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{{Short description|American author, activist and Neopagan (born 1951)}}
{{About| the pagan author and activist||Starhawk (disambiguation)}} {{About| the pagan author and activist||Starhawk (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2014}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2014}}
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| death_date = | death_date =
| death_place = | death_place =
| notable works = '']'' | notable works = {{flatlist|
* ]
* ]
}}
| awards = ] | awards = ]
| alma mater = ], B.A.<br>], M.A. | alma mater = ], B.A.<br>], M.A.
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| website = | website =
| spouse = David Miller | spouse = David Miller
| residence =
}} }}
{{Women and Spirituality Trilogy}} {{Women and Spirituality Trilogy}}
'''Starhawk''' (born '''Miriam Simos''' on June 17, 1951) is an American writer, teacher and activist.<ref>Starhawk (2002). ''Webs of Power: Notes from the Global Uprising''. New Society Publishers.</ref> She is known as a theorist of ] ] and ].<ref>{{cite news|last=Blumberg|first=Antonia|title=Celebrate The Winter Solstice With Los Angeles' Own Eco-Pagans|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/11/starhawk-los-angeles-ritual_n_4390396.html|accessdate=January 7, 2014|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=December 11, 2013}}</ref> She is a columnist for ] and for ''On Faith'', the '']''/'']'' online forum on religion. Her book '']'' (1979) was one of the main inspirations behind the ]. '''Starhawk''' (born '''Miriam Simos''' on June 17, 1951) is an American feminist and author.<ref>Starhawk (2002). ''Webs of Power: Notes from the Global Uprising''. New Society Publishers.</ref> She is known as a theorist of ] ] and ].<ref>{{cite news|last=Blumberg|first=Antonia|title=Celebrate The Winter Solstice With Los Angeles' Own Eco-Pagans|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/11/starhawk-los-angeles-ritual_n_4390396.html|accessdate=January 7, 2014|newspaper=The Huffington Post|date=December 11, 2013}}</ref> In 2013, she was listed in ]' ''Mind Body Spirit'' magazine as one of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People.<ref>ranked #29 in {{cite web|url=https://www.watkinsmagazine.com/watkins-spiritual-100-list-2013 |title=Watkins' Spiritual 100 List for 2013 - Watkins MIND BODY SPIRIT Magazine |date=February 6, 2013 |publisher=Watkinsbooks.com |accessdate=2019-11-09}}</ref>
In 2012, she was listed in ]' ''Mind Body Spirit'' magazine as one of the 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.watkinsbooks.com/review/watkins-spiritual-100-list-2012 |title=Watkins' Spiritual 100 List for 2012 - Watkins MIND BODY SPIRIT Magazine |publisher=Watkinsbooks.com |date= |accessdate=2016-11-08}}</ref>


==Early life== ==Early life==
Starhawk was born in 1951 in ]. Her father Jack Simos, died when she was five. Her mother, Bertha Claire Goldfarb Simos, was a professor of ] at ]. Both her parents were the children of ] immigrants from Russia. Starhawk was born in 1951 in ]. Her father, Jack Simos, died when she was five. Her mother, Bertha Claire Goldfarb Simos, was a professor of ] at ]. Both of her parents were the children of ] immigrants from Ukraine.


In ] she and self-declared feminist ] were best friends.<ref>{{YouTube|id=1KrA4BQ6rAY&t=14m37s}}</ref> Starhawk received a ] in Fine Arts from UCLA. In 1973, while she was a graduate student in ] there, she won the ] for her novel, ''A Weight of Gold'', a story about ], where she then lived. She received an MA in ], with a concentration in feminist therapy, from ] in 1982. During ], she and feminist ] were best friends.<ref>{{YouTube|id=1KrA4BQ6rAY&t=14m37s}}</ref> Starhawk received a ] in Fine Arts from UCLA. In 1973, whilst a graduate student in ] there, she won the ] for her novel, ''A Weight of Gold'', a story about ], where she then lived. She received an MA in ], with a concentration in feminist therapy, from ] in 1982.


