A review by lilliana_blackstar
Spiral Dance, the - 20th Anniversary: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Goddess: 20th Anniversary Edition by Starhawk
informative
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
I first read this book around 20 years ago, when I was new to the craft and a solitary practitioner. I don't remember if I read the 20th anniversary edition (which would have been new at the time) but I'm pretty sure I didn't read any footnotes that first time through. I found a lot of it hard to relate to back then, as a solitary practitioner and this book is clearly designed for those practicing with a group.
Reading it again now, as an initiated priestx with an active coven, I found so many parts of this book to be more insightful and more useful! There are timeless bits of advice for leaders in spiritual circles.
However, it is worth keeping in mind that this book was originally published in 1979. Reading the footnotes with the 20th anniversary edition helps a LOT- but those notes themselves are now over 20 years old. There are things presented as historical fact which have since been disproven or revealed to be conjecture. And although the notes confront some of this, the language is highly gendered and geared towards female-identifying people.
Mostly I think that we can offer some grace as the book was obviously ahead of its time when written, and still has many useful gems within it, even while some concepts now seem very out of place.
Still a highly valuable book for the modern pagan.
Reading it again now, as an initiated priestx with an active coven, I found so many parts of this book to be more insightful and more useful! There are timeless bits of advice for leaders in spiritual circles.
However, it is worth keeping in mind that this book was originally published in 1979. Reading the footnotes with the 20th anniversary edition helps a LOT- but those notes themselves are now over 20 years old. There are things presented as historical fact which have since been disproven or revealed to be conjecture. And although the notes confront some of this, the language is highly gendered and geared towards female-identifying people.
Mostly I think that we can offer some grace as the book was obviously ahead of its time when written, and still has many useful gems within it, even while some concepts now seem very out of place.
Still a highly valuable book for the modern pagan.