Re-visioning Medusa: from Monster to Divine Wisdom, a girl god anthology; Glenys Livingstone, Ph.D, Trista
Hendren, Pat Daly, editors; preface by Joan Marler; cover art by Arna Baartz; CreateSpace 2017, trade
paperback 6” x 9”, 266 pages; also available as an e-book.
If you’ve
ever wondered about the mythical persona known as Medusa, this is the book for you. Re-visioning Medusa covers a lot of
ground and includes a number of different points of view and interpretations. It
is excellently edited to alternate among essays, art, and poetry. Included
among the many points of information, for instance, we learn that the animals
associated with Medusa and her iconography include snakes, birds, horses,
lions, and boars.
In her Preface,
Joan Marler, known for her association with Marija Gimbutas and for founding
the Institute of Archaeomythology, explains that this volume contains work by
people from “Australia, North America, Europe, Israel and Turkey.” With brief
summaries of some of the essays in this book, Marler discusses the history of
Medusa mythology in many different cultures, including Southeastern European,
Greek, the Balkans, and Renaissance (Christian) Italy, as she writes:
“Renaissance artists, inspired by Greek mythological themes, frighteningly
realistic portrayals of decapitated women with snakes for hair….emblematic of
the Inquisitional murders taking place in Europe during that time…. Later,
during the 18th-19th centuries, Romantic artists, poets,
and Decadents recast Medusa as a beautiful victim, not a monster….” She goes on
to explain the influence of Freudian psychology in the 20th century
and urges us to be present in the “here and now,” as we “listen deeply...to the
ancient wisdom that is our True Inheritance.”
An
introductory note by Editor Trista Hendren, explains why the editors of Revisioning Medusa decided to allow the
authors from diverse countries and institutions to use the spelling,
punctuation, and other style features that they were used to rather than
standardizing such style items in the entire book, as is customary. I think it
was a wise, innovative decision to allow this diversity and adds color to the
book. In keeping with this style freedom, I am not including degrees (such as
Ph.D. and Rev.) with the contributors’ names, although they are included in the
book.
I’m going
to leave my coverage of the many essays in this book until after I list the poets
and artists, and approach the essays in what I hope is an innovative way.
Contributing
poets (in order of appearance of their first poem in this anthology) are Barbara
Ardinger, Susan Hawthorne, Janet Guastavino, Angela Kunschmann, Penny-Anne
Beaudoin, Kerryn Coombs-Valeontis, and Elizabeth Oakes.
In order
of appearance of initial art contribution, contributors of art showing various
interpretations of Medusa (in black & white—both original and photos of art
or sculpture) include: Glenys Livingstone, Cristina Biaggi, Miriam Robbins
Dexter (within essay), Sudie Rakusin, Jeanne K. Raines, Lizzie Yee, Caroline
Alkonost, Diane Goldie (with descriptive text), Kaalii Cargill (within essay),
Luisah Teish (with descriptive text), Alyscia Cunningham, Jack K. Jeansonne
(with descriptive text by Marija Krstic), Susan Hawthorne, Arna Baartz, Nuit
Moore (with descriptive text and poem), Glenys Livingstone (artist unknown),
Kerry Coombs-Valeontis, Marie Summerwood, Meg Dreyer, Pegi Eyers (with
descriptive text).
Some of
the essays are scholarly, some are more personal in tone, and others have still
other stylistic approaches. To demonstrate the views and styles of the many
essayists, I will briefly comment upon the essay and quote a short passage from
each.
Writing
from her personal experience over the years, Glenys Livingstone, in her essay,
“Mother Medusa: Regenerative One,” writes of wearing a headpiece that was
“characteristic of the ancient primordial Medusa, though I did not know
it….Only gradually have I come to identify Her snake coils and bird wings, as
an ancient combination representative of Medusa….I realize now that I had been
invoking Medusa; calling Her into my being, embodying Her in Seasonal ceremony,
embedding Her in regenerative creativity in my life.”
In her
essay, “Medusa: Ferocious and Beautiful, Petrifying and Healing: Through the Words
of the Ancients,” Miriam Robbins Dexter, one of Livingstone’s sources, presents
scholarly material to show that “Medusa is a compilation of Neolithic European,
Semitic, and Indo-European mythology and iconography.” She explores the
meanings of Medusa’s name as well as her various myths, which she has
translated from Greek and Latin texts. She points out the differences in the
way Medusa is understood over the centuries, writing, “Whereas the Neolithic
Goddess is a powerful arbiter of birth, death, and rebirth, she has been
transformed in Greek from a Goddess of the life continuum to this a dead head.”
Jane
Meredith’s long, personally-focused essay, “Calling Medusa In,” concludes with
an invocation, I excerpt and quote here in part: “Oh, Medusa, I’m calling you
in….I invoke you into my own life and the lives of my friends, I invoke you
into the houses and families of childhoods everywhere….Bring your qualities
Medusa….It is time serpents were released and wildness broke the stone face of what is acceptable and we saw
behind the masks….”
