In this top-drawer anthology of sayings, hymns, prayers, and poems, Andrew Harvey and Anne Baring find ample evidence of the important role of the Divine Feminine in many different religions and traditions. At the outset, they state: "The Divine Feminine is initiating a crucial new phrase in our evolution: urging us to discover a new ethic of responsibility toward the planet; bringing us a new vision of the sacredness and unity of life. Wisdom, justice, beauty, harmony, and compassion are the qualities that have traditionally been identified with the Divine Feminine."
With great enthusiasm and sweep, Harvey and Baring hail the Holy One as she is honored in ancient Egypt, Sumeria, and Greece. They salute the feminine face of God in the primal religions where she is recognized as present everywhere in the natural world. They marvel at the Sacred Feminine in the Kabbalistic mystical tradition and in the Shekinah within Judaism. They hail the high regard given to Mary in both Christianity and Islam. They also explore the importance of Gaia, Kali (Hinduism), and Kuan Yin (Buddhism). And they single out Taoism for its nurturance of "the quintessence of the Divine Feminine, keeping alive the feeling of relationship with the ground of being as Primordial Mother." Quoting the Indian mystic Meerabai's statement, "All men are women before the Absolute," the authors note that "No mystical tradition has cultivated the feminine virtues of tender adoration, receptive to the Presence in all living things and events, as whole-souledly as the Sufis."
The quotations and interpretive text here is very impressive, as is the beautiful design with its many color photographs and images of the Divine Feminine.