Goddess Unmasked: The Rise of Neopagan Feminist Spirituality

An important new book provides the first critical evaluation by a qualified scholar of the theological, anthropological, and historical claims of the "Goddess" movement, the most influential form of radical feminist spirituality. As its acolytes both within and without traditional churches grow in number, Goddess spirituality is one of the striking religious success stories of our day. Yet few have examined its purported ancient pedigree or its promises of sexual justice and social harmony, claims now exposed as a ridiculous but dangerous sham.

This book describes and analyzes the contemporary Goddess movement and outlines its broader significance in the current "culture wars." Davis challenges Goddess spirituality's claim to have been man's primordial religion, fostering peaceful, egalitarian civilizations until Indo-Europeans and Hebrews replaced it with patriarchal sky-gods and warlike social systems. He exposes the complete want of archaeological evidence for this claim, revealing the movement's true roots in the radical Romanticism of the nineteenth century-roots it shares with many a modern cultural pathology. Comparing it with genuine goddess religions of Asia and with other forms of Western neopaganism, Davis debunks Goddess spirituality's fraudulent promises of a new age of peace and justice.

As the century closes, Goddess spirituality has spread far beyond the exotic confines of witchcraft and environmental cults. In particular, it has infiltrated traditional Western religious bodies, academia, and medicine. Goddess Unmasked provides a long-overdue critique of this potent and disturbing malignancy.