The Uses of Darkness: Women's Underworld Journeys, Ancient and Modern

"Gagné explores women's psychological and spiritual journeys through the lens of three ancient myths and modern literature. Many feminists seek to recover the goddess of preliterary civilizations. Gagné claims that the literary myths of underworld journeys of the goddesses Innana, Demeter/Persephone, and Psyche are integral to her wholeness as a Christian woman. She says that Innana illustrates that one cannot move from powerless to compassionate without first venting anger, while Demeter/Persephone shows that the discovery of wholeness is never once-and-for-all; Psyche demonstrates the struggle to discover self within passionate relationships. Gagné is convinced these stories are useful because they integrate sexuality and suffering, leading to a new experience of God. Explaining how these themes are explored in the works of Sylvia Plath, Joan Didion, Mary Gordon, Virginia Woolf, and other authors, she concludes with reflections drawn from the diary of Etta Hillesum--a woman who exemplified the underworld experiences and encountered God. Erudite and well written, this book offers a fresh perspective for Christian feminist-heirs to a tradition that has distanced bodily experience from spiritualities. Those unfamiliar with the literature that Gagné refers to will have limited appreciation of the study--those who know it will find her work masterful. For libraries supporting women's studies, literature, and spirituality; upper-division undergraduates and above." --Choice

"Three Years of Writing, twelve years of teaching a course on the "Woman's Journey," and a lifetime of intense introspection have resulted in a hypnotic, ...monolog that describes the author's journey towards achieving an edifiying sense of self-knowledge." --Utopian Studies