The Double Goddess - Women Sharing Power author: Vicki Noble Bear & Company/ Inner Traditions 2003 ISBN #159143011-9 The Double Goddess takes us on an incredible journey into our feminine past - without resorting to renaming it "Herstory" or using any other cutesy but annoying phraseology. It is a serious study of the Double Goddess cultures that existed in the Neolithic and Bronze Ages. It is an empowering journey for all women, one that also places emphasis on the sharing of their personal power with each other. On almost every page we see illustrations of Double Goddess statues and images - fascinating work that allows us to see the similarity in images from diverse locations and cultures. The main image is one of two women together - sometimes shown with a single body and two heads, sometimes shown as one lower body with two upper torsos, and sometimes showing two female bodies in intimate meditative or sexual positions. The women are shown with their arms around each others shoulders - emphasizing the powerful bond between them. Other icons that represent the Double Goddess are the double ax and various animals, such as snakes, birds and lions. While The Double Goddess is based on the science of archeology, there is also a wonderful array of Goddess stories and myths, Noble's personal insights and stories, and the stories of women of our present time that are working to bring the feminine archetype back into its rightful place of power. Noble defines the energy of the Double Goddess on many different levels. On the physical level, it is the feminine cycle of ovulation and menstruation, which is linked to the (lunar) cycle of the moon. On a psychic level, there is the cycling between the moon (menstruation) and the earth (ovulation). As women, we constantly move between these two poles of light and dark - hence Noble's assertion that the natural state of every woman is a "bi-polar" state (having nothing to do with the psychiatric term bi-polar). The Double Goddess archetype acts as a symbol, or perhaps more appropriately as a gateway for modern day women to reconnect with the total power of the feminine - warrior, healer, priestess, shaman, mother, daughter, friend and lover. It carries the sacred potential for bonding on all levels. Noble presents a thought that to me was absolutely amazing - that during the menstrual cycle women are much more open to the wisdom of the lunar divine (this we already accept), and that a group of women, with their cycles in sync, could act as a council of wise women, making decisions for their group/city/state/country on all levels. It is amazing what our history shows. Important centers of civilization (such as Catal Huyuk and Gozo) show findings of figures depicting two women - sometimes as a single body with two heads, sometimes with two separate torso's that are bound at the waist. They are found in tombs that are filled with articles made of gold and other items that show the high rank of the person buried there. For the most part, according to Noble, they have been given no sacred connotation - they have simply been treated on the level of dolls. Something even more interesting are the tombs that are listed as being the tombs of male warriors, based largely on the presence of warrior type artifacts. Completely being ignored are the preponderance of artifacts that indicate that the tomb houses a female of high status. Noble also makes an interesting observation about tombs that are agreed to contain female remains: they are often listed as being tombs of wives, rather than the possibility that they are the tombs of priestesses or female rulers. This is the case even when they are found in cult-like settings, such as temples or shrines. There is such a thing as an Amazon culture - these are real women who served as warriors, priestesses and rulers of their own sovereign kingdom, and need to be accepted as such. As women - we need to take this energy back! In Noble's own words: "...The Double Goddess is a reminder to all of us women to tap into the powerful underground stream of female energy that flows to where we are, from the most ancient times to the present moment, and celebrate the ceaseless, constantly oscillating current of yin and yang, dark and light, within each woman born. We all belong by birth to the cult of the Double Goddess, whose powerful image provokes us toward autonomy and female bonding, without reference to any man." I highly recommend this book to women of all backgrounds, and all walks of life. We have never stopped being the healers, the priestesses and the warriors. For this world to heal, we need to step out and take our rightful places. For all of the people in our lives, male and female, we need to do this. © July 2004 Bonnie Cehovet Personal Lifestyle Reading - I offer a Personal Lifestyle Reading using Tarot that looks at past, present and future influences in your life, at the energies that are currently available to help you along your path, and at those energies that are appearing as challanges. My goal is to offer you insight into your decision making process, as well as tools that you can use to both better understand your path and make conscious, choice centered decisions. Home Personal Empowerment links Personal Empowerment articles View My Guestbook Sign My Guestbook Graphics by Art for the web