Annalisa’s Suggested Goddess Reading List

Hi there!

Welcome to my suggested Goddess Reading List.

There are so many great books on the Goddess that it is somewhat difficult to narrow it down. For that reason, I am providing a general reading list and also a select reading list by goddess. 

Please Note: Many of the books I recommend are to some degree scholastic. But! All of them are readable and enjoyable to anyone inside or outside of academia.

Currently Reading:

General Goddess book recommendations:

1) “Awakening Shakti” by Sally Kempton. If you want to understand what the Goddess is, then I suggest reading this book!

2) “Goddess: Mysteries of the Feminine Divine” by Joseph Campbell

This book is a collection of his lectures on the Goddess. It was, essentially, my introduction into the Goddess. It is also a book that I return to from time to time for inspiration. I greatly appreciate JC’s unique way of emphasizing cross-cultural patterns and the psychological-spiritual meaning behind myths and mythic figures. Though not without a bit of controversy, JC was a brilliant comparative mythologist who truly believed that human beings could transform themselves through the wisdom of myth.

3) “The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image” by Jules Cashford and Ann Baring.

4) “Encyclopedia of Goddesses and Heroines” by Patricia Monaghan, PhD

Just a great all-around resource. She organizes by tradition, but you can use the index to find a goddess by attribute (i.e. sun goddess) or simply by name. I would trust any work written by her.

5) “The Living Goddess” by Marija Gimbutas

Marija Gimbutas was an archeo-mythologist who dared to theorize that the people of Neolithic Old Europe and Anatolia were egalitarian and worshipped a Great Goddess. This GG was likely a prototype for the later goddess figures that we know today. She had, and still has, many critics in mainstream archeology, but I find her theories fascinating, plausible, and liberating!

6) “The Creation of Patriarchy” by Gerda Lerner

This book is been monumental in creating a solid theoretical framework for the development of patriarchy in the West and how it has impacted the lives of women and the role of the Great Goddess in culture.

Goddess Anthologies

“The Politics of Women’s Spirituality” Edited by Charlene Spretnak

“Weaving the Visions” Edited by Judith Plaskow and Carol P. Christ

“ Womanspirit Rising” Edited by Carol P. Christ and Judith Plaskow

These three books feature a variety of essays, poems, and visions by the “Founding Mothers” of Goddess Spirituality. These books offer context, including an historical understanding of the Goddess; how to make meaning of the Goddess and why that is important for modern women; and most important, they present the voices and experiences of women from many different traditions—not simply those of from the Judeo-Christian world. With these books, you can learn from multiple lineages and lineage holders such as Paula Allen Gunn, Gloria Anzaldúa, and Luisah Teish.

Goddess recommendations by tradition and goddess:

Mary Magdalene

Okay, it’s no secret that I am a Mary Magdalene devotee and I could recommend book after book after book. But, knowing what I know now, here are three books that I would recommend people start with:

“The Woman with the Alabaster Jar” by Margaret Starbird for a well-researched approach to Mary Magdalene as bride to Christ.

“The Meaning of Mary Magdalene” by Cynthia Bourgeault for a mystical Christian approach.

“The Gospel of Mary of Magdala” by Karen L. King for a thorough academic approach.

I have a full list of recommendations here: https://www.sheislove.com/mary-magdalene-celebration

Mesopotamia: Inanna & Ereshkigal

“Inanna, Queen of Heaven and Earth” by Diane Wolkenstein and Samuel Noah Kramer. A beautiful collaboration between folklorist and Assyriologist. Poetic, historical, and psycho-spiritual.

“Descent to the Goddess: A Way of Initiation for Women” by Sylvia Breton Perera. A feminist Jungian approach to meeting the unconscious feminine, or “underworld” goddess within. Mostly psychological, but also spiritual and historical.

“Uncursing the Dark” and “Inanna, Lady of the Largest Heart” by Betty DeShong Meador. A reclamation of the wisdom of the goddess of death as well as the repressed aspect of women’s psyches and archetypal expressions; that which has been labeled “dangerous” by patriarchy.

Greek Goddesses

“The Goddess” by Christine Downing. Full disclosure, she is a professor at my graduate institution.

Hawaiian Tradition: Pele

“Pele, Goddess of Hawai’i’s Volcanoes” by Herb Kawainui Kane

Hinduism

“Awakening Shakti” by Sally Kempton. Love this book.

“The Goddess in India” by Devdutt Pattanaik

“Hindu Goddesses” by David R. Kinsley

Buddhism

“Wisdom Rising” by Lama Tsultrim Allione

“Dakini’s Warm Breath” by Judith Simmer Brown

“Buddhist Goddesses of India” by Miranda Shaw

Black Madonnas

“Black Madonnas: Feminism, religion, and politics in Italy” by Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum

African and African Diaspora Spirituality

“The Architects of Existence: Aje in Yoruba Cosmology, Ontology, and Orature” by Teresa N. Washington.

“Iyanifa Woman of Wisdom: Insights from the Priestesses of the Ifa Orisha Tradition, Their Stories and Plight for the Divine Feminine” by Ayele Fa'Se'guntunde' Kumari Ph.D. (Author).

Yeye Gogo Nana (Contributor), Kpojito Aina Olomo (Contributor), Verda Olayinka (Contributor), Vassa Olufadeke (Contributor), Iya Awo Falola (Contributor), Ifafunmike Osunbunmi Alake Oyegbade (Contributor), Yeye Luisah Teish (Contributor), Yeye OlaOsun V. Lakesin EdD (Contributor), Iyanla Vanzant JD (Contributor)

“The Divine Horsemen: Living Gods of Haiti” by Maya Deren. A slightly dated book but very good introduction to Haitian Vodun.

Ecofeminism

If you want to understand the connection between the treatment of the planet and women under patriarchy. Timely in terms of understanding the psychological components behind climate change.

“Gaia and God” by Rosemary Radford Ruether

“Ecofeminism” by Vandana Shiva and Maria Mies

“Reweaving the World” edited by Irene Diamond and Gloria Feman Orenstein

Three books I have not yet read in Full but have been recommended to me by grad school collogues:

9) “The Chalice and the Blade” by Raine Eisler. A classic.

10) “The Spiral Dance” by Starhawk. An ecofeminist, permaculturist and Earth-based spirituality practitioner.

11) “Dancing in the Flames” by Marion Woodman. She was a deeply treasured Jungian analyst and teacher who taught on the subject of feminine consciousness.

HAPPY READING!