Laughter of Aphrodite: Reflections on a Journey to the Goddess

by Carol P. Christ

Examines the patriarchal nature of Christianity and Judaism and describes the author's search for a meaningful goddess tradition

Genres: Religion, Goddess, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Feminism, Wicca, Womens

258 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Carol P. Christ, who was a leading feminist thea-logian and a founding voice in the study of women and religion, was named one of the Thirteen Most Infuential People in Goddess Spirituality. She held a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Yale University and taught at California Institute of Integral Studies, Claremont Graduate University, Harvard Divinity School, Columbia University, and San Jose State University. She was the Director of the Ariadne Institute and led the Goddess Pilgrimage to Crete (www.goddessariadne. org). Her books include She Who Changes, Rebirth of the Goddess, Laughter of Aphrodite, Diving Deep and Surfacing, and with Judith Plaskow, Goddess and God in the World and the ground-breaking anthologies Weaving the Visions and Womanspirit Rising. She lived in Greece where she ran for of ce with the Green Party and worked with World Wildlife Fund to save bird and wildlife habitats.

Reviews

[Trista Hendren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just the Laughter of Aphrodite essay alone (which this book is named for) is worth buying this book for. Every mother and daughter should read it. The passages are deeply moving and healing. It also includes the timeless essay, Why Women Need the Goddess, of which I find new meaning every time I read it. Critical reading for anyone interested in Goddess Spirituality.

[Fran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolute fucking essential reading for any female pagans but ESPECIALLY those working with the Theoi. If you are having trouble relating to the Goddesses (and the Gods, too) which were corrupted by patriarchy then you simply must read this. Christ does an amazing job breaking down how to fix your relationship with the divine and really start detaching your concept of the Theoi from patriarchal limitations. We NEED to stop seeing the Goddesses as just collections of disconnected personality traits--joy and lust and sadness and fury can and do exist in all of the Goddesses. Hera is not "the angry one" and Aphrodite is not the "fun sexy one." All of them, if we're going off of ancient tradition, were once far more complex, all-encompassing beings. Not petty things fighting over favors, born from thighs and seafoam (lol!) This is not to disrespect the Gods, but rather in the interest of getting back to the roots of things and cutting through some of the bullshit that, frankly, always slips into religious myth after some time. The Gods deserve better than to be worshipped as power hungry rapists.

One of the most powerful essays in this was the one that talks about how you're allowed to be angry at or disagree with God. WOW.

There really is such a ring of truth to everything that she says, about how things once were. Over and over again, that quote "you were not always a slave." If I am not a slave, how could the Goddesses be?

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The symbol of the Goddess has much to offer women who are struggling to be rid of the ‘powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivation’ of devaluation of female power, denigration of the female body, distrust of female will, and denial of the women’s bonds and heritage that have been engendered by patriarchal religion.”

I started this book in August of last year. It took me awhile to read it – it is scholarly and I really needed to concentrate on some of the essays. Also since I have postponed any possibility of traveling soon with Christ, my sense of urgency was gone.

I finished the book during our winter holiday and put it aside. I was burned out from writing reviews to finish up 2016 and I just wasn’t sure what I wanted to say. However, this weekend made my thoughts clearer.

I spent Saturday at the Women’s March on Washington. To quote a pervasive message of the march, I thought we were done with this s***. As I read the quote above which Christ wrote more than thirty years ago, I realized that we have not made much progress. We are still dealing with devaluation, denigration, distrust and denial.

I have, in the intervening 30 years, learned that my sisters and brothers of color have it much worse than I do. I have learned that white privilege exists and that I am fortunate enough to have it in large quantities. I am blessed so many ways that I did not recognize in 1987. I am grateful.

But our country as a whole does not seem to have learned anything. We still don’t have an equal rights amendment and privilege wins out over everything else. And so, for many reasons, Christ’s words are still relevant and should be read.

I am not saying that all people should give up Christianity. I happen to believe that Jesus’ actual message has been lost in the political conversation. However, we all need to think about our beliefs and examine them. The books that Christ has written about her beliefs are just as valid and as important as they were in the 1980’s. I recommend them to anyone seeking to examine their beliefs.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE SEMI-AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL STORY OF A "POST-CHRISTIAN FEMINIST’”

Carol Patrice Christ (born 1945) is a teacher (Columbia University, Harvard Divinity School, Pomona College, San Jose State, and the California Institute of Integral Studies), director of the Ariadne Institute, and author/editor of books such as 'Laughter of Aphrodite: Reflections on a journey to the goddess,' 'Rebirth of the Goddess: Finding Meaning in Feminist Spirituality,' 'Womanspirit Rising: A Feminist Reader in Religion,' 'Weaving the Visions: New Patterns in Feminist Spirituality,' etc. She reportedly resides on the isle of Lesbos, legendary home of the poet Sappho.

She wrote in the Introduction to this 1989 book, "As I became aware of the importance of role models and of the power of language and images, I became increasingly estranged from the Christian tradition." While not denying that Goddess/God may be imaged as male, she states that she writes of women's experiences and Goddesses "for the simple reason that I write what I know."

In the first chapter, she admits that she left the church not only because she concluded that patriarchy was "deeply rooted in Christianity's core symbolism," but "also because I could no longer believe that God acts in history." (Pg. 3)

She suggests that there is no reason why Christian or Jewish feminists must accept the "orthodox consensus" on the Goddess, any more than they have accepted one on women's religious leadership. (Pg. 14) She observes that the most obvious difference among feminists working in religion "is the question of allegiance to biblical tradition." (Pg. 58) She opines that the patriarchal attitudes of the majority of those whose faith is based on the Bible will not be changed "until the image of God is changed." (Pg. 61)

She acknowledges that feminist scholars who wish to reconstruct Goddess history are faced with a difficult task, since much of Goddess history comes from the time before written records. (Pg. 162) Furthermore, "The gaps and silences in the androcentric tradition deny women a potentially empowering knowledge of history." (Pg. 165)

This is a fascinating and "personal" book by a key figure in the field of contemporary spirituality.

[Molly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Subtitled, "reflections on a journey to the Goddess," I was anticipating a more personal, chronological narrative. Instead, this is mainly a collection of essays/papers/presentations about various aspects of Goddess spirituality. Many of them are interesting, some are from other sources. I discovered a lot that was worthwhile in this book, but it wasn't what I was anticipating reading and so I ended up feeling disappointed also.

[Jennifer Wyld · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book totally opened my eyes to women's spirituality and to think that I picked it up because I though the author's name and the title were ironical... a great feminist, academic work on goddess spirituality

[Denise M · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE Carol Christ.

[Olivia Sonell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helped elucidate many of the problems inherent in the Jewish and Christian traditions while showing a Goddess oriented answer to them.