The Thirteen Original Clan Mothers: Your Sacred Path to Discovering the Gifts, Talents, and Abilities of the Feminine Through the Ancient Teachings of the Sisterhood [Paperback]

Jamie Sams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 22, 1994

On Women Turning Fifty honors the new faces of aging with powerful, positive images of fiftysomething women who share stories of mid-life discovery. Accomplished by beautiful photographs, these candid and engaging interviews reveal women whose challenges, conflicts, and triumphs are reshaping our attitudes toward work, relationships, and personal growth. From Gloria Steinem, Isabel Allende, Ellen Burstyn, and Mary Ellen Mark to single-parent school teacher Deanne Burke and breast cancer survivor Barbara Eddy, the diverse voices in On Women Turning Fifty offer exhilarating models of confidence, courage, and celebration.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I consider The 13 Original Clan Mothers to be among the most important books of our times." -- -- Ken Carey, author of Return of the Bird Tribes

"Will bless your life, and the full Circle of Life, with wholeness and holiness." -- -- Brooke Medicine Eagle, author of Buffalo Woman Comes Singing

About the Author

Jamie Sams is a member of the Wolf Clan Teaching Lodge. She is the coauthor of Medicine Cards™:The Discovery of Power Through the Ways of Animals, author of The Sacred Paths Workbook, and (with Twylah Nitsch) Other Council Fires Were Here Before Ours.

Product Details

• Paperback: 316 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1st edition (April 22, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062507567
• ISBN-13: 978-0062507563
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #43,806 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #23 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Earth-Based Religions > Native American

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a powerful message of women's roles as creators, August 6, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Thirteen Original Clan Mothers: Your Sacred Path to Discovering the Gifts, Talents, and Abilities of the Feminine Through the Ancient Teachings of the Sisterhood (Paperback)

Through the experiences of the archetypal 13 Original Clan Mothers, the reader is guided through life's lessons. Writing of the purpose of being a woman, Sams gingerly walks the feminist precipice between woman as a reproductive machine and woman as a meaningful contributor to society. She magically does not lose her balance, successfully making the case for women fulfilling a personal and cosmic biological role as creators, with men assigned the role of helpmate and protector. It becomes painfully clear that the tasks that men and women have traditionally performed have not been so much at fault as has the value placed on them by society and the individuals contained within it. Sams is a competent writer with a gift for description. Unlike many spiritual bestsellers, the reader does not have to overcome the distraction of faulty writing in order to receive her powerful message.

72 of 94 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Pretty reading, but be cautious, November 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Thirteen Original Clan Mothers: Your Sacred Path to Discovering the Gifts, Talents, and Abilities of the Feminine Through the Ancient Teachings of the Sisterhood (Paperback)

When I first bought this book, I enjoyed the stories within them. I felt that they offered great food for thought for spiritual contemplation. Unfortunately, I also found them lacking in truly deep thought -- they were more of a superficial approach to important issues.

Recently, I have been informed by individuals within the Native American community that the work of Jamie Sams is offensive to Native Americans. Her work is presented in a manner disrespectful to her very source of information and/or inspiration for her writings.

Although I do feel that this book has value, I believe that value is minimal. I suggest looking elsewhere.

If you want a good read about a Native American woman, I highly recommend "Lakota Woman" by Mary Brave Bird/Mary Crow Dog. It is an autobiography that presents a Native American's views about her life, including Native practices and beliefs, and is VERY eye opening and insightful!

39 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Saddened to hear such negativity., April 4, 2003

By 

Sher Dra (Northridge, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Thirteen Original Clan Mothers: Your Sacred Path to Discovering the Gifts, Talents, and Abilities of the Feminine Through the Ancient Teachings of the Sisterhood (Paperback)

I haven't read this book yet, although I intend to.
I recently received it as a gift from a friend after
having told her how wonderful a book I thought "Dancing the Dream" was. It's sad to see that, as the result of what I think is jealousy and resentment for Jamie's success, some rather negative comments have been posted. Don't believe all that you hear/read. From what I read in Dancing the Dream, Jamie doesn't claim to be a pure blood, and she's very honest about how she has been treated by some members of the Native American community.
Some feel she has no right to share the mysteries of greatness
because she isn't a "pure breed", (I find that just pure arrogance), some feel she's giving information away that somehow will become diluted by us "white folk", (there is a
bitterness against the white man, and rightly so, -- one of the casualties of cruelty is the loss of trust), but the fact that this information is being shared by so many, both pure breed and other, is, to me, a sign that it NEEDS to be shared. Many of us have lost our way. We live in a world of chaos and hatred, of dysfunction and disassociation, and we need to find a way back to our sacred paths. Thank you Jamie Sams, and others, for providing us with the means with which to do that.