For centuries tales of the goddess's creativity, strength, and suffering have sprung forth from every civilization and corner of the world. Editor Jalaja Bonheim, Ph.D., has compiled a unique and culturally diverse anthology of goddess-related literature and art. This elegant volume is created with a non-partisan perspective to appeal to a general audience. 120 full-color illus. 20 b&w illus. Jalaja Bonheim's Goddess presents a visually stunning, wide-ranging exploration of the "feminine face of God." Its tales and illustrations dip into many cultures, drawing up the likes of ribald Baubo, the Greek goddess of obscenity who "speaks from between her legs," and Au Co, the Vietnamese goddess from the 36th heaven whose tears became a river on earth. The Egyptian goddess Nut gives birth to the sun daily, then swallows him nightly in her enveloping body. Told she must sprint faster than an egotistical Irish king's swiftest steeds or die, pregnant Macha-- daughter of the Strange Son of the Ocean--asks bystanders to appeal for a delay until after she gives birth. "Help me," she entreats, "for a mother bore each one of you." When her plea is ignored, she wins the race handily, gives birth to twins, and curses the men of Ulster. Well-told myths, poetry, songs, and contemporary stories make this celebration of the goddess thoroughly enjoyable. For centuries tales of the goddess's creativity, strength, and suffering have sprung forth from every civilization and corner of the world. Editor Jalaja Bonheim, Ph.D., has compiled a unique and culturally diverse anthology of goddess-related literature and art. This elegant volume is created with a non-partisan perspective to appeal to a general audience. "A brave, beautiful, erotic, and wise book in a society where sexuality, like so much of our humanity, is cut off from the sacred. Jalaja Bonheim's honesty marries body to ecstasy, heart to spirit." - Jack Kornfield author of A Path with Heart For Centuries, tales of the goddess's creativity, strength, and suffering have sprung fourth from every civilization and corner of the world. In this elegant volume, editor Jalaja Bonheim, Ph. D., has compiled a unique and culturally diverse anthology of literature and art to reveal the many guises of the goddess. From the Navajo goddess who weaves the world like a spider weaves a web to the African goddess is revealed through their stories, The ever-popular goddess of love appears as Aphrodite in Greece, Laka in Hawaii, and Shiratamahime in Japan. Wisdom, compassion, and healing are manifested in the radiant Kuan-Yin of China, the Wisdom Mother in Buddhism, and the Butterfly Woman of North America. Conversely, dark, and dangerous goddesses appear dancing among burial grounds or, as in a Middle Eastern myth, sitting enthroned in the underworld receiving the souls of the dead. Goddess: A Celebration in Art and Literature contains stories, poems, and songs from the ancient Greece, Rome, Egypt, Africa, and China, to India, Ireland, and the Americas. Many of these tales are recounted by such noted authors as Lucille Clifton, Diane Wolkstein, Clarissa Pinkola Estes, and Joseph Campbell. Unlike other current books on the subject, this highly illustrated anthology is created with a non-partisan point of view that will appeal to a general audience. Here is a book as beautiful as the goddess herself., certain to captivate both aficionados of goddess mythology and fine art, as well as serious connoisseurs of multicultural folklore.   Jalaja Bonheim is a teacher, workshop leader, and author, as well as a counselor in private practice. Educated in Germany, Austria and the United States, she received her Ph.D. In literature from Freiburg University, and subsequently taught German literature at Warwick University in England for two years.   Her interest in goddesses originated in 1981, when she traveled to India to study Hindu philosophy and classical Southern Indian temple dance. Since then, she has led hundreds of workshops on goddess mythology throughout the United States.