==''The Spiral Dance''== ==''The Spiral Dance''==
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She wrote a book, '']'', on Goddess religion, which she finished in 1977 but was unable to publish at first. Feminist religious scholar ] included an article on witchcraft and the Goddess movement in the anthology ''Womanspirit Rising'' (1979). Christ put Starhawk in touch with an editor at ], who eventually published the book. She wrote a book, '']'', on Goddess religion, which she finished in 1977 but was unable to publish at first. Feminist religious scholar ] included an article on witchcraft and the Goddess movement in the anthology ''Womanspirit Rising'' (1979). Christ put Starhawk in touch with an editor at ], who eventually published the book.


First published in 1979, ''The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess'' became a best-selling book about ] belief and practice. A 10th-anniversary edition was published in 1989, followed by a 20th-anniversary edition in 1999. The original text of ''The Spiral Dance'' was left largely intact for these editions, expanded primarily by introductions and commentaries reflecting on the book's origins, the rituals described, and the evolution of the author's beliefs and practices. Since its publication, ''The Spiral Dance'' has become a classic resource on ] and modern ], ], the ], and ]. The work is distinguished by its visionary mysticism, "broad philosophy of harmony with nature," and ecstatic consciousness. First published in 1979, ''The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess'' became a best-selling book about ] belief and practice. A 10th-anniversary edition was published in 1989, followed by a 20th-anniversary edition in 1999. The original text of ''The Spiral Dance'' was left largely intact for these editions, expanded primarily by introductions and commentaries reflecting on the book's origins, the rituals described, and the evolution of the author's beliefs and practices. Since its publication, ''The Spiral Dance'' has become a classic resource on ] and modern ], ], the ], and ]. The work is distinguished by its visionary mysticism, "broad philosophy of harmony with nature," and ecstatic consciousness.


==Beliefs== ==Beliefs==
Starhawk believes that the Earth is a living entity, and that faith-based activism can reconnect oneself to basic human needs. She posits core religious values of community and self-sacrifice as important to eco-pagan movements, as well as the broader environmental justice movement. Starhawk believes that the Earth is a living entity, and that faith-based activism can reconnect oneself to basic human needs. She posits core religious values of community and self-sacrifice as important to eco-pagan movements, as well as the broader ] movement.


She advocates combining social justice issues with a nature-based spirituality that begins with spending time in the natural world, saying that doing so "...can open up your understanding on deeper and more subtle levels where the natural world will speak to you."<ref>Blumberg, Antonia (December 11, 2013). "Celebrate The Winter Solstice With Los Angeles' Own Eco-Pagans". The Huffington Post.</ref> She advocates combining social justice issues with a nature-based spirituality that begins with spending time in the natural world, saying that doing so "...can open up your understanding on deeper and more subtle levels where the natural world will speak to you."<ref>Blumberg, Antonia (December 11, 2013). "Celebrate The Winter Solstice With Los Angeles' Own Eco-Pagans". The Huffington Post.</ref>


Starhawk's activism is deeply rooted in an anti-war philosophy, as she believes that war teaches one to see people culturally different than themselves as inhuman and dangerous.<ref>"Feminist, Earth-based Spirituality and Ecofeminism," in Healing the Wounds by Judith Plant</ref> Starhawk's activism is deeply rooted in an anti-war philosophy, as she believes that war teaches one to see people culturally different than themselves as inhuman and dangerous.<ref>"Feminist, Earth-based Spirituality and Ecofeminism," in Healing the Wounds by Judith Plant</ref> She has written extensively on activism, including advice for activist organizers, examinations of white privilege within radical communities, and calls for an intersectionality of fighting oppression that includes spirituality, eco-consciousness, and sexual and gender liberation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.starhawk.org/writings/writings.html |title=Starhawk's Writings |accessdate=2014-05-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505044500/http://starhawk.org/writings/writings.html |archive-date=May 5, 2014 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>{{Self-published source|date=December 2022}}
She has written extensively on activism, including advice for activist organizers, examinations of white privilege within radical communities, and calls for an intersectionality of fighting oppression that includes spirituality, eco-consciousness, and sexual and gender liberation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.starhawk.org/writings/writings.html |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2014-05-13 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505044500/http://starhawk.org/writings/writings.html |archivedate=May 5, 2014 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>


