The Serpent and the Goddess: Women, Religion and Power in Celtic Ireland - Softcover

Condren, Mary

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9781902602967: The Serpent and the Goddess: Women, Religion and Power in Celtic Ireland

Softcover

ISBN 10: 190260296X ISBN 13: 9781902602967

Publisher: New Island Books, 2002

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This landmark book on feminist political theology is back in print. Focusing on Ireland, it provides a startling account of the decline of matriarchal power in Western civilization and analyzes its implications for today's women and today's Catholic Church. From the Age of Eve to the Age of Brigit, then the Age of Mary, to the Age of the Fathers, she traces the rise of patriarchal consciousness. She traces Brigit's roles as goddess and the remnants and traces of her in the old literature; her rise as Abbess for Kildare or Christian saint; and then her demise. She shows how Brigit had a tremendous influence over the rise of Christianity (in the 1100s Brigit had more churches named after her than Mary). After the rise of the twelfth century church and the imposition of dioceses, Mary became much more important as a symbol of virginity, as a symbol of the control of female sexuality. Then came the decline of the goddess and Brigit's influence and a rise in the repression of women. A pioneering and passionate book about the critical intersections between religion, Celtic myth, and the role of women. In a time of spiritual upheaval and questioning, this is a book that cries out to be read and re-read.""-Richard Kearney. Originally published in 1989 (Harper Collins), this is a very significant contribution to the reconstruction of Christian history in feminist terms. Mary Condren teaches at Trinity College's Centre for Women's Studies.

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