Truth or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority, and Mystery [Paperback]

Starhawk (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 27, 1989

An examination of the nature of power that offers creative alternatives for positive change in our personal lives, our communities, and our world.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Starhawk is the author of nine books, including her bestselling The Spiral Dance, The Pagan Book of Living and Dying, and Webs of Power, winner of the 2003 Nautilus Award for social change. She has an international reputation, and her works have been translated into many different languages. Starhawk is also a columnist for beliefnet.com and ZNet. A veteran of progressive movements who is deeply committed to bringing the techniques and creative power of spirituality to political activism, she travels internationally, teaching magic, the tools of ritual, and the skills of activism. Starhawk lives part-time in San Francisco, in a collective house with her partner and friends, and part-time in a little hut in the woods in western Sonoma County, where she practices permaculture in her extensive gardens and writes.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne (December 27, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062508164
• ISBN-13: 978-0062508164
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #955,963 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Starhawk is one of the most respected voices in modern Goddess religion and earth-based spirituality. She is the author or coauthor of twelve books, including the classics The Spiral Dance and The Fifth Sacred Thing. Her latest is The Empowerment Manual: A Guide for Collaborative Groups, forthcoming in November 2011.

Her web site is http://starhawk.org, her blog "Dirt Worship is at http://starhawksblog.org, and her Facebook page is http://facebook.com/pages/Starhawk/165408987031?v=wall.

She is a cofounder of Reclaiming, an influential branch of modern Pagan religion http://reclaiming.org.

Starhawk is a veteran of progressive movements, and deeply committed to bringing the techniques and creative power of spirituality to political activism. She travels internationally teaching magic, the tools of ritual, and the skills of activism. She directs and teaches Earth Activist Trainings, http://earthactivisttraining.org, which combine a permaculture design certificate course with a grounding in spirit and a focus on organizing and activism.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book for group work, and intermediate witches, April 7, 2001

By 

Kaulika - See all my reviews

This review is from: Truth or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority, and Mystery (Paperback)

I wouldn't recommend this book as a manual for absolute beginners - that's what her other book, The Spiral Dance, was for. However, if you are somewhat well-versed in the practice of the Craft, and are looking for ideas for group work, this is a fabulous book. Written by a master of coven work, Truth or Dare takes bold, assertive steps in showing the reader how to form consciousness-raising groups, lead meditations, and organize spiritual groups, and is full of feminist poetry (with a beautiful retelling of the descent of Innana), trance work, stories of spiritual/political activism, and plenty of inspiration for your own work. Again, to get the most out of this book, it's best to be at least at the intermediate level. And, if you're looking to start a group, but don't quite know how, this is a great book to start with.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent resource for group facilitation, May 19, 2002

By 

Monica "thefirespiral" (PARKER, Azerbaijan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Truth or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority, and Mystery (Paperback)

This book is an excellent resource for group facilitation -- it's been invaluable to me in the groups I work with. There is a wealth of information on group dynamics, dealing with conflict, structure and group agreements, interspersed with Middle Eastern myth and some beautiful poetry. As you might expect, Starhawk has included many exercises and questions to work through with your group -- helping you build the kind of group that will be nourishing and effective. This is a book I find in the library of many successful priestesses -- it makes a great companion to Amber K's "Covencraft" and Judy Harrow's "Wicca Covens." Still, if I had to have only one of the three, it would be this book, hands down.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rid yourself of internal oppressors!, May 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Truth or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority, and Mystery (Paperback)

This book is astoundingly insightful. Starhawk uses the knowledge she has gained from years as a therapist, activist and Witch to describe the tools and processes by which we can all free ourselves from the Self-Hater. The Self-Hater is that part of your psyche that does our oppressors' job for them. With the tools (rituals, meditations, etc) provided here we finally have a coherent and workable system for exorcising the demons that 5,000 years of androcratic tyranny. Goddess Bless Starhawk!