Book Group Discussion Guide

Chapter 1:  History…Herstory

What hierarchies do you participate in?  In which ones are you higher?  In which ones are you lower?

In what ways do you see religious institutions promoting hierarchies?  In what ways do you see religious institutions challenging or restricting hierarchies?

How do you think societies would function without powerful hierarchies in place? What effect has your position in hierarchical structures had on you?

Chapter 2:  Eve

What awareness do you recall having of the garden story growing up?

What does it feel like to imagine Eve as a mentor rather than as the first sinner?

How might this re-imagined story challenge your basic belief structures?

If Eve’s “sin” didn’t doom us all, what other explanation do you have for the presence of brokenness in the world?

Chapter 3: Light for the World

Have you any experience of awareness of energy moving in your body that can be explained with the language of chakras?  Describe.

How does the visual image of chakras compare with the Ephesians 6 explanation of the “armor” or “panoply” of God?

Chapter 4:  Like a Little Child

When you were a child, what were the attitudes toward children expressed by your caregivers?

If you have parented, where did your ideas and guidance for parenting come from?  What parenting strategy would you want to re-do if you could?

What “mistakes” of your parents' parenting have you had to overcome and how have you done so?

Chapter 5:  Reclaiming Awareness

What authority do you rely on in your decision–making?  Describe a time when you might willingly defer to the authority of another?

Chapter 6:  Exploring Self-Expression

What do you have the hardest time expressing?

Chapter 7:  Unveiling Authenticity

Name a veiled dimension of your true nature.

Chapter 8:  The Dance of Balance

What one thing would you like to feel more powerful and effective about?

What could women's voices and ideas bring to the political conversation?

Chapter 9:  Domination and Female Sexuality 

What are the most positive messages about sexuality you have received or discovered?

What qualities of Eve do you happily own?  What qualities of Mary do you happily own?

Chapter 10:  The Cost of Belonging

In what ways might too much unity impede diversity?

How might you have experienced ”evil” people in religious institutions?

What might be threatening about the concept of inclusivity?

Chapter 11:  Jesus

What parallels do you see between Eve and Jesus?

In what ways might you imagine Jesus as an expression of the divine feminine?

What difference does it make for you to hear the garden story in this re-told version?

Chapter 12:  Dance and Ritual for Healing

How has dance or another from of embodied expression ever been transformative for you?

Tell about your most profound experience of dance?

General:

Describe how a personal change had a ripple effect in your life. 

In what ways might your beliefs and personal experiences give direction to your political or social action? 

How might women become more involved and effective in influencing national policy and international cooperation?