Who and what are marriage and sex for? Whose practices and which ways of talking to god can count as religion? Lucinda Ramberg considers these questions based upon two years of ethnographic research on an ongoing South Indian practice of dedication in which girls, and sometimes boys, are married to a goddess. Called devadasis, or jogatis, those dedicated become female and male women who conduct the rites of the goddess outside the walls of her main temple and transact in sex outside the bounds of conjugal matrimony. Marriage to the goddess, as well as the rites that the dedication ceremony authorizes jogatis to perform, have long been seen as illegitimate and criminalized. Kinship with the goddess is productive for the families who dedicate their children, Ramberg argues, and yet it cannot conform to modern conceptions of gender, family, or religion. This nonconformity, she suggests, speaks to the limitations of modern categories, as well as to the possibilities of relations—between and among humans and deities—that exceed such categories.

First published in 1999. One of the most unexpected developments of the late twentieth century is the rebirth of the religion of the Goddess in western cultures. Though we were taught that the Gods and Goddesses died with the triumph of Christianity, the re-emergence of the Goddess is not as surprising as it might seem. This book explores the meaning of the Goddess, and the questions we ask as well as the ways we answer them.

Meet Danu, the Irish mother goddess of wisdom; Freya, the Norse goddess of love and war; and eleven other Celtic and Norse goddesses very much alive in today's world. Explore each deity's unique mythology and see how she relates to Sabbats and moon rites. Goddess Alive, also includes crafts, invocation rituals, and other magical activities to help you connect with each goddess.

Goddess wisdom for every day of the year Bring life-affirming magic and empowerment into every day of your life with this unique and useful guide to the goddess. Through the ages, people have celebrated the role of goddesses in maintaining the fl

Pursuing her desire to be a knight, Alanna learns many things in her role as squire to Prince Jonathan, but fears Duke Roger, an ambitious sorcerer with whom she knows she will one day have to deal.

"This comprehensive text, highly acclaimed as the premier sourcebook on goddesses, introduces students of religion to the various manifestations and complex nature of the goddess. Often a stranger to contemporary devotees of monotheistic religions, the goddess forces the recognition of female power, which can transform deeply held beliefs. The recent renewed interest in goddesses and the rise of feminist scholarship are addressed in this well-chosen collection of essays, written by an international group of scholars. The book elucidates the diverse religious cultures and periods of history in which goddesses have played an important role by providing examples of ancient and modern goddesses in Eastern and Western religious traditions, in major world and tribal religions, and in living religions and those no longer practiced."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

"A new novel from the author of Oleander Girl, a novel in stories, built around crucial moments in the lives of 3 generations of women in an Indian/Indian-American Family"--

A game-changing book offering a six-step approach on how to find and follow your true calling and redefine success from entrepreneur and soul coach Rha Goddess. Are you willing to believe in you? Every single one of us has a calling. For most it’s the thing you have to force yourself not to do. When you try to ignore it, you can’t stop thinking about. It is the thing that both terrifies you and brings you the most joy. Already living yours? Great! How do you make the most of it? The Calling will provide readers with a road map, via 3 fundamental shifts, on how to stay true, get paid and do good. The steps that will help lead you there include: RECOGNIZING—it always begins with awareness. If you can’t see it then you can’t do anything about it. ACCEPTING—means embracing, and taking responsibility for yourself, your life, and the things that want or need to be changed. FORGIVING—yourself and others. AND MORE! The Calling will be the resource that people have been asking Rha to write for years, and there has never been a better time for her to share her proven method.