Customer Reviews

The Storyteller's Goddess: Tales of the Goddess and Her Wisdom from Around the World

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The many aspects and legends of the Goddess are beautifully, and imaginatively retold by Carolyn McVickar Edwards. She provides readers with 39 Goddess stories from 27 different cultures. She arranges these stories into seven categories, such as, All in All: Healing the split (the Goddess as both light and dark -- which includes Goddesses such as, Pele, Ereshkigal, and Hecate), or, Spirit Incarnate: Goddess as Earth and Body (including Goddesses such as, Freya, Kuan Yin, and Sedna). The author has added six new stories in this second edition as well as reworked many of her original ones. Edwards took some of the stories straight from Merlin Stone's book, Ancient Mirrors of Womanhood. Others, she puts a more modern spin on. Some she created from bits and pieces of information, concepts and images. The book is feminocentric, but not exclusionary towards men. It's lessons (such as religious tolerance, equality, ecology) are imparted in a sensitive, not preachy manner. The stories are beautiful to read both aloud or quietly. Many, but not all, are appropriate to read to children. All can be use in group discussions, or for ritual celebrations. If you are involved in Goddess spirituality, are a storyteller seeking good material, or are just interested in exploring Goddess lore, you'll find this book to be pure enchantment.

I desperately wanted to like this book. I think that books like this are vital and need to be written. I love stories of the goddess and fairy tales in general. When they miss their mark, however, it is very disappointing.

The premise is excellent - retellings and new stories of the goddess prefaced with an introduction to each story. While there are one or two gems, most of the stories are either just fair or feel incomplete. All of the stories are very short - just a few pages each - some only two pages. Those stories feel like they are missing a bridge or link to what the author is trying to convey. Some of the stories do not follow conventional mythology (like referring to Horus as Osiris) and that can be very confusing if you have a strong background in mythology. The stories that worked best for me were the ones where I was not familiar with the goddess or culture.

The stories were meant to be read aloud. I think they lose something in simply reading them. It would be interesting if the author put out an audio tape and presented her work as it was meant to be enjoyed.

_The Storyteller's Goddess_ makes a wonderful addition to any Goddess-lover's library. Carolyn Edwards adapts many Goddess myths from around the world, shaping them into brief stories that read more like fairy tales than religion. It works wonderfully; Edwards' stories touch a reader's heart more deeply than a hundred dogmatic, left-brained Goddess books could ever do.

I liked this book for different tales of Goddesses, I have reservations of books that practice different forms of animism, worship in traditions that practice predation, human or animal/child abuse/sacrifice. For instance, there's a section on Mary which I do not agree with. I was raised Catholic and my mother taught Catechism - Mary is not a Goddess, Catholics would be angry - they have a hate ideology for women and only men can be gods or have authority in most of Catholic world - of which there are millions of participants - she is actually an example of a very sexist ideology that says that women should be submissive and obedient to men like dogs and is held up as an example of that false "virtue" and abuse of many young girl's liberty and dignity. They are a huge political machine that takes real freedom away from women, so do not take it lightly. This author's spin on it was that the Goddess is somehow subverted into the image of Mary. Not really. Catholics are allowing that sell these days, because people were avoiding their sexist ideology for a while there - like Dan Brown is a major damage-control boon for the Catholic institution and Pope John Paul even apologized for the church's crimes against women - which are legion. However his apology was false because no true reforms were made, it's just an image/damage-control attempt. Sometimes they write these books themselves to keep us placid while they take over.

So, selling Mary as a Goddess is a not very bright game, because it's a certain way to sucker young girls into a religion that (literally) enslaves them and degrades them from a young age. They raise them young to believe that they should have NO authority or power in life (when you're subject in all things I'm not sure you even have a self ) and they are literally commanded to be subject in ALL things to a male supremacist hate ideology. Like the KKK and white supremacists they have figured out to use women as breeding animals for their political armies and have outlawed both birth control and abortion in the majority of the Catholic world. Not that I agree with abortion, only I don't believe they are doing it out of a value for life - rather they are doing it as a war strategy, so women will continue to have 11,13, 15 even 19 children for their use and control. Do not connect your sexuality to this ideology is my recommendation as someone who knows a lot about it. Also they practice child sacrificial and torture rites proving their pro-life stance is not genuine, they have a terrible abusive sexual undertone to their religion (the shepherd leading the innocent sheep to being "nailed" to a piece of "wood" is a sexual metaphor), that should never be forced on young children. They do not protect animals, children, women or anyone, even though their "saints" and carefully controlled propaganda would suggest otherwise on the surface. Many participants don't know about these things themselves. Catholics know about image warfare and are very good at it, so don't be suckered by it. Even one child raised in this thing is an infinite offense against goodness. I was harmed greatly in this religion and i know others who have been also.

