@Rowan Weâre in sync! I had also highlighted the paragraph about the word Witch! Thatâs a very practical statement to remember. âOne who bends the unseen, One whose life is infused with magic!â
Iâm glad youâre enjoying the read @crystal8!
@Limeberry I think there are so many great exercises in the book! You definitely found a good one there!
Agreed! Youâre most welcome in the Spiral Dance book club, Wendy!
I frequently read more than one book at a time on the same topic and compare and contrast ideas. I retain more that way. Since I just finished Spiral Dance, I am rereading it along with The Inner Temple of Witchcraft.
Waiting on my book to be sent out, but for now I am reading the PDF file! Canât wait to get started!
Include me here as well. My other book is meant to be done over a year!
Wendy
I am still reading The Inner Temple of Witchcraft, but I am taking the time, and doing the work. Christopher is teaching about things I read in other sources. I need self-work as well. Thanks TravelWitch.
I have two sons. My husband was a gentle soul who supported the feminine. However, children will be who they are as well. My husband was a long-haired hippie in sandals. My sons were preppy dressed who never had to be reminded to cut their hair. Jerry spent a great deal of time with them. My youngest granddaughter misses him the most. He taught her compassion is the goal and helped her save a praying mantis from other children who harmed her. They kept a terrarium with wounded wildlife ( lizards, bugs, etc,")
Iâm finally making my way through this book and have worked through the two introductions (Iâm reading the 20th Anniversary Edition) and I found some powerful and informative things that really show how Starhawk themselves have evolved in their practice and beliefs over time. Most of what Iâve highlighted came from the 10th Anniversary edition and I wanted to share them here.
So my major critique of this work [speaking of their own writing] now centers on questions of inclusiveness. (pg.40)
But that journey cannot be rich and varied unless we are willing to let go of seeing our own experience, our own answers and styles and insights, as defining reality for everyone. We need not deny our experience but must recognize that it is one facet of the gifts that are there for us in other perspectives. (pg.40)
It really shows a lot that Starhawk makes mention of inclusivity in this part of the introduction because it shows their growth and allows us to also see how they have changed. I find it extremely important to be inclusive in my own craft and beliefs, so it is refreshing to see that in an edition that was published more than 10 years ago, Starhawk was still speaking of inclusivity.
Itâs great to be able to browse through the notes: 10 years after, and 20 years after, and see how things have changed in the mind of the author through time.
Itâs like seeing that growth and reassessment of her own writing. Really an unique experience that doesnât happen with many books!
Didnât join the book club because donât want to commit, I have a full plate with a lot going on right now. However Iâve been reading the book every since Francisco mentioned it-in the forum a month back, I think. I completely resonate with what your saying, Francisco. I understand exactly what the author is saying. We canât have one without the other. Godâs and Goddesses are in all of us, male and female alike. Its a very interesting book!
Ugh this 
From Chapter 5: The Goddess (Page 103 in 20th anniversary edition)
In the Craft, we do not believe in the Goddess-we connect with Her; through the moon, the stars, the ocean, the Earth, through trees, animals, through other human beings, through ourselves. She is here. She is within us all. She is the full circle: earth, air, fire, water and essence-body, mind, spirit, emotions, change.
What a beautiful explanation, and so refreshingly different to how I ever felt learning about God as a Catholic child. Donât get me wrong, I can fully appreciate the religion and those who connect with it but for me it felt suffocating. Reading this chapter gives me hope that when my family are celebrating Catholic holidays I can use this new knowledge to peacefully celebrate alongside them in my own way. Sorry, total tangent but the mention of âbeliefâ is where this led my mind.
Also chapter 5, (page 109)
Witchcraft demands intellectual freedom and the courage to confront our own assumptions. It is not a belief system; it is a constantly self-renewed attitude of joy and wonder to the world.
I opened the book today and read exactly that same page!! 
Itâs a great message and it definitely helps. Itâs good to challenge our own beliefs once in a while.
I had one of my friends ask me âdo you believe in astrology?â recently. And I felt like saying, well: âdo you believe in meditation?â (I know he practices) or âdo you believe in Yoga?â.
I donât really go for âbeliefsâ. I try everything until I find what works best for myself.
Hi all! 
Just popping in with a friendly reminder for all Starhawk readers that the current Book Club reading period will end in One Week!
I hope everyone is enjoying the book so far- Iâm looking forward to hearing your final takes and opinions about it next Friday! Blessed be 
I havenât read this book yet, but have been following this forum wondering if I should. I am picking it up today! Love all of your insights and thoughts. Thank you!
Sharing another interesting quote from the Spiral Dance. This one helped me understand a lot of the performative aspects of ritual scripts that Iâve seen in different traditional (coven/group) books of shadows:
âA common practice in the medieval Craft was for the Priest and Priestess to enact the parts of God and Goddess, who were believed to be physically incarnate in the rites. One old account cited by Margaret Murray expresses the importance of this custom to illiterate peasants, for whom seeing was believing.â
Notes on later editions:
âThese accounts seem to indicate the practice of trance possession by the Goddesses and Gods, similar to the way initiates of the Yoruba-based Afro-Caribbean traditions are âriddenâ by the orishas. Power is not just dramatized, but manifested.â
âTrance possession seems to have been a practice in what we know of early Witchcraftâ.
Hooray! I hope you enjoy reading Starhawk, @erin9 
If youâd like, I can add you to the Reading List for Book Club- a discussion will open up on Friday where everyone is warmly encouraged to share their thoughts and insights on whichever book(s) they read/are reading 
That would be great. Ty!
Interesting. I think this is very true in our western culture especially. I like the âideaâ that those stereotypes may not exist in pagan worship and that there is more equality, but I did wonder about the emphasis on the triple goddess from the male perspective. I donât know if I am curious enough to plow through this book right now⌠but I might put it on my âwish listâ for later exploration.
