reviews by Marcianne Miller
An Anthology of Writings on Priestesses
I was an extremely religious child. I knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up — a priest.
I would wear lacy vestments in season-matched colors and convert entire villages of pagans, whatever they were. I knew Jesus would certainly hear my prayers and change the rules of the Catholic Church in time for my ordination.
Guess what? No luck. Here we are in the 21st century and the Catholic Church, even with its populist new leader, Pope Francs, still doesn’t allow women to be priests. It’s not an exaggeration to say that my realization that I would never get to be a priest inspired my life-long feminism.
I didn’t know about being a priestess. Heck, I’d barely heard the word until I changed careers from TV production to archaeology, where I discovered the work of Lithuanian-American archaeologist Marija Gimbutas (1921-1994). Her controversial theories (The Civilization of the Goddess and others) about a woman-centric culture in “Old Europe” revolutionized the study of ancient history and helped to inspire the modern Goddess movement.
Not until I moved from Los Angeles to Asheville did I meet a real-live priestess. Now I am happy to say that I know quite a few. In fact, Asheville is a haven for priestesses.
I just read a wonderful book that I wish had been available to me decades ago. I want to cheer about it in the hopes that all other women with a calling to priestess might also read it.
Stepping Into Ourselves: An Anthology of Writings on Priestesses (www.goddess-ink.com), includes 80 beautifully written poems and prose pieces, ranging from personal memoirs to academic treatises to practical tips (such as rituals and spiritual tools) on how to be a priestess.
The scope of the book is truly astounding. I had no idea how many priestesses there are in the U.S., nor how many different types of priestess roles women have chosen to follow. You can be a ritualist, or a guardian, a healer, a teacher, a spell-maker, a fire tender and more. You can even be a tree priestess. There’s no strict definition of what a priestess is, or can be. One thing for sure, it seems, that if you are a priestess, you’ll end up doing a lot of the work in any group activity.
There are ancient priestess lineages, of course, and the pieces on Neolithic and Mesoamerica priestesses are some of the best explanations I’ve ever read. The spiritualities in the book are mostly eclectic or pagan or Goddess-honoring (Dianic). But some of the most interesting articles are about how priestessing has been revived in Judaism. For me personally, as for many women in Asheville (descendants of the ancient Celts), the essays on Celtic priestessing are something to put into daily use.
The anthology was edited by two scholarly women, Anne Key and Candace Kant, who also happened to be priestesses at The Temple of Goddess Spirituality Dedicated to Sekhmet, in the Nevada desert (www.sekhmetttemple.com). The substantial volume (592 pages) includes the work of over 50 writers, some of whom are my favorites. There are several poems by Patricia Monaghan (1946-2012), activist, mentor, scholar, who wrote more than 20 books on Goddess and Celtic spirituality, including the must-have Encyclopedia of Goddesses and Heroines.
One author I know personally is Kim Duckett, Ph.D., priestess/teacher in Asheville. She’s a moving force behind the Land and Sky Chapter of RCGI (Reformed Congregation of the Goddess), whose motherhouse is in Madison, WI. (www.rcgi.org). Trained in both women’s psychology and Goddess spirituality, Duckett has had more than 20 years experience working with women in group settings, including her popular courses on The Wheel of the Year, the annual cycle of the seasons.
Her anthology article, “As Within, So Without: Some Psychological Aspects to Priestessing,” is a wise woman’s look at the joys and the conflicts that can happen in women’s groups – meaning, simply, women’s groups can have the same kinds of personal dynamics other groups have, and like all relationships, including one-on-ones, groups with priestesses can change over time.
Her advice to women who feel a call to priestess? “Find a teacher,” she says. “Someone you trust and value and who mentors women. She will have access to a community so that you can be trained. It’s very hard to have a call and feel you have nowhere to go…
“And I believe in getting an education in women’s or Goddess spirituality. Women need to know about things like racism and classism to be good priestesses.”
The working title of Duckett’s first book, out next year with Goddess Ink, is The Wheel of the Year as an Earth-Based Psychology for Women. For more information, send an email to followheartkd@hotmail.com
And, let’s not forget our former Rapid River Magazine book columnist, Byron Ballard. She and other priestesses are members of the Mother Grove Goddess Temple in Asheville. They hold public rituals and private classes of interest to women wanting to know more about priestessing. More information at www.mothergroveavl.org.
Stepping Into Ourselves: An Anthology of Writings on Priestesses; edited by Anne Key and Candace Kant; Goddess Ink (2014); 592 pages.
Amazon Warriors Alive and Well Today?
Diane Morgan Ph.D. is an Oxford professor of philology, the study of written texts.
When she is lured by a large fee and the promise of seeing a heretofore unknown language, she throws off her Ivory Tower inhibitions and heads off to a recently discovered ancient temple in the sands of Algeria.
What follows is a non-stop adventure (think DaVinci Code) filled with danger, derring-do, nasty villains, family secrets, a tall, dark, handsome son of a billionaire — and lots of super-athletic women, who appear without warning, seemingly bent on sending Dr. Morgan to Hades, if not back to Oxford.
While Dr. Morgan is traveling the globe in the digital age, author Susan Fortier tells a parallel story — back in the Bronze Age, fearless Amazon Queen Myrina escapes the ruins of Troy and rides on horseback with her sisterhood for safety in the far north.
Oh, this is terrific storytelling — and hearing it on audio (Random House, 19 CDs, 24 hours) with talented narrator Cassandra Campbell, makes the exciting twists and turns in the complex tale absolutely spellbinding. In addition to entertaining you, The Lost Sisterhood will make you so enamored of the feats of physically fit women you’ll want to join their ranks.
The Lost Sisterhood, written by Anne Fortier, Ballantine Books (2014), 585 pages.
New Mystery by Sallie Bissell
Among our many noted local authors is one of the best mystery writers in the country, Sallie Bissell.
Her masterfully written stories about prosecuting attorney Mary Crow, set in the North Carolina mountains, are not for the lily-livered — they’re headline-inspired, tense, hard-edged, often violent, and Mary always ends up in really big trouble.
Bissell’s newest Mary Crow novel, Deadliest of Sins (Midnight Ink, 2014), is a riveting mystery involving murder, homophobia, conspiracy and the strange history of Highway 74. Bissell is also the host of Malaprop’s Mystery Book Club, which meets the second Monday of the month at 7 p.m.
If You Go: Sallie Bissell reading and booksigning, Wednesday, April 23 at 7 p.m. Malaprop’s Bookstore & Cafe, 55 Haywood Street, downtown. Call (828) 254-6734, or visit www.malaprops.com.