Truth or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority, and Mystery

by Starhawk

An examination of the nature of power that offers creative alternatives for positive change in our personal lives, our communities, and our world.

Genres: Spirituality, Nonfiction, Feminism, Paganism, Religion, Wicca, Politics

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Starhawk is an author, activist, permaculture designer and teacher, and a prominent voice in modern Goddess religion and earth-based spirituality. She is the author or coauthor of thirteen books, including the classics The Spiral Dance and The Fifth Sacred Thing. Her latest is the newly published fiction novel City of Refuge, the long-awaited sequel to The Fifth Sacred Thing.

Starhawk directs Earth Activist Training, (www.earthactivisttraining.org), teaching permaculture design grounded in spirit and with a focus on organizing and activism. “Social permaculture”—the conscious design of regenerative human systems, is a particular focus of hers.

She lives on Golden Rabbit Ranch in Western Sonoma County, CA, where she is developing a model of carbon-sequestering land use incorporating food forests and savannahs, planned grazing, and regenerative forestry.

She travels internationally, lecturing and teaching on earth-based spirituality, permaculture, and the skills of activism. Her web site is www.starhawk.org.

Reviews

[Brian Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of all the religious visionaries I've read, Starhawk the witch strikes me as the most appealing. Her sweeping account of our history and our possibilities is the finest, most sensible, and most enjoyable appeal for a better way of living I know of.

[Margot · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some interesting insights into power and authority. I had the good fortune to be taking an online course with Starhawk while I read the book. So, I could go over some of the material which was written when she was a graduate student and we could look at it from a different perspective. She really does have some excellent ideas, but she confuses power with having to have status... Sometimes, having power doesn't have to be equated with having status on a social scale. In fact, if you aren't expecting to rise into the power structure as defined by the book, you can do a lot more for yourself and more damage to the mainstream power structure that we live in.

[S H · Rating 5 out of 5]

We spoke the truth
We dared to live it.

[Robin Burton · Rating 3 out of 5]

“As a woman, a Jew, a white-skinned person, an out-of-the-broom-closet Witch, a bisexual, a highly educated person who has experienced varying economic circumstances, I feel I know something about both prejudice and privilege.” — Quote from the book.

Starhawk is reputable and this book came highly recommended. She’s smart and has good ideas. Her writing was nothing short of mind-expansion that WILL get you thinking.

My only complaint is that spending concentrated, unbroken hours reading the material quickly got dull. Spirituality and paganism meets political activism is interesting, but perhaps more condensed would have kept a star intact.

That being said, I definitely intend to read more of her work.

[Ellie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have re-read this years after the first time.

My ideas on power, authority and status have changed, evolved and grown, and now perhaps I do not find all that Starhawk theorises to be resonant. That is part of growing.

[Ashleigh Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was all ready to not like this book. However, I have found it to be one of Sarhawk's best pieces, easily surpassing The Spiral Dance, and is currently neck and nect with Dreaming the Dark for my personal favorite by Starhawk.

[Anissa Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book educated me so hard about patriarchy and its influences on all levels of society, government and psychology. I was also gratefully schooled in feminism, activism, and the importance of ritual in building connections to self and within communities. I’m a different person after reading this book than I was before it. I’d call that some serious magic!

[Phila Hoopes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Using the myth of Inanna's descent as her framework, Starhawk traces the causes of modern women's disempowerment and the path to healing, community-building and empowering action. This is a wise and affirming handbook for change that pulls no punches - the author writes with the voice of an veteran activist who's taken her convictions to the streets and behind prison bars; she's experienced the oppression of a militarized and authoritarian state, and she still asserts the power of the feminine principle in defense of the planet and the people. To read this book is to be faced with stark insights on the roots of one's own fear, self-doubt, and inaction, and to receive the tools for change - if one chooses to take them up.

[MotherMagic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very practical work for understanding egalitarian group dynamics. Full of exercises and thought provoking questions for exploring self, other, and community. Beautifully offered via the Mystery tale of Innanna's descent into and return from the underworld.

[Pablo Roman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This shall be a book i return to time and time again. A truly powerful book exploring different systems of power, and filled with tools to help us decolonise our bodies and psyches in order to create a different world. Truly inspirational.

[Sarah Rigg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember as I was exploring various non-Christian spiritual traditions in my early 20s, this book meant a lot to me. I wrote in my journal from 1994 that it was making me think about my "inner censor."

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

power/over relationships discussed at length

[Sally Rhett · Rating 4 out of 5]

More personal than the first book of hers I read

[Dodie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had some interesting ideas about power and authority but compared to her other books I didn’t enjoy it as much.

[Jaeme · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an excellent explanation of power, mystery and authority; how our cultural experiences shape our responses to situations and people, and how to reclaim and "own" your personal power and authority.

[Meadow · Rating 4 out of 5]

magic = molding consciousness at will!

[Tricha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really love the way this changes the concept of how we perceive responsibility, power, and control. I have gone back to this book a number of times.

[Jennifer Wyld · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ideas for working with others, awe-inspiring as always!

[Whiskeyb · Rating 2 out of 5]

What? I did a lot of strange pagan-ass things in my parent's backyard when I was seventeen. I also got strange books like this through the mail~!

[James Welsch · Rating 5 out of 5]

At least this is what the sheave of the book I'm reading is, but the cover doesn't always reflect the contents.

[Emily]

Bought this book for a distance learning course with the author. The course is over, but I will be back to this book!!

[C.J. Prince · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went to a Starhawk lecture at the University of Denver before this book came out. She is a powerful speaker and led the audience in a ceremony out on the greens.

[Lily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful and truth telling.

[Kim Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Her best book in my opinion. An exciting treatise on power: over and with, and the potential of human beings to realise theirs together.

[Jefe Carroll · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great reference of individual and group dynamics and how to handle issues of power and control. Starhawk does an amazing job binding the practical and the magical.

[Shiro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really awesome book makes you think

[Nikki Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this book, or parts of it, multiple times. I consider it one of the foundational books any social activist should read.

[yamiyoghurt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love her insights into community and power.

[Udaya Udayar]

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[Devan Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was phenomenal. It instantly became one of my favorite books. I ordered my own copy before I even finished the copy I had checked out from my local library.