Woman As Healer

Description

A pioneering study of the rise and fall of woman as healer throughout history This ground-breaking work examines the role of woman as healer from prehistoric times to the present day. Award-winning scientist Jeanne Achterberg considers ancient cultures in which the chief diety was feminine and women worked as honoured healers; the role of women healers in the classical world; the birth of science; and the events that led to the persecution of women for witchcraft. She examines the development of professions such as midwifery and nursing, before finally discussing the role of women and the state of the healing arts today. Throughout, Dr Achterberg explains the connection between the status of women healers and the culture in which they live. She explores how societies express what she calls 'the feminine myth' - the group of qualities, behaviours and belief systems traditionally associated with women - and the implications that this myth holds for us today.

The late Jeanne Achterberg was an award-winning scientist who received international recognition for her pioneering research in medicine and psychology. She was Professor of Psychology at Saybrook Institute, San Francisco and a consultant and advisor to other foundations. The author of five books and over 100 papers, she was named by Time Magazine as one of the innovators of complementary and alternative medicine for the coming century.

Totally absorbing and thought-provoking...splendid scholarship -- Marion Woodman, Jungan analyst This shocking and inspiring book reveals the unpaid debt our civilization owes to women healers -- Larry Dossey, M.D., author of Reinventing Medicine