In Western cultures, the central image of the spiritual quest for selfhood is that of the mythic, male, hero. A male hero, however, represents the quest for selfhood incompletely and awkwardly for women. In this provocative work, Kathryn Rabuzzi focuses on a different image that of the mother. For women seeking spiritual fulfillment of self, Rabuzzi points out the way of the mother, replacing the androcentric myths of the West with gynocentric myths based on the archetypal model of the Goddess.

In contrast to the selfhood for which the hero quests, "motherself" is the name for what women achieve when they follow the way of the mother. Rabuzzi defines that way with imagination and lucidity; her work provides an invaluable guide to all women struggling to articulate their religious experience in new terms."