Reviews of Priestesses, Pythonesses & Sibyls

Review from Babalon.Nu by SeaSon
"Priestesses Pythonesses Sybils" is a wonderful documentation of the many ways the voice of the Sacred Feminine is re-arising in the modern magical revival. It would be wise for all of us to listen to that Voice. ... Many of the authors describe entering the esoteric by one or another path, then absorbing methods from other magical systems, not finding them at odds with their basic perspective. I think this is emblematic of the magical revival in the 21st Century: there seems to be a "blending" of the esoteric systems from cultures around the world, working towards a World Magick of sorts, a coat of many colors. Each initiate wears the coat that fits them. The essay by Janet Farrar is a good example of this. One of the most recognizable and respected names associated with Wicca in the Alexandrian tradition for decades, she realized in the early '90's that trance-channeling and possession were not the norm but the exception in the Pagan movement of the time. It was mainly in Voudon and Seidh and that she saw the oracular priestess and real possession taking place, and she has incorporated techniques from these and many other traditions in her current work. Vivienne O'Regan's first magickal mentor was Kenneth Grant, but it was only after discovering the writings of Dion Fortune, in particular "The Sea Priestess", that she saw the way to priestesshood. The Goddess eventually led her to Olivia Robertson and the Fellowship of Isis. Each author has her own story, and unique journey, but more importantly describes what it means to become a channel for the divine. ."

Review from Papa Nick, SilverStar / Horus Maat
Greece, 8th Century BC. Within the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, a Sibyl known as Pythia is seated on a curious throne: a large bowl supported by a tripod. From below, hypnotic vapors rise from a cleft in the earth. In her hands she holds laurel leaves and a bowl of sacred water into which she gazes. Questions are posed, and this Pythoness, in the voice of Apollo, speaks what she sees in the lustral waters. Fast forward to the outskirts of London, 21st Century CE. A priestess of the Scandinavian pagan path of Seidr is perched upon the High Seat, entranced by the scent of smoldering sage and rosemary and the sounds of low drumming and chanting. She is dressed in a blue robe, its hood pulled down to conceal her face, and she holds a staff. The Seeress sinks down through the earth to Helheim, the Norse Underworld, there to converse with the ancestors and spirits. The congregants gather ’round and pose their questions, and the Seeress responds, channeling the voices of those beyond the veil of space and time. These are scenes from very different times and places, but are eerily similar. Women acting as Oracles were commonplace in the pagan world, but Her voice has been nearly silent for some 3000 years. Beginning with Moses and his tablets of written laws from the One (male) God, there was a concerted effort by the forces of patriarchal monotheism to replace the sybilline Oracle with the male Prophet: he who shouts down angry edicts from the sky, drowning out the she who channeled the deep wisdom of the earth. Judaism, institutionalized Christianity and Islam were very successful in this hostile takeover of the female deities’ domain. The Goddess did not fall — she was pushed ---Read the complete review by Papa Nick