Customer Reviews

The Goddess Path: Myths, Invocations, and Rituals

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The Goddess Path is a wonderful book for anyone seeking a more intimate contact with feminine deity. What I found impressive about this text is that unlike other psuedo mystic new agey books on similar topics, it is historically accurate and does not resort to blasphemy by treating the Deities as some kind of telephone directory service (i.e. Call on Kali for banishment, oh and if you need futher assistance, make sure you call Isis for further spiritual enquiries.) This book gives in depth information, but not too academic to the point where it would become inaccessible to a larger audience. The author possess a lively and sometimes humourous writing style which I found very appealing. Another bonus is the questions at the end of each chapter aimed for personal contemplation. I would recommend this book as a guide for women's healing or spiritual groups as I am sure that this book would provide interesting discussion and the revelation of deeper personal truths for the reader

Patricia Monaghan's lovely new book, The Goddess Path, follows The New Book of Goddesses and Heroines, O Mother Sun, Magickal Gardens, and Seasons of the Witch. These books all gift women's spiritual communities with a poetic scholarship of the Goddess.

The Goddess Path is a welcome addition to the literature, and a wonderful introduction for women (and men!) who are just entering the universe of feminist Goddess Spirituality. The book's introductory chapters are inclusive of male lovers and sons who might find themselves seeking this path along with their beloved women. The Goddess is central; this is not a book about the God. The Goddess is a deity all people can love and honor.

The opening chapters, "The Goddess Defined," give clear descriptions of the basics of the Goddess' spirituality: Who is the Goddess? What are Her images? What are Her rituals like? What are the beliefs and worldview in a religion of the Goddess? The remainder of the text, indeed the bulk of the volume, is "The Goddess Revealed." These twenty chapters delve deeply into twenty goddesses, from Gaia's abundance to Pomona's joy.

Patricia Monaghan's very special gift, revealed in all her writings, is her ability to present wonderfully detailed scholarship, not in a dry way, but in writing that is poetic and gorgeous. Perhaps the most special thing about this book is the invocations to the Goddesses that begin each chapter. These invocations are Patricia's poetic translations and recreations of invocations to these Goddesses, invocations used by Her people in each culture, from ancient times. There is a special sort of connection and recognition, reading such words as "Brigid, lead me home," and imagining a Celtic woman of ancient times breathing the same prayer.

Each chapter teaches myth and meaning, symbols, feasts, invocations, suggestions and activities. There is a wealth of knowledge here, and a wealth of beauty, challenges for personal growth, and visions for ritual. The chapter on Saule and Saules Meita, from the Lithuanian tradition, helps women heal from family violence by walking the Goddess Path. Work with Brigid for survival, or Isis when it is time for restorative love.

This is a book to be savored. Enjoy!

Explaining how the Goddesses have evolved, this book includes modern translations of invocations used in the past. Using these invocations, the author suggest rituals that make you feel as if you are reaching back through time and are celebrating the glory of the Goddesses with our brother and sisters centuries ago.

What I especially liked is that she included The Muses and The Maenads. It's refreshing to come across an author who appreciates and understands their power and importance along with the other more well known Goddesses.

At the end of each section there are questions and activities to help you identify and draw closer to that particular Goddess. Although many books include the same, these are the best ones I have come across because you can really understand why the author wants you to work on these areas. In other words, they make sense!

Overall, this book is well written, informative and a should be on the bookshelf of those who follow the Goddess's path.

I have to say it was the picture on the cover that drew me in first (it's a pomegranite, in case you were wondering. If you don't know why, buy the book and you'll find out!) Shallower considerations aside, the text was wonderful. Ms. Monaghan is a gifted writer who has beautifully illuminated the legends and associations of 20 goddesses from ancient myth. She assigns each one a representative trait and after telling the goddess' story/stories and suggesting ways to honor or call on each, she presents a series of related questions to consider in your own life. I found the questions to be wonderful introspective tools and am using the book as a sort of devotional journey. I suggest keeping a journal to record your throughts and musings, or incorporating them into your regular journal if you have one.