In the
shortest essay in the book, “To Stand Witness,” Teri Uktena writes that
although the Medusa myth has always been a favorite of hers, she was “bothered
by the myth from the very beginning because it made no sense.” She goes on to
explain why she felt this way and ultimately links it to real life instances in
which women have been sexually abused.
In her
essay, “Medusa: The Invitation,” Maureen Owen writes, “The story of Medusa is
fundamentally the story of the domination of the patriarchal invaders of
mainland Greece over the early goddess culture of North Africa….When I hear
this story, I hear Medusa’s invitation, urging me to look deeper….” Owen
continues by delving into the roles of serpents, and Medusa as high priestess,
Goddess, and Queen, and Crone, depending on the time and culture.
In “Till
We Have Bodies, “ Kaali Cargill, discusses Medusa mythology as part of her
“love affair with myth.” She writes, “She [Medusa] has been known as the
Destroyer aspect of the Triple Goddess called Neith in Egypt, Ath-eena or
Athene in North Africa. It is through Medusa that mythology offers a hint of
what once may have been possible for women in terms of birth control.”
In her
essay, “Medusa, Athena, Sophia: the Fierceness of Wisdom Justice,” Bonnie
Odione writes: “we cannot look at her face directly, as the patriarchs could
not view Yahweh’s.” In exploring Medusa’s relationship to Wisdom goddess(es), she
suggests, “a rapid transit from Greek mythology to pre-common era Jewish
Alexandria….The Wisdom (Hebrew: Hockmah)
tradition that was present throughout the Hebrew Scriptures is Grecianized
(Greek: Sophia…) to better reflect
Alexandrian culture….” She continues by discussing a quote from the Book of Wisdom, used at Donald Trump’s
inauguration.
In her essay,
“Medusa, My Mother and Me,” Barbara C. Daughter explores her relationship with
her mother and her own self-image in light of various images of Medusa. She
writes of conflating Medusa with “a small statue Arthur Evans is said to have
unearthed at Knossos Greece: the Minoan Snake Goddess….Who were these
snake-wielding women and what could they reveal to me?”
Marie
Summerwood begins her essay, “Medusa Goddess: Up Close and Personal,” with a
memory from her priestess initiation of “the first time I knowingly met the
presence of Medusa….” She had called in other goddesses, including Isis, Quan Yin, Mary,
Aphrodite. She had not planned to invoke Medusa, but “the moment when I had
planned to speak the name of the next goddess, my hands clenched and unclenched
and I found myself fiercely whispering – over and over – the name of Medusa.”
She goes on to describe the work she has done through Medusa, and ends with a
chant with notated music.
In her
essay, “Medusa’s Hall of Mirrors,” Leslene della-Madre writes that as a result
of her work with women’s mysteries, “I have felt that helping women to reclaim
Medusa by symbolically reattaching her head through ritual is deeply
empowering.” She goes on to discuss the ritual for such a working, as well as her
research to try to find out why “the origins of myths from cultures around the
world that seem to bear similar resemblances, even though contact amongst
people living far apart most likely did not occur.” Her explorations take her
to what to some may be a startling—and to me fascinating, and innovative—
conclusion involving the possible change of “planetary configurations in our
solar system.”
In “Ancient
Wisdom for Modern Times, “ C. Loran Hills reflects on the effects of various
versions of the Medusa myth. In some versions, she notes, “Wild women are
condemned as corrupt, depraved, and wicked….unruly, ungovernable, visionary,
savage, and ferocious….Strong-willed women are demonized in the patriarchal
system and socialized to behave.” To counter this, she urges us to nurture each
other and educate ourselves. She also comments that women’s aging is “viewed as
repugnant”and “treated like a disease…” and discusses the history of the word,
“hag.”
Marguerite
Rigoglioso’s essay tells us “How You Can Reattach Medusa’s Head,” with instructions
based on a ritual she first performed with a group in 2012 and which has been
performed by a number of groups since. Of the ritual’s significance, she
writes: “With the enactment of this reparatory ritual, we set in motion the
re-memberment of this ancestor, and thus the reversal of her story. With that,
we set into motion the reversal of all women’s disempowerment.”
“Medusa: Wisdom
of the Crone Moon,” by Theresa Curtis is a dramatic (some may feel at times
melodramatic) narrative. At the beginning of this essay Curtis writes, “her
tale is long and rich, and constantly growing deeper – it can never truly be
known…. For me, She reeks of endless mystery of the secrets beyond the dark
moon.” Curtis then goes on to write of Sigmund Freud’s referral to Medusa as “Vagina dentata…exhibiting panic and
horror…in the face of her power…. he was never able to complete his treatise on
Her.” Curtis then recommends how women can “reflect on Medusa without statuing
to stone” through an initiation that involves setting intention, an induction
that involves becoming Medusa, and awareness.
