Review
"For those of you who, like me, enjoy exploring the overlap between science and magic, this book will be a big hit. . .The restructuring makes sense--the author spells out her conclusions quite clearly--and this brings Kabbalah within reach of women who would otherwise ignore it. The adjustment may also appeal to men who prefer a good gender balance in their magical workings." --
Elizabeth Barrette, Moonlight and Magick!"Intellectually exciting and spiritually satisfying, this new classic is highly recommended." --
The Beltane Papers"Judith Laura guides the gentle reader through a personal voyage of meditation and reawakening. Her vision of the ancient traditions of Kabbalah are guided by a deep knowledge of its ancient ways; yet she begins to explore in this book a new path, a new way out of the male-centric vision that has guided and shaped the Kabbalistic traditions for all too long. There is more in this book to contemplate: a history of Kabbalah from ancient to modern adaptations within the modern occult group known as the Golden Dawn; as well as her own unique re-visioning of this tradition... Plus a look at the history of modern quantum physics as well. Her vision is guided by an egalitarian view of both life and the mysteries of existence." --
Craig Hickman, Wisdom of the Earth website
From the Publisher
Excerpt from Rachel Pollack's Foreword to this Second Enlarged Edition: "This remarkable book manages to say more than many works on these subjects four or five times its size. What's more, what it says is not just clear and lucid, and stocked with information, it also is valuable for women and men living their lives today. . . .Through the principle of the spiritual is political we can come to understand the way an all-male concept of God has distorted our society and our own lives. The modern Goddess religion, based on archaeological discoveries, mythological clues, and contemporary inventions, has helped many of us overcome those distortions.. . . Because Qabalah includes Goddess imagery, and Kabbalah seems to address the idea of re-uniting male and female, they have both attracted many people who seek a traditional base for Goddess work. And yet, as Judith Laura demonstrates so precisely and eloquently, the Kabbalist traditions are not somehow magically free of patriarchal bias. They are not an absolute truth outside of culture. On the contrary, they, like all other religious traditions, are thework of humans--humans at a very intense state of consciousness, but still humans formed, at least in part, by their culture and its assumptions. . . .Esoteric beliefs usually include an assumption of privilege. They claim to come directly from divine sources, and usually ancient origins. . . .They also claim to speak of truths very difficult to grasp. All this results in texts that are mysterious and hard to comprehend, along with a readership that accepts their divine authority without question. Laura has read vast amounts of material, and then has outlined the ideas and information in clear and concise language. The wealth of information alone would make this book of great value. But she goes further, for she shows us that these ideas did not emerge from instant revelations but grew over time, and in historical settings. And then she goes further still, for she suggests ways we can rework, perhaps even restore, a genuine balance of male and female. . . .And then, so we can make use of this river of clear information, she gives us meditations and exercises to make these symbols our own. . . .she then goes on to apply those same remarkable abilities to a field at least as dense and difficult as Kabbalah--quantum physics. . . . As with Kabbalah, Laura manages to absorb vast amounts of information...and then give it out in precise details and large ideas. . . .Goddess Spirituality for the 21st Century is a rare book, a kind of sacred quest of ideas. We can all give thanks that Judith Laura has undertaken it, and fulfilled it with such dedication."
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
