BOOK NERD : Kickass Quotes From The Spiral Dance by Starhawk

If you haven't yet read The Spiral Dance by Starhawk, I strongly urge you to do so! This is a book that I have owned for quite a long time but, for whatever reason, resisted reading until recently...

I do that sometimes- buy a book, often based on it's reputation, which is true in this case, but then get it home and feel a total lack of connection to it. So- it sits on a shelf in a kind of book nerd-limbo until- by some weird, magickal force- it calls to me one day and I feel myself getting completely sucked in.

Perhaps the timing in finding a book is as important as it's content?

Regardless, I am now one of those women who will happily sing the praises of The Spiral Dance to anyone who cares to listen, and so it makes sense that I would feature it in this first installment of what will be an ongoing series, BOOK NERD...


★ "The primary principle of magic is connection. The universe is a fluid, ever-changing energy pattern, not a collection of fixed and separate things. What affects one thing affects, in some way, all things." -Starhawk
 
★ "Nature knows best. Magic is part of nature; it does not controvert natural laws. It is through study and observation of nature, of the visible, physical reality, that we can learn to understand the workings of the underlying reality." -Starhawk

★ "The image of the Goddess inspires women to see ourselves as divine, our bodies as sacred, the changing phases of our lives as holy, our aggression as healthy, our anger as purifying, and our power to nurture and create, but also to limit and destroy when necessary, as the very force that sustains all life. Through the Goddess we can discover our strength, enlighten our minds, own our bodies, and celebrate our emotions. We can move beyond narrow, constricting roles and become whole." -Starhawk

★ "Energy pursues the path of least resistance. Material results are more easily achieved through physical actions than through magical workings. It is simpler to lock your door than to protect your house with psychic seals." -Starhawk

★ "... to a person who practices honesty and keeps commitments, 'As I will, so mote it be' is not just a pretty phrase; it is a statement of fact." -Starhawk

★ "The sense of wonder, of joy and delight in the natural world, is the essence of Witchcraft. The world is not a flawed creation, not something from which we must escape, not in need of salvation or redemption. However it might appear from day to day, by the nature of it's deepest being it fills us with wonder." -Starhawk

★ "The universe is a dance of energy, a uni-verse, a single song of ever-changing rhythms and harmonies." -Starhawk

★ "... the truth of our experience is valid whether it has roots thousands of years old or thirty minutes old... there is a mythic truth whose proof is shown not through references and footnotes but in the way it engages strong emotions, mobilizes deep life energies, and gives us a sense of history, purpose, and place in the world." -Starhawk

★ "The Old Religion, as we call it, is closer in spirit to Native American traditions or to shamanism of the Arctic. It is not based on dogma or a set of beliefs, nor on scriptures or a sacred book revealed by a great man. Witchcraft takes it's teachings from nature, and reads inspiration in the movements of the sun, moon, and stars, the flight of birds, the slow growth of trees, and the cycles of the seasons." -Starhawk

★ "Too much mental and spiritual work that is not balanced by physical exercise drains our etheric batteries." -Starhawk

★ "Slavery, today, can be mental and emotional as well as physical; the slavery of fixed perceptions, of conditioned ideas, of blind beliefs, of fear. 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." -Starhawk

★ "Only when we understand the currents of the present can we clearly envision the future." -Starhawk

★ "The word Witch carries so many negative connotations that many people wonder why we use it at all. Yet to reclaim the word Witch is to reclaim our right, as women, to be powerful; as men, to know the feminine within as divine. To be a Witch is to identify with nine million victims of bigotry and hatred and to take responsibility for shaping a world in which prejudice claims no more victims." -Starhawk

★ "We are all psychic, unconsciously. The difficulty is in finding ways to translate that awareness into terms the conscious mind can understand." -Starhawk

★ "The Goddess does not rule the world; She is the world. Manifest in each of us, She can be known internally by every individual, in all her magnificent diversity." -Starhawk

★ "Awareness of energy is awareness of the great dance of the universe. Seemingly intangible, it underlies all that we can touch. It is the only constant, it is constant change, eternal flux. Awareness of your own energy is the awareness that flesh and spirit are one..." -Starhawk

★ "Witchcraft has always been a religion of poetry, not theology. The myths, legends, and teachings are recognized as metaphors for 'That-Which-Cannot-Be-Told', the absolute reality our limited minds can never completely know. The mysteries of the absolute can never be explained- only felt or intuited. Symbols and ritual acts are used to trigger altered states of awareness, in which insights that go beyond words are revealed." -Starhawk 


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