A review by arachne_reads
Truth or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority, and Mystery by Starhawk

3.0

I have a complicated relationship with Starhawk's writing. I am an atheist. I was a teenager when I was introduced to Neo-Paganism, and it was what led me to finally leave my mother's faith, and slowly become an atheist. This book might appear to be filled with crystal waving New Age woo-woo, but Starhawk makes some very real points about the psychology of resistance, and the role of ritual in forming a fairly complete and whole conception of the self within community. It's peppered with idealism, Goddess spirituality branch feminism, 12 step apologism, and a moderate to low dose of woo, but mixed in with it I do see valid approaches to ritual and practical community building around the concept of undermining hierarchy. Starhawk approaches magic and ritual as tools of psychology. That in itself is valuable.