In Search of Merlin Stone
A her-storian, feminist scholar, researcher and artist, Merlin Stone is a pioneer of the Women’s Movement and the reclaiming of the Great Goddess tradition of the Western world.
Inherent in her work is an ecological vision for the future, based on an understanding of the Goddess as the flow of life energy that nurtures and sustains the planet. It was through her artistic work as a sculptor that she came in contact with ancient Goddess images and became interested in archeology and ancient religion.
Her book, When God was a Woman (1976) reclaimed these Goddesses and women’s role in prehistory and laid the groundwork for those who continue to research pre-patriarchal history.
The reclamation of the Goddess has influenced the visual arts, literature, music, theological views, and feminist studies, as well as a movement of women and men who now celebrate Goddess reverence as the core of a planetary consciousness and environmental conscience.
Among Stone’s other publications is Ancient Mirrors of Womanhood – A Treasury of Goddess and Heroine Lore from Around the World (1979).
She lectured and gave workshops in the U.S. and Europe, and has taught at universities on both the ear and west coasts of the U.S.
Stone received her M.F.A. from the California College of Arts and Crafts, and spent five years of Independent Studies at Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England.
