Living in the Lap of Goddess: The Feminist Spirituality Movement in America

Cynthia Eller's "Living in the Lap of the Goddess" was an early 1990's study that drew broad contours for the feminist spirituality movement, even as it claimed to define more the centers of practice rather than the periphery. Eller distributed a questionnaire, available in the appendix, and interviewed a number of both well-known and (for a lack of a better term) entry-level participants in the feminist spirituality movement. The early chapters are devoted to discussing the different ways women came to the movement in their own voices, whether through gradualism, serendipity, or acute crisis. Contemporary Paganism's role in feminist spirituality is given its own chapter, as are the ethics of affinities and appropriations across racial, religious, and cultural lines, and a general sociological makeup of the movement at that time. Eller reinforces the notion that ritual, rather than belief, tends to hold feminist spirituality together, specifically collective ritual that has a very Wiccan structure to it, although other forms, such as talking circles and guided meditations are covered as well. Some attention is given to solitary work, magic, and thealogy. Thealogical emphases are immanence, pantheism, functional polytheism and parthenogenic cosmogony. As in her discussion of ethics, the ethical dimensions of magic and hexing are emphasized. Eller refers to language used by practiioners, but sometimes fails to define it. For example, one name used for those willing to use magic to both hurt and heal are referred to as "Aradians," without reference to Charles Leland's "Aradia: Or The Gospel of the Witches," a 19th century document that chronicles the divine power of witches to cause harm to oppressors by magical means. Much of the focus of the movement is somatic, including what some might see as a pre-occupation with bodies. But for Eller's participants this too is a matter of coming home, of attempting to re-member themselves first to their immanent experience of living as a healthy, rather than an estranged, connection. And the first step to this, at this time, was articulating a gynocentral myth of ancient matriarchy or "partnership" societies, which Eller summarizes in one chapter. She would later spend an entire volume critiquing this myth. Perhaps related to this is her presentation of the debate between those feminists who find ecofeminist political power in feminist spirituality, and those who find it yet another form of distraction from the material reality of women's lives--yet another form of anodyne escapism. Yet Eller implicitly takes sides in this debate by finishing her volume and revisiting the subject of why feminist spirituality is here and what roles it fulfills, in a more concrete sense of her own conclusions, rather than the voices of the women who were first introduced in the beginning of the book. The volume is a necessary addition to all who are researching feminist spirituality in the United States of any stripe, and p

Like all scrupulously fair journalism, Cynthia Eller's very readable survey, LIVING IN THE LAP OF THE GODDESS, THE FEMINIST SPIRITUALITY MOVEMENT IN AMERICA, is bound to please and offend in equal measure. Using a decade of research (largely literary but also including personal interviews), Eller attempts to generalize about the feminist spirituality movement in the United States. While her tone is respectful, her eyes are wide open, and inevitably some of her observations must irritate some members of the movement. Her good will, however, seems evident and her information appears to be accurate. Her approach is comprehensive, considering topics from ritual to theology, history to psychology, sociology to magic. The book is an easy read, mostly straight reporting enriched by a little analysis in areas such as psychology of religion. The greatest limitation of the book is that it was published in the early 1990's and does not reflect developments during the last 6-7 years. However, as an even-handed introduction to feminist spirituality, it is still very useful. Unlike most books written by insiders in the movement, it includes information on the historical development of this alternate religion and focuses on issues on which spiritual feminists disagree. For anyone interested in learning just who those "Goddess worshippers" are (witches? pagans? New Agers? flakes?), what they believe, what they do, LIVING IN THE LAP OF THE GODDESS is an excellent beginning.