"The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe: Myths and Cult Images"
by Marija Alseikaite Gimbutas

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Abe Books
Barnes & Noble

"In this beautifully illustrated study of sculpture, vases, and other cult objects portraying the Goddess, fertility images, and mythical animals, Marija Gimbutas sketches the matrilineal village culture that existed in southeastern Europe between 6500 and 3500 B.C., before it was overwhelmed by the patriarchal Indo-Europeans.

The analysis of this rich mythical imagery tells us much about early humanity's concepts of the cosmos, of humans' relations with nature, and of the complementary roles of male and female.

Marija Gimbutas (1921-1994) was Professor of European Archaeology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Curator of Old World Archaeology at what is now the Fowler Museum of Cultural History. She was the author of many books including The Living Goddesses (UC Press). This splendidly illustrated book brings together an archeological documentation hardly to be found elsewhere."

"The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image"
by Anne Baring & Jules Cashford

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Abe Books
Barnes & Noble

"The authors of this ground-breaking, rich, ambitious work attempt to trace the evolution of consciousness by following humanity's changing attitudes toward female deities, from the Paleolithic mother goddess enshrined in figurines to Inanna of Sumer, Isis of Egypt, Aphrodite of Greece, and beyond. Baring, a London-based Jungian analyst, and Cashford, who writes on mythology, regard the formal disappearance of goddess myths as a pivotal event signaling the devaluation of the feminine and the opposition of feeling to thinking.

They interpret the Virgin Mary as the unrecognized mother goddess of Christianity, identify hidden images of the goddess in the Old Testament and demonstrate that a Hebrew goddess existed in various forms such as the Shekhinah, founder of the world in Kabbalism. A wonderfully readable synthesis, this monumental study is packed wth scores of riveting illustrations. It will serve as a sourcebook for students of myth, feminists and those seeking to balance and integrate masculine and feminine components of their psyche." - (800 pages)

"Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth: Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer" by Diane Wolkstein & Samuel Noah Kramer

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Abe Books
Barnes & Noble

"A fresh retelling of the ancient texts about Ishtar, the world's first goddess. Illustrated with visual artifacts of the period. "A great masterpiece of universal literature".

The result of a collaboration between Sumerian scholar Noah Kramer and folklorist Diane Wolkstein, this book is a thoughtfully annotated translation of the major Sumerian cuneiform texts devoted to the goddess Inanna-among the oldest religious texts in the world. It is illustrated with black-and-white reproductions of ancient Sumerian art, mostly on clay tablets.

In "Inanna and the God of Wisdom," Inanna, now sexually mature but still youthful and unproven, is welcomed by Enki, God of Wisdom, who acts the role of proud grandfather, giving a feast in her honor. Enki's magnamity increases as he drinks, and he ends up offering Inanna all the magical keys to human civilization."

"The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image" by Leonard Shlain

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Abe Books
Barnes & Noble

"'Literacy has promoted the subjugation of women by men throughout all but the very recent history of the West', writes Leonard Shlain. 'Misogyny and patriarchy rise and fall with the fortunes of the alphabetic written word.'

That's a pretty audacious claim, one that The Alphabet Versus the Goddess provides extensive historical and cultural correlations to support. Shlain's thesis takes readers from the evolutionary steps that distinguish the human brain from that of the primates to the development of the Internet.

The very act of learning written language, he argues, exercises the human brain's left hemisphere--the half that handles linear, abstract thought--and enforces its dominance over the right hemisphere, which thinks holistically and visually. If you accept the idea that linear abstraction is a masculine trait, and that holistic visualization is feminine, the rest of the theory falls into place."

"Mysteries of the Dark Moon: The Healing Power of the Dark Goddess" by Demetra George

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Abe Books
Barnes & Noble

"Exploring the mystery, wisdom, and power of the dark phase of the moon's cycle--a lunar-based model for moving through the dark times in our lives with understanding, consciousness, and faith in renewal.

The moon's dark phase has traditionally been a time of fear and superstition, a time associated with death and isolation. The mythical embodiment of these fears is the Dark Goddess. Known around the world by many names--Lilith, Kali, Hecate, and Morgana--the archetypal Dark Goddess represents death, sexuality, and the unconscious--the little understood, often feared aspects of life.

Demetra George combines psychological, mythical, and spiritual perspective on the shadowy, feminine symbolism of the dark moon to reclaim the darkness from oppressive, fear-based images. George offers rites for rebirth and transformation that teach us to tap into the power of our dark times, maximizing the potential for renewal inherent in our inevitable periods of loss, depression, and anger."