==Feminism== ==Feminism==


Starhawk's feminism and spirituality are closely interconnected, and her belief that feminism should challenge power structures denotes her intersectional approach.<ref>Womanspirit Rising: A Feminist Reader in Religion (1979) by Carol P. Christ and Judith Plaskow</ref> Her ecofeminism links life-giving Mother Nature with the life-giving of women through birth, as well as the link between ecological destruction and patriarchal oppression under male-dominated Western political economies. Starhawk's feminism and spirituality are closely interconnected.<ref>Womanspirit Rising: A Feminist Reader in Religion (1979) by Carol P. Christ and Judith Plaskow</ref> Her ecofeminism links life-giving Mother Nature with the life-giving of women through birth, as well as the link between ecological destruction and patriarchal oppression under male-dominated Western political economies.


She calls for a reconceptualization of the way we think about power that is different from what she posits as our typical understanding of 'power over' others, and believes that patriarchal systems of oppression are dying out and will be replaced by more egalitarian structures that have existed previously with many women in positions of power, including as priestesses, poets, healers, singers, and seers. Such matrilineal lineages, she argues, have been erased from history because of their "political implications." She calls for a reconceptualization of the way we think about power that is different from what she posits as our typical understanding of 'power over' others, and believes that patriarchal systems of oppression are dying out and will be replaced by more egalitarian structures that have existed previously with many women in positions of power, including as priestesses, poets, healers, singers, and seers. Such matrilineal lineages, she argues, have been erased from history because of their "political implications."


Starhawk argues that our patriarchal culture of domination has confused the erotic with domination and violence.<ref>The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Goddess (1979) by Starhawk</ref> Sexuality, she says, "...is sacred because through it we make a connection with another self — but it is misused and perverted when it becomes an arena of power-over, a means of treating another — or oneself — as an object."<ref>Dreaming the Dark: Magic, Sex and Politics (1982) by Starhawk</ref> Such analyses of gendered power relations are explored in her books ''Webs of Power: Notes from the Global Uprising'' (2003) and ''Truth or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority and Mystery'' (1998). In the latter, she links the rise of kinship to patriarchal domination, and traces a psychology of liberation in analyzing an oppressor she argues is embedded deeply in all of us, the 'Self-hater.'<ref>Truth or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority and Mystery (1988) by Starhawk</ref> She is interested in how such oppressions can be reformed into new sources of power, particularly amongst women, that arise innately and reject dominion over others. Starhawk argues that our patriarchal culture of domination has confused the erotic with domination and violence.<ref>The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Goddess (1979) by Starhawk</ref>{{Self-published source|date=December 2022}} Sexuality, she says, "...is sacred because through it we make a connection with another self — but it is misused and perverted when it becomes an arena of power-over, a means of treating another — or oneself — as an object."<ref>Dreaming the Dark: Magic, Sex and Politics (1982) by Starhawk</ref>{{Self-published source|date=December 2022}} Such analyses of gendered power relations are explored in her books ''Webs of Power: Notes from the Global Uprising'' (2003) and ''Truth or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority and Mystery'' (1988). In the latter, she links the rise of kinship to patriarchal domination, and traces a psychology of liberation in analyzing an oppressor she argues is embedded deeply in all of us, the 'Self-hater.'<ref>Truth or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority and Mystery (1988) by Starhawk</ref>{{Self-published source|date=December 2022}} She is interested in how such oppressions can be reformed into new sources of power, particularly amongst women, that arise innately and reject dominion over others.


