DU Pagans/Goddess worshippers, I have a request.

[Skidmore]

I'm very much interested in learning more about goddess worship, in particular. Would like to do some reading, but don't know where to start. Can you suggest for me a basic reading list about the matriarchal religions, something that hasn't been corrupted by Satanism and gobbledygook New Age stuff? I don't know where to start and I guess I'm interested even knowing is there a purist group of traditions and what written body of works that has passes this on. If this is a stupid request, chew me out and I'll stand chastised. If not either PM me or list works on this thread. Thanks.

[Fridays Child]

1. The Chalice and the Blade, by Riane Eisler

She provides some good historical analysis of goddess worship. Read more about the book here:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=jR4RTKXBHj&isbn=0062502891&itm=1

[Greyhound]

4. yep, it's the best. n/t

[mzteris]

2. I'm not pagan

but these two sites have good unbiased information on EVERY religion out there.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/witchcra.htm

http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/wicca.html

[Surya Gayatri]

3. Shakti worship--oldest form of goddess worship in the world...

http://www.ambaa.org/essays/origin.htm

Shakti is the active, creative force visualized in many forms, often as the 'consort' of a form of Godhead. SG

[Greyhound]

5. Sorry but Shakti is a newbie, comparatively speaking. Goddess

worship pre-dates by many ages, probably @ least 30,000 years.

[Surya Gayatri]

7. Her origins have been dated to at least 15,000 years

in the Indus valley, and probably further back. She is much older than the laterly Hindu visualizations which merely expanded & codified the complexity of her cult (i.e Saraswati, Durga, Lakshmi). SG

[Greyhound]

8. As I said a new comer, not that it matters, I was merely correcting a

mistaken assertion.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

6. I'm not pagan, though I honor that path

Others posted some great links, and by all means look at them first. But here are my thoughts (I had this typed up and ready to go and found the thread moved so I couldn't post as fast as I wanted to.)

I would suggest you start reading about some of the ancient Greek Goddesses, as their stories and writings about their cults and the mystery schools surrounding them are easiest to find. Then I would check out the ancient Egyptian goddess Isis-her cult was big in south France, and her story, which is connected to Osirus and Horus, is a fascinating one. Then there are the Middle Eastern goddesses of Inana (her totem was the snake) and Alut.

The Dances of Universal Peace has several Dances honoring various Goddesses-you might wish to check them out. http://www.dancesofuniversalpeace.org

I have also checked at the Cherag's Library for what it says about the Divine Feminine. You may find this information helpful as well at

http://www.cheraglibrary.org/archive/rcm-003.htm

It includes prayers to goddesses of many different spiritual traditions. They start about halfway down the page.

[Dervill Crow]

9. Here are some to get you started.

Wicca: The Old Religion in the New Millenium by Vivianne Crowley
Witchcraft Today by Gerald Gardner
Drawing Down the Moon by Margot Adler
(lots of background on paganism in the US)
The Triumph of the Moon by Ronald Hutton
(a history of paganism in Europe)

Wicca honors both god and goddess. If it is goddess worship that you want to focus on, you might want to check out Starhawk's books, especially The Spiral Dance.

[manic expression]

10. Here's something

I guess I should start out with what I know best. Perhaps this will help:

http://www.hindunet.org/god/Goddesses/index.htm
http://www.hindubooks.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=2869
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism
http://www.google.com/Top/Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/Hinduism/Approaches/Shakta/ --(with links to the next two, but I included them anyway)
http://www.google.com/Top/Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/Hinduism/Gods_and_Goddesses/Durga/
http://www.google.com/Top/Society/Religion_and_Spirituality/Hinduism/Gods_and_Goddesses/Saraswati/
http://www.hindubooks.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=2397&page=4

These are a few sources of many, and there are many ways of saying the same thing. If something is seemingly contrary to something else that you read, it's probably not a mistake as much as approaching a certain subject in a different way.

To answer your other question, the "sect" of Hinduism that has primarily to do with the goddess is Shaktism. There are many written works that Goddesses are a part of, the Yoga Vasishtha and the Devi Mahatmyam (which means "Glory of the Goddess") are two examples of this.

I hope that helped. Tell me if you have any more questions or comments or anything else.

You'll find what you are looking for, no matter where it is...just keep searching!

[htuttle]

11. I found Starhawk's "The Spiral Dance" to be very interesting

It's more of a modern take on goddess worship/wicca, informed by psychology (IIRC, Starhawk's a trained psychologist) and politics. Not really all gobbledygook New Age, though. She's fairly down to Earth, all things considered.

Her earlier works trend toward the psychological, and her later works trend toward the political. Personally, the Spiral Dance was one of my favorites of hers. I didn't care for her fiction novel, "The Fifth Sacred Thing", though I didn't end up finishing it. It was a wee bit too New Agey for me.