"The Sacred Prostitute: Eternal Aspect of the Feminine"
by Nancy Qualls-Corbett

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Abe Books
Barnes & Noble

"When the Goddess of Love was still honored, the sacred prostitute was virgin in the original sense of the word (one-in-herself), a person of deep integrity whose welcome for the stranger was radiant, self-confident and sensuous. Her purpose was to bring the goddess' love into direct contact with mankind.

In antiquity, human sexuality and the religious attitude were inseparable. The Sacred Prostitute: Eternal Aspect Of The Feminine is solidly based on Jungian psychological principles and powerfully illustrates how our vitality and capacity for joy depend on restoring the soul of the sacred prostitute to its rightful place in our conscious understanding.

The Sacred Prostitute is engaging reading that provides a great deal of thoughtful observations on the nature of human sexuality and its relationship to the well-balanced personality and the health and stability of human society."

"The Yoni: Sacred Symbol of Female Creative Power"
by Rufus C. Camphausen

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Abe Books
Barnes & Noble

"Yoni worship has been an ancient tradition among spiritual groups around the world: this title traces the Yoni motif from its first occurrence almost 30,000 years ago in Europe to its remains in today's cultures. From Tantric practices and Yoni manifestations in nature and human endeavors to Eastern mythology, this packs in details about Yoni art and spiritual sources.

There are numerous examples from the world over of the widespread worship of the yoni as illustrated thru the many works of art left to us by our ancestors. This book is not for everyone though. If you are not comfortable with the female body this book may be too much for you.

The close-up images of human yonis are hard to look at when you are raised in Western society and taught to see female genitals as "dirty" or "nasty". However, this book is vital if you want to learn and see the history of humanity's reverence for the Goddess and Women."

"The Avebury Cycle" by Michael Dames

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Abe Books
Barnes & Noble

"Avebury parish in Wiltshire contains an amazing collection of Stone Age monuments. Four thousand years ago this stretch of the chalk downs was the metropolis of Britain, with the tallest man-made hill (Silbury), the largest henge or sacred enclosure (Avebury), the great chambered cemetery of West Kennet Long Barrow and the two stone avenues of West Kennet and Beckhampton.

This new edition, which takes into account recent discoveries, explores the mystery of the Avebury monuments and reveals their collective purpose.

Making use of archaeology, ethnography and folklore the book argues that the monuments were key elements in the worship of the Great Goddess, each representing different aspects of the annual fertility cycle corresponding to the agricultural year."

"The Language of the Goddess: Unearthing the Hidden Symbols of Western Civilization" by Marija Alseikaite Gimbutas & Joseph Campbell

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Abe Books
Barnes & Noble

"The Goddess is the most potent and persistent feature in the archaeological records of the ancient world. She was a symbol of the unity of life in nature, and the personification of all that was sacred and mysterious on Earth. Here, in this pioneering and provocative volume, Marija Gimbutas resurrects the world of Goddess-worshipping, earth-centred cultures, bringing ancient matriarchal society vividly to life.

She interweaves comparative mythology, early historical sources, linguistics, ethnography and folklore to demonstrate conclusively that Goddess-worship is at the root of Western civilization. Illustrated with nearly 2000 symbolic artifacts - sculptures, figurines, temple models, frescos, vases, sacrificial containers - Gimbutas' magnum opus is at once a 'pictorial script' of the prehistoric Goddess religion and an authoritative work that takes these ancient cultures from the realm of speculation into that of documented fact."

"Descent to the Goddess: a Way of Initiation for Women"
by Sylvia Brinton Perera

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Abe Books
Barnes & Noble

"This is a Feminist-Jungian interpretation of the ancient Sumerian Inanna Myth. She explores the characters of Inanna and Ereshkigal and the nature of Inanna's descent, death and resurrection clearly and powerfully.

She sees Inanna as representing "daughters of the patriarchy" - outwardly successful women who have taken on patriarchal values, and Ereshkigal as the "deep feminine" - the feminine side that we as individuals and as a society have rejected and pushed into the shadow. The descent of Inanna to the underworld is then the journey to die to the old life and reconnect to the deep feminine.

So modern women must descend from their old role-determined behavior into the depths of their instinct and image patterns, to find anew the Great Goddess and restore her values to modern culture. Male readers will also be interested in Descent To The Goddess, both for its revelations of women's essential nature and for its implications in terms of their own inner journey."

