Pain Perspectives - by Kay Louise Aldred & Trista Hendren (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Pain Perspectives is an anthology that tells the stories of women's bodies and their experiences of chronic pain and illness. It also reveals the deep wisdom held within the suffering.

The art, writing, and poetry from women around the world showcased in this book offers three clear messages. The first is that women are sick both metaphorically and physically. Lots of women. The second is that it is the patriarchal systems and structures in society are the origin of the sickness. Patriarchy hurts. The third is that the path of Goddess is both the medicine and the cure. Pleasure liberates.

Read how Goddess and Goddess spirituality supports women to heal and find their voice, so that others may too.

Review Quotes

"Once again, Girl God books - and the courageous women who share what has been banished to the shadows, silenced, disparaged, and demonized - is a profoundly valuable gift to everyone who is being called to reintegrate our feminine receptive nature.

Pain Perspectives is a beautiful sharing of how the pain of existing in a heart-and-soul deprived patriarchal paradigm has been endured - and has contributed to women's wisdom, gifts, and soul's evolution. A must read for anyone who has lived with pain, whether physical, emotional, or spiritual. Pretty much everyone. The women who traveled to the depths, transmuted their pain, garnered the wisdom, and rose to inspire others is an authentic depiction of the energy of the Goddess returning through each and every one of us. I recommend taking your time to receive each story in this book, as deeply as it was shared." -Mary Lane, author of Divine Nourishment & Meena

"When first approached to write an endorsement for this book I felt quietly confident. I have been a practitioner of Classical Chinese medicine and somatic therapies for forty years, and pain is my compassion language. I know pain in all its forms both professionally and personally. So, all good, right?

But the collection of essays, poems and art in this anthology is so visceral and on point that there was nothing easy about the read or the analysis. Chronic pain, institutionalized pain, cultural pain, all washing over us mentally, physically, and spiritually. All is beautifully explored and poignantly written here.

And while we are neurologically wired to retract from pain, I do believe we need to feel it, name it, and stare it down in order to move past it. This important anthology will help us all to do that. Read it and cherish the awakened sensations as you would with your tongue playing with a loose tooth. And then we get up tomorrow and do what needs to be done."

-Gina Martin, author of the When She Wakes series (Sisters of the Solstice Moon, Walking the Threads of Time, She is Here), the Daughters of the Goddess series (Kiyia-Daughter of the Horse), and WomEnchanting, a compendium of sacred songs and chants

"A powerful collection of women speaking their truths, sharing openly, honestly and with raw vulnerability on the pain of the world manifesting in their own bodies. Women's pain is not an isolated problem or issue. It is a reflection of the world we live in - a world built on a foundation of fear, greed and hierarchical power where every major institution miserably fails both women and children. The authors' personal stories shed new and necessary perspectives on women's pain that I'm sure any reader will find both inspiring and empowering."

-Trista Haggerty, Author of When the Dark Mother Calls