Book Review-Pagan Portals: The Fallen Women of Mythology: Goddesses, Saints and Sinners by Lady Haight-Ashton

Book Review

Pagan Portals: The Fallen Women of Mythology: Goddesses, Saints and Sinners

By Lady Haight-Ashton

Publisher: Moon Books

100 page E-Book

Release Date: October 1st, 2024

Pagan Portals: The Fallen Women of Mythology: Goddesses, Saints and Sinners is the book I think many, especially women, in the United States could probably find benefit from reading. I don’t like to get political, especially in reviews, but the results of Tuesday really put the need for this book at a peak. Human rights to me aren’t political issues. I’m not sure I know where to begin; this book encapsulates so much divine rage from the oppression of women over the millennia (and that’s not a political statement) through the rise and fall of women throughout history, from Queen Artemisia and her morphing into the Goddess Artemis and later Diana, to Lilith and Eve, Cleopatra and many other women from mythology and history. What they all share in common? Well, they were wise, powerful and beautiful, and that challenged the patriarchy; they either fell from grace, or were killed.

This narrative repeats itself throughout history, and understanding herstory can help heal the gender divide that’s becoming so (disgustingly) apparent. I’ve read many other of Lady Haight-Ashton’s books, especially in the Pagan Portals series, and have found them well-researched, easy to read and inspiring, and at times infuriating, not because of the content, but because the content is true, and it highlights the inequities women still face today.

Haight-Ashton successfully tells the stories of these women who fell from grace because of their independence and unwillingness to submit to men, and inspires men and women alike to think freely, and settle for nothing less than their independence. On a side note, this book can also be sad, as these women in mythology and history are portrayed as evil, sinners and the like because of their refusal to submit their sovereignty to another person (usually a man). I have no critiques of this book, and I again suggest that any Pagan, Witch or Occultist gives this a read; it could bring about a much needed, new understanding of the Divine Feminine that needs so badly acknowledged in today’s world. I give Pagan Portals: The Fallen Women of Mythology a 5/5.

Lady Haight-Ashton is a third degree Gardnerian High Priestess, Third Degree Cabot Witch within the Cabot Hermetic Temple and a Priestess of Selket within the Fellowship of Isis where she was honored with Adepthood in Sacred Healing Dance. She is also a Priestess of Hecate and Lilith. She is also a licensed clergy counselor member of the Maine Pagan Clergy Association and the Crossroads Lyceum.

 

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Author Bio:

The Modern Merlin has been a Polytheist and Animist Pagan, Witch, Sorcerer, Wizard, Druid, Mystic, Ceremonial Magician, Occultist, Shaman, Seer and Soothsayer for 15 years, worshipping and casting magick with deities and spirits from many cultures, including Ancient Greece, Rome, Norse & Germanic, Celtic, Egyptian, Sumerian, as well as many Faeries, Nymphs, Dryads, Ancestors and other nature and land spirits and spirits of place. He is a Priest of Hecate, Diana, Hades, Lilith and Persephone. He has experience in the Left and Right Hand Paths, working with both hands as needed. He currently practices Necromancy and Deathwalking, as well as Traditional Witchcraft, Druidry, Hellenism and Ceremonial Magick, incorporating all of them into a cohesive practice, with some shamanic touches. He studies and practices Astrology as well as Tarot and other forms of divination such as Runes, Palmistry and Ogham. He has a personal blog where he shares Astrological, Pagan, and other magickal wisdom for free! He gives readings and other spiritual services on his Facebook Page, The Modern Merlin, as well other free informational posts for everyone to see!