Her feminist writings have been used to analyze the differences between mainstream rhetoric and feminist rhetoric, particularly in relation to her motive of writing rhetoric as revealing immanent truths rather than being utilized for persuasion.<ref>Foss, Sonja K., and Cindy L. Griffin. "A Feminist Perspective on Rhetorical Theory: Toward a Clarification of Boundaries." Western Journal of Communication 56.4 (1992): 330–49. Print.</ref> She views this latter purpose of mainstream rhetoric as adhering to patriarchal logic, and her vision of 'empowered action' – which involves rejecting the tenets of the oppressive system and then openly challenging them – attempts to transform persuasive mainstream rhetoric to immanent feminist rhetoric. Her feminist writings have been used to analyze the differences between mainstream rhetoric and feminist rhetoric, particularly in relation to her motive of writing rhetoric as revealing immanent truths rather than being utilized for persuasion.<ref>Foss, Sonja K., and Cindy L. Griffin. "A Feminist Perspective on Rhetorical Theory: Toward a Clarification of Boundaries." Western Journal of Communication 56.4 (1992): 330–49. Print.</ref> She views this latter purpose of mainstream rhetoric as adhering to patriarchal logic, and her vision of 'empowered action' – which involves rejecting the tenets of the oppressive system and then openly challenging them – attempts to transform persuasive mainstream rhetoric to immanent feminist rhetoric.
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==Projects== ==Projects==


In 1979, partly to commemorate the publication of ''The Spiral Dance'', Starhawk and her friends staged a public celebration of the ] of ] (Halloween) incorporating an actual ]. This group became the ], and their annual Spiral Dance ritual now draws hundreds of participants. In 1979, partly to commemorate the publication of ''The Spiral Dance'', Starhawk and her friends staged a public celebration of the ] of ] (Halloween) incorporating an actual ]. This group became the ], and their annual Spiral Dance ritual now draws hundreds of participants.


Starhawk continues to work with Reclaiming, a tradition of Witchcraft that she co-founded. This now-international organization offers classes, workshops, camps, and public rituals in earth-based spirituality, with the goal to "unify spirit and politics". Starhawk continues to work with Reclaiming, a tradition of Witchcraft that she co-founded. This now-international organization offers classes, workshops, camps, and public rituals in earth-based spirituality, with the goal to "unify spirit and politics".


She also works internationally as a trainer in ] and ], and as an activist within the ], ], ], and ]. She travels and teaches widely in North America, Europe and the Middle East, giving lectures and workshops. She also works internationally as a trainer in ] and ], and as an activist within the ], ], ], ], and ]. She travels and teaches widely in North America, Europe and the Middle East, giving lectures and workshops.


She was influential in the decision by the ] to include earth-centered traditions among their sources of faith. She led numerous workshops for, and was an active member of The ] (CUUPS), an interest group of ] honoring goddess-based, earth-centered, tribal, and pagan spiritual paths.<ref> {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511204010/http://www.cuups.org/content2/ |date=May 11, 2008 }}</ref> She was influential in the decision by the ] to include earth-centered traditions among their sources of faith. She led numerous workshops for, and was an active member of The ] (CUUPS), an interest group of ] honoring goddess-based, earth-centered, tribal, and pagan spiritual paths.<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511204010/http://www.cuups.org/content2/|date=May 11, 2008}}</ref>


Starhawk has taught in several San Francisco Bay Area colleges and universities, including ], ], the ] at ], and ]. She is presently adjunct faculty at the ], and is currently affiliated with ], the RANT trainers' collective, Earth Activist Training, and other groups. Starhawk has taught in several San Francisco Bay Area colleges and universities, including ], ], the ] at ], and ]. She is presently adjunct faculty at the ], and is currently affiliated with ], the RANT trainers' collective, Earth Activist Training, and other groups.


==Works==
Starhawk has written a number of books, and has also contributed works in other media. Her works have appeared in translation in Spanish, French, German, Danish, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Czech, Greek, Japanese, and Burmese. Starhawk has written a number of books, and has also contributed works in other media. Her works have appeared in translation in Spanish, French, German, Danish, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Czech, Greek, Japanese, and Burmese.


