Sacred Woman, Sacred Dance: Awakening Spirituality Through Movement and Ritual

Many years ago when I first realized in a crystalline moment that I was one with the Universe, I was alone in a dew-wet field at sunrise with a very large old tree, and I suddenly and gently percieved that the tree was dancing with the Universe and I allowed myself to join in the dance. Ever since that time dance has been an important part of my spiritual expression and discovery. I am pleased to have come across this wonderful book by Iris J. Stewart because it is a treasure for any dancing soul. It is filled with inspiring illustrations from ancient to modern times of dance as a soulful pursuit of sacred knowledge. The author, herself a dancer, has written beautifully about her own experiences awakening to the spiritual aspects of movement as well as the history and applications of this creative and feminine form of spiritual expression. She introduces the reader to the dancing Goddess and the dancing Priestesses. She introduces us to some of the pioneer dancing divas like Isadora Duncan and Martha Graham and Mata Hari. We meet women from many cultures dancing evocative and colorful prayers to the Goddess. She inspires and invites us to allow ourselves to be moved and to follow that impulse into movement. She shows some of the many applications of the dance in theology, and in the art of healing, expressing lament, and in celebrating the coming of age among other creative uses. She has fresh and moving ideas for creating rites and offers descriptions of dances one can perform for moon rites and labyrinth meditations. She discusses the role of costumes and drumming. There is a brilliant chapter on the Dance of the Elements with lively and clear instructions for each of Earth, Air, Water, and Fire. The back of the book has a thorough list of resources that include addresses, phone numbers and websites that are concerned with sacred dance including a list of pilgrimage/study tours. The writing is so interesting and filled with details about the female experience of the sacred that even if one is not particularly interested in dance one will still be enriched by this contact with women for whom it is a part of Life. I recommend it to any woman who wishes to know herself better and to thereby know her sisters better. It is a joyous expression of the feminine vibration and one that should not be missed.

This is an extraordinary book. Just picking the book up for the first time, we see that it is filled with illustrations, from the most ancient to the most contemporary, of the sacred dances of the world's greatest cultural traditions. We are struck immediately by the powerful, feminine nature of dance, ultimately the celebration of the mystery of the feminine. The text, at once scholarly, informed, personal and at times touching the ecstatic, takes us to the inner spirit of the dance as a uniquely feminine expression. Lines like the following from the book leap out at the reader: "The belly dance in the context of the birth ritual...was done not to project eroticism or to present the woman as a lure but to display a consciousness of the wonder of birth and the awesom power of motherhood." (p. 83)This book definitely opens our eyes to the sacred nature of dance and to its importance down through the ages for celebrating and teaching the great mysteries that defy verbal expression or scientific scrutiny. If we dare take it seriously, and Iris Stewart gives us every reason that we should, then it may be one of the most effective ways open to us for healing our relationship to nature.Because the book is so beautifully designed and illustrated, in an oversized format, it is a wonderful gift--but not your usual "gift book" or innocuous "coffee table" book. Its beauty extends deep into a brilliant text.

I found this wonderful book while taking up the dance after a 25 year period of no dance in my life. It is like an instruction manual for awakening movement. Each chapter has an activity at the end that seems to break down old inhibitions and moldy ideas that crept in during the years I sacrificed for my family.The author and other individuals who contributed to the writing of this wonderful work gently encouraged me. As a practicing Buddhist,I found the Dance of The Twentyone Tara's very inspiring. I have contacted the creator of that dance and she returned contact with me. It is a living link between ancient times and tangeble resources available today!Happy Dancing one and all.

What a beautiful compilation! As an academic, I was very pleased with the author's thorough examination of the history of women and dance. It was enlightening -- filled with numerous facts, perspectives, and accounts that I had not come across anywhere else. And the photos/pictures!! This book tells a beautiful story through images and words. Highly recommended.

Iris Stewart has done a fine job of illustrating the history of women and sacred dance from paleolithic to modern cultures. The book is a visual delight because of its many photographs and drawings. Ms. Stewart has portrayed forms of ritual, liturgical dance, belly dancing, the Dances of Universal Peace and other modern forms of sacred movement.I have been involved with sacred dance for over 30 years and I found this book to be very informative. I also appreciated the exercises that are given throughout the book to encourage the reader to experience some form of sacred body movement.