Feminist theory in general had its origins in that process. A good, demystifying description of the process of such theorizing can be found in the chapter "Suddenly She Realized" in Sonia Johnson's Going Out of Our Minds: the Metaphysics of Liberation. Freedom CA: The Crossing Press 1987

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Sonia Johnson is a theorist whose visionary feminism embraces the area of women's spirituality / feminist spirituality. The following excerpt was lifted from <http://abacus.oxy.edu/qrd/business/publishers/new.york.university.press>

THE SEARCH FOR A WOMAN-CENTERED SPIRITUALITY
Annette Van Dyke
The Cutting Edge: Lesbian Life and Literature Series

"[A] bridge-building book [that] illuminates the interconnections
among feminist creators from multi-cultural and mainstream
traditions; one that creates bonds of sisterhood. Annette Van Dyke
makes us aware of the way in which feminist spirituality unites
women, even when the material conditions of their lives foster
divisions."
--Gloria Feman Orenstein,
Author of _The Reflowering of the Goddess_

Alongside the boom in feminist and lesbian scholarship and activism
of the last twenty years, there has evolved a distinctive spiritual
tradition focussed on and revolving around women. This spirituality
finds its roots in a number of different traditions, including the
Native American, African-American, and Euro-American traditions.
Central to these disparate traditions is the focus on a goddess
figure, the centrality of the female principle, and the mending of
the separation between mind and body.

Weaving the strands of women's spirituality from different
cultures together, Annette Van Dyke here addresses the commonalities
among these rich traditions. Examining the work and writings of such
figures as Leslie Marmon Silko, Paula Gunn Allen, Audre Lorde, Alice
Walker, Starhawk, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Sonia Johnson, and Mary
Daly, Van Dyke illustrates how these writers and activists outline a
journey toward wholeness--a "curing ceremony"--that allows them to
reclaim their spirituality from the deadening influence of
patriarchal religions. Taken together, their work contributes to a
vision of a world based on a female principle, one which exemplifies
a lesbian- feminist ethic.

ANNETTE VAN DYKE is Director of Women's Studies at Denison University.

227 pages
ISBN: 0-8147-8770-3 $13.95 paper
ISBN: 0-8147-8769-X $40.00s cloth

See also <http://wolfevideo.com/sonia.HTM>


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