==Written works==
===Non-fiction=== ===Non-fiction===
*'']'' (1979, 1989, 1999) *'']'' (1979, 1989, 1999)
*'']'' (1982, 1988, 1997) *'']'' (1982, 1988, 1997)
*''Truth or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority, and Mystery'' (1988) *''Truth or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority, and Mystery'' (1988)
*''Webs of Power: Notes from the Global Uprising'' (2003) *''Webs of Power: Notes from the Global Uprising'' (2003)
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*''The Empowerment Manual: A Guide for Collaborative Groups'' (2011) *''The Empowerment Manual: A Guide for Collaborative Groups'' (2011)


====As co-author==== ====As coauthor====
* With ] and the ]: ''The Pagan Book of Living and Dying: Practical Rituals, Prayers, Blessings, and Meditations on Crossing Over'' (1997) * With ] and the ]: ''The Pagan Book of Living and Dying: Practical Rituals, Prayers, Blessings, and Meditations on Crossing Over'' (1997)
* With ] and ]: ''Circle Round: Raising Children in the Goddess Tradition'' (1998) * With Anne Hill and Diane Baker: ''Circle Round: Raising Children in the Goddess Tradition'' (1998)
* With Hilary Valentine: ''The Twelve Wild Swans: A Journey Into Magic, Healing, and Action'' (2000) * With Hilary Valentine: ''The Twelve Wild Swans: A Journey Into Magic, Healing, and Action'' (2000)


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*''City of Refuge'' (2015) (sequel to ''The Fifth Sacred Thing'') *''City of Refuge'' (2015) (sequel to ''The Fifth Sacred Thing'')


===Other media=== ==Filmography==
Starhawk has contributed to films: Starhawk has contributed to films:


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* '']'' * '']''
* ''Permaculture: The Growing Edge'' (2010) * ''Permaculture: The Growing Edge'' (2010)
* ''United Natures (2013) directed by Peter Charles Downey'' * ''United Natures'' (2013) directed by Peter Charles Downey


==Discography==
She participated in the ] CDs ''Chants: Ritual Music'', and recorded the ] ''Way to the Well''. She participated in the ] CDs ''Chants: Ritual Music'', and recorded the ] ''Way to the Well''.


==Other media==
On YouTube Starhawk speaks on spirituality and activism at ]. She also wrote the call-to-action for the women's peace organization '']''. On YouTube Starhawk speaks on spirituality and activism at the ] (UUA). She also wrote the call-to-action for the women's peace organization ].


==Personal life== ==Personal life==
Starhawk married Edwin Rahsman in 1977. They subsequently divorced. She is currently married to David Miller, and they live in San Francisco. Starhawk also resides partly in Starhawk married Edwin Rahsman in 1977. They subsequently divorced. She is currently married to David Miller, and they live in San Francisco. Starhawk also resides partly in ], California.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Berta |first=Marilyn |date=15 August 2012 |title=We Are Sacred as the Earth: An Interview with Earth Activist Starhawk |url=http://www.treehugger.com/culture/we-are-sacred-as-the-earth-interview-starhawk.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120921041953/http://www.treehugger.com/culture/we-are-sacred-as-the-earth-interview-starhawk.html |archive-date=September 21, 2012 |magazine=Treehugger |access-date=9 January 2022 |url-status=live }} Reprinted from:
], California.<ref>Berta, Marilyn (August 15, 2012). "We Are Sacred As The Earth: An Interview With Earth Activist Starhawk" treehugger.</ref> * {{Cite magazine |last=Berta |first=Marilyn |date=n.d. |title=We Are Sacred as the Earth: An Interview with Earth Activist Starhawk |magazine=Sacred Fire |issue=15 |pages=28–31|issn=1557-346X |oclc=1126529309}}</ref>


Starhawk identifies as ], and has also commented that her sexuality is ] and "has something to do with a deep reluctance to be pinned down."<ref>{{Cite book|title = Bisexual Politics: Theories, Queries, and Visions|last = Tucker|first = Naomi|publisher = Routledge|year = 1995|isbn = |location = |page = 328}}</ref> Her writing and activism promotes equality for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities. Starhawk identifies as ], and has also commented that her sexuality is ] and "has something to do with a deep reluctance to be pinned down."<ref>{{Cite book |author=Starhawk |year=1995 |chapter=The Sacredness of Pleasure |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/bisexualpolitics00tuck/page/324/mode/2up |editor-last1=Tucker |editor1-first=Naomi |editor2-last=Highleyman |editor2-first=Liz |editor3-last=Kaplan |editor3-first=Rebecca |title=Bisexual Politics: Theories, Queries, and Visions |url=https://archive.org/details/bisexualpolitics00tuck |url-access=registration |location=New York |publisher=Harrington Park Press (The Haworth Press) |isbn=9781560249504 |oclc=930475238 |page= |access-date=9 January 2022}}</ref> Her writing and activism promote equality for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities.


