This anthology calls Pagan and Goddess mothering into focus by highlighting philosophies and experiences of mothers in these spiritual movements and traditions. Pagan and Goddess spirituality are distinct, yet overlapping and diverse communities, with much to say about deity as mother, and about human mothers in relationship to deity. Authors share creative voices, stories, and scholarship from the forefront of Pagan- and Goddess- centred home, in which divine mothers, Goddesses, diverse female embodiments, and generative life cycles are honoured as sacred. Authors inquire into how their spirituality impacts the perceived value and experiences of mothers themselves, while generating new ways of imagining and enacting motherhood in spiritual and daily life. Pagan, Goddess, Mother opens spaces for dialogue in areas such as how Pagan- and Goddess- centred mothers engage in, and are impacted by, their spiritual leadership through practices of ceremony, ritual, magic, and priestessing. Authors consider mothers’ lived connections with their children, family life, and themselves, through nature, the Earth, and mothering as a spiritual practice. Chapters reflect upon the ways that Pagan- and Goddess- identified mothers creatively navigate daily interactions with dominant religions, the public sphere, community leadership and activism—facing the challenges of such while forging new pathways for spirited wellbeing in mothering and family life.

Nané Jordan, PhD, is a birthkeeper, artist-scholar, community worker and mother of two daughters. Nané has been active in mother-centred birth for over 30 years, and is devoted to women’s spirituality, the divine feminine/female, Mother Earth, and goddess scholarship. She completed her MA in Women’s Spirituality (New College of California), a PhD in Education (UBC), and was a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow in Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Paris 8, France. Nané currently works in Indigenous family services, and was a lecturer in art education at UBC. She pursues narrative, arts-based, life writing research, collaborative artistic practices (see: http://www.gestareartcollective.com), and publishes widely, including the anthology, Placenta Wit: Mother Stories, Rituals, and Research (Demeter Press, 2017).

Nané Jordan's profile page

Chandra Alexandre, PhD, is a Tantric Bhairavi who has served as a spiritual leader for the past 20 years in the San Francisco Bay Area through SHARANYA (www.sharanya.org), a federally-recognized goddess temple she founded after receiving direction from her teacher in India to, “Go and spread Mother Worship!” Dedicated to Her mysteries as pathways to personal transformation and social justice, Chandra works both in community and in the nonprofit sector for change. She received diksha (initiation) into Tantra in India, her PhD in Asian & Comparative Studies from CIIS (with an MA in Women’s Spirituality), and her DMin in Creation Spirituality. She also holds an MBA in sustainable management and is a certified fundraising professional specializing in internationally-focused causes and grassroots women-led change.

Chandra Alexandre's profile page