Twilight Goddess: Spiritual Feminism and Feminine Spirituality

This book is a guided tour of the feminine principles, symbols, and imagery found in Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism, and the Sufi tradition of Islam, with insightful meditations on the deep meanings of these manifestations of the Divine. Goddess worship is among the original forms of human religious expression, and it is re-arising today among modern women and men who understand the importance of the feminine in symbol and reality. Thomas Cleary and Sartaz Aziz show how the divine feminine has never really disappeared from religion—in spite of its suppression by patriarchal culture. Whether conceptualized as divine person, saint, mythic figure, archetype, or abstract principle, the Divine Feminine inevitably arises, manifesting in hidden ways, as well as obvious ones. Some examples: Hinduism: Source of literally thousands of goddesses, including Devi, Maya, and Kali. Taoism: Characterized by the importance of the feminine yang principle (counterpart to the masculine yin) and by reverence for the Mysterious Female. Buddhism: Where the feminine is found in the supreme symbols of compassion, perfect intuition, absolute truth: the Bodhisattva Kuan-yin, or Kannon. Sufism: In which an inner tradition of feminine spirituality and reverence for women was preserved within the outwardly male-centered Islamic milieu.