Fatima the Spinner and the Tent
A young woman named Fatima experiences a life beset by one disaster after another—shipwreck, slavery, and repeated loss of everything she has built. Each catastrophe forces her to learn new skills and begin again in unfamiliar circumstances. Finally, she realizes that what seemed to be disasters were really essential steps toward her eventual fulfillment, as […]
Rough Initiations
“Rough Initiations” by Francis Weller explores how traumatic experiences in modern life—cancer, war, rape, childhood neglect—mirror the structure of traditional indigenous initiations but occur without the sacred container of community and ritual. Weller reveals that both genuine initiation and trauma share key characteristics: they usher individuals into an alternate reality outside consensus, radically alter the […]
Descent to the Goddess: A Way of Initiation for Women
Descent to the Goddess: A Way of Initiation for Women by Sylvia Brinton Perera is a highly original and provocative exploration of women’s freedom and the need for an inner, female authority in a masculine-oriented society. Combining ancient texts and modern dreams, Perera—a practicing therapist—presents a way of feminine initiation through the Sumerian myth of […]