Women's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets

About this book

Do You Know...where the legend of a cats nine lives comes from?why "mama" is a word understood in nearly all languages?how the custom of kissing began?whether there really was a female pope?why Cinderellas glass slipper was so important to the Prince?The answers to these and countless other intriguing questions are given in this compulsively readable feminist encyclopedia. Twenty-five years in preparation this unique comprehensive sourcebook focuses on mythology anthropology religion and sexuality to uncover precisely what other encyclopedias leave out or misrepresent. The Womans Encyclopedia presents the fascinating stories behind word origins legends superstitions and customs. A browsers delight and an indispensable resource it offers 1 350 entries on magic witchcraft fairies elves giants goddesses gods and psychological anomalies such as demonic possession; the mystical meanings of sun moon earth sea time and space; ideas of the soul reincarnation creation and doomsday; ancient and modern attitudes toward sex prostitution romance rape warfare death and sin and more.Tracing these concepts to their prepatriarchal origins Barbara G. Walker explores a "thousand hidden pockets of history and custom in addition to the valuable material recovered by archaeologists orientalists and other scholars."Not only a compendium of fascinating lore and scholarship The Womans Encyclopedia is a revolutionary book that offers a rare opportunity for both women and men to see our cultural heritage in a fresh light and draw upon the past for a more humane future.