The author sensibly opens the text with demythologising the concept of ‘dark’ relative to this primal form. She then moves on to describe the various forms that peoples across the globe have prescribed for Her, including Kali, Nephthys, Lilith, Hekate and Baba Yoga. Her value is here acknowledged as the essential catalyst for sloughing off guilt and fear associated with ‘womanhood,’ breathing new light into Jungian concepts of the shadow; suggestions are given on how to reabsorb the shadow through recognising “little griefs” that cloud perspective. More importantly, she guides the reader away from floundering on the rocks clutching to the ‘victim’ mentality, a tragic state linked by the author to PTSD. Tackled through the Virtue of Medusa, the sufferer is coached towards release and revitalisation.
This book provides cathartic measures as a self-help guide towards restoration of the psyche in a world that has largely overcomplicated the divine feminine, and to some extent, overplayed Her role as a ‘Dark’ entity. Described by the author as She who “shakes and destroys in order to transform and recreate, pushing us to our limits,” the Dark Goddess is related through 13 specific forms that “could be used to chart a year’s journey of deep discovery.”
Concluding with her own ‘Personal Encounters with the Dark Goddess,’ the author uses those experiences to offer advice for others to work through trauma in constructive, positive ways. These are achieved by mindfully engaging this primal force through studying the foundational mythologies provided by the author relative to each of the 13 goddesses included in her book. Practical solutions supplement the more cerebral texts, mainly in the exploration of popular ways to work intuitively using masks, mirrors, poppets, candle-magic and binding spells in addition to path-workings and various other exercises.
All in all, the author has approached her work from a personal perspective, writing informally and sensitively on matters that will resonate deeply with the reader. .
fff Shani
