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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
362 of 406 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
So positive an influence, so weak and troubling, too.,
By
This review is from: The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Goddess: 20th Anniversary Edition (Paperback)
The Spiral Dance is not an easy book for me to evaluate. Or to live with either. Add the pluses and minuses together, and the two extremes of what's good and what I find troubling pretty much cancel each other out.First the pluses. Nobody nowhere can *ever* measure just how influential this book has been on the modern neopagan movement. I would guess that just about every pagan I know, myself included, has a copy on the shelf. I'd also venture to guess that it's also been responsible for more women starting up their own covens than any other single book in the United States. (Scott Cunningham's Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner may be the most popular beginner's book these days, but Spiral Dance is still likely to be the #1 coven source book around.) The hugely important thing that Starhawk did was to take some of the basic ideas of modern Witchcraft as it was being exported from Britain to the United States and to marry those concepts with the developing feminist/earth-first/spiritual sensibilities that were active out on the West Coast in the early to mid 70's. Put the two together and in a blaze of white light you've given birth to the Goddess Movement. The Goddess movement, its core ideas and sensiblities, expanded the vocabulary of American Witches and allowed those Witches to continue to develop their own spiritual forms independently from the traditional Garnderian structures. Much of this was going on anyway, (check out the 13 Principles of Wiccan Beliefs, as promulgated by the Council of American Witches in 1974) but the Spiral Dance gave it an immediately accessible shape. However, in that innovation itself lies some of the problems I have with Starhawk's work. Simply put, the Goddess Movement is not the same thing as Witchcraft or Wicca. The Goddess Movement is feminism turned into a religion, and its purpose is essentially political. This is not to say that this makes Goddess spirituality somehow illegitimate. It just means that it doesn't have the same purposes, meaning or heritage as Witchcraft, and it shouldn't pretend to be the same thing. For example, I for one find it disturbing that Starhawk herself admits that she and her associates were *teaching* witchcraft courses at the local university long before they'd ever even met a coven-trained witch. Let me say something here before I go on, because for a lot of people reading this I'm sure I'm opening up a topic that's already caused hundreds upon hundreds of flame wars and arguements. I am emphatically *not* saying that the only legitimate witch is a traditional coven-trained witch. The Wicca that I practice myself is very much in the eclectic, find-what-works-and-make-up-what-you-don't-borrow mode. The thing that bothers me is that in the Spiral Dance, Starhawk is presenting her Goddess-centered, eco-feminist brand of Witchcraft (a perfectly fine thing in itself) as if it were Witchcraft itself, a revival of some millenia-old universal matriarchal belief system. Frankly, she puts a lot of claims forth in the Spiral Dance as if they were Facts and Truth, when they're really just Opinions and Stories. I have no problem with making things up. I absolutely agree with the value of Myth. I just ask that folks admit it when they invent their stories, instead of asserting that they're revealing ancient human wisdom. The other problem I have with The Spiral Dance is that despite all her claims to the contrary, Starhawk is definitely a female chauvanist. For all her talk of valuing men and women equally, I firmly believe that in her heart of hearts, coming through between the lines in almost every chapter, Starhawk really does believe that men are inferior. I don't believe that she either understands or trusts men, and all throughout the Spiral Dance I could feel her unspoken premise that Goddess-worship and Witchcraft are the province of women. She does not see men and women as equal partners, or does so only when men essentially begin acting like women. Starhawk may not be as openly seperatist as some writers (check out Z. Budapest's assertion that Witchcraft is "wombyn's religion") but I got a very clear sense that she's really only speaking for folks who were born with a uterus. So there you have it. An absolute cornerstone of the modern neopagan movement, an immeasurably liberating source-book for thousands upon thousands of women, beloved by mulitudes. And also very weak in scholarship, over-reaching in its claims, and quite off-putting in parts for this male witch. You buys your ticket, you takes your chance. Peace all!
