Feminists have long argued that at the hands of patriarchal religious institutions, women have been brutalized, exploited, and manipulated. In this book, part philosophical analysis/part meditation, philosopher Sheila Ruth explores an ancient and profoundly different orientation to life, Paganism, to show the possibilities, the pleasures, and the power of connecting the self with the cosmic. Take Back the Light contains certain elements that make it unique: the blend of strategies-including philosophical analysis, poetry, autobiography, and mystical stories; an avowedly feminist stance that is grounded in traditional philosophical training as well as women's experience and feminist scholarship; and most particularly, the intention to make clear to those feminists who are opposed to religion in principle that spirituality need not be inconsistent with positive, progressive social action.
