From: ceci@lysator.liu.se (Cecilia Henningsson) Subject: Book review: Vicki Noble's Shakti Woman Date: Sat, 31 Jul 1993 04:45:57 GMT The cover illustration of this book is really something! I think I'm going to copy it and use it on my altar. It's a black (not brown) woman with blue nipples dancing wildly and happily, grinning, wielding a trident in one hand and a rattle in the other. Behind her the world is on fire. The artist is Mayumi Oda. And now for something dryer: Data: ===== Author: Vicki Noble Title: Shakti Woman; Feeling our Fire, Healing our World; The New Female Shamanism Copyright: 1991, Vicki Noble Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022 ISBN: 0-06-25-667-6 Categorisation: Women's studies US Price: 14.95 UK Price: 8.99 Printed on acid-free paper that meets the American National Standards Institue z39.48 Standard. (I knew you were just dying to know.) I really liked this book. Here are the chapter titles: 1. The Female Blood Roots of Shamanism 2. Cellular Shamanism: Her Body is my Body 3. Synchronicity: The Oracular Path 4. Astrology: Deep Structure of Female Shamanism 5. The Dreamer and Her Path of Power 6. Trance Journey and Spirit Flight 7. Shamanic Art: Manifestation of Creativity 8. Female-centered Sexuality: Return to the Garden 9. Shaman Mother: Artemis and her Cubs 10.Female Shamanism and the Patriarchal Possessing Entity In the first chapter she quotes Marija Gimbutas, about whom I've heard scholars scream Bloody Murder(tm) more than once, but there are quite a lot of gems between the wishful thinking, especially about menstruation. In the second chapter, Noble talks about health issues, intuition and instinct. The third chapter addresses psychic phenomena in an unusually sensible way. Chapter four is about astrology, and in particular about how a woman's period can relate to the phases of the moon. I have a problem with astrology, but a lot of what Noble says here, makes sense to me. The next chapter is about dreams, which I'm not very interested in right now. The sixth chapter is about actual shamanism; trance journeys, pathwalking and such. Noble's opinions about the use of drugs are eminently sane, in my opinion. Noble gives some valuable tips and suggestions. Chapter 7 talks a lot about how Noble and Karen Vogel made the Motherpeace tarot deck. I think it was Amanda who said that her kid could draw better than that -- it doesn't appeal to everyone. The round shape makes it a bit awkward, in my opinion, but I haven't had much to do with it. The advice in this chapter is more geared to people who think they can't draw, than to artists (the groups aren't exclusive, I know), and that is speaking from an art student's point of view. Chapter 8 made me long for my SO. Do I need to say more? Next, the ninth chapter describes Noble's mothering experience, talking about how we raise our kids, and the problems you encounter if you try to do it your way, rather than society's. I felt that Noble left out the aspect that someone raised here quite some time ago: what to do if the social authorities take your child away because of your alternative lifestyle. She also doesn't address defamation and related issues. In the last chapter there is talk about authority and how to relate to it. On the whole, this book was a joy to read. Okay, so I don't flinch when historians weave fairytales (as some people think that some historians do), I just take if for what it is, another idea about how it might have been. If you aborr "sloppy scholarship", then don't read this book, because Noble quotes Gimbutas, Merlin Stone and Daly's Gyn/Ecology all the time. On the other hand, she has notes at the end so you can get the books for yourself and read them. There's also an index. When I read this book on the train, Calle suddenly asked me if I was reading an archeology book. There are lots of drawings of archeologic finds. There are also some fine black-and-white photos, although I wish they had been bigger. That's it. It's a very inspiring book, whether you're interested in shamanism or just general NeoPaganism. The price was a bit on the steep side, though. --Ceci -- =====ceci@lysator.liu.se=========================================== Linkoeping, Sweden has an average temperature of +7C for the entire year. Average for January: -3C, for July +18C. Average precipitation for March: 30mm, for August: 70mm, for the year: 490mm.