The story of the mother-and-daughter goddesses Demeter and Persephone has seized the imagination of people in every age, from ancient times to the present. Considered today by many to be the archetypal myth for women, it touches on timeless themes in every life, such as the male-female relationship, love between women, initiations into puberty and old age, the mother-daughter bond, death, and ecological renewal. Christine Downing has combined essays, prose, poetry, and even performance art with her own insightful commentary to shed new light on the myth's ancient meanings and to offer new insights in its implications for contemporary men and women.
Gleanings is a gathering of hitherto uncollected essays written by Christine Downing during the quarter century since the publication in 1981 of her seminal book, The Goddess: Mythological Images of the Feminine. Many of the essays continue her exploration of Greek goddess traditions and other aspects of Greek mythology. Others grow out of her ongoing involvement with the thought of both Freud and Jung. The interrelationship between polis and psyche, city and soul, is a central theme of several of these papers, including those that focus on the Holocaust. Various facets of lesbian and gay experience are also examined.
These essays are clearly not about play as unseriousness, not about fun and games, a point that should be abundantly demonstrated by the reference to the death camps of the Holocaust. They are about the space, the Spielraum, necessary for the wheel of life to turn soulfully. Christine Downing's essays may be felt to function as a possible prelude to the play of a truly ludic imagination, which, like Buber's "slow medicine," quietly enters the soul, working into the heart, awakening a secret melody to be noticed only later. Preludes, indeed! David L. Miller Author of Three Faces of God and Hells and Holy Ghosts
The prophet Jeremiah, mourning his people in the city of Zion, spoke of the balm that could heal them. He foresaw the physician and he asked, "Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?" The message of Jesus has been in North America for centuries, yet past history with the first nations of the land has left many native people thinking they have to choose either to be an Indian or to believe in Jesus. Jeremiah said, "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." How, then, do we bring the balm of Gilead to the most oppressed group on the continent where women and children are suffering the highest rates of violence? When Jesus forgave a prostitute, when he offered living waters to the woman at the well who had six failed relationships, and when he healed a crippled woman, he showed us how he would build his church from the brokenhearted among all people. Journey to the Edge of the Woods visits women sharing concern over the degradation of our daughters, sisters, mothers, and friends in a world of intensifying confusion of the creation of male and female identities.
We all have an UN story to tell... UNLoved UNDeserving UNWorthy UNLikeable UNQualified UNAcceptable These are the words that described how Author Christine Cristina felt about herself for the majority of her life. Have you ever felt that way too? Do these words describe the lies you have accepted about yourself because of life experiences, or perhaps you have heard people say negative, hurtful things about you and it caused you to feel this way. Words are powerful. They can build you up or tear you down. It might be something someone has said about you or how you were treated, but oftentimes, we are too quick to accept the negative words spoken over us and we accept them as truth instead of dismissing them for the lies they really are. How can we put an end to it and see ourselves the way that God sees us? In this compelling new book, Author Christine Cristina shares her personal and sometimes painful journey of how her life UNRaveled in order for her to see herself the way God intended. As Christine turned to God and His Word, she began to get a glimpse of who she really is. UNStoppable UNSinkable UNLimited UNCommon UN Forgettable UN Shakable
Known worldwide through her EWTN network, MOther Angelica presents a book of timeless wisdom and practical insights drawn from her deep faith and personal suffering and experience. Her answers to life's dilemmas, large and small, are a sure source of inspiration for all.
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