The White Goddess

I finished reading this a few weeks ago, and boy was it ever interesting! It slots right into other stuff I'm in to - Avalon & Marion Zimmer-Bradley, and a lot of what Tori Amos has done ('American Doll Posse' and 'The  Beekeeper' spring to mind first of all). And, there's a whole new dimension in my head for U2's 'Mysterious Ways' (which features the holy spirit as a woman), which is also not a bad thing. I'm reminded of the backstory to Dan Brown's 'The Da Vinci Code' - it's the worst written book I've ever come across, but the idea behind it was spectacular.

Graves writes about the shift in belief systems aeons ago from matriarchy to patriarchy, and the consequences of that, and it makes sense in all kinds of ways. I don't believe in god, or God. I'm still a member of the church and I've been both christened and confirmed in one, and I've no plans to cancel that membership, simply for the fact that the rituals are so familiar and have other values besides religious ones for me. That's not to say I am now a Goddess-worshipper either - she just makes a whole lot more sense to me. As time goes by, I'm realising that I am far more drawn to cycles than I am to forever....

Anyway! The White Goddess. I'll have to read it a few more times to fully get a grip, because there sure is a LOT of information and names and stories to keep track of, but I am very happy that I finally did read it. Next up is Ulysses..... (she says with a far too optimistic grin).