photo: K. Zuegner

Kris Waldherr is the author, illustrator and designer of THE BOOK OF GODDESSES, which is being reissued as an expanded edition for its tenth anniversary. Waldherr’s intense interest in women’s history also led her to author The Lover’s Path, an illustrated novel set in sixteenth century Venice. Her other works include the best-selling Goddess Tarot; The Lover’s Path Tarot, a 2005 New Age Retailer Narcissus Award finalist for best new product; Sacred Animals, a compendium of animals in world mythology; and several picture books. She has also had her illustrations published as book covers and in magazines. Miramax Pictures featured her Rapunzel watercolors in Terry Gilliam’s The Brothers Grimm dvd. Waldherr’s watercolor and oil paintings have been exhibited in museums throughout the United States, including the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Q. This reissue of The Book of Goddesses now has a subtitle of “A Celebration of the Divine Feminine.” Where did you first learn about the Divine Feminine?

A. My interest in the Divine Feminine is entrenched in the circumstances of my childhood — my earliest memory is of my mother looking over me, as beautiful as a Da Vinci madonna. Our household was fiercely matriarchal in structure, where the women appeared to possess mysterious powers which must be obeyed without question. One family story tells that my maternal grandmother, who was born in England, was the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter. As such, she was rumored to have been born with second sight and often dreamt of things that came to pass. A great aunt on that same side whispered that we were related by blood to gypsies as well as royalty. My mother followed in their unconventional footsteps: She left my father to raise me and my two sisters alone during an era when most women didn’t get divorced let alone have children without a partner. As the oldest, I saw how she struggled, and how little help she received from society. I think these experiences made me embrace a vision of the world where women were supreme in their influence against often difficult odds.

In grade school, we studied ancient Greece and Rome. It was then that I discovered stories of goddesses, which spoke to my imagination more than all the Barbie dolls of the world could have. Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, was a major source of inspiration, since I was a brainy, bookish girl who felt out of step with the world — the idea that the most powerful goddess was also the smartest was deeply appealing. Though I was raised a casual Catholic, it was the female saints who called to me rather than any male divinity: Joan of Arc, who sacrificed her life to end the Hundred Years War in France; the virgin Mary, who was chosen above all other women to bear Jesus. When I read about King Arthur and his knights quest for the Holy Grail, I wondered why a woman couldn’t partake of the Sangrail, and thought it immensely unfair.

Later I discovered Margot Adler’s Drawing Down the Moon and Barbara Walker’s Women’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. Suddenly everything made sense. From there on, I read everything I could about goddesses and the Divine Feminine.

Q. What led to your creating The Book of Goddesses?

The Book of Goddesses was preceded in 1994 by another goddess-inspired book, Persephone and the Pomegranate. Since I was primarily working in children’s books at that time, it was a picture book retelling of the Persephone and Demeter myth. After Persephone, my appetite was whetted: I yearned to work on something more ambitious incorporating goddess myths. And so the original edition of The Book of Goddesses came into being in 1996.

When I worked on The Book of Goddesses, I felt inspired in a way that I never had before. I enlisted friends to pose as goddesses, to illustrate my belief that the divine is human, and the human divine. As I wrote and painted, unexpected goddess gifts seemed to find their way to me: A sudden windstorm hit Brooklyn just as I completed my watercolor painting of Oya, the Yoruba goddess of the winds; when I finished Isis, a houseguest appeared bearing an Egyptian papyrus painting in offering.

To my surprise, The Book of Goddesses became a crossover hit. It was sold as gift book for women as well as a children’s book, and was featured in numerous catalogs. It became a top ten best-selling book for the One Spirit/Book-of-the-Month Club, and won much attention for its art and text. The art from Goddesses inspired a tarot deck, The Goddess Tarot, which many tarotists consider a classic, as well as other goddess-related books and products, including a music cd featuring compositions by David Arkenstone.

Q. This is a tenth anniversary anniversary edition of The Book of Goddesses. How does it differ from the first publication?

A. First off, it’s been extensively revised and expanded. My publisher Harry N. Abrams invited me to create new art and words for the new edition — a wonderful opportunity to revisit subject matter so close to my heart. I agreed by painting and drawing some seventy new illustrations. I also wrote a new introduction and expanded the book’s main text. The original 64 page book had 30 illustrations and featured 26 goddesses from around the globe; it now over 200 illustrations and is 176 pages long, with one hundred goddesses, each with a painting and a written description. Some of the paintings are full page and feature decorative borders; others are similar in style to the decorative miniatures you’d find in a medieval manuscript. In addition, I incorporated pencil drawings and some text from my book, Embracing the Goddess Within and some of the oil paintings from Persephone. So it’s a real celebration of the Divine Feminine, as the subtitle suggests.

I’ve reorganized the book into six sections. Each pertains to the traditional feminine rites of passage, so to bridge the gap from ancient priestess to modern day woman. These chapters range from the innocence of maidenhood to the emotional maturity found in later years; they present goddesses associated with each of these phases. I hope this will encourage the reader to recognize and honor that which is “goddess” within themselves.

Abrams spared no expense and did a stunning job on this new production. Personally, I think the reproductions of the art are superior to those in the first edition; Abrams had all of the original art rescanned for this publication. They’ve also used gold ink on the cover, beautiful heavy paper stock, and embossed a special seal on the binding, which makes the book a collector’s item. After all this hard work on everyone’s behalf, I’d like to think that The Book of Goddesses is now the most beautiful, most inspiring, empowering, and ultimate illustrated reference book on the Divine Feminine. (Or at least, I hope so!)

Q. How has the world changed in the ten years since The Book of Goddesses was first published?

A. Obviously, the world is in much more upheaval than it was ten years ago. I live in NYC — looking back, 1996 seems like a much more innocent time. To paraphrase Sarah Vowell (whose work I love), it was a failure of my imagination to not anticipate what could happen under the Bush administration. On the other hand, I’m pleased that people are more aware of the Divine Feminine than they were 1996, thanks to the breathtaking popularity of The Da Vinci Code. Who could have ever predicted that a popular potboiler would have captured the world’s imagination in this way? So though there is sorrow, there is hope.

Q. What do you hope The Book of Goddesses accomplishes in the world?

A. My main intention with The Book of Goddesses was to empower women of all ages who may not realize that there is a rich history and tradition of viewing women as sacred. Because of The Da Vinci Code, people now know about Mary Magdalene, and have expanded their thinking about women’s roles in religion. But women’s sacred history encompasses more than Mary Magdalene, as unfairly overlooked as she has been. The stories of the goddesses featured in The Book of Goddesses transcend religion, race or background. They express the commonalities of women throughout history and around the globe. Most importantly, these goddesses reveal the strengths, beauties and powers that all women possess — as well as our innate connection to the Sacred Feminine.

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