I like some of the other tales, though I take them with a grain of salt and believe some of them are already sewing the seeds of predation or abuse. If they're not a genuine practice yet and are not promoting real cruelty I tend to transform them. On that level I really enjoyed this book because I'm yearning for a more balanced spirituality, and I'm learning to be adept at transforming religious ideology to a better moral center. I guess a good example would be that some animism in religion is evil - the worship of a predatory cat like the Cat Goddess Freya would be wrong (the egyptians, pagans and many folk religions worship cat types) but I transform it. In my own practice, not the worship of a predator like a child abuser or killer, but the divine nature of an animal nature perfected. For instance, a cat "Goddess" would not be predatory, cruel, abusive, but would have the charisma, warmth and physical power and grace that the animal has - as well as kindness, love, gentleness and knowledge that replaces it's predation. All myths can be dangerous or immoral. I just like them as inspiration and meditative joy.

She has a good overview of world Goddess religions - Freya, Chinese Kuan Yin, Pele, Kali, etc.... A lot of these traditions are outright evil, but somehow I respond to all religious myth in a deep play sort of way, to figure out my emotions, and moral center through imaginative exploration. I would hesitate to promote say - Kali a death and destruction Goddess to a child or to anyone worth loving or teaching to love, but on the other hand - as a deep play experience and meditation it's informative. I went through serious pain many times throughout my life and I used her image once in my own way. The real Kali would be a predator who CAUSED my experiences for some pseudo learning-from-abuse crap, but in meditation, the image I used her for is to work through UNAVOIDABLE pain and destruction. That's how I read it then, I don't know if I'd believe that now. I don't recommend supporting this religion any more than Christianity or other hate religions, because it promotes cruelty to self or others as love. Which has become the religious scam worldwide it seems. Jonestown, Christianity, Catholic martyrdom and torture of children.... if you have no desire to protect your children from a "god" that tortures then you've failed at morality and love. Most people are not emotionally connected to the reality of what can happen, of real terrible abuse and loss... Deep meditation and critical thinking helps you protect yourself. I follow one simple rule Good=Good. There is no trick to make you good. You can't get there by abuse or torture and real horrible loss. These myths are very seductive and beautiful, as a play experience enjoyable, as anything else be very careful. Also be careful not to promote them openly because you could be supporting the acceptance of terrible abuse of either animals, children, women or heroic men who are duped by images of goodness into being sacrificed for things that are not at all heroic. Christianity prime example. Animals (and even children!) are still sacrificed today to Kali, anyone from children to grown men can be tortured and martyred in Christian traditions and still are - I know because I was. Tribal religions often practice predation and abuse of animals. Be careful of this stuff. Pysche religious manipulation can lead to very cruel and real losses and is abusers favorite game these days. Having said that, myth is like play-acting sometimes, if it's used in a careful way, for deep passionate play or learning moral nuances, with some safety zone built in to dismantle it if it goes bad - all good, if it's used as genuine greed for power like major world political, religious machines, or psychotic abuse of other living things - check out and invent something new.

I love the premise of this book but the stories felt very contrived, like the author was trying to tell a story that taught her values. I much preferred her winter solstice book of stories the Return of the Light. Those stories seemed authentic, unlike the stories in Storyteller' Goddess.

Nice to read stories of the Goddesses. Have only read a few of the stories so far, but looks good so far.

BB

This book is utterly fabulous! A wonderful selection of Goddess Myth stories from around the world that cross cultural and linguistic barriers.

A wonderful gift to give yourself, a child, or any adult. Highly recommended.