Barbara G. Walker (author)

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Barbara G. Walker (born July 2, 1930, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an U.S. author and feminist. She writes about religion, cultural anthropology, spirituality, and mythology from a Neopagan standpoint, believing in the existence of Pre-Indo-European neolithic matriarchies. She often uses the imagery of the Mother Goddess to discuss the belief of these Neolithic Matriarchies. Her most important book is The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets (1983). She also is an influential knitting expert and the author of several classic encyclopedic knitting references.

Barbara G. Walker describes herself as an atheist. In the book, The Skeptical Feminist: Discovering the Virgin, Mother, and Crone, she writes about her belief that there is no deity. However, she believes that people, and woman in particular, can use the image of the Goddess in their day-to-day lives. Her book Woman's Rituals: A Sourcebook is an attempt to show how she puts her "meditation techniques" into practice, and is meant as a guide for other women to do the same thing.

In the 1960s and 1970s, she authored several volumes of knitting references which have become landmarks for their comprehensiveness and clarity. Her knitting treasury series documents over a thousand different knitting stitches. Other books considered mosaic knitting, for producing multicolored designs while knitting only one color per row, and constructing knitted garments from the top-down rather than the usual bottom-up method used in western knitting tradition. Her legacy continues with the reprinting of most of her knitting books, starting in the mid-1990s, as well as the publication of new contributions to the knitting literature.

Barbara G. Walker studied journalism at the University of Pennsylvania and began working for the Washington Star in Washington, D.C. While serving on a local hotline in the mid 1970s, helping battered women and pregnant teens, she became interested in feminism. The American Humanist Association named her "Humanist Heroine" in 1993, and in 1995 she received the "Women Making Herstory" award from the New Jersey NOW.

1 Criticism
2 Bibliography
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Criticism

Walker's claims are sometimes controversial, and often clearly and verifably wrong. Examples listed by critics are extremely numerous. The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets in particular has been heavily criticized for making outrageous claims with very little historical basis or documentation. One invalidated claim that the Arabian religion prior to Muhammad was based upon a group of female prophets who believed the Qur'an was inscribed upon the tablets of destiny much the same as the Goddess Tiamet has absolutely no verifiable historical reference. In other places where she actually provides sources, her claims are often debunked completely by the very source she cites. In her book The Secrets of Tarot, one invalidated claim is that the ferris wheel is named after the fenris wolf. It's actually named after its 19th century inventory/designer, George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr.. Her work is strongly influenced by the Robert von Ranke Graves book The White Goddess that is widely considered as pseudoscientific.

[edit] Bibliography

A treasury of knitting patterns (1968) ISBN 0-942018-16-8 (reprint edition 1998)
A second treasury of knitting patterns ISBN 0-942018-17-6 (reprint edition 1998)
The craft of lace knitting (1971) ISBN 0-684-12503-X
The craft of cable-stitch knitting (1971) ISBN 0-684-12500-5
Knitting from the top (1972) ISBN 0-942018-09-5 (reprint edition)
The craft of multicolor knitting (1973) ISBN 0-684-13405-5
Sampler knitting (1973) ISBN 0-684-13263-X (reprinted in A fourth treasury (2000))
Learn-to-knit-afghan book (1974) ISBN 0-942018-13-3 (reprint edition 1997)
Mosaic knitting (1976) (revised in 1997)
The woman's encyclopedia of myths and secrets (1983) ISBN 0-06-250925-X
The secrets of the tarot: origins, history, and symbolism (1984) ISBN 0-06-250927-6
Charted knitting designs: a third treasury of knitting patterns (1986) ISBN 0-942018-18-4 (reprint edition 1998)
Barbara Walker Tarot Deck (Misc. Supplies) (1986) ISBN 1-931412-72-3
The skeptical feminist: discovering the virgin, mother, and crone (1987) ISBN 0-06-250932-2
The woman's dictionary of symbols and sacred objects (1988) ISBN 0-06-250923-3
The crone: woman of age, wisdom, and power (1988) ISBN 0-06-250934-9
The book of sacred stones: fact and fallacy in the crystal world (1989, with Werner P. Brodde) ISBN 0-06-250921-7
Women's rituals: a sourcebook (1990) ISBN 0-06-250939-X
Amazon: a novel (1992) ISBN 0-06-250975-6
Feminist fairy tales (1996) ISBN 0-06-251320-6
Women And Religion: Sexism In The Christian Tradition (1997) [speech] