Goddess worship is one of the original aspects of human spirituality which never completely vanished from religious traditions.

In this book authors Thomas Cleary and Sartaz Aziz show how the Divine Feminine never really disappeared from religion in spite of its suppression by patriarchal culture, but continued to subtly exist under different guises.

They take the reader on a guided tour of the feminine principles, symbols, and imagery found in Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism, and the Sufi tradition of Islam, with insightful meditations on the deep meanings of these manifestations of the Divine.

Their work is very different to the bulk of writing on goddess worshipping cultures. Most works are about a rediscovery of the Divine Feminine and reinstating it to its rightful place.

Cleary and Aziz instead showcase and deconstruct particular elements of Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism and Taoism, to find the goddess in obviously important, but very interesting forms.

Whether conceptualised as divine person, saint, mythic figure, archetype, or abstract principle, the Divine Feminine inevitably arises.

While these major schools and texts are presented as pure patriarchy, the authors show that when one actually reads the texts, the feminine element plays a very prominent role.

The four religions cited above are essentially male-centred, whereby men are the supreme authority in all religious matters, yet the texts upon which practices are based actually recognise the equal importance of femininity.

In Buddhism we encounter Maya, the ‘Mother of all Buddhas’, in Hinduism, the goddess Kali and the practice of Kali worship, while within Taoism there are the essential feminine aspects of male/female interaction and codependence of Yin Yang principles.

A strong example is the way femininity is respected within Islam. Known outwardly as an extremely patriarchal religion especially in respect to women, the authors present the importance of the ‘Four Perfect Women in Islam’, Fatima, her mother Khadija, Asiya, and the mother of Jesus, Mary.

Together they form the exoteric lesson of feminine integrity, while esoterically they open the door to a deeper influence from the goddess. They are expressions of the ‘Twin Souls’ of man and woman, and equal reverence is given to both:

“O humanity, be conscious of your Lord,
who created you from one soul,
and created its mate from it.”
(Qur’an 4:1)

Thomas Cleary is the renowned translator of many Asiatic classics from the Chinese, Japanese, Sanskrit, Arabic and Old Bengali, and lends an authority to the way the subject is treated.

More often than not the subject of theology is subject to variable interpretations of ancient texts, and too often it is left to those unfamiliar with effective translation. It is unique in this instance that the author is both experienced in theology as well as being a very capable translator in his own right.

Similarly, his partner in the endeavour is an expert in the areas of women’s literature, and Asian-American culture. The best part of their investigation is that rather than propound their own ideas, they let the ancient texts speak for themselves, which is why this book is very interesting.

Impressively researched, engagingly written, this is an important book in both Asian studies and feminist spirituality.

– Reviewed by Robert Buratti in New Dawn No. 88