Book Review: The Spiral Dance
Title: The Spiral Dance
Author: Starhawk
Reviewer: Sabrina Gould
E-mail: [email protected]
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
ISBN: 0-06-251632-9
Book Subject: Paganism/Wicca/Goddess spirituality/Earth spirituality
Where it can be found: This book can be found at almost any bookstore, online and otherwise. It is sometimes available in libraries - I originally found it at the Sir Wilfred Grenfell library in Corner Brook.
Rating: 6.5 for those new to paganism, 7.5 for more experienced pagans.
Recommendation: Recommended
Reason for Recommendation:
This book covers many, many basics or paganism, including mythology, origins, ritual structure and design, correspondences, spells, and pagan activism. It details the common beliefs and practices of paganism, but the author also stresses personal autonomy and creativity.
General Review:
This book is a good introduction to those new to paganism, and also gives experienced pagans new things to consider. The book has information on deities, origin stories, coven structure, ritual structure, and beliefs. Many 'Paganism 101' books cover the basics, but never go into detail or extrapolate on them. Starhawk gives an in depth insight on pretty much everything. She writes in an intelligent, creative, anecdotal and poetic format. Another thing that sets her above many 'Pagan 101' books is that she gives many examples from personal experience. This book is also a good introduction to pagan activism, politics and feminism.
That being said, my main issue with the book was gender differentiation. When Starhawk originally wrote this book, she was primarily exploring feminism and Goddess spirituality, and this gives the book a very heavy gynocentric slant. That in itself is fine; religion has too long minimized or completely subverted womens' place in spirituality. However, the author made a lot of gender categorization; she attributed certain traits as feminine, and others as masculine. Starhawk emphasized 'male energy' and 'female energy. She talked of the polarity of masculine and feminine, and her belief that everyone had a male side and a female side. These ideas pervaded the whole book. I'm of the opinion that male/female differences are primarily biological and culturally induced, and that having an inner male/female is a good METAPHOR for healing societal conditioning about gender. However, in the book these ideas are described literally as opposed to figuratively and metaphorically. I also felt that the role of men and male deities could have been talked about more.
However, if you read the commentary at the back, you'll read that Starhawk has since rejected these ideas. She says she no longer believes in masculine/feminine traits, male/female sides to the personality, Jungian gender archetypes of anima/animus, or male/female energies. I still feel that mens' spirituality is under- emphasized in the book. The emphasis of Goddess-spirituality and female separatism in the pagan community was and is a positive thing. However, I sometimes fear the balance may swing too far the other way. Patriarchy was a flawed system; I do not believe matriarchy would be entirely lacking in flaws. I wish for a society where power and responsibility are shared equally between men and women.
My main concern with the book is that new pagans may read this book and conclude there isn't much of a place for men in paganism/Wicca, and that men play a subservient role to women in a matriarchal gender reversal of power. This is not the first book I would recommend to a new pagan. I would recommend newbies read Margot Adler's Drawing Down the Moon before reading Starhawk, as it gives a less biased perspective. However, I do recommend this as an introductory book based on the way Starhawk covers introductory topics. And I love the fact that she continually recommends eclecticism, creating your own beliefs and rituals, changing beliefs and rituals to fit your spiritual path, and egalitarian power groups with minimal hierarchy. So, in conclusion, I recommend this book more for the strong-minded pagans than for the beginning impressionable. However, I still think this is one of the best written pagan books on the market, and definitely worth the read.
Last Updated: June 3, 2004
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