, 2005

By 

Ms. Theresa Brewer (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Body of the Goddess: Sacred Wisdom in Myth, Landscape and Culture (Paperback)

Rachel Pollack is the world's foremost expert of the tarot. Her book THE BODY OF THE GODDESS is my personal favorite of all of her many works. This book documents her travels in Malta and other places to visit sacred Goddess sites. It is a personal book that makes you feel that Rachel is actually telling you these adventures in person. Rachel Pollack believes that Goddess spirituality is what all beings on this planet need. I completely agree with her ideas. Patriarchal medicine, religon and politics are destroying our earth. The Bush administration seems to be determined to wage war against vulnerable people who get in his way. Goddess spirituality and tarot can make us change our thinking to a way of thinking in tune with the earth and it's inhabitants including nonhuman animal life and nonhuman plant life. Thank you Ms. Pollack for your incredable, healing writing. I hope Ms. Pollack and Anne Ogborn do a book together sometime. That would be so COOL!