Temple Projects · Reading
Recommended Reading
Books that have shaped the return of the Goddess, all still in print and available from good bookshops.
When God Was a Woman
Merlin Stone · 1976
The classic that began the modern Goddess movement: the ancient religion of the Goddess and how it was suppressed.
Also as an audiobook
The Language of the Goddess
Marija Gimbutas · 1989
An archaeologist’s richly illustrated study of the Goddess symbols of Old Europe.
The Chalice and the Blade
Riane Eisler · 1987
Partnership and domination societies, and what was lost when the Goddess cultures fell.
Also as an audiobook, read by the author
The Great Cosmic Mother
Monica Sjöö & Barbara Mor · 1987
A sweeping history of the Goddess religion around the world.
Also as an audiobook
The Myth of the Goddess: Evolution of an Image
Anne Baring & Jules Cashford · 1991
A beautifully written history of the Goddess from the Palaeolithic to the Virgin Mary.
The Great Mother: An Analysis of the Archetype
Erich Neumann · 1955
A Jungian classic on the Great Mother archetype, traced through art and myth from the Stone Age on.
Woman’s Mysteries, Ancient and Modern
M. Esther Harding · 1935
The Moon Goddess and the inner life of women, through ancient myth and ritual.
Also as an audiobook
The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe
Marija Gimbutas · 1974
Gimbutas’s first great study of the Goddess figurines and symbols of Neolithic Europe.
Goddesses: Mysteries of the Feminine Divine
Joseph Campbell · 2013
Campbell’s lectures on the Goddess, from Old Europe to the Virgin Mary, published after his death.
The Spiral Dance
Starhawk · 1979
The essential book on Goddess ritual and practice.
Goddesses in Everywoman
Jean Shinoda Bolen · 1984
The Goddess archetypes as living patterns in women’s lives.
Also as an audiobook
Women Who Run With the Wolves
Clarissa Pinkola Estés · 1992
The Wild Woman archetype, told through myth and story.
Also as a shorter audio edition, read by the author
Priestess of Avalon, Priestess of the Goddess
Kathy Jones · 2006
Priestess training from the founder of the Glastonbury Goddess Temple.
Bodhisattva of Compassion: The Mystical Tradition of Kuan Yin
John Blofeld · 1977
The standard book on Kuan Yin, Mother of Compassion.
Cover images courtesy of Open Library.
Claim your Priestess self. Find out all you can about the ancient foremothers and foresisters of your land; where the Temples were; how the Priestesses lived in the Temples; what were their songs and stories. Find the old women and ask them… they know.
Anique Radiant Heart
