Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Goddess Unmasked: The Rise of Neopagan Feminist Spirituality by Philip G. Davis ISBN: 1-890626-20-1 Publisher: Spence Publishing Company Pub. Date: 17 December, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.25 (24 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: An informative book on a new religious movement
Comment: "Goddess Unmasked" is a readable and informative discussion of neopagan religious ideas, particularly those around the practice of "goddess worship." Goddess worship, nature worship, and the practice of "Wicca" (which has been in the news lately due to a controversy about Wiccans in the Army) are closely related concepts, as Philip Davis shows.
The book has an interesting similarity to Dennis Covington's "Salvation on Sand Mountain," which deals with Appalachian snake handlers, in that it's a study of an unconventional, contemporary religious movement which is basically a fringe phenomenon but which also turns out to involve a lot more than a bunch of dreary fanatics with weird beliefs.
What Davis does is this book is to trace present-day goddess-worship to its immediate roots in the Romantic movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries through the European esoteric/occult tradition down to today. Along the way, he examines seriously some of the key claims of goddess advocates about pacifist, egalitarian "matriarchies" that supposedly existed in very ancient times, and about the meaning of the witch hunts of the early modern period in Europe. He also looks seriously at some of the religious implications of neopaganism, raising some critical issues but without an obvious agenda of evangelizing supporters out of their beliefs.
Most of the book is actually taken up with a series of sketches of the lives and ideas of a variety of colorful characters - mostly men - that contributed in some way to the esoteric/occult tradition that led to goddess worship, as well as to a lot of other ideas that have become common currency in the "New Age." They include serious scientists like the Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, and a conservative German historian named Johann Jakob Bachofen who was carried away with Romantic ideas almost in spite of himself. He discusses well-known occultists like the Theosophist founder Madame Blavatsky and the bizarre con-man Aleister Crowley. And lots of others are tossed in along the way.
One of the most interesting and unusual things about this book is that it is a serious study of a new religious movement by a mainstream Biblical scholar, who employs the same kind of historical-critical perspective on the development of goddess worship that he presumably brings to Biblical studies. There is an academic sub-field dealing with "new religions." But that tends to focus specifically on issues relating to cult groups and also tends to be more sociological, psychological or journalistic in its approach.
An important aspect of this book is that Davis takes goddess worship seriously as a religious movement. In relation to the current controversy over Wiccans in the Army, Davis makes a good case that Wicca is entitled to be considered a religion. His observations on how "immanence" religions (that see divinity in nature) may devalue objectivity in knowledge are particularly provocative. The prophetic or transcendence religions like Christianity, Judaism and Islam see divine revelation as coming from without, as special revelation to humanity from a separate God. Is that view of God more likely to promote a more scientific or objective outlook than the immanence religions?
One word of warning. In this case, the old saying "you can't judge a book by its cover" really applies. The book jacket features a graphic of a scowling, green-faced hag that bears a striking resemblance to feminist writer Betty Friedan, who is not mentioned in the book at all. The back cover advertises two books which sound like antifeminist tracts, which makes me wonder if Spence Publishing may play to that particular niche.
The book itself does not make an antifeminist argument and is not polemical in tone. If any such editorial bias was brought to bear, it shows up in the last 13 pages, after the book's conclusions have been nicely summarized. Those pages take up a couple of contemporary Canadian disputes in which arguments that most feminists would regard as extreme played a visible role, but which seem to have no direct connection to goddess worship. Unfortunately, pasting on a cursory treatment of those issues at the end will give easy fodder to anyone who wants to write a hit piece on the book.
But, as interesting as the treatment of the present-day goddess movement was to me, my favorite thing about the book is that it contains so many stories about eccentric geniuses, dreamers and scamsters from the last couple of centuries who have contributed in some way to the modern religious scene.
Rating: 3
Summary: Informative, but the agenda shows
Comment: It's difficult to find unbiased research into the history of Wicca. Most writers are either Wiccan themselves, or are vehemently opposed to the religion. This means that, no matter how objective an author may try to be, the bones of agenda will show through.
This is so with "Goddess Unmasked," which, while it contains a great deal of useful information, is also colored by the author's fundamental objection to Neo-Paganism in general and what he terms the "goddess movement" in particular. It's an objection that many thinking Christians (as opposed to those who spout rhetoric) have, and therefore worth some consideration.
The Christian view of deity is transcendentalist; to them, deity exists outside our physical world. Neo-Pagans see deity as immanent, constantly present around us and within us. This idea is troubling to many Christians, and it's something that Davis runs up against again and again.
That said, the book's not some kind of hysterical anti-Pagan tract--I'd be impressed if *any* author could keep that up for several hundred pages. While Davis ultimately comes down firmly on the side of Christianity, he is at least a thoughtful author who's done some research--though as other reviewers have noted, he occasionally picks and chooses to cast certain researchers in a bad light. Pagans should read this book, not because it will attempt to convert them, but because it's important to understand the underlying objections many Christians have to Wicca and other Neo-Pagan faiths.
Rating: 4
Summary: Highly informative, very readable, but has gaps
Comment: There is no way to write a book such as "Goddess Unmasked" and not infuse the subject with one's own philosophy. In former times, writing a treatise on a subject naturally assumed you were coming from your own point of view, and that was OK! Now, one is supposed to be "impartial"-- but that's a crock; nobody really is impartial. We are all filtering information through our own lights.
That having been said, Davis' "Goddess Unmasked" is a valuable book, well-written, interesting and informative. It is particularly excellent in covering the rise of Occultism and philosophies such as Rosicrucianism and Theosophy. The author shows links of Theosophy to Anthroposophy and even the dark philosophical underpinnings of Naziism, which adopted particular mythology and philosophies of that time along with their political and military agenda. There is a good overview of Wicca (from a non-Wiccan, of course.) The author contends Wicca is really a late development, an outgrowth of the philosophical and mystical writings of such (yes, whisper it!) men as Bachofen and not an ancient religion as Wiccans hold as true.
What's missing in "Goddess Unmasked" is a study of the growing popularity of the worship of Mary, and the throngs that turn up to see apparitions in plate glass windows. Whether or not this is mainstream religion and authorized as official dogma, it is worth analyzing if this phenomenon is related to the rising popularity of feminine deities. Despite this oversight, I recommend this book to anyone interested in the rise of esotericism and paganism in modern culture.
 |
Title: The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft by Ronald Hutton ISBN: 0192854496 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 April, 2001 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
