PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion [Paperback]

Glenys Livingstone (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 21, 2005

PaGaian Cosmology brings together a religious practice of seasonal ritual based in a contemporary scientific sense of the cosmos and female imagery for the Sacred. The author situates this original synthesis in her context of being female and white European transplanted to the Southern Hemisphere. Her sense of alienation from her place, which is personal, cultural and cosmic, fires a cosmology that re-stories Goddess metaphor of Virgin-Mother-Crone as a pattern of Creativity, which unfolds the cosmos, manifests in Earth’s life, and may be known intimately.

PaGaian Cosmology is an ecospirituality grounded in indigenous Western religious celebration of the Earth-Sun annual cycle. By linking to story of the unfolding universe this practice can be deepened, and a sense of the Triple Goddess—central to the cycle and known in ancient cultures—developed as a dynamic innate to all being. The ritual scripts and the process of ritual events presented here, may be a journey into self-knowledge through personal, communal and ecological story: the self to be known is one that is integral with place.

PaGaian Cosmology may be used as a resource for individuals or groups seeking new forms of devotional expression and an Earth-based pathway to wisdom within.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Glenys Livingstone graduated in Social Ecology. Her “action” doctorate in the study of female imagery for the Sacred grew from inner and communal work. An Australian with country roots, teacher training, theological and social science studies, she has journeyed into life’s compost and found transformative power to return smiling.

Product Details

• Paperback: 356 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (June 21, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595349900
• ISBN-13: 978-0595349906
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,197,705 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A recipe for reenchantment, March 3, 2007

By 

Peter M. Schogol (Lexington, KY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion (Paperback)

I'm a book junkie. I'd much rather read than watch the tube. Hell, I'd rather read than eat, and I love to eat! Spirituality, theology, science, science fiction, fantasy, mystery, humor -- you name it. And yet, withal, PaGAIAN COSMOLOGY is unique. Reading it is like sitting down to a banquet of rich and exotically seasoned foods. Beautifully presented and lusciously prepared, one has to eat slowly or one will miss the subtleties not to mention fail to digest them properly.

PaGAIAN COSMOLOGY is not so much a book as it is a trip, both literally and in the 60's sense of a hallucinogenic experience. I find myself rereading the same sections over and over in order to stay in the field of the author's vision. And what a vision! Solid, sane, and spiritual; engaged and engaging; holistic, healing, and humorous; Glenys has succeeded in doing what in my vast reading experience no one has done: mythologized the universe for nontheists by opening its processes to reenactment, embodiment and celebration, with cosmological sophistication and intuitive immediacy. By seeing the Triple Goddess of Old European religion as a metaphor for the creativity of the universe, Glenys has crafted a functional and spiritually edifying pagan naturalism (or naturalistic paganism) for those for whom reality is what's for dinner (back to food again :-)

Glenys includes rituals for each of the eight "Seasonal Moments" of the old pagan calendar (equinoxes, solstices, and cross-quarters). Her language is earthy and voluptuous, tasting of the climate of her native Australia. While meant for group participation, one can tailor the rituals for individual use. They do not involve magick or other occult technologies, and lack the silliness and 'seriociousness' of many other attempts to (re)construct pagan authenticity. Glenys' is an intentional exercise in 'Poetry,' a term she uses to excellent effect to move the locus of conversation from theology to lived engagement.

I have only a minor complaint about the book and that is its idiosyncratic use of capitalized nouns. They can be, and were meant to be, speedbumps to slow down one's automatic associations. One can pause over them, as the author intends, or one can drive over them, as I tend to do. As I said, a minor complaint.

PaGAIAN COSMOLOGY deserves far more intention than it has received. If you've read any of my other reviews for Amazon you'll note that I rarely describe a book as 'important,' no matter how many stars I give it. PaGAIAN COSMOLOGY is important -- vital even -- to the spiritual sanity of our times.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful marriage of the scientific and the spiritual, November 20, 2011

By 

Ameenah (Akron, Ohio) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion (Paperback)

There is simply not enough PRAISE for this book!

As a spiritual mid-wife, teacher, and ritual facilitator, this is by far, one of the most important books in my collection. My ideas and philosophy on spirituality have been greatly influenced by Glenys's work. Her book and its teachings have become part of the heart beating at the center of my own spiritual practice. Through her personal "Great Work", Glenys shares with us a dazzling, powerful and inspiring blend of mythology, art, poetry and ritual that celebrate the turning of the wheel of the year in which she refers to as "Seasonal Moments". Her profound wisdom and teachings throughout this book are incredibly thought provoking, deep and insightful. This is a book meant to be not only read but lived and its wisdom danced into being. When one puts into practice and lives the teachings presented in this book, they open themselves up to the amazing awareness of the beautiful marriage of the scientific and spiritual that only deepens the connection and understanding of the ever unfolding Sacred. This is a book that even the non-theist or the spiritual atheist can appreciate. Highly recommended