In this fascinating and pathbreaking work–the first comparative study of women’s religions–Susan Starr Sered explores the meaning of religion in women’s lives through the centuries and across the globe–from Korean shamanism, nineteenth-century Spiritualists, and the Sande secret societies of West Africa to Christian Science, the Caribs of Belize, and the contemporary Feminist Spirituality movement. Looking for a common thread linking these diverse groups, Sered finds that motherhood and motherly concerns play a vital role in these female-dominated groups. Religion not only enables women to find sacred meaning in their daily lives, from the preparation of food to caring for their families, but can offer intense and personal relationships with deities and spirits, as well as opportunities to celebrate and mourn with other women.
Offering a new understanding of the role gender plays in determining how individuals grapple with the ultimate questions of existence, Priestess, Mother, Sacred Sister not only highlights the profound differences between men and women, but the equally important ways in which we are all alike.