Queen of All Witcheries: A Biography of the Goddess

by Jack Chanek

Overview

Enhance Your Connection to the Goddess through Historical Writings & Hands-On Rituals

Who is the Goddess and how did she become the iconic figure we know today? Queen of All Witcheries explores the mythology of the Goddess through a historical lens, introducing you to influential voices that shaped the modern Goddess movement, including Charles Godfrey Leland, Margaret Murray, Dion Fortune, and Gerald Gardner.

Jack Chanek examines classic titles that build upon each other, like The Golden Bough and The White Goddess, showing how they impacted our contemporary understanding of the Goddess. Each chapter includes a solitary ritual, a group ritual, and a hands-on exercise to deepen your devotional experience. You will reenact the witches' esbat, light a divinatory ritual bonfire, make flying ointment, and more. Sharing extensive research and his own experiences, Jack provides you a richer understanding of the goddess and her evolving mythology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780738773421
Publisher:	Llewellyn Worldwide, LTD.
Publication date:	06/08/2023
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	364,450
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.59(d)

About the Author

Jack Chanek is a Gardnerian Wiccan priest and the author of Qabalah for Wiccans and Tarot for Real Life. He has been reading tarot since he was eleven years old and has taught workshops on tarot, Qabalah, and Wicca around the country. Jack has appeared on podcasts including Seeking Witchcraft, The Magic Monday Podcast, and The Witching Hour with Patti Negri, as well as teaching at festivals such as Free Spirit Gathering and LlewellynCon. He lives in New Jersey, where he works as an academic philosopher specializing in Immanuel Kant’s philosophy of science. He can be found online at www.JackOfWandsTarot.wordpress.com.

Table of Contents

Contents

Disclaimer xiii

Acknowledgments xiv

Foreword xv

Preface xix

Introduction 1

Chapter 1: An Imagined Matriarchy (1861) 11

Chapter 2: A Universal Myth (1890) 31

Chapter 3: Diana, Queen of the Witches (1899) 53

Chapter 4: The Witch Cult (1921) 75

Chapter 5: The New Aeon (1904) 95

Chapter 6: All Goddesses Are One Goddess (1938) 119

Chapter 7: The Triple Muse (1948) 141

Chapter 8: The Wica (1954) 165

Chapter 9: Goddess Feminism (1971) 189

Conclusion: A Goddess for the Twenty-First Century 211

Bibliography 215

Editorial Reviews

"Jack Chanek gives readers a simple, clear, and spiritually informed biography of the Goddess. As he reviews the works of key innovators in the modern Goddess movement—people like Margaret Murray, Robert Graves, and Gerald Gardner—Chanek sorts the wheat from the chaff, finding interesting and useful religious themes while discarding problematic scholarly and/or ethical materials. Anyone curious about how the history of the Goddess in the modern West can interact with contemporary devotion to her will find this book a rich resource."—Cynthia Eller, author of Living in the Lap of the Goddess and The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory

"Jack Chanek offers a brand-new understanding of a goddess we all thought we knew. Both historical and modern, both scholarly and intimate, Queen of All Witcheries takes the reader on a journey that encompasses the past, present, and future of goddess worship. Replete with exercises and rituals to make it all personal and real, this book will open your eyes and deepen your knowledge. An impressive feat and an instant must-have in any witch's library."—Deborah Lipp, author of Bending the Binary

"An important exploration of the modern historical roots of Goddess tradition in the West. Tracing the first early mention of the Goddess in the 1860s through to feminist Goddess worship in the 1990s, Chanek's book skillfully weaves three threads of wisdom: his own personal experiences with the Goddess, his thorough scholarship of the transformation of Goddess traditions, and Goddess rituals for both group and solitary practitioners. A wonderful guide for those seeking to know the ever-changing path of the Goddess in modern times."—HeatherAsh Amara, author of Goddess Warrior Training

"An outstanding book about the history and transformation of the Mother Goddess. A literary journey to take you through the myths—and books—historically used to build and shape the face of the goddess cult, but it does not end there. Jack Chanek takes the assignment of analyzing and deconstructing the sources of these cults, leading the reader to understand their origin and the deep connection between them. Jack gives you everything you need to know in a very well-researched book filled with stories, folklore, and marvelous rituals."—Elhoim Leafar, author of The Magical Art of Crafting Charm Bags

From the Publisher

“A simple, clear, and spiritually informed biography of the Goddess."

author of Living in the Lap of the Goddess Cynthia Eller