Jane Meredith takes the reader down to the Underworld to confront and heal one’s inner darkness in Journey to the Dark Goddess: How To Return To Your Soul. Focusing on the goddesses that exemplify the archetype of the Dark Goddess, Jane Meredith does the Shadow Self justice by not condemning or neglecting it, but rather viewing it as a divine aspect of the self and finding the gifts of healing and integration through confronting and working with it. While the books seems focused on women as an audience, I think anyone willing to push themselves out of their comfort zone for the purpose of healing can gain something from this book, regardless of gender. Drawing on myths of dark goddesses and their journey into the Underworld such as Inanna, Psyche and Persephone – Meredith illustrates the gifts that come with exploring one’s own darkness with honesty. The book is a mix of neo-paganism, Jungian theory and shamanistic journeying. Dark goddesses demand a lot of internal work, work that often feels like sacrifice – but it is here that we gain their greatest gifts and blessings – that of personal transformation and liberation. Full of fantastic exercises and wisdom, the book bravely tackles some very difficult subjects such as depression, fear, existential crises, and trauma. Best of all, the book is full of anecdotes from the author sharing her own journeys to the underworld and her own journey of healing. Read more at http://www.patheos.com/blogs/matauryn/2017/07/06/review-journey-dark-goddess/#Xt72yVUC8Sl5FQLB.99 ~ Mat Auryn, http://www.patheos.com/blogs/matauryn/2017/07/06/review-journey-dark-goddess/

Jane Meredith is a superb guide to uncovering the meaning and metaphor in ancient mythologies as maps that we can apply to our lives today, and she fully grounds us in the most amazing self-inquiry and soul-expression tools, such as journaling ,dreaming , dancing, creating mandalas, altars, art, and poetry. ~ Pegi Eyers, Sage Woman

Working primarily with Inanna's descent into the underworld, Meredith takes her readers on a deeply personal inner journey through her own experiences, the myth of Inanna's descent and various exercises and projects at the end of each chapter.... For anyone who wants to do serious inner work with their dark, or shadow self I highly, highly recommend this book. ~ Jessica Elizabeth, Facing North

...explores and looks at some of the great issues of our lives that we all face, including loss, change, letting go, healing, transformation and renewal. This is no ‘New Age’ superficial rendering of these issues, but an in-depth deep and meaningful stripping away of all we hold on to for comfort and reassurance, in order to face the things that may be sabotaging our lives... This book really does ‘bring the Goddess home’, and the reading of it is a journey to understand the nature of the Dark Goddess, and the nature of our human psyches and of meeting our own nemises. ~ Cheryl Straffon, Goddess Alive!

My personal opinion is that it is an incredibly valuable book to help you with this process... the most valuable is precisely that the author shares some of her experiences in the Underworld; it is a truly sacred gift that really helps me to understand the processes that are explained. Both Aphrodite’s Magic and this book are written in a simple but beautiful style, with a pocket edition that can be defined with the same virtues. Being, the present one, in my opinion, even better thanks to the extensive personal comments from the author, a person who clearly knows the territory she is talking about. So highly recommended! ~ Anamii's Voice, http://anamii.wordpress.com/2012/10/27/dark-goddess/

This book will be of particular interest to those who like the psychological approach to Goddess work; its structure and incorporation of personal material makes it highly accessible. Journey To The Dark Goddess is a book of both practicality and depth, and is likely to be helpful to many individuals and groups. ~ Medusa, Medusa Coils Blog, http://medusacoils.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/review-jane-merediths-journey-to-dark.html

Jane very generously escorts us on her own personal journey through this myth, explaining how we can also follow this ritual ourselves safely in order to gain wisdom for our life, to confront our demons, to relive and release old hurts and to then return to the world of the living to live our life better than we could otherwise have done without the knowledge of death. ~ Wendy Stokes, MBS Circle Network

