The Heart of the Goddess: Art, Myth and Meditations of the World's Sacred Feminine

by Hallie Iglehart Austen, Jean Shinoda Bolen (Foreword by)

Overview

From the Ice Age to the present, from Nigeria to Hawaii, images of the Goddess principles are reemerging, bringing renewed attention and expression to mythical and spiritual inner and outer guides. The Heart of the Goddess presents a worldwide selection of the art, values, and living lessons of Goddess culture. To author Hallie Iglehart Austen, respect for the Earth, restoration of community, and regaining the long lost power of Woman are inseparable.

Through the presence of the Goddess in daily life, the reader finds wisdom, serenity, and guidance. The Heart of the Goddess is an invaluable addition to the literature of feminist spirituality. Someone called it “returning to the Mother of us all.”

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781939681942
Publisher:	Monkfish Book Publishing Company
Publication date:	10/23/2018
Edition description:	2
Pages:	202
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 9.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Hallie Iglehart Austen grew up on a farm and has lived close to the earth most of her life. After graduating from Brown University, she drove from England to Nepal and back again over the course of a year. This journey, described in her first book "Womanspirit" led to a synthesis of spirituality and feminism, which she began teaching in the 1970s. Since then, she has led workshops, rituals and conferences at universities, the United Nations, and theological schools among other places.

Hallie Iglehart Austen is cofounder of Seaflow: Protect Our Living Oceans, which educates the public about the dangers of active sonars and other ocean noise to whales, dolphins, and all sea life. She also initiated All One Oceans, establishing over fifty beach cleanup stations in California, Hawai‘i, Iowa, and Alabama and is starting a pilot project for grade school students on ocean plastic pollution. Hallie lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, and gives classes and private consultations on dream work, life transition rituals, and Wisdom Healing Qigong.

Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D., is a psychiatrist, Jungian analyst and an internationally known author and speaker. She is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, a former clinical professor of psychiatry at Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute, University of California Medical Center and a past board member of the Ms. Foundation for Women, the International Transpersonal Association, and the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco. She is the author of thirteen books in over ninety foreign editions. She is a leading advocate at the United Nations for a UN 5th World Conference on Women, and is NGO Permanent Representative of the Women’s World Summit Foundation(Geneva) to the UN. She is in three acclaimed documentaries: the Academy-Award winning anti-nuclear proliferation film “Women – For America, For the World,” the Canadian Film Board’s “Goddess Remembered,” and “Femme: Women Healing the World.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“What a treasure! Decades of scholarship and oceans of love have been poured into gathering this exquisite collection of goddesses from all the world’s wisdom traditions. By gazing at the images and contemplating their stories, I felt myself joyously reclaiming the feminine face of the Holy One that has been imprinted on my own heart all along. I love love love this book! ”—Mirabai Starr, author of God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity & Islam and Caravan of No Despair: A Memoir of Loss & Transformation

“A loving contribution towards illuminating the many attributes of the great, great Goddess. Intuitive and practical, Hallie Iglehart Austen’s work will nourish and heal its readers on many levels.” —Marija Gimbutas, author of The Language of the Goddess

“… a mythical journey to every corner of the Earth.…a delightful book of life-affirming legends, rituals, and images that help us envision a more balanced and creative world.” —Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice and the Blade

“A beautiful book … an excellent resource for information and inspiration from many cultures.”—Starhawk

“Calling to us from the high level of a consciousness of our entire global family, The Heart of the Goddess sings a song we must hear in order to fully experience and understand Goddess reverence.” —Merlin Stone, author of When God Was a Woman

“Hallie Iglehart Austen has given us a rare and much-needed pictorial survey of the metaphoric life and power of the Goddess. Her concise introduction and commentaries are eloquent and informed. A thoroughly readable and delightful book.” —Jamake Highwater, author of The Primal Mind

“What it means to be empowered comes to life in us through our meditations on these sacred cross-cultural images of the Feminine.” —Vicki Noble, author of Motherpeace

"Well researched and engagingly written, The Heart of the Goddess is an excellent informational text, but it succeeds further as a personal and spiritual resource."—Foreword Reviews

"Regardless of how many books you own or have read about goddesses, I guarantee you that you’ve never encountered anything like this. Informative, spiritual, and filled with art pieces from antiquity to contemporary times, The Heart of the Goddess is, and will remain, a classic."—The Magical Buffet

Interviews

Since the 2016 election, a surprising number of people of all ages have told me that the Sacred Feminine is experiencing a rebirth. It appears that the audience is growing, in some cases in response to global events. Millennials tell me that a lot of people their age are drawn to The Heart of the Goddess because they’re looking for real guidance in a world increasing in fear and greed. The images and wisdom in The Heart of the Goddess offer inspiration and values of partnership, compassion, and sustainability for this challenging and potentially transformational time. They change the dominant narrative about human nature and about women’s creativity, beauty, and power. And this is not just on the coasts—the most recent comment I received came from a young woman in Alabama. The art and wisdom of The Heart of the Goddess cross all borders, boundaries, and generations.