From earliest times, humanity has found visual expression for the cosmic forces of creation, birth, and passion in artistic representations of human genitalia. Fertility cults centered on phallic worship are well documented, but older and even more pervasive are Goddess images of the vulva-known in the East since ancient times as the yoni. Yoni symbolism is a part of spiritual traditions in every part of the globe-from naturally occuring rock formations revered by North American Native peoples to the shakta-pithas of Hindu temples, and from early Celtic sheela-na-gig carvings to the Japanese kagura ritual.
The Yoni traces this primal motif in Australian Aboriginal folk tales, in alchemy, in Tantric practices, and in contemporary art by painters such as Georgia O'Keefe and Judy Chicago.
Dozens of illustrations, many in color, reproduce the variety of carvings, drawings, and other portrayals of this universal symbol of feminine creativity.

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

That old-time religion:

Primitive people lived or died by the success or failure of their crops and by the growth or dwindling of their flocks. New life meant everything to their survival. It is no wonder that, when their instinct for religion demanded a focus, that those people focused on their own lives. The outer sign of the birth canal embodies the source of life most directly. So, when early man sought to worship the creative force, early woman provided the most direct link to creation, in her own person. Yoni worship arose... more info

An uplifting book with an important messege:

I think this book and its message are very, very valuable both from a psychological/ spiritual AND a purely health standpoint. The pictures are beautiful, the text uplifting. It's not silly, insulting or ridiculous. The fact is in the past ( and even today) many woman let serious health issues go unchecked and untreated because they can't deal with their own genitals until a problem has already taken root. Woman have *died* because they were to ashamed to look "down there" or describe symptoms to a medical... more info

A good beginning:

This book is a good beginning to research on the yoni, or female genitals, as objects and subjects of religious and spiritual practice. However, it is not thorough and an agenda is clear -- there need to be far more citations to really prove some of the touted "facts". The book approach several different topics but none with a great deal of depth or undenialable evidence. The pictures, and there are many of them, are beautiful. If you are looking for ways to incorporate the yoni into your spiritual life... more info

Uplifting... I wish I could share it with everyone!:

I know I won't get to share this wonderful book with all the women I work with. The reason for that is clear in some of the previous reviews. Mysogyny is so pervasive in American culture, that even women who want to be liberated cannot get past the brainwashing they have had to believe that thier yonis are "dirty" and "faulty" The yoni is, first and foremost, the origin of life! That, clearly, must be the basis of any understanding of yoni worship. Mr. Camphausen makes no secret of that fact as he explores... more info

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