Ancient Goddess Magic: Invoking the Queens of the Heavens

by Vanessa Lavallée

• Explores beliefs and myths from Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, and around the Mediterranean, revealing how ancient goddesses were powerful Queens of the Heavens and Guardians of the Underworld, not passive fertility symbols • Looks at creator goddesses, sun goddesses, lunar goddesses, warrior maiden goddesses, and night goddesses, including Hathor, Asherah, Inanna, Hekate, Athena, Astarte, and Gula-Bau • Includes modern adaptations of ancient goddess magic rituals and instructions for creating divine amulets, figurines, and stones blessed with the goddesses’ powers In the most ancient cultures of our world, goddesses were seen not as passive fertility symbols but as powerful, active Queens of the Heavens who protected cities, guided the dead and dying, and oversaw all forms of rebirth and transformation. Sharing her years of research and personal exploration into ancient goddess mythology, evolution, and ritual, Vanessa Lavallée explores the animistic beliefs of our long-forgotten ancestors, especially in Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, and around the Mediterranean, and shows how the Queens of the Heavens still have a vital role to play in modern spirituality. She looks at sun goddesses who were often viewed as the mothers of the gods and shows how to spiritually and magically work with the Great Mothers of the Sky. Examining maiden warrior goddesses such as Athena, Circe the sorceress, Britomartis, Dyktinna, and Aphaia from the island of Aegina, the author explains their connections to the Eagle constellation and eagle lore and reveals how to work with the Warrior goddess archetype. Looking at night goddesses, the author describes their connection to the Goat Star, the Milky Way, Death, and the Underworld and explores their star magic and healing powers, including working with Vega, Sirius, Inanna, Hekate, and Gula-Bau. Exploring lunar goddesses, their role as protectors, and their connections to the Swan and the Cygnus constellation, she looks at how to work with guardian goddesses such as Astarte, Aphrodite, and Tanit. Offering modern adaptations of ancient goddess magic rituals and tools, the author explains how to perform rituals for healing, protection, and purification and how to create divine amulets, figurines, and stones blessed with the goddesses’ powers. She also reveals how to practice astral bathing for spiritual help and guidance. Presenting initiation practices throughout to help you connect with each Queen of the Heavens, this guide to the myth, magic, and history of ancient goddesses reveals that their legacy is still spiritually alive.

Genres: Witchcraft

176 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2024

Reviews

[Elyse Welles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have no idea why people are hating on this book so much! I think for some who come from a modern practice and have read only books by authors who are sharing exclusively pracfical ways to work with goddesses might be jarred by some of the facts in history that might contradict some of the ways we work with goddesses today. What I love about goddess based religion is it is always an opportunity to grow, because it is a living religion. While yes, our modern practices look very different than the ancient world, our modern world looks very different than the ancient world as well and the gods are dynamic. They change with the times and evolve just like our souls do. So our relationships will naturally evolve and change with them in this way.

I think it’s important for people to understand the ways the ancient did things differently so that we can be fully informed in the choices we do make for our modern spiritual path.

I also appreciated that at no point did the author claim reconstruction in the purist sense was possible, where I come from Greece people are very interested in reconstructing exact rituals, and at the end of the day until the temples are open and society comes together for community festivals that cannot happen. It’s a fools errand as fun as it sounds to pursue. Instead, I think it’s important as modern practitioners to focus on what is in our control: our relationship with the divine. And learning everything we can about ancient practices and rituals and points of view when it comes to the gods is an important step on that journey of building relationship.


I loved this book because it was a concise volume sharing an introductory flavor for many different goddesses, some of which I’ve never seen in another book on ancient goddesses such as Anat, Shapash, or Nanshe.

The ritual structure was considerably different as well than what a modern practitioner I do, but I absolutely love to learn more about how ancient rituals were done. I found the rituals very inspiring and while I will probably not do them verbatim I will definitely take some inspiration for my modern pagan rituals.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Inner Traditions and Vanessa Lavallee for the ARC.

This book covers a lot of different goddesses from various cultures. It does not just dwell on the more stereotypical 'feminine' roles of these goddesses either but talks about their work with warriors, as healers, and the creatix. The amount of goddesses though also lessens the amount of details given about each one. That is why I think this book is best used as an introductory to some of these goddesses. If there is one you feel drawn to, find other books about them that will go into far more detail about how to work with them, learn about them, etc.

[Theodora Zourkas · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book, Lavallee packs a lot of information into a reasonably short book. She covers a lot of goddesses and links them to the celestial stars and symbols.
The volume of topics/goddesses however, means this is done in an overview or summary format where the mythology and stories need to be summarised. This in turn creates scope for misinterpretation (e.g. Ariadne) of parts of the original story/myth.
The sections on how to work with the goddesses and the last chapter on celestial healing are very good.
Overall and enjoyable and interesting book and a good introduction if you are new to the topic area.

[JP · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some conflicting information presented as fact, a bit scattered as well

[Jenna McPhail-DePersia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shoutout to Hekate that's my girl for real