''The Spiral Dance: a Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess'' is a book about Neopagan beliefs and practices written by

Starhawk Starhawk (born Miriam Simos on June 17, 1951) is an American feminist and author. She is known as a theorist of feminist Neopaganism and ecofeminism. In 2013, she was listed in Watkins' ''Mind Body Spirit'' magazine as one of the 100 Most Spir ...

. It was first published in 1979, with a second edition in 1989 and a third edition in 1999. It is a classic book on

Wicca Wicca () is a modern Pagan religion. Scholars of religion categorise it as both a new religious movement and as part of the occultist stream of Western esotericism. It was developed in England during the first half of the 20th century and w ...

, modern

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...

, spiritual feminism, the

Goddess movement The Goddess movement includes spiritual beliefs or practices (chiefly Neopagan) which emerged predominantly in North America, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand in the 1970s. The movement grew as a reaction to perceptions of predominant ...

, and ecofeminism. The book has been translated into German and

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

Background

''The Spiral Dance'' is Starhawk's first book. After a failed attempt to become a fiction writer in New York City, she returned to California, and became active in the Neopagan community in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. She decided to try her hand at nonfiction and wrote a book on Goddess religion, which she finished in 1977 but was unable to publish at first. Her luck changed when feminist religious scholar

Carol P. Christ Carol Patrice Christ (December 20, 1945 – July 14, 2021) was a feminist historian, Thealogy, thealogian, author, and foremother of the Goddess movement. She obtained her PhD from Yale University and served as a professor at universities such as ...

included an article on Witchcraft and the Goddess movement in the anthology '' Womanspirit Rising'' (1979). Christ put Starhawk in touch with an editor at

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

, who eventually published the book. In 1979, partly to commemorate the publication of the book, Starhawk and her friends staged a public celebration of the Neopagan holiday of

Samhain Samhain ( , , , ; gv, Sauin ) is a Gaelic festival on 1 NovemberÓ hÓgáin, Dáithí. ''Myth Legend and Romance: An Encyclopaedia of the Irish Folk Tradition''. Prentice Hall Press, 1991. p. 402. Quote: "The basic Irish division of the year ...

(Halloween) incorporating an actual spiral dance. This group became the Reclaiming Collective; the annual Spiral Dance ritual now draws hundreds of participants. The book was revised for 10th- and 20th-anniversary editions in 1989 and 1999, respectively. The original text of the book was left largely untouched. The revisions consist for the most part of introductions and notes reflecting on the origins of the book and the rituals it describes, and changes to the author's beliefs and practices since writing the book. Although commonly read as a book on Wicca, ''The Spiral Dance'' is distinguished by its mysticism and experience, and by its emphasis on women and the Goddess (although it also brings in the God, similar to most forms of Wicca). Starhawk trained with Victor Anderson, founder of the

Feri Tradition The Feri Tradition is an initiatory tradition of modern Pagan witchcraft. It was founded in California in the 1960s by the Americans Victor Henry Anderson and his wife Cora Anderson. Practitioners have described it as an ecstatic tradition rath ...

of witchcraft, and with

Zsuzsanna Budapest Zsuzsanna Emese Mokcsay (born 30 January 1940 in Budapest, Hungary) is a Hungarian author, activist, journalist, playwright and songwriter living in America who writes about feminist spirituality and Dianic Wicca under the pen name Zsuzsanna Bud ...

, a feminist separatist involved in

Dianic Wicca Dianic Wicca, also known as Dianic Witchcraft, and, to some also as "Dianism," "Dianic Feminist Witchcraft," or simply "Feminist Witchcraft"' is a modern pagan, goddess tradition, focused on female experience and empowerment. Leadership is by w ...

Casualty figures

In ''The Spiral Dance'', Starhawk stated that up to nine million people, mostly women, were killed during the

Witch Hunt A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern perio ...

s in early modern Europe. The number was based on an article by

Mary Daly Mary Daly (October 16, 1928–January 3, 2010) was an American radical feminist philosopher and theologian. Daly, who described herself as a "radical lesbian feminist", taught at the Jesuit-run Boston College for 33 years. Once a practicing ...

, who based it on the writings of the 19th century feminist

Matilda Joslyn Gage Matilda Joslyn Gage (March 24, 1826 – March 18, 1898) was an American writer and activist. She is mainly known for her contributions to women's suffrage in the United States (i.e. the right to vote) but she also campaigned for Native Ameri ...

, and has no basis in research. (Most estimates based on research range from 60,000 to 100,000.) In the book's 10th anniversary edition, she states: "Actually, estimates range between a low of one hundred thousand and this figure ine million which is probably high. The truth, clearly, is that nobody knows exactly how many people died in the persecutions."Starhawk (1999). ''The Spiral Dance''. 20th Anniversary Edition. San Francisco: Harper. p. 232. .

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spiral Dance 1979 non-fiction books Books by Starhawk Feminist spirituality Harper & Row books Texts used in Wicca Wicca in the United States Wiccan books Reclaiming (Neopaganism) Works by Starhawk 1970s in modern paganism