The Virgin: Mary's Cult and the Re-emergence of the Goddess (The Geoffrey Ashe Histories)

The mother of Christ has taken various forms throughout the centuries.

Among them are the Blessed Virgin, the Queen of Heaven, the Madonna and the spiritual mother of all the faithful. Yet despite her high enthronement in the Catholic Church, Mary, as both chaste goddess and earth mother, has her origins in pre-Christian religions, of which the chief deities were female.

In this masterly exploration of the cult of Mary, Geoffrey Ashe examines ancient myths, theology, history, literature and feminine spirituality to throw new light on the role of Mary in today’s Church, which is only partly derived from the Gospels. Tracing the cult from its origins to the modern era with the re-subordination of Mary to Christ, this remarkable book also illuminates the spiritual battle of the sexes, a conflict that remains unresolved to this day.

Praise for Geoffrey Ashe:
‘Mr Ashe makes an honourably sharp distinction between his history and his speculation, and his book is thought-provoking’ - Philip Toynbee in the Observer

‘Mr Ashe deploys real scholarship in crisp ironical, stimulating prose’ - Sunday Times

Geoffrey Ashe was for three years head of a lay religious society associated with the Marian shrine at Aylesford, Kent, and now lives in Glastonbury, the senior British centre of the Virgin’s cult. As a writer and lecturer, he is perhaps best known for his wide-ranging exploration of mythology and collective mystiques, especially the Arthurian legend and ‘Mysteries of Britain’. He is co-founder and secretary of the Camelot Research Committee which excavated Cadbury Castle from 1966 to 1970, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. He has held several visiting professorships in the United States, where his themes have included the recent renewed interest in Goddess-worship. His other publications include King Arthur’s Avalon (1957), The Quest for Arthur’s Britain (1968), Miracles (1978) and Avalonian Quest (1982).