This fascinating guide to the history and mythology of woman-related symbols features:

• Unique organization by shape of symbol or type of sacred object

• 21 different sections including Round and Oval Motifs, Sacred Objects, Secular-Sacred Objects, Rituals, Deities' Signs, Supernaturals, Body Parts, Nature, Birds, Plants, Minerals, Stones and Shells, and more

• Introductory essays for each section

• 753 entries and 636 illustrations

• Alphabetical index for easy reference

Three-Rayed Sun The sun suspended in heaven by three powers, perhaps the Triple Goddess who gave birth to it (see Three-Way Motifs).

Corn Dolly An embodiment of the harvest to be set in the center of the harvest dance, or fed to the cattle to `make them thrive year round' (see Secular-Sacred Objects).

Tongue In Asia, the extended tongue was a sign of life-force as the tongue between the lips imitated the sacred lingam-yoni: male within female genital. Sticking out the tongue is still a polite sign of greeting in northern India and Tibet (see Body Parts).

Cosmic Egg In ancient times the primeval universe-or the Great Mother-took the form of an egg. It carried all numbers and letters within an ellipse, to show that everything is contained within one form at the beginning (see Round and Oval Motifs).

"Man Made God" is a series of articles by the author of "The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myth's and Secrets." Extraordinary independent scholar of comparative religion and mythology Barbara G. Walker takes us through a journey back in time to when the Goddess and her consort/son ruled supreme, into the era when the patriarchy usurped Her worship, right up to Barbara's own personal experience being raised a Christian. In this remarkable collection, Walker turns a critical eye towards: -Religion as big business -Religion's effects on children -The Bible as a "moral guide" and "history" -Biblical infallibility -The doctrine of "original sin" -The biblical attitude towards sexuality -God as "Father" -Church doctrine regarding women -Church history vis-a-vis the Dark Ages, Inquisition, and book- and witch-burning -Christian afterlife traditions -Traditional Christian origins -And much more... A brilliant expose of the long lost history of religious ideology, including goddess worship, and a scathing indictment of the male-dominated cultus. No beating around the bush, no nitpicking details, no confused questioning of what was-Walker cuts straight to the heart with her profound understanding and matter-of-fact conclusions. A frank and exceptional analysis, this powerful book "Man Made God" unveils mysteries that have perplexed mankind for millennia, and unravels detrimental religious ideologies that have been plaguing humanity for equally long.

"In the beginning, in the time that was no time, nothing existed but the Womb. And the Womb was a limitless dark cauldron of all things in potential: a chaotic blood-soup of matter and energy, fluid as water yet mud-solid with salts of the earth; red-hot as fire yet restlessly churning and bubbling with all the winds. And the Womb was the Mother, before She took form and gave form to Existence. She was the Deep. . . ."
With this dramatic, poetic recasting of the Genesis myth, Barbara Walker begins this highly original and fascinating work, which is both an incisive critique of patriarchal religion and a bold proposal to establish a liberating alternative to the Judeo-Christian myth. She envisions a religion and a spirituality compatible with women's essential role in society and free of all the superstition and demeaning imagery characteristic of traditional, male-dominated religion. In place of theology she suggests "thealogy," replacing the academic study of the God concept with a down-to-earth "knowledge of the goddess" - a knowledge that incorporates the scientific understanding of the universe and recognizes the symbolic nature of religious concepts and the psychobiological foundations of religion. Rejecting the transcendent deity of patriarchal religion, thealogy would revere an immanent personification of the real universe, especially of the sacred Earth, the only source of life we know.
Hearkening back to the widespread worship of a mother goddess at the dawn of civilization, Walker argues for a restoration of this primal religious sensibility, which celebrated the Earth's fertility and woman's innate power to bear new life. Women are already rediscovering this ancient form of spirituality, Walker shows, and redefining modern religion to conform to woman's new appreciation of their rights and the long history of male dominance.