Grandmothers of The Light: A Medicine Woman's Sourcebook [Paperback]

Paula Gunn Allen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 1992

This extraordinary collection of goddess stories from Native American civilizations across the continent, Paula Gunn Allen shares myths that have guided female shamans toward an understanding of the sacred for centuries.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Whatever Allen's source of inspiration may be (she claims to channel the teachings of Native American goddesses), these 21 mythic tales constitute a well-structured feminist guidebook to spiritual realms.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Allen's first two books, The Sacred Hoop (Beacon, 1986) and Spider Woman's Granddaughter (Beacon, 1989), focused on the feminine aspect of Native American tradition. This revelation continues in her current, very personal book. Allen retells 21 goddess stories from several North American traditions (Cherokee, Dine, Aztec, Maya) and adds her perspective on the meaning and contemporary importance of these stories for Anglos and Native Americans. The recovery of respect for complementary polarity and gynecratic tribal values are central to her vision of the interrelationship of the human and supernatural worlds. Readers of Lynn V. Andrews's books will find similar material from a different perspective here. Recommended. See also Florinda Donner's Being-In-Dreaming: An Initiation into the Sorcerer's World , reviewed in this issue, p. 98.--Ed.
- Lucy Patrick, Florida State Univ. Lib., Tallahassee
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 246 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press (September 30, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807081035
• ISBN-13: 978-0807081037
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.5 x 9.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #620,895 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful book!!, March 24, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Grandmothers of The Light: A Medicine Woman's Sourcebook (Paperback)

i read this book awhile ago and can't really write a review that gives it justice. i will reread it and post another review.... no where in the book does allen talk about facts.it is a book of mythology. myths and tales are not meant to be taken as fact in the scientific sense--they are true on a spiritual level. the book does not claim to be portraying an acurate picture of native american life. it is a picture of the mythic or spiritual life of native american women. this is not a book of anthropology and never claims to be.we are lucky to have p.g. allen. the work she does is important both in remembering the past and remytholgizing the present. the author does not make up stories as she goes along. she is a storyteller and every storyteller tells a story in her own way. but these are legitimate myths, not something that allen made up.i pray that this book finds its way to readers who need to hear its healing message. i pray that more people will take the time to review this book. and i will get to rereading it so i can give it a decent review.you can't go wrong with this book if you are intersted in women's spirituality or native spirituality or if you have a spirit ...

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Setting the record straight, July 17, 2006

By 

Patrick Minges - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Grandmothers of The Light: A Medicine Woman's Sourcebook (Paperback)

I would just like to respond to the person, a so-called "reader" below who called this book and Paula Gunn Allen a "sham." They base their authority on Ward Churchill. Now, Ward Churchill is an interesting person and an important voice, but even his "credentials" as an Indian are a matter of contention. He claims to belong to the United Keetoowah Band, but this is an honorary title at best and at worst a contrived one. However, this is all essentially water under the bridge. The most important point that I wish to make is that Paula Gunn Allen is not "sham" and neither is this book. All "myths" are told and retold as we understand them and that the author needs for them to be "cohesive and non-confusing bespeaks her own shortcomings and need for linearity and an incomplete understanding of native spirituality. Thhhis book is certainly not "yet another attempt to validate the crock of bull that she puts out there under the label of 'Native American/Goddess Spirituality'; it is a thoughtful and thought-provoking exploration of the stories of traditional women and the roles that these stories play in their spiritual life.

Let me also correct another error. I have read many of Paula Gunn Allen's works and a lot about her. I have never hear her say nor even read that she "she claims to channel the teachings of Native American goddesses." Perhaps I am on the wrong "channel", but this suggestion that she makes this claim holds little water for me.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Literature, February 25, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Grandmothers of The Light: A Medicine Woman's Sourcebook (Paperback)

People who think that Native American culture stopped changing prior to European contact will not like this book. It is part of the ongoing change that all cultures enjoy. Gunn Allen is a vital contempory voice that embodies the projection of Indian past into the Indian future.

Another reviewer criticzed her for making up these stories. That's what literature does, it makes up stories - duh.