Synopses & Reviews
From the editors of the Sweet Breathing of Plants, a new anthology of women's writing on faith and spiritualityFrom the vantage points of diverse backgrounds and beliefs, the writings gathered here describe a vast range of spiritual searches and encounters. Sy Montgomery writes about shamans, Terry Tempest Williams about her Mormon heritage, and Starhawk about witchcraft. Mary Gordon captures the attractions of the contemplative life. Ursula Le Guin speaks about the feminine aspects of the Tao te Ching. Jane Goodall reflects on the symbiosis of science and religion after experiencing an ecstatic loss of self in the company of chimpanzees. Facet by facet, these essays and poems--by Molly Peacock, Anne Sexton, Kathleen Norris, Diane Ackerman, and Joy Harjo, among others--reveal and celebrate the special relationship of women to the spiritual realm in a volume that will comfort, provoke, and inspire.
About the Author
A poet, novelist, and essayist,
Linda Hogan is the author of eleven previous books.
Brenda Peterson is the author of fifteen books, including four novels, two collections of essays, and a memoir. They live, respectively, in Colorado and Seattle.
Table of Contents
Preface
Heritage and Beyond
Around the Ka'ba and Over the Crick, Mohja Kahf
From Refuge, Terry Tempest Williams
Yemaya, Flor Fernandez Barrios
Wonder Voyages, Barbara Sjoholm
Where the Past Takes Us, Colleen J. McElroy
Shall We Gather at the River?, Brenda Peterson
Where I Come from Is Like This, Paula Gunn Allen
Women of God, Mary Gordon
Ramadan Redux, Susanne Pari
God the Mother
What Became of God the Mother?, Elaine H. Pagels
Looking Back at Lot's Wife, Rebecca Goldstein
The Medicine Woman's Daughter, Anita Endrezze
Shoplifting for Jesus, Marlene Blessing
Songline of Dawn, Joy Harjo
Native Origin, Beth Brant
Resurrection, Suzanne Edison
Have You Forgotten? I Am Your Mother, Clarissa Pinkola Estés
Holy Land0, Naomi Shihab Nye
At One with the World
The Possible Suffering of a God During Creation, Pattiann Rogers
Shamans, Sy Montgomery
Poamoho, Alison Hawthorne Deming
Healing, Jane Goodall with Phillip Berman
Imagining the Divine, Diane Ackerman
The Great Without, Linda Hogan
Cargo, Amy Schuring
Initiation, Kim Chernin
God in the Art of the Everyday
The Sound of Grace, Catherine Johnson
Rapture, Rita Kiefer
"Under My Napkin? In Sky? In Trees?", Susan Biskeborn
The Soul House, Molly Peacock
Spirit Matters, Demetria Martinez
Light, Linda Hogan
The Feminine and the Tao: A Dialogue with Ursula K. Le Guin, Brenda Peterson
The Angels, Judith Roche
Practicing
Treatise on Narcissism, Evil, Good, Free Will and the Persistence of the Idea of the Self, Marilyn Krysl
Taking Vows, Kate Wheeler
Breathing the Ancestors, Georgiana Valoyce-Sanchez
Ordinary Mysticism, Elizabeth Carothers Herron
f0Silence, Sharman Apt Russell
Witchcraft and Women's Culture, Starhawk
Re-Vamping the World, Deena Metzger
Hi'iaka Chanting, Haunani-Kay Trask
About the Contributors
Acknowledgments
Exclusive Essay
Read an exclusive essay by Brenda Peterson