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| Dreaming the Dark : Magic, Sex, and Politics | 
enlarge | Author: Starhawk Publisher: Beacon Press Category: Book
List Price: $16.00 (37.67 RON) Buy New: $14.40 (33.90 RON) You Save: $1.60 (3.77 RON) (10%)
Avg. Customer Rating: 11 reviews Sales Rank: 433688
Media: Paperback Edition: 1 Number Of Items: 1 Pages: 242 Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7 Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.1 x 0.8
ISBN: 0807010375 Dewey Decimal Number: 299 UPC: 046442010375 EAN: 9780807010372 ASIN: 0807010375
Publication Date: April 30, 1997 Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 1-5 of 11 | | NEXT » |
Darkness, Magic, and Truth March 22, 2007 7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Enter the mysterious world of magic, sexuality, and the deepest part of yourself. This is the goal of "Dreaming the Dark" by Starhawk, author of the bestselling book "The Spiral Dance", considered essential reading in most Wiccan circles. Picking up where her other books leave off, "Dreaming the Dark" is a guide for putting one's beliefs into practice, an attempt to reach out to a world largely deprived of spiritual experience and reclaim the sacred within and fuse it with political activism.
Starhawk co-founded the Reclaiming Collective, a Wiccan tradition that emphasizes spirituality and political action, and a majority of the text is focus on examining structures of power. She separates power into two categories: "power over" and "power from within" and discusses how such structures have been used throughout history to suppress and control. Magic, as Starhawk defines as "the art and practice of changing consciousness at will", can be teamed with political action to cause effective change in our society and help to preserve what we hold as sacred.
For those unfamiliar with Paganism, "Dreaming the Dark" is the perfect collection of stories, chants, and bits of information that will give the reader and accurate portrayal of Pagan paradigm. Starhawk clearly examines what Witches and Pagans hold sacred, specifically Nature and how it is essential that action is taken for preservation. Beautiful and often poetic descriptions of the Goddess and rituals paint vivid picture of the triumphs and struggles of many in the Pagan movement.
"Dreaming the Dark" is not a book for the faint of heart, but it is necessary. It is challenging yet inspiring and deeply moving. For anyone interested in modern religious movement and especially those interested in politics, it is an essential read. "Dreaming the Dark" is not a book of spells, meditations, or ritual, it is an invitation, a calling to take a stand in the face of injustice and reclaim the whole of our being.
The Personal Is The Magical February 5, 2006 7 out of 13 found this review helpful
This is the book that made Starhawk's name as the preeminent voice for politically active Wiccans. It is a call to rescue the world while there is still time, recognizing that magic is not contained in any book or ritual, but relies upon the love we put into life.
Why only four stars, then? I met Starhawk and was completely surprised and dismayed to encounter someone whose manner was more akin to Marie Antoinette than a daughter of the Dark. If magic is the manifestation of our lives, this cannot be less the case for how we regard and interact with other people. I worship the Goddess--not the princess.
The story of great analysts, artists, or technicians whose personal way of being in life lessens or even refutes their professed principles, is an old one. Each of us should meditate upon the challenge of never becoming consumed by our "stage presence" or stardom; the urgency of the real work to be done is too great for such poses or pretense.
Essential Reading August 28, 2004 8 out of 10 found this review helpful
The writing skillfully integrates annecdotes with philosophy and there are exercises useful to any group of pagans. For Starhawk, Witchcraft and environmentalism and activism and gender awareness are natural companions; what Witch doesn't care about the earth and nature? What Witch would not know the power of the individual and of people together? How can anyone who honors the Goddess not strive to be aware of gender politics, sexism, and the power of sex? What Witch would not know the power of will, awareness, perspective? But as natural and integrated as these themes are for her, some traditional Wiccans and other pagans are very hostile about Starhawk. There is a lot for even non-pagans to learn from her, and I think every serious pagan should read her work. If it upsets you - please, ask yourself why; what exactly does she threaten? This book is dated, and the history is only as good as we (all) knew when it was first published, but if you want to understand group dynamics, if you ever wondered if Witches should be political, or environmentalist, or activist, or gender aware - read this book.
Brilliant Ecofeminist Book August 5, 2004 In this inspiring book, legendary Starhawk combines the wisdom of the women's spirituality movement with anarchism and radical environmentalism. It should be required reading for anyone involved in peace and social justice activism.
Dry and hard to read, pollitically driven. November 17, 2001 22 out of 40 found this review helpful
If you're a solitary Pagan, if you're not much for politics and don't really mind the way of the world (and it's inner workings of the politico) you may find this book dry, droll and sorely lacking for any substance or practicality. If you're in a group that needs help organizing or staying so, if you're a political Pagan or activist who wants to change the world and break the laws doing so, you may well get tons of information from this book. First, this was a dry book and a hard read, not for the information presented but the style of writing had my mind wandering and hard to keep on course. Second, I may be a rare egg, but I know all too well the screw ups of our political hierarchy, I've studied Paganism, goddess traditions and our own political workings enough to know that we're oppressed yet don't know it; that we've been sold a bill of goods and eat it with capitalist zeal and that our environment is suffering for it. As for myself and my house, we're way too busy trying to survive to go off into the woods and chain ourselves to trees. I don't work hard to buy neat stuff, I work hard to provide food and shelter for my family. We try to live as responsibly as possible, recyling, composting, if we could live off the land, we would.. with that said, there was just a hint of guilt laid out in the book to suggest that if you're not against nukes you're for them, and so forth. That may put many people off and have them question, how much is this really about Paganism.. and how much is it about Starhawk's own agenda?
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