The Divine Feminine: Recovering the Feminine Face of God Around the World

I find this book simple and profound, beautiful and informative. It is a book I will return to again and again for there are so many inroads to access the information, i.e. images, ritualistic hymns, poems and the beautiful artwork to be reflected on and contemplated. Harvey and Baring get right to the point of how the divine feminine is situated within each religious community. The text is well written and provides insight as to why there is so much anxiety about the body in contemporary culture.

I am not a feminist or even a woman, but I have come to value the simple fact that making God only male gives high standards to male characture traits and those traits being carried forward as "divine", i.e. violence , war, domination of women and children. I do not say that violence and opression is a completely male arena, but I think we have a good sized near-monopoly on those vices. Thinking of God as a nurturing mother ,kind and caring to her children makes striving to be like God, a goal that would truly change the world into a better place. A great historical study and a great break from the Boys club of the three mono-thesistic religions.