Cakes for the Queen of Heaven: An Exploration of Women's Power Past, Present and Future

by Shirley Ann Ranck

Cakes for the Queen of Heaven explores the relationship between women's religious history and the personal issues that arise in women living in this patriarchal society. Women struggle with issues of body image, troubled mother-daughter relationships, sexual freedom and access to power. We need to know that there was a time when the female body was sacred; that there once was a long-lasting religion in which the chief divine actors were a mother and her daughter; that in very ancient times women had significant power in their societies; that although patriarchal societies have oppressed women for centuries, there have always been strong and talented women. Our female history has been erased and trivialized for too long. In this book we meet ancient goddesses and their stories from around the world, real women in ancient Sumer, in Greece, in Judaism and in Christianity. In Cakes for the Queen of Heaven the past is before us, the women are there, and they help us change our lives.

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

194 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1995

Reviews

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book!

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cakes For the Queen of Heaven was designed as a series of classes for Unitarian Universalists to expand their ideas about women's religious history, the Bible, and female roles in society. While this is somewhat dated (published in 2006) I found it readable and interesting. Although I did not learn anything new, the references to books on the subject reminded me of authors I did learn from in the past (Merlin Stone, Starhawk, Margot Adler, Raphael Patai, et. al.) and pointed me to a few I'd missed.
I found the rituals attached to each chapter unhelpful, but that is probably a matter of personal style and they might be more effective in a group setting or at least might have been twenty years ago when such things were new.
One final caveat is the spelling of women's (Womenys) which I have always found annoying. Yes, I get that adding "wo" to the words man or men could be viewed as patronizing, but it IS the English language and it is a lot less irritating than the use of "us men" in the Nicene Creed, which is not mentioned in this book.
Perhaps the author's sequel, The Grandmother's Galaxy, might be more timely.

[Pablo · Rating 5 out of 5]

What happened to the Goddess?

A very interesting and well researched book about the origins, transition, suppression and renaissance of the divine in the person of the Goddess. Each chapter starts with a small ritual to help center and digest the information provided.

Regardless of your religious beliefs or lack of, it is an interesting reading.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots to think about--the book is part of the curriculum of a new course I am participating in. Huge, powerful ideas, in digestible language.