Goddess: Mother of Living Nature (Art and Imagination Series)

Rating:
Summary: The Sacred as Feminine
Review: As Adele Getty shows in this magnificent volume, the Goddess has played a far greater role in human spirituality than one might suppose at first glance. In her opening essay, Getty discusses the ancient Goddess religions and their spirituality of rebirth and regeneration. She goes on to discuss the "Patriarchal Inversion", but then demonstrates the ongoing presence of the Goddess in ostensibly patriarchal religions - for example, in what she calls "Unbidden Mariology" in the Christian tradition. The essay closes with considerations of what Goddess Religions might contribute to concerns in the modern world. The second part of the book, "Plates", and the third part of the book, "Themes", present a bewildering array of Goddess images from all over the world. One can learn a great deal about the Goddess simply from flipping through these pictures. Overall, this is a very well done synopsis of the Goddess across cultures and across time.

Rating:
Summary: The Sacred as Feminine
Review: As Adele Getty shows in this magnificent volume, the Goddess has played a far greater role in human spirituality than one might suppose at first glance. In her opening essay, Getty discusses the ancient Goddess religions and their spirituality of rebirth and regeneration. She goes on to discuss the "Patriarchal Inversion", but then demonstrates the ongoing presence of the Goddess in ostensibly patriarchal religions - for example, in what she calls "Unbidden Mariology" in the Christian tradition. The essay closes with considerations of what Goddess Religions might contribute to concerns in the modern world. The second part of the book, "Plates", and the third part of the book, "Themes", present a bewildering array of Goddess images from all over the world. One can learn a great deal about the Goddess simply from flipping through these pictures. Overall, this is a very well done synopsis of the Goddess across cultures and across time.

Rating:
Summary: An Embarrassment to the Community
Review: I am very sad to say I was required to read this book as part of a college course in mythology. I do have an interest in the ancient goddess mythos and had looked forward to learning more. Unfortunately, this book is filled with inaccuracies, half truths, uncited sources and unfounded theories which are presented as facts.
The author skips around a lot drawing bits from the history and mythology of several cultures during many eras. From this she pieces together an unsupported construct, using only those facts which relate to her theory and ignoring all the rest.
I would encourage anyone interested in the history of goddess mythology to learn more, just not with this book. It is a sad misrepresentation.