== See also == ==See also==
* ]
{{Portal|Anarchism}}
⚫ * ]


==References== ==References==
=== Citations ===
* Salomonsen, Jone (2002). ''Enchanted Feminism: The Reclaiming Witches of San Francisco''. London and New York: Routledge. {{ISBN|0-415-22392-X}}
* Vale, V. and John Sulak (2001). ''Modern Pagans''. (). San Francisco: Re/Search Publications. {{ISBN|1-889307-10-6}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}} {{Reflist}}

=== General and cited sources ===
* {{Cite book |last=Salomonsen |first=Jone |year=2002 |chapter=Chapter 2: Wicca Revival: Starhawk and the Myth of Ancient Origin |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-OVyIFQh0soC&pg=PA67 |title=Enchanted Feminism: The Reclaiming Witches of San Francisco |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-OVyIFQh0soC |location=London and New York |publisher=Routledge |pages=67–96 |isbn=0-415-22392-X |oclc=50553329}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Vale |first1=V. |author2=John Sulak |year=2001 |chapter=Interview with Starhawk |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/modernpagansinve00john/page/6/mode/2up |title=Modern Pagans: An Investigation of Contemporary Pagan Practices |url=https://archive.org/details/modernpagansinve00john |url-access=registration |location=San Francisco |publisher=Re/Search Publications |pages=6–16 |isbn=1-889307-10-6 |oclc=48787560}}


==External links== ==External links==
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* – Official site * – Official site
* *
* *
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050526005323/http://www.earthactivisttraining.org/ |date=May 26, 2005 }}
*
* from ''Modern Pagans'' * at '']''
* {{YouTube|EbfcTFihTaQ|2003 Interview on Spirituality and Activism}} * {{YouTube|EbfcTFihTaQ|2003 Interview on Spirituality and Activism}}


{{WiccaandWitchcraft}} {{WiccaandWitchcraft}}

{{Authority control}} {{Authority control}}


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Latest revision as of 06:42, 20 November 2024

American author, activist and Neopagan (born 1951) This article is about the pagan author and activist. For other uses, see Starhawk (disambiguation).

Starhawk
Starhawk at a Sicilian workshop in 2007
BornMiriam Simos
(1951-06-17) June 17, 1951 (age 73)
Saint Paul, Minnesota
EducationTrained with Victor Anderson and Zsuzsanna Budapest
Alma materUCLA, B.A.
Antioch University West, M.A.
Notable work
SpouseDavid Miller
AwardsSamuel Goldwyn Writing Award
Websitestarhawk.org
Part of the series on the film trilogy
Women and Spirituality
Films
People
Feminism portal

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 Spiritually Influential Living People.

Early life

Starhawk was born in 1951 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Her father, Jack Simos, died when she was five. Her mother, Bertha Claire Goldfarb Simos, was a professor of social work at UCLA. Both of her parents were the children of Jewish immigrants from Ukraine.

During high school, she and feminist Christina Hoff Sommers were best friends. Starhawk received a BA in Fine Arts from UCLA. In 1973, whilst a graduate student in film there, she won the Samuel Goldwyn Writing Award for her novel, A Weight of Gold, a story about Venice, California, where she then lived. She received an MA in Psychology, with a concentration in feminist therapy, from Antioch University West in 1982.

The Spiral Dance

Main article: The Spiral Dance

Following her years at UCLA, after a failed attempt to become a fiction writer in New York City, Starhawk returned to California. She became active in the Neopagan community in the San Francisco Bay Area, and trained with Victor Anderson, founder of the Feri Tradition of witchcraft, and with Zsuzsanna Budapest, a feminist separatist involved in Dianic Wicca.

She wrote a book, The Spiral Dance, on Goddess religion, which she finished in 1977 but was unable to publish at first. Feminist religious scholar Carol P. Christ 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, who eventually published the book.