The Goddess Path by Patricia Monaghan can serve as encyclodia, a compendium of myth, lore, history; guide and companion on a journey of discovery and healing; and oracle! Close your eyes and open the book at (seeming) random, see which goddess or cluster of goddesses (such as the muses and the maenads) has a message for you at this moment. Enter into relationship with her, culminate with one the ritual suggested by the author or be inspired to create one. The rituals Monaghan outlines speak to our time, our personal and social condtions. They work for both individuals and groups. They provide excellent tools and ideas for counselors and therapists in supporting their clients' path to healing and wholeness. A beautifully crafted, wise, and moving resource for those new and for those well-traveled on the goddess path.

I love the way Patricia Monaghan, in this book, honors the past, and its goddesses, while remaining mindful of the present - for example, honoring as a "goddess of feminism" the Greek Hera, who must eternally struggle against the forces of patriarchy, too often personified by her husband Zeus. Monaghan tells the ancient myths of the goddesses in a style which is clear, fluid, and exciting - she's a wonderful story-teller. She also describes possibilities for rituals, giving very useful information on dates and times of year for best propitiating each goddess - also giving, generously, of her humor and wisdom: "Following the goddess path sometimes feels like balancing on a razorblade."

The myths and rituals embody themes to which I certainly (and most of the people I know) can relate: themes of entrapment and release (Finnish Paivatar); healing from the crisis of descent - into depression and addictions due to divorce, loss of loved ones, illness, bankruptcy (Sumerian Inanna); family healing (Lithuanian Saule and Saules Meita). Perhaps my favorite ritual in the book is one for invoking Paivatar: "do one new thing, something that you have never done, each day for a month." What an amazing way to achieve change, and movement out of our entrapments!

The questions and activities at the end of each section are cause for much deep thinking, and they are often uplifting: "What strengths have you found in yourself that assist you in enduring life's inevitable pains and losses?"

Monaghan reminds us that the goddess path is within each of us. In that case, she offers, in this book, creative, practical, and relevant street signs to emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual health.

Not so many invocations and rituals in this book, but definitely very informative on the myth. Useful in getting to know the nature and "character" of each aspect of the goddess if you want to invoke a certain deity in rital.

This is a great book for the novice or the advanced Goddess worshiper. I recommend it as a great place to get started for people who are interested in Goddess and don't know if they really want to *delve* into Her or not. Patricia writes in a very engaging manner, VERY informative, and easily understood. She is a forerunner in this academic area and certainly knows her stuff. Great Book!

The Goddess Path is an excellent overview of many different goddesses from ancient pantheons around the world. This book is a great resource for those who are learning about various paths in order to worship the goddess, or a great overview for those who want to round out their knowledge of the goddess. Beautiful one-page illustrations grace the first page of each chapter and really give you a sense of each goddess per chapter.

The Goddess Path includes 20 seperate Goddesses or Goddess groups (like the 9 muses or mother and daughter pair Saules and Saules Meita) and each is explained in 2 - 3 pages. I find these far too short but are interesting intros to Goddesses not known to me. But I was hoping for far greater depth. Besides these short 'Myth and Meaning' sections each chapter includes a invocation taken from the apppropriate ancient texts, a description of the Goddesses' primary symbols, an outline of the Goddesses' feast days, 'suggestions for invoking' which describes the magickal needs that the Goddess is good at, and finally a list of questions and activities to get you thinking about the Goddess. The questions and activities are totally cheesy, but the other sections are useful in the same way that the myth and meaning section is - as an intro.

I enjoyed learning about some new Goddesses from this book and I sometimes turn to the table of contents when planning a ritual, to remind myself of the many Goddesses and pick one that fits my magickal purpose (each Goddess is associated with a word in the contents so that reminds me of the associations). Would have prefered alot more depth.