Review: 'The Essential Handbook of Women's Spirituality and Ritual' by Barbara G. Walker

Fair Winds Press 1990

ISBN 1-931412-64-2

Let’s get a few things straight before I begin: I don’t like Barbara G. Walker’s philosophy and way of expressing her views.  I think she has a tendency to continually compare neo-Paganism and the Goddess with the ‘big bad’ Christianity and deliberately describe and make Goddess worship into anti-Christian tripe.  Her writing (and this book is no exception) is littered with assumptions about male deities gleaned solely from her view of what Christianity is.  According to Ms. Walker “… every god in history has been simply Man writ large, usually with many of Man’s faults, such as jealousy, greed, self-conceit, and cruelty.”  She believes that women create the Goddess deliberately and self-consciously (which is fair enough) but without “pretentious phony epiphanies”.  Apparently every non-Goddess worshipping religion that claims to have epiphanies and revelations is bollocks. Well I’m glad Ms. Walker cleared that up so easily.  I also dislike Ms. Walker’s tendency to use outdated scholarship and make claims that just cannot be backed up:

“Even when patriarchal religious authorities took over older ceremonies that once celebrated the Goddess and were first created by her priestesses, men erased the signs of feminine authorship and changed the gender.  Even when priests adopted female dress in token of spiritual power, they claimed it had been their custom from the beginning.  Even when men plagiarized ancient scriptures written by women, they substituted “God” for “Goddess” and pretended that their rituals were founded on directives from “him”.” p.16

Which ceremonies are we talking about here?  Because I can think of dozens and most of them don’t celebrate “the Goddess” but a God or Goddess (usually both).  Walker really annoys me with the idea that if somebody in the ancient world was a devotee of Aphrodite they were a devotee of “the Goddess” (a recently modern invention.)  Oh, and ancient scriptures written by women…?   What the hell?!!  It’s such a shame all those scholars of history and religion missed them.  (Read: they didn’t exist in the first place.) 

Oh, and the good old myth of the Burning Times (women who were killed as witches were actually practitioners of an ancient women’s religion that worshipped the Goddess) appears a few times.  *Kim bangs her head on the table repeatedly*

Oooh, one more example of dramatically poor scholarship and rabidly immature Christian hatred before I move on to the actual review of this book:

“The Father commands the Son’s agonizing death, and the Son tamely obeys, like a good soldier following the orders of his superiors (pseudofathers) in the chain of command.  That men can be trained to do this is what makes war possible.  History confirms that patriarchal religion has always been a training ground for war.  The most warlike societies were (and are) those in which patriarchy is pronounced most divine.” p.19

I’m actually offended on behalf of any Christian out there who might read this book- what a naïve understanding of Christian theology!  What a misunderstanding of the Bible!  And what a statement at the end: people who believe in male gods cause war.  Women and Goddesses are all gentle, nurturing, and loving. 

I have just a few Goddess names for Ms. Walker:  Kali.  The Morrigan.  Erishkegal. 

If Christian-bashing and poor scholarship is what Goddess worship and women’s mysteries are based on (and that is certainly the impression this book gives me) then I for one do not want a part in it.

So, moving beyond the introduction (and trying desperately to ignore similar sentiments that are expressed throughout the book) let’s take a look at the main text of The Essential Handbook of Women’s Spirituality and Ritual.

The book gives women suggestions on how to set up and run a women’s spirituality group, and offers ideas for activities within such a group as well as for the individual woman who wishes to practice alone.  Such activities include guided meditations, rituals (for the eight Wiccan festivals, rites of passage, and rituals on themes such as sexuality, the Earth, etc), mental exercises, fun pseudo-rituals, and discussion topics.  Many of these rituals (such as the Ceremony of Masks) are pretty good ideas and would be great for a women’s group whether the members are close-knit or have only recently met.  Some activities, obviously, are designed to be transformative and therefore require more trust between the women involved however.  I dare say (though Ms. Walker would undoubtedly disagree with me) that many of the rituals and meditations could be tailored to fit a group of women and men who were interested in exploring the Divine Feminine.

Despite the anti-Christian sentiment and inability to tear herself away from outdated and false scholarship, Ms. Walker has given some great ideas and suggestions in this book.  They are refreshing and original, not to mention creative, and once you get past the bad points (as I eventually did) you can be inspired by the book.