By itself, the text probably would have gotten a three-star rating, but such was my enjoyment of the visuals, that I added an extra star.

That said, the real star of this collection, for me, was the lovely artwork from Helen Cann, which captures the beauty and mystery of these stories. On the whole, I enjoyed Mutén's retelling of the tales here, all of which were already known to me. That other title was an encyclopedia of 107 deities, whereas this is an actual story collection. The Lady of Ten Thousand Names: Goddess Stories from Many Cultures is the second goddess-centered collection I have read from Burleigh Mutén, following upon her Goddesses: A World of Myth and Magic. The Great Mother, which tells of how the Nigerian Yoruba mother goddess, Oshun, participates in the creation of humanity.Īnd finally, Persephone, Demeter and Hekate, which tells the classical Greek myth concerning the kidnapping of Persephone by Hades, and the compromise which brought about the changing seasons. The Blessing Necklace, in which the Norse goddess Freya gains a necklace of unearthly beauty from four dwarfs, thanks to her charm, only to find her new treasure stolen by Odin.Īma-Terasu's Mirror, in which the Japanese Shinto sun goddess Ama-Terasu hides from her reckless, destructive brother in a cave, until the other deities find a way to convince her to emerge, bringing light back to the world. Mother of Magic, which relates the tale of the Welsh sorceress Cerridwen, whose attempt to use magic to aid her son, Great Crow, didn't go quite as she planned, leading to an unexpected second child. We Are All One Family, which sets out the story of White Buffalo Woman, a sacred spirit who came to the Lakota people of North America's great plains, bringing them the sacred pipe, and teaching them sacred rituals.

The Princess Who Became a Goddess, in which a mortal Chinese princess named Maio Shan, being too kind and good for the world, became Kuan Yin, the goddess of compassion, going on to aid the father who had had her executed.

The Lady of Ten Thousand Names, which details the ancient Egyptian story of Isis, who rescued her brother/husband Osirus, when the god Set murdered him and set him afloat in a sarcophagus on the Nile.

American author Burleigh Mutén and British illustrator Helen Cann join forces in this lovely collection of goddess stories from around the world.

Goddesses by Burleigh Muten