Woman Most Wild

April 10, 2017
In Dulsky’s bright debut, the women’s spirituality movement of the early 1990s, as exemplified in books like Women Who Run with the Wolves and Goddesses in Everywoman, is reoffered with a gentle nod to 2017’s conception of gender, while still retaining the aesthetic of an imagined birthright of feminine power from an earlier time. Dulsky speaks to her reader as an intimate, calling her “my love,” “Sister-Witch,” and “dear one” as if whispering secrets into her ear. The first section, “Wild Rhythm,” guides the reader through the correspondences of moon phases, seasonal cycles, blood rhythms, and chakras. The second, “Wild Ritual,” covers circle casting, magick, and goddess imagery. The third section focuses on finding and manifesting sisterhood through face-to-face group practice, but offers some guidance for the lone wolf-woman. Original ritual meditations, marked as “Verses of the Holy Feminine” throughout the text, fit the rhythms of the practice well and are dense with imagery that evokes both wildness and comfort. Older women coming to this material anew may find that Dulsky’s version makes their hearts sing, but younger readers may think it old-fashioned, while witches who have been doing this for decades will feel this effort is a bit rehashed.