Gillian
M.E.(dusa) Alban begins her essay, ”Medusa’s Stunning Powers Reflected in
Literature,” with this sentence: “The monstrously divine Medusa is emblematic
of women’s struggles to rise above oppressions with her serpentine power and
invincible gaze.” After reviewing Medusa mythology, among those whose work she
delves into are Frieda Kahlo, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Robert Graves, Jean
Paul Sartre, Margaret Atwood, Sue Monk Kidd, and Angela Carter.
Dawn
Glinkski’s “Making Amends with Medusa” focuses on the fixed star, Algol, at 26
degrees of Taurus, which is known as the “demon star” or “Medusa’s head.” This
position is of particular interest to me because I have a stellium (several
planets) at or near this position. Among the famous people Dawn discusses whose
planets are conjunct or near Algol, is Bob Dylan, whose birthday is the same as
mine (yes, date and year)—our charts are close in time (taking into
consideration time zone difference), differing most in location. Glinkski points
out that Dylan has Uranus conjunct (in same degree as) Algol (as do I) and sees
this related to his being involved in the civil rights movement (as was I) and rebelling
“against the establishment though his music.” (as I have through my writing?) She
writes that 3 words she associates with Algol are “protection, preservation,
and prevention.” Though this information was unknown to me at the time (about 3
decades ago), I selected a statue of Medusa to place in my office at work for
just such purposes. And that is also why I named this blog after Her. Among
other people Glinski discusses who have birth charts with relationships to
Algol are Oliver Cromwell, John F. Kennedy, and Donald Trump. Glinkski interprets
the placement in their charts and also suggests ways to interpret this
placement if it appears in your birth chart.
In “Re-visioning
Medusa: A Personal Odyssey” Sara Wright tells how, when she was a child, for
her a painting conflated her mother with Medusa. She writes, “This image of my
mother with her long, curly hair, seemed quite frightening to me. It was as if
this painting held a key – but to what?” Continuing, she writes, “as an
adolescent, I started to call myself Medusa….self-loathing became the mask I
wore. I hated my body.” The essay ultimately tells how, as an adult, she came
terms with the fear of her mother by finding out more about Medusa. Near the end
of the essay. She ties her “odyssey” in with a current political situation.
Laura
Shannon, in her essay “Medusa and Athena: Ancient Allies in Healing Women’s
Trauma,” sees these goddesses as helping women, mostly in similar ways, despite
their differences in mythology. She cites a number of other authors who have
written on the topic of these goddesses and trauma (such as PTSD) including
Patricia Monaghan, Sigmund Freud, Joseph Campbell, Carol P. Christ, Marija
Gimbutas, Miriam Robbins Dexter, Anne Baring, and Annis Pratt. She sees both
Athena and Medusa as protectors and writes: “By placing Medusa’s head in her
heart, Athena gives Medusa a post-traumatic sanctuary in a safe and strong
body, and Medusa gives Athena a part of her protective powers.” Shannon goes on
to discuss the role of circle dancing, both in ancient Athens and in current
Greece and the Balkans (and, I would add, in other countries such as the U.S.,
where I have participated in such dances).She feels these dances help women heal
from trauma as well as “affirm and transmit pre-patriarchal values.”
Trista
Hendren is another one of the authors who, as she puts it in“Re-stor(y)ing
Sanity,”the book’s last essay, was, as a child “terrified of Medusa.” In
exploring the reasons why— both as a child and growing into adulthood— she
delves into the writings of Margaret Atwood, Mary Oliver, Toni Morrison
(particularly Sula), bell hooks, Jane
Caputi, Hélène Cixous, Monica Sjöö, Barbara Mor, Andrea Dworkin, Audre Lorde,
Mary Daly, and Starhawk. One of the conclusions Hendren reaches is: “Our
patriarchal brainwashing thoroughly rinsed out the richness of our being— even
the biological realities of our bodies. Everything is supposed to be bleached.
Our body hair removed. Our faces, masked. Our glorious womanly smells, perfumed
over. Our menses, hidden or erased completely….”
An
exceptional anthology, Re-visioning
Medusa will be valued not only by people who have studied and worked with
Medusa for some time, but also those who haven’t yet wondered about Her. A
complete list of the Table of Contents, including title of contribution and
contributor’s name, can be found by clicking on the “Look Inside” feature on the book’s page on Amazon.com
Labels: adult education, anthropology, archeology, art, books, Goddess traditions, reviews
This is
the latest book in a series of collected works being published by New World
Library in cooperation with the Joseph Campbell Foundation. At this writing,
there are about 22 books listed in this collection. “Medusa Coils” has
reviewed tw0 of these books previously: Goddesses
and
The Mythic Dimension.
Correspondence, as the name implies,
focuses not exclusively on Campbell’s other books, but rather on his
correspondence with other people—some well known, others lesser known— about
his and their work and sometimes about their personal lives, so it, in a way,
becomes both autobiography and
biography. It provides an unusually personal view into the community of
intelligentsia, both in and out of the university, particularly those who have
a great interest in mythology. So I feel it will be of greatest interest to
people today with similar interests rather than specifically those interested
in Goddess—although like The Mythic
Dimension, it includes this subject also.
