Goddess


Book Description

In Goddess more than 30 Martha Graham dancers recall the complex experience of studying, working and performing with this small giant of a woman. They represent all the decades of the Graham era, from the twenties into the nineties, and their commentary illuminates the creation and performance of such now classic Graham works as Heretic, Primitive Mysteries, Letter to the World, Deaths and Entrances, Herodiade, Appalachian Spring, Dark Meadow, Cave of the Heart, Night Journey, Diversion of Angels and Clytemnestra. As the artists relive their time with Graham, their words and voices sound with stunning authenticity, while the incidents and the emotions they remember range from moments of exaltation and exhilaration to those of humiliation and fury. Throughout this remarkable oral history, legendary dancers show us Martha Graham as she has never been seen before - at work and in love, giving and demanding, inspiring and imperious, and as a presence that will always be with them.




The Dancing Goddesses: Folklore, Archaeology, and the Origins of European Dance


Book Description

A fascinating exploration of an ancient system of beliefs and its links to the evolution of dance. From Southern Greece to northern Russia, people living in agrarian communities have long believed in “dancing goddesses,” mystical female spirits who spend their nights and days dancing in the fields and forests. In The Dancing Goddesses, archaeologist, linguist, and lifelong folkdancer Elizabeth Wayland Barber follows the trail of these spirit maidens—long associated with fertility, marriage customs, and domestic pursuits—from their early appearance in traditional folktales and harvest rituals to their more recent incarnations in fairytales and present-day dance. Illustrated with photographs, maps, and line drawings, the result is a brilliantly original work that stands at the intersection of archaeology and folk traditions—at once a rich portrait of our rich agrarian ancestry and an enchanting reminder of the human need to dance.




The Goddess of Dance


Book Description

When Princess Gul'Agdar of Dhagabad begins studying the ancient magic of the Sacred Dance, she has no idea that this seemingly innocent act is the first step on the treacherous path to immortality, absolute powerNand slavery. Even her beloved Hasan cannot save her this time, as his enemies lure him into the mysterious True Library, destined to trap all-powerful wizards in a magical desert beyond this world.




Dancer for the Goddess


Book Description

Zaia is a gifted and willful girl who goes to the Temple of Kernoss to become a dancer in spite of her mother's strong opposition. There, her considerable skill is shaped and Zaia becomes the best Dancer in her city. When Zaia is of age she takes a five-year pledge to go on the road, dancing in towns and villages too small to have a Dance Temple of their own. In leaving, Zaia parts with everything she has ever known and embarks on a journey that will change her forever. Zaia lives in a society where women are respected and revered and the Goddess is worshipped. But a shadow hangs over that world. Patriarchal invasions from the north have already begun to make incursions and threaten everything that Zaia holds sacred. Author Diana Rivers is a Lambda Literary Awards finalist and a winner of the Golden Crown Literary Award for Speculative Fiction.




Moon Goddess Dance


Book Description

Who will help the Moon Goddess with her magic potion? Follow the journey of a little one who mistakenly spills the potion and runs away in a panic. The chase that follows shows the power of magic as the child becomes different animals in an effort to escape. But will it work? Based on the Celtic tale of Taliesin and Goddess Cerridwen.




Dancing Goddess


Book Description

Blending theory, criticism, and ritual, reveals the foundations of the ancient tradition of "matriarchal art," and shows how that tradition flourishes in the works of major contemporary women artists and in contemporary women's spirituality.




Dancer, Nun, Ghost, Goddess


Book Description

Dancer, Nun, Ghost, Goddess explores the Tale of the Heike episode of the dancers Giō and Hotoke, which first appeared in the fourteenth century and went on to inspire, in often unpredictable ways, countless artistic productions in subsequent centuries.




Pagan Portals - Dancing with Nemetona


Book Description

Nemetona is an ancient goddess whose song is heard deep within the earth and also deep within the human soul. She is the Lady of Sanctuary, of Sacred Groves and Sacred Spaces. She is present within the home, within our sacred groves, our rites and in all the spaces that we hold dear to our hearts. She also lies within, allowing us to feel at ease wherever we are in the world through her energy of holding, of transformation. She holds the stillness and quiet of a perfect day; she is the stillness at the end of it, when the blackbird sings to the dusk. She is the energy of sacred space, where we can stretch out our souls and truly come alive, to be who we wish to be, filled with the magic of potential. Rediscover this ancient goddess and dance with a Druid to the songs of Nemetona. Learn how to reconnect with this goddess in ritual, songs, chants, meditation and more. ,




The Spiral Dance


Book Description

Explores the growth, suppression, and modern reemergence of witchcraft as a religion, demystifying a misunderstood and maligned tradition and pointing out its relationship to feminism.




Dancing in the Flames


Book Description

Dark, earthy, and immensely powerful, the Black Goddess has been a key force in world history, manifesting in images as diverse as the Indian goddess Kali and the Black Madonnas of medieval Europe. She embodies the energy of chaos and creativity, creation and destruction, death and rebirth. Images of Her, however, have been conspicuously missing in the Western world for centuries—until now, when awareness of the Goddess is re-arising in many spheres, from the women's movement to traditional religion, from the new discoveries of quantum physics to the dreams of ordinary men and women. Why now particularly? The answer provided by Marion Woodman and Elinor Dickson is bold and thrilling: the reemergence of the Divine Feminine in our time indicates our readiness to move to an entirely new level of consciousness. The reemerging Goddess calls for a shattering of rigid categories, a willingness to hold opposition. She calls us to marry reason and order to creativity, and to embrace the chaos that can ultimately lead to wisdom and transformation on personal and global levels.