From Publishers Weekly
In October, 2004, 13 grandmothers from around the world came together in a historic gathering, fulfilling an "ancient prophecy, known by many of the world's indigenous tribes: 'When the Grandmothers from the four directions speak, a new time is coming." This somewhat mystifying book documents that gathering, which also included such celebrities as novelist Alice Walker, feminist Gloria Steinem, former U.S. senator Carol Moseley Braun, and Cherokee Chief Wilma Mankiller, who are here called "women elders," not "grandmothers," despite their equally strong voice in the proceedings. The first half of the book consists of biographies of the "grandmothers" and "women elders," followed by "guidance for our perilous times," with sections on "prophecies," "women's wisdom," "our mother earth," "oppression," "nature's pharmacy," and "prayer." The advice is mostly valid, sometimes extreme, and generally predictable: "the imbalance of male and female energies could cause the destruction of ...the Earth;" "the human race and all of nature is really one great family" that needs to live in peace together. Readers interested in indigenous female viewpoints may be intrigued, but Schafer's writing style is so awkwardly journalistic that she makes even brilliant communicators like Steinem and Walker sound inarticulate.
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Review
"Intriguing and meaningful . . .
Grandmothers Counsel the World is an uplifting read that should be displayed prominently and hand-sold to those who wish for world healing."—
New Age Retailer "Resonates with warmth and compassion . . . it will press you to see the world through the eyes of indigenous wisdom."—
Feminist Review “Grandmother Spider is said to have the power to weave up the broken web of connection which sustains the world. This book was surely written in her spirit.
Grandmothers Counsel the World is a fascinating collection of Grandmother stories and Grandmother wisdom told as if the future matters.”—Rachel Naomi Remen, M.D., author of
Kitchen Table Wisdom and
My Grandfather’s Blessings “Prophecy foretold the gathering of the Indigenous Grandmothers long before these thirteen wise women-elders from the North, Central and South America, Africa, Tibet and Nepal, and the Artic Circle were brought together. Who they are and what they have to say at this critical time in human and planetary history is fascinating. We can hope that they may be harbingers of a major spiritual shift toward peace, prophesized to occur in 2012 with women taking the lead, and circles of people bringing visible and invisible worlds together.”—Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D., author of
Goddesses in Everywoman and
Urgent Message from Mother: Gather the Women, Save the World “Wise women from around the globe stand strong together on behalf of all of life. Their stories are amazing, their message to us is strong and inspirational. They are marvelous role models of how we can gather our energies together to make the necessary changes needed to return to a life of balance and harmony. I felt truly blessed to read this book.”—Sandra Ingerman, author of
Soul Retrieval and
Medicine for the Earth