65 of 71 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT magickal theory-BAD historical scholarship,
By RoseWelsh "rosewelsh" (St. George, UT United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Goddess: 20th Anniversary Edition (Paperback)
I am 33 years old. I've been practicing the Craft and neo-paganism for 12 years with diviations from the path to study Buddhism, Pantheism & Athiesm. I own the first edition of this book. It was my first introduction to the Craft along with Drawing Down the Moon. At the time it was one of FEW books on the subject of Witchcraft and Goddess Religion. I have extremely fond memories of it. When I read it I couldn't put it down. It described so many of my feelings about religion and spirituality and it didn't talk down to me like so many of the books I read later like stuff from Llewellyn Publishing. It spoke to my heart as no other religion had. Also, I kept expecting the chapter on magic to tell me that it was a state of mind not a thing that you could actually do and have it work! I have kept my tattered copy through seven moves. It survived a purging of my Craft books when I had moved beyond 101 stuff and decided not to keep hauling a huge library around for other people. Now that I'm moving back to focus on the Craft again it was the first book I picked up, of course. And I was disappointed. Since I read it 12 years ago I have gotten a degree in History. It has become common knowlege that Margaret Murray's history is at best nice mythology. There is now a real debate going on about the Goddess utopia in ancient prehistory that is leaning HEAVILY towards the assertion that the concept is again, nice mythology. YET she still uses this bogus/controversial history as fact--in the main text! She did not rewrite the chapter on The God at all for the *newest edition*, and it needed it because most of her information comes from Murray. I have not read through the whole thing only the chapter on The God, and breifly at that, but I also have it on good authority from someone who has read it that she only glosses over trying to correct SOME of the poor history--i.e. 9 million witches burned during the Burning Times--NOT. I have read all the footnotes in the second edition and in them she completely made her Craft the dreaded "politically correct" with few corrections. As much as this book brings back good memories and gives me the warm fuzzies, like the sound of rain after a long hot day, the smell of spring, my favorite soft blanket (and for that my copy will always stay in my library) it is old fashioned and out of date. And it breaks my heart to say it, because Starhawk will always have a very well tended place in my heart. She gave me the greatest gift I've ever gotten--she set me on the path to spiritual and psychologial self-healing through magick and devotion that gave me the gift of me. I wish she'd break down and rewrite the Spiral Dance altogether. She goes into great detail that other 101 books don't dare to try. Her notions of how magick works and how the Other-realms function and interact with us is deep and thought provoking. She, from my understanding, is an LCSW (masters in social work) so she's well trained in sociolgy and the healing of the mind. What she writes is not psychobabble. If you want to heal your life, she has a great spiritual way for women and some men to start their journey. I just wish that she would redo so a new generation of Witches and Neo-pagans who know the historical facts, could have the chance to enjoy it for all its good points like I did 12 years ago. If you don't mind the eco-feminist spiritual focus she takes her other books are interesting journeys. I have very much enjoyed The Pagan Book of Living and Dying. I am a solitary so her books about the Craft are not geared for me. All of the exersizes need a HPs to lead a student/coven-memeber through the exersizes. And all the rituals require a coven. :o(
55 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely Essential Pagan Reading,
By
This review is from: The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Goddess: 20th Anniversary Edition (Paperback)
The Spiral Dance is a complex myriad of thoughts, dreams, creation and spiritual exercises that can challenge even the most experienced magical practicioners. This is not a light'n'fluffy read, definitely not a basic introduction to witchcraft, wicca or paganism in any of its forms. For many years, this book was the only widely available text on the Great Goddess religion and, with two updates to the original work, remains relevant to this day. This book challenges the reader to take their spiritual path more seriously and can be a truly life-changing and mind-expanding experience. All readers will find exercises to suit them, as there are plenty to choose from. The feminist aspects teaches respect for the feminine to both men and women, being honest and confronting without going to excess. I'd recommend this to anyone seeking to find/understand themselves and their spiritual path, however this is not really a starting point but a way to expand your knowledge and practices. Beginners would be better off looking at Scott Cunningham and Jennifer Hunter first. Starhawk's book goes into more depth on the Goddess aspect and on meditation and ritual, and it is useful to have a little grounding in the basics before moving into more complex intellectual and experiential territory. Fiona Horne's books are also great basic guides, with extra information for those of us in the southern hemisphere.
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