"Women Who Run with the Wolves: Contacting the Power of the Wild Woman"
by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Abe Books
Barnes & Noble

"'Women Who Run With The Wolves' isn't just another book. It is a gift of profound insight, wisdom and love. An oracle from one who knows.' - Alice Walker. In the classic "Women Who Run With The Wolves", Clarissa Pinkola Estes tells us about the 'wild woman', the wise and ageless presence in the female psyche that gives women their creativity, energy and power.

For centuries, the 'wild woman' has been repressed by a male-orientated value system which trivialises women's emotions. Using a combination of time-honoured stories and contemporary casework, Estes reveals that the 'wild woman' in us is innately healthy, passionate and wise.

Thoughtfully written and compelling in its arguments, "Women Who Run With The Wolves" gives readers a new sense of direction, a self confidence and purpose in their lives."

"The Book of Goddesses: A Celebration of the Divine Feminine"
by Kris Waldherr

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Abe Books
Barnes & Noble

"'The Book of Goddesses' is a celebration of the Divine Feminine, drawing inspiration from the many goddesses honoured through history and over the globe. This fully illustrated, greatly expanded edition of Kris Waldherr's best-selling classic includes 100 goddesses (74 more than the original edition) along with their stories, symbolic significance and cultural roles applicable to life today.

While the original book was structured alphabetically - one goddess for every letter of the alphabet - this new edition is structured around the feminine rites of passage: Beginnings, Love, Motherhood, Creativity, Strength and Transformations. Lavishly designed, this visually stunning book is testament to the power, passion, wisdom and beauty of women of all ages, all stages in life, everywhere.

Familiar deities of Greece and Rome share equal space with the less familiar Kuan Yin of China, Yemana of Cuba, and Oya of Nigeria."

"Goddesses, Whores, Wives and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity"
by Sarah B. Pomeroy

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Abe Books
Barnes & Noble

"Pomeroy's book was one of the first to tackle the real lives of Greek and Roman women, and though it has been superceded by a huge literature on the subject, it's still an excellent and worthwhile place to start.

Starting with the Greek and Roman pantheon of goddesses, she works through a historical survey of women's lives taken from both material and literary evidence, starting with the Bronze age, working through classical Athens, the Hellenistic period, the Roman republic and through to the late empire and christianity.

The book is structured chronologically starting with the bronze age and ending with the romans (1,500 years). It is as the title suggests about all women in antiquity, and apart from the pure fact includes and discusses many tales and writing, that bring the book even more to life. Also it does not presume you know latin. But includes all the refrence points you may want to look up if your studying this subject rather than just curious."

"Dakini's Warm Breath: The Feminine Principle in Tibetan Buddhism"
by Judith Simmer-Brown

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Abe Books
Barnes & Noble

"The primary emblem of the feminine in Tibetan Buddhism is the dakini, a semi-wrathful spirit-woman who manifests in visions, dreams and meditation experiences.

According to Simmer-Brown, in the spiritual journey of the meditator, the dakini symbolises levels of personal realization: the sacredness of the body, both female and male; the profound meeting point of body and mind in meditation; the visionary realm of rural practice; and the empty, spacious qualities of mind itself.

This work is a comprehensive inquiry into the symbolism of the most powerful deity in Tibetan Buddhism."

A book-length discussion of dakinis, who are one of the most elusive aspects of Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism, is a welcome edition to the growing literature on symbols of the feminine in Buddhism."

"Tantric Visions of the Divine Feminine: The Ten Mahavidyas"
by David R. Kinsley

Get This Book From:
Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Abe Books
Barnes & Noble

"The Hindu pantheon is rich in images of the divine feminine - deities representing a wide range of symbolic, social, and meditative meanings. David Kinsley's new book documents a highly unusual group of ten Hindu tantric goddesses, the Mahavidyas, many of whom are strongly associated with sexuality and violence. What is one to make of a goddess who cuts her own head off, or one who prefers sex with a corpse?

The Mahavidyas embody habits, attributes, or identities usually considered repulsive or socially subversive and can be viewed as "antimodels" for women. Yet, it is within the context of tantric worship that devotees seek to identify themselves with these forbidding goddesses.The Mahavidyas seem to function as "awakeners" - symbols which help to project one's consciousness beyond the socially acceptable or predictable. Especially valuable are the many rare and fascinating images he presents - each important to grasping the significance of the goddesses."