Dancing in the Flames:
The Dark Goddess and the New Mythology
Shambhala 1996
“This powerful book about the Dark Goddess is a rich and intimate exploration that brings together history, mythology, psychology, and religion. The authors have written a seed text that is wise, vigorous, and revelatory.”
— Joan Halifax, author of The Fruitful Darkness
“Dancing in the Flames gives us a remarkably rich and deep knowledge of the Dark Goddess. Her hidden presence in the psyches of men and women becomes visible through Marion Woodman and Elinor Dickson's perceptive insights. Seen and unseen, appreciated or denigrated, in history, myth, and culture as well as in individuals, the Dark Goddess carries transformative power and feminine wisdom, which are revealed in this beautifully conceived book that can affect the reader like a major dream or evocative poem.”
— Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D., author of Crossing to Avalon and Goddesses in Everywoman
Synopsis
Dark, earthy, and immensely powerful, the Black Goddess has been a key force in world history, manifesting in images as diverse as the Indian goddess Kali and the Black Madonnas of medieval Europe. She embodies the energy of chaos and creativity, creation and destruction, death and rebirth.
Images of Her, however, have been conspicuously missing in the Western world for centuries—until now, when awareness of the Goddess is re-arising in many spheres, from the women's movement to traditional religion, from the new discoveries of quantum physics to the dreams of ordinary men and women.
Why now particularly? The answer provided by Marion Woodman and Elinor Dickson is bold and thrilling: the reemergence of the Divine Feminine in our time indicates our readiness to move to an entirely new level of consciousness. The reemerging Goddess calls for a shattering of rigid categories, a willingness to hold opposition. She calls us to marry reason and order to creativity, and to embrace the chaos that can ultimately lead to wisdom and transformation on personal and global levels.
Author’s Commentary
Long missing from the Western world, the emergence of the Dark Goddess in our time indicates our readiness to move to an entirely new level of consciousness.
Within the container of our world today, this book gives an in depth look at the process women and men are going through—tutored by the Black Goddess, the Crone. Men must seek their inner feminine to embrace their true masculine identity while women must embody the regenerative power of the Grail along with an inner masculine strong enough to protect life in all things.
Recently, I signed a contract for this book to be published in Poland. History tells us that the Black Madonna icon, owned by Charlemagne, found its way to present day Ukraine as a dowry, where it stayed for six centuries. In the 14th century, it was taken to the Polish town of Czechstochowa to protect it from the invading Tartars. Given the invasion of Ukraine and the death and chaos that has erupted in that part of the world, it seemed to the publishers that Her presence was required once more by placing her on a Polish cover of Dancing in the Flames.