Today's post is about a book, not just any book, an awesome book. I am in love with this book. I had read a couple of articles by the author previously and it made me want to own this book to the point I had it on order ready to ship the day it was released and I have to say I have not been disappointed thus far. Journey to the Dark Goddess: How to Return to Your Soul by Jane Meredith is definitely going on my 'to recommend to others list'. The writing style is easy to read and truthful, there is no BS but there is also such power in her words. I was reading the intro of the chapter "Preparing for Descent" and I could feel the dark mother talking through the words. This book isn't just about Shadow Working it is about embracing and working with the Dark Mother, of learning to let her into your life in a partnership and the benefits of such workings. The activities that are given include some of my favorite spiritual practices - but most importantly she encourages you to explore it all through crafty/artistic activities - something I believe taps into our subconscious far better than 'talk'. Better yet, the journey is explored through various mythologies, the story of Inanna, Psyche, Persephone are all explored throughout the various journey stages. The connection is made that myth is a teacher, a link to the human subconscious and universal conscious that is so important to understand. ~ Calenth, Dragon's Lair, http://withinthedragonslair.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/j-is-for-journey-to-dark-goddess.html?zx=70c29426d61e7a2e

Rarely within so called “New age spirituality” is the dark side of life, the dark Goddess, presented as anything other than something to be avoided. Jane Meredith in her book “Journey to the dark Goddess”, asks us to embrace the darkness, to welcome the bad things that happen and to not be frightened of them. They are, she argues, part of the natural cycle of life. They allow the body and the mind to reset, rebalance as it were. Once you understand this; you honestly feel somehow lighter and less pessimistic. This simple, natural reasoning applies not only to the personal but to all aspects of life, of society, even the economy and that; if embraced, gives a clearer understanding of and acceptance of the ups and downs we all experience. Through a series of meditations, rituals and explorations of Goddess mythologies (Inanna, Persephone, Pysche) Jane Meredith invites the reader on a journey of self discovery. We are invited to welcome the dark Goddess and to understand the dark Goddess as compassion. A wonderful book that; although predominantly written for women (I would ask why), is a book that I would highly recommend for everyone regardless of gender or sexual orientation. (4. star rating). ~ Douglas Fox, http://harlotsparlour.com/

The contents of the book resonated with my own personal experiences and complemented my strong connection to the Egyptian Goddesses, particularly Sekhmet and Isis. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the Dark Goddess and appreciated Jane's honesty and openness regarding her own experiences with this amazingly powerful Goddess. The book is set out in four parts, one for each stage of the journey. Rituals and exercises are provided to enable us to explore our individual journey and reclaim our personal power. The steps are explained very clearly with sensible safety tips. Jane also gives excellent creative examples of ideas and suggestions for recording the experiences. She is a very wise, compassionate and experienced guide. I found this an inspiring and transformational book. Highly recommended by Reviewer: Sharon Lewis ~ The New Age Blog, http://www.thenewageblog.com/lightworkers/journey-to-the-dark-goddess/

Five thousand years ago, Inanna, the Queen of Heaven and Earth, dares to journey to meet Ereshkigal, the Queen of the Underworld. Jane Meredith wisely guides us today on this crucial, mysterious and challenging journey (the descent and the ascent) that every one of us must take as part of our initiation into becoming human. The reward is to know our selves and so, to be able to care for others. This is a wise, wonderful and inspiring book. Thank you, Jane.

Jane Meredith is a wise, compassionate guide who teaches women to approach their experiences of loss, darkness and death as sacred initiations. Filled with practical advice and rituals Journey to the Dark Goddess shows how, by following in the footsteps of ancient Goddesses, we can emerge radiant and whole from the dark realms of the underworld.

Interesting insights, creative ideas and conscious rituals all designed to help you understand the experiences you might have during a Journey of Descent into the Dark Goddess realm, while you are held there in Her Underworld, and as you Ascend out of the Underworld, returning once again to the surface of your life.

Like others before her, Meredith challenges the reader to face the darkness within themselves and within nature more broadly. That her challenge is so comprehensive makes this a book worth reading.

Journey to the Dark Goddess provides a clear and profound psychological map for women journeying into their depths. For some the underworld comes unbidden to us through life’s circumstances, for others it can be an exploration entered into deliberately to seek wisdom and transformation. However we make the descent, Jane Merediths unique mix of therapeutic storytelling, exercises and creative activities facilitate a productive and powerful venture into the realms of the Dark Goddess. I recommend it for anyone wishing to explore their shadow and reclaim their personal power. ~ Ali Harrison, Transpersonal Psychotherapist