Table of Contents
List of Exercises xi
Introduction: My Journey with the Goddess xiii
Getting the Most Out of This Book xxi
Part I Foundations
Chapter 1 The Return of the Sacred Feminine 3
Introducing the Goddess/sacred feminine 3
The astrological ages 5
A signal of the Goddess's return 11
Becoming part of the rising feminine 15
Chapter 2 Herstory: Ancient Goddess Cultures 25
The evidence for Goddess cultures 25
How Goddess cultures birthed civilization 29
The structure of Goddess societies 31
The end of the Goddess era 35
Chapter 3 The Goddess Tradition 39
Negative portrayals of the sacred feminine 39
How the Goddess tradition supports women 41
Serving the sacred feminine 45
Part II Teachings and Practices
Chapter 4 Core Beliefs and the Three Pathways of Initiation 53
Key customs in the Goddess tradition 54
The sacred spiral of life 62
The three pathways of initiation 66
The mother as spiritual teacher 71
The seven-year cycles in our life journey 73
Chapter 5 Shakti Power 77
Raising the serpent 77
The seven chakras 79
The seven chakra Goddesses 81
The path to queendom 87
Creating the inner marriage 88
The White Path of Tantra 90
Emergence of the Shakti woman 93
Chapter 6 The Wheel of Eight 97
The eight Sabbats 98
The marriage of Heaven and Earth 100
The eight stages of the mythic journey 103
Chapter 7 Goddess Phases of the Lunar Cycle 115
Welcome to the lunar mysteries 115
Develop your lunar qualities 117
The four main lunar phases 120
The Goddess phases of the lunar phases 122
The Goddess phases of our fertility cycle 123
Chapter 8 Rites of Passage 127
The feminine fear of aging 127
Navigating our life transitions 129
Goddess parables for each transition 138
Chapter 9 Secret Women's Business 149
The taboo of menstruation 150
Welcome to the Red Tent 152
Transforming pain into wisdom 154
The power of the Red Tent 157
The sharing circle 159
Other Red Tent customs 162
Chapter 10 Goddess Rituals and Sacred Ceremonies 171
Reclaiming Our Human Rites 171
Right Use of Power 173
The Elements of Sacred Ceremony 175
Celebrations in the Goddess Tradition 184
Chapter 11 Goddess Symbolism 191
Why Work with Symbolism? 192
A Guide to Goddess Symbols and Totems 192
How Symbols Strengthen Our Intuition 199
Practical Ways to Work with Symbols 200
Conclusion: Walking the Goddess Path 205
Maintaining Your Goddess Frequency 205
Advice for Living Life Large as a Goddess 208
A Guide to Your Descent Journey 210
Dealing with Critics 211
References 215
Resources 221
Acknowledgments 229
About the Author 231