First published in 1979, The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess became a best-selling book about neopagan belief and practice. A 10th-anniversary edition was published in 1989, followed by a 20th-anniversary edition in 1999. The original text of The Spiral Dance was left largely intact for these editions, expanded primarily by introductions and commentaries reflecting on the book's origins, the rituals described, and the evolution of the author's beliefs and practices. Since its publication, The Spiral Dance has become a classic resource on Wicca and modern witchcraft, spiritual feminism, the Goddess movement, and ecofeminism. The work is distinguished by its visionary mysticism, "broad philosophy of harmony with nature," and ecstatic consciousness.

Beliefs

Starhawk believes that the Earth is a living entity, and that faith-based activism can reconnect oneself to basic human needs. She posits core religious values of community and self-sacrifice as important to eco-pagan movements, as well as the broader environmental justice movement.

She advocates combining social justice issues with a nature-based spirituality that begins with spending time in the natural world, saying that doing so "...can open up your understanding on deeper and more subtle levels where the natural world will speak to you."

Starhawk's activism is deeply rooted in an anti-war philosophy, as she believes that war teaches one to see people culturally different than themselves as inhuman and dangerous. She has written extensively on activism, including advice for activist organizers, examinations of white privilege within radical communities, and calls for an intersectionality of fighting oppression that includes spirituality, eco-consciousness, and sexual and gender liberation.

Feminism

Starhawk's feminism and spirituality are closely interconnected. Her ecofeminism links life-giving Mother Nature with the life-giving of women through birth, as well as the link between ecological destruction and patriarchal oppression under male-dominated Western political economies.

She calls for a reconceptualization of the way we think about power that is different from what she posits as our typical understanding of 'power over' others, and believes that patriarchal systems of oppression are dying out and will be replaced by more egalitarian structures that have existed previously with many women in positions of power, including as priestesses, poets, healers, singers, and seers. Such matrilineal lineages, she argues, have been erased from history because of their "political implications."

Starhawk argues that our patriarchal culture of domination has confused the erotic with domination and violence. Sexuality, she says, "...is sacred because through it we make a connection with another self — but it is misused and perverted when it becomes an arena of power-over, a means of treating another — or oneself — as an object." Such analyses of gendered power relations are explored in her books Webs of Power: Notes from the Global Uprising (2003) and Truth or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority and Mystery (1988). In the latter, she links the rise of kinship to patriarchal domination, and traces a psychology of liberation in analyzing an oppressor she argues is embedded deeply in all of us, the 'Self-hater.' She is interested in how such oppressions can be reformed into new sources of power, particularly amongst women, that arise innately and reject dominion over others.

Her feminist writings have been used to analyze the differences between mainstream rhetoric and feminist rhetoric, particularly in relation to her motive of writing rhetoric as revealing immanent truths rather than being utilized for persuasion. She views this latter purpose of mainstream rhetoric as adhering to patriarchal logic, and her vision of 'empowered action' – which involves rejecting the tenets of the oppressive system and then openly challenging them – attempts to transform persuasive mainstream rhetoric to immanent feminist rhetoric.

Projects

In 1979, partly to commemorate the publication of The Spiral Dance, Starhawk and her friends staged a public celebration of the neopagan holiday of Samhain (Halloween) incorporating an actual spiral dance. This group became the Reclaiming Collective, and their annual Spiral Dance ritual now draws hundreds of participants.

Starhawk continues to work with Reclaiming, a tradition of Witchcraft that she co-founded. This now-international organization offers classes, workshops, camps, and public rituals in earth-based spirituality, with the goal to "unify spirit and politics".

She also works internationally as a trainer in nonviolence and direct action, and as an activist within the peace movement, women's movement, environmental movement, permaculture, and anti-globalization movement. She travels and teaches widely in North America, Europe and the Middle East, giving lectures and workshops.

She was influential in the decision by the Unitarian Universalist Association to include earth-centered traditions among their sources of faith. She led numerous workshops for, and was an active member of The Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS), an interest group of Unitarians honoring goddess-based, earth-centered, tribal, and pagan spiritual paths.

