Description
Book SynopsisIn 1948 Robert Graves published The White Goddess. His study of poetic mysticism and goddess worship has since become a founding text of Western paganism. As Wicca emerged from what Graves called, a few hopeful young people in California, to over two million strong, The White Goddess has achieved near liturgical status. This rising appreciation brings all the problems of liturgical texts. Many pagans consider Graves' work like the goddess herself; awe inspiring but impenetrable. Stalking The Goddess is the first extensive examination of this enigmatic text to come from the pagan community and guides readers through bewildering forests of historical sources, poems, and Graves' biography to reveal his unorthodox claims and entrancing creative process. Relentlessly perusing each path it explores the uncharted woods and reveals the hidden signposts Graves has posted. The hunt for the goddess spans battlefields, ancient manuscripts, the British museum, and Stonehenge. En route we encounter not only the goddess herself but her three sacred animals; dog, roebuck, and lapwing. Perhaps the muse cannot be captured on her own grounds, but now at least there is a map.
Trade ReviewThe influence of Robert Graves on Wicca cannot be ignored. In Stalking the Goddess, Mark Carter makes an important contribution in understanding the history of the modern pagan movement. This book is compulsory reading for anyone who wishes to understand this history. (Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone) I found this a valuable book, which enabled me to understand Graves himself, and his use of sources, better than any has done before. (Professor Ronald Hutton, Bristol University UK)
