{"id":2409,"date":"2011-02-27T17:43:51","date_gmt":"2011-02-28T00:43:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=2409"},"modified":"2011-02-27T17:43:51","modified_gmt":"2011-02-28T00:43:51","slug":"on-reading-merlin-stone-for-the-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=2409","title":{"rendered":"On Reading Merlin Stone for the First Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jason Pitzl-Waters posted a notice of the passing of Merlin Stone<\/a>, “sculptor and art historian,” yes, but best known in my circles for her book When God Was a Woman<\/em><\/a>, first published in 1978.<\/p>\n

I remember an “Oh wow” reaction on reading it when I was in my late twenties\u2014already Wiccan, but still in that eager mode of scooping up new intellectual sensations (something I can still do when the stars are right).<\/p>\n

This was in my pre-grad school stage. I did not even know that the author was female\u2014after all, Robert Graves had written The White Goddess<\/em>, and my only association with the name Merlin was the Arthurian one. (Apparently I was not going to the right conferences. I was not going to any conferences!)<\/p>\n

There are lots of tributes to the book’s imaginal power (if not scholarship) at Jason’s post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jason Pitzl-Waters posted a notice of the passing of Merlin Stone, “sculptor and art historian,” yes, but best known in my circles for her book When God Was a Woman, first published in 1978. I remember an “Oh wow” reaction on reading it when I was in my late twenties\u2014already Wiccan, but still in that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[16,5],"class_list":["post-2409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-goddess","tag-paganism"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-CR","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8543,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=8543","url_meta":{"origin":2409,"position":0},"title":"I Lived in Magic: A Video Biography of Oberon Zell","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"May 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Produced and directed by Danny Yourd (Animal Studio), this meditative interview with Oberon Zell (co-founder of the Church of All Worlds and the man who put \"Neo-Pagan\" into the American religious vocabulary in the 1970s) is a valuable piece of American Pagan history. (It can also be viewed at the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"American religion\"","block_context":{"text":"American religion","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=american-religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"\/\/ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/ir?t=soutrocknatub-20&l=am2&o=1&a=0738714828","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":453,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=453","url_meta":{"origin":2409,"position":1},"title":"What says 'Pagan Studies' to\u2026","author":"Chas S. 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Writers such\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12236,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=12236","url_meta":{"origin":2409,"position":3},"title":"“Goodbye Jesus” \u2014 Writers Sought for Anthology","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"May 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"News release from Oberon Zell: Soliciting essays for \"Goodbye Jesus\" book Goodbye Jesus; I've gone Home to Mother! This is the title of an anthology for which I've been gathering essays over the past couple of decades. These are accounts of their journeys from former Christians\u2014especially Clergy\u2014who have left their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"American religion\"","block_context":{"text":"American religion","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=american-religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.chasclifton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Millennial_Gaia_Earth_Mother_Statue_by_Oberon_Zell-200x267-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1074,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1074","url_meta":{"origin":2409,"position":4},"title":"Joe Biden Freaked by Naked Goddess","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"October 24, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This happened just down the road from me, but I had to read The Wild Hunt to learn about it.Vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden was apparently unable to give his standard speech in the presence of a statue of the goddess Diana in downtown Pueblo, so the goddess was covered by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"American religion\"","block_context":{"text":"American religion","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=american-religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4601,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=4601","url_meta":{"origin":2409,"position":5},"title":"Three Related Blog Posts","author":"Chas S. 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