Starhawk has taught in several San Francisco Bay Area colleges and universities, including John F. Kennedy University, Antioch University West, the Institute of Culture and Creation Spirituality at Holy Names University, and Wisdom University. She is presently adjunct faculty at the California Institute of Integral Studies, and is currently affiliated with United for Peace and Justice, the RANT trainers' collective, Earth Activist Training, and other groups.

Starhawk has written a number of books, and has also contributed works in other media. Her works have appeared in translation in Spanish, French, German, Danish, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Czech, Greek, Japanese, and Burmese.

Written works

Non-fiction

As coauthor

  • With M. Macha Nightmare and the Reclaiming Collective: The Pagan Book of Living and Dying: Practical Rituals, Prayers, Blessings, and Meditations on Crossing Over (1997)
  • With Anne Hill and Diane Baker: Circle Round: Raising Children in the Goddess Tradition (1998)
  • With Hilary Valentine: The Twelve Wild Swans: A Journey Into Magic, Healing, and Action (2000)

Fiction

  • The Fifth Sacred Thing (1993)
  • Walking to Mercury (1997) (prequel to The Fifth Sacred Thing)
  • The Last Wild Witch (2009) (children's book)
  • City of Refuge (2015) (sequel to The Fifth Sacred Thing)

Filmography

Starhawk has contributed to films:

Discography

She participated in the Reclaiming CDs Chants: Ritual Music, and recorded the guided meditation Way to the Well.

Other media

On YouTube Starhawk speaks on spirituality and activism at the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA). She also wrote the call-to-action for the women's peace organization Code Pink.

Personal life

Starhawk married Edwin Rahsman in 1977. They subsequently divorced. She is currently married to David Miller, and they live in San Francisco. Starhawk also resides partly in Sonoma, California.

Starhawk identifies as bisexual, and has also commented that her sexuality is fluid and "has something to do with a deep reluctance to be pinned down." Her writing and activism promote equality for people of all sexual orientations and gender identities.

See also

References

Citations

  1. Starhawk (2002). Webs of Power: Notes from the Global Uprising. New Society Publishers.
  2. Blumberg, Antonia (December 11, 2013). "Celebrate The Winter Solstice With Los Angeles' Own Eco-Pagans". The Huffington Post. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
  3. ranked #29 in "Watkins' Spiritual 100 List for 2013 - Watkins MIND BODY SPIRIT Magazine". Watkinsbooks.com. February 6, 2013. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  4. Video on YouTube
  5. Blumberg, Antonia (December 11, 2013). "Celebrate The Winter Solstice With Los Angeles' Own Eco-Pagans". The Huffington Post.
  6. "Feminist, Earth-based Spirituality and Ecofeminism," in Healing the Wounds by Judith Plant
  7. "Starhawk's Writings". Archived from the original on May 5, 2014. Retrieved May 13, 2014.
  8. Womanspirit Rising: A Feminist Reader in Religion (1979) by Carol P. Christ and Judith Plaskow
  9. The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Goddess (1979) by Starhawk
  10. Dreaming the Dark: Magic, Sex and Politics (1982) by Starhawk
  11. Truth or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority and Mystery (1988) by Starhawk
  12. Foss, Sonja K., and Cindy L. Griffin. "A Feminist Perspective on Rhetorical Theory: Toward a Clarification of Boundaries." Western Journal of Communication 56.4 (1992): 330–49. Print.
  13. Archived May 11, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  14. Berta, Marilyn (August 15, 2012). "We Are Sacred as the Earth: An Interview with Earth Activist Starhawk". Treehugger. Archived from the original on September 21, 2012. Retrieved January 9, 2022. Reprinted from:
    • Berta, Marilyn (n.d.). "We Are Sacred as the Earth: An Interview with Earth Activist Starhawk". Sacred Fire. No. 15. pp. 28–31. ISSN 1557-346X. OCLC 1126529309.
  15. Starhawk (1995). "The Sacredness of Pleasure". In Tucker, Naomi; Highleyman, Liz; Kaplan, Rebecca (eds.). Bisexual Politics: Theories, Queries, and Visions. New York: Harrington Park Press (The Haworth Press). p. 327. ISBN 9781560249504. OCLC 930475238. Retrieved January 9, 2022.

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