Books

The struggle to restore an old slave cemetery uncovers centuries-old racism.

​

When China Galland visited her childhood hometown in east Texas, she learned of an unmarked cemetery for slaves-Love Cemetery. Her ensuing quest to restore and reclaim the cemetery unearths racial wounds that have never completely healed. Research becomes activism as she organizes a grassroots, interracial committee, made up of local religious leaders and lay people, to work on restoring community access to the cemetery. The author also presents material from the time of slavery and the Reconstruction Era, including stories of “landtakings” (the theft of land from African Americans), and forms of slavery that continued well into the twentieth century. Ultimately Keepers of Love delivers a message of tremendous hope as members of both black and white communities come together to right an historical wrong, and in so doing, discover each other’s common dignity.

A deeply personal exploration took China Galland from New Mexico through Nepal, India, Switzerland, France, the former Yugoslavia, and Poland – places where the divine feminine like Tara, the female buddha of the Tibetan tradition, and the Black Madonna are venerated today. In this fascinating account, Galland vividly describes her extraordinary journey, which combines pilgrimage, scholarship, and wilderness adventure with foreign intrigue and sensual experience.

With this book, China Galland brought increased attention to the spiritual traditions of the Black Madonna and other cross-cultural expressions of the feminine divine. The popularity of recent works by authors like Sue Monk Kidd and Kathleen Norris have only increased readers’ fascination. Now with a new introduction by the author, Longing for Darkness explores Galland’s spellbinding and deeply personal journey from New Mexico through Nepal, India, Switzerland, France, the former Yugoslavia, and Poland—places where such figures as Tara, the female Buddha of the Tibetan tradition, and the Black Madonna are venerated today.

In beautiful prose, China Galland weaves myths and travel narratives into a powerful chronicle of the spiritual journey, tracing the reemergence of fierce compassion both in the struggles of women around the world and at sacred sites of pilgrimage.

The story is the same all over the world. In Nepal, a woman doctor works tirelessly to rescue children who have been sold to Indian brothels. In Argentina, the mothers of the "disappeared" bear witness against the government that stole the lives of their children. In India, Mother Theresa's Sisters soothe the fears of the dying, and an international women's campaign works to clean the waters of the Ganges River.

​

Around the world, women are working for justice, for healing, and the lives of these women reveal an unusual source of strength: the fierceness of compassion symbolized in ancient icons, images, and archetypes of the wrathful divine feminine. Known in India as Durga and Kali, in Nepal and Tibet as Tara, and in Europe and Latin America as the Black Madonna and Yemaya, it is the fierce divine feminine, which arises when the world is on the brink of destruction

Keep your clients up to date with what's happening. To make this content your own, just add your images, text and links, or connect to data from your collection.