Image

 

Every pregnant woman, say these two authors, who have climbed right up on the Goddess bandwagon, is a Mother Goddess. Their enthusiasm is evident on the very first page:

 

Too often … the physical expansion that takes place while becoming a mother is matched by a slowly shrinking view of oneself…. We need to reinforce what the ancients knew about the power of the female body and spirit to bring forth and nurture new life. … Our destiny as women compels us to discover the truth of who we really are—and that truth involves a vast capacity for expressing creativity in many forms. I believe it is also essential for our well-being to discover our spiritual relationship to the Divine Goddess… (p.vii).

 

Enthusiasm can be good. The word itself means “god-filled,” and even though these authors think the Fates are mother goddesses—as well as Hamlet’s mother, Athena, Baubo, Carol Brady, and Frida Kahlo—they’ve got the right idea. If you’re pregnant, celebrate yourself!

 

The book is divided into three parts: “embracing fertile goddess energy,” the trimesters of pregnancy and labor (“empowering the pain of creation”), and “celebrating birth and motherhood.” This isn’t a medical book, so you won’t get medical signs and significations; what you will get are stories about goddesses, photographs of real women and their daughters, and projects to help you keep a record of your pregnancy. The first project is to create a pregnancy/motherhood altar, and it can be any kind of altar you want it to be. An on-going project is the Motherhood Box. This is a permanent box that you decorate and into which you set treasures and reminders of this important time in your life. It’s a means of self-discovery, and when you pass it along to your daughter, it’s also a record of your life for her to see and know. This is a good book!

 

~review by Barbara Ardinger, Ph.D.

Author: Gail Carr Feldman, Ph.D., and Eve Adamson

Alpha Books, 2003