Goddess Unmasked: The Rise of Neopagan Feminist Spirituality

by Philip G. Davis

Book Overview

Goddess Unmasked provides the first critical evaluation by a qualified scholar of the theological, anthropological, and historical claims of the "Goddess" movement. This timely book reveals how... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0965320898
• ISBN13: 9780965320894
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Spence Publishing Company
• Length: 418 Pages
• Weight: 1.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

very current topic

This is a very readable and informative book. The best review I have read on this book is by Hal G.P. Colebatch. Excerpt: In this book Professor Philip G. Davis, a Canadian academic, proves with compelling scholarship that the present-day "goddess" cults have no detectable linkage with any ancient pagan beliefs. Apart from being anti-Christian anyway, they have no association with even the traditions and dignity of classical paganism. Advocates of "goddess" and other feminist and New Age religions have generally tried to claim some ancientry behind their beliefs. However, on investigation this dissolves. Evidence for the worship of a great or supreme Mother Goddess in the ancient world or in ancient Europe simply does not exist. The story that modern witchcraft cults are the descendants of something sometimes called "the old religion" (which has allegedly been slandered and driven underground by the oppressive forces of Christianity) is false and manufactured... ...The wicca cult in England, far from being ancient, appears to have been the creation of one Gerald Gardner, who died only in 1964 (typically, claiming a doctorate from the University of Singapore from a date before it existed), and who was an associate of the Satanist Alister Crowley. It was Gardner who concocted the spurious figure of nine million alleged victims of witch hunts. Much of English wicca actually seems concerned with men getting women to take their clothes off (The late great English satirist Peter Simple created in his Daily Telegraph column gallery of targets a "thoroughly nice" British coven with Satan dropping in for tea and seed-cakes.) [...]

Excellent Read Very Informative

Despite the obvious christian affiliation of the author, the material presented is unbiased, factual, and accurately summarized. A wonderful debunking of many of the most pervasive pseudo histories in modern western culture.

most comprehensive study ever written

I am familiar with Professor Davis' work from attending classes at our unversity. This started an interest in the new age and where it might lead us. This book is an excellent starting point for anyone similarly interested who would like to avoid the rabid anti-new age 'research' usually available. The Goddess Unmasked leaps over the pitfalls commonly associated with discussions of this type of material.No name-calling, just an analysis of the Goddess movment, where it came from, and where it might lead us.

A Solid, Well-researched History of Ideas

"Goddess Unmasked" has two main parts. The first, a description of the standard "goddess history": the claim that the first religion was worship of a single goddess, that peace-loving matriarchies were focibly overthrown by bad old warlike patriachy and all that. He then goes through a rather nice summary of all of the cultures that are supposed to fit the "matriarchal" mold and demonstrates that there really isn't much evidence there to support the assertions of the proponents. While he gives some good pointers for more in-depth reading, it would have been nice if he'd put in a little more detail. Illustrations would have been useful in the parts where artifacts were discussed, but these are minor quibbles. Overall, he's done a good job in picking the most respected authorities of the movement's "mainstream" and addressed their historical claims directly and evenhandedly.In the second part, Davis traces the origins of the "Goddess movement", finding it's roots in the "esoteric tradition" of the West: Mesmerism, Theosophy, etc. It is, essentially, a history of ideas and good reading for anyone that likes to watch an idea slowly develop. Davis does a fair job of keeping focus and filtering extraneous detail on the movements discussed, but iwas sometimes frustrating when he'd say something like "we'll skip over the colorful story of XYZ because it's off the subject". Oh well. This section could have been organized better, but on a whole it is well-reseached and has a strong factual basis. Great stuff.The conclusion of the book left something to be desired. One gets the feeling that there was a bunch of topics that Davis wanted to comment on and he just sort of willy-nilly packed them in 30 pages at the end of the book. It would have been best for him to just stay on topic with a brief summary.I suspect that this book will cause some pretty strong emotional reactions in the people that have a heavy investment in the "goddess myth" as a historical fact. I'd recommend it for anyone else with curiousity on the subject matter, though!

and now for something completely different

This was a well-argued, evenhanded presentation of the complexities involved in formulating a new religion (sorry kids, thats what its about; we're not dealing with anything "Ancient" or "Prepatriarchy" here). The "selected" authors/thinkers/conspirators debunked are chosen not for being easy targets, but for being the most popular and relied-upon proponents of this "goddess" stuff. And the author does a good job. He doesn't read too well though, and isn't through enough with the more recent critiques of Gimbutas' work, and doesn't give credit where credits due at times. Gimbutas theories concerning Goddess-worship are virtually the only facet of her work that her "proponents" speak of, ignoring the vindication of her research into prehistoric migration, which the author scarely alludes to. A related book in the field of goddess-stuff is "In the Wake of the Goddesses" by Frymer-Kensky, concerning related issues of scholarship but in the Ancient Near East; a less-objective but thoroughly entertaining book is "Razor for a Goat" by Elliot Rose, centering on the construction of a "link" between ancient European religions and Gardiner/murray strain of "witchcraft"/old Religion.