The Great Goddess: Reverence of the Divine Feminine from the Paleolithic to the Present

Rating:
Summary: Don't Bother, This Book Stinks
Review: I bought this book with great interest; with all the goddess books out there written by women, I wanted to see how a man viewed this subject. I must tell you that I couldn't finish this book. The author put me off with several idiotic statements. He calls the Sheela-Na-Gigs "terrifying". He calls the Willendorf Venus stautes, "monsterous." ?????? This man obviously has problems with women. He also states that when Eve was thrown out of Eden, and God told her she would be ruled by her husband, that this meant that from now on, women would have to pursue men for sex. ??????? I'm not making this up, it's in the book!
This is the worst book about the goddess I have ever attempted to read, and I wouldn't recommend it or it's author to anyone who is on the goddess path.

Rating:
Summary: Well worth the reading effort
Review: This is a book that I bought after reading Markale's previous book Women of the Celts. I have to admit first that it was dry in some areas but picked up in others. Much of his focus is from a scholarly level and he focuses mostly on the many images of the Feminine Divine in both Art and sculputer. The purpose of his book I believe is to show that while the image and focus of the Goddess changed that she did not completely vanish but simply took on a new form. This book shows that the people's love for the Goddess was so strong that she could not be rid of by those who sought to destroy both Her worship and image.
As to the previous review it was said that Markale refered to the Sheela and "Terrifying" etc...This is true for to many people within the current mind set the sheela can be a terrifying image as can be many of the faces of the Goddess. Markale was not calling the Goddess names or making nasty judgements but I believe was attempting to show how she was viewed by others and that yes these images can give us feeling of terror due to our hiding away those parts of both ourselves and the goddess.
I say read the book for yourself and make your own judgement. Not half bad.

Rating:
Summary: Well worth the reading effort
Review: This is a book that I bought after reading Markale's previous book Women of the Celts. I have to admit first that it was dry in some areas but picked up in others. Much of his focus is from a scholarly level and he focuses mostly on the many images of the Feminine Divine in both Art and sculputer. The purpose of his book I believe is to show that while the image and focus of the Goddess changed that she did not completely vanish but simply took on a new form. This book shows that the people's love for the Goddess was so strong that she could not be rid of by those who sought to destroy both Her worship and image.
As to the previous review it was said that Markale refered to the Sheela and "Terrifying" etc...This is true for to many people within the current mind set the sheela can be a terrifying image as can be many of the faces of the Goddess. Markale was not calling the Goddess names or making nasty judgements but I believe was attempting to show how she was viewed by others and that yes these images can give us feeling of terror due to our hiding away those parts of both ourselves and the goddess.
I say read the book for yourself and make your own judgement. Not half bad.