An American covenant A story of women, mysticism, and the making of modern America
Book - 2020
"For centuries, women who emerge as mystic leaders have played vital roles in American culture. For just as long, they've been subjugated and ridiculed. Today, women and others across the nation are once again turning to their mystic powers to #HexThePatriarchy and help fight the forces that seem bent on relegating them to second-class citizenry. Amid this tumult, Lucile Scott looks to the past and the stories of five women over three centuries to form an ancestral spiritual coven: Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans; Cora L. V. Scott, nineteenth-century Spiritualist superstar; Helena Blavatsky, mother of Theosophy; Zsuzsanna Budapest, feminist witch and founder of Dianic Wicca; and Marianne Williamson, presidential cand...idate and preacher of the New Age Gospel of Love. Each, in their own ways, defied masculine preconceptions about power. A scathing queer feminist history and a personal quest for transcendence, An American Covenant opens our eyes to the paths forged by women who inspired the nation in their own times--and who will no longer be forgotten or silenced in ours."--Provided by publisher.
- Subjects
- Genres
- Biographies
- Published
-
New York :
Topple Books/Little A
[2020]
- Language
- English
- Main Author
- Physical Description
- 252 pages ; 22 cm
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references.
- ISBN
- 9781542091275
- A Note from TOPPLE Books
- The Coven
- Key Terms
- Part I. Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans
- Chapter 1. Becoming American
- Chapter 2. A (Snake) Goddess Rising
- Chapter 3. And Then the Floods
- Part II. Cora L. V. Scott, Rock Star Nineteenth-Century Spiritualist Medium
- Chapter 4. Crossing the Veil
- Chapter 5. The Line between a Diva and a Deity
- Chapter 6. The Fall
- Part III. Madame Blavatsky, Cofounder of the Theosophical Society
- Chapter 7. Once Upon a Time, When East Met West
- Chapter 8. The Famous Heathen of Eighth Avenue
- Chapter 9. Prophet or Fraud or Both
- Part IV. Zsuzsanna Budapest, Author, Activist, Lesbian Witch, and Feminist Goddess Worshipper
- Chapter 10. Welcome to the Machine
- Chapter 11. The Cocoon
- Chapter 12. The Witch Trials
- Part V. Marianne Williamson, New Age Sage and Presidential Candidate
- Chapter 13. A New Age of What Exactly?
- Chapter 14. The Bitch for God
- Chapter 15. Healer-in-Chief
- Acknowledgments
- Notes on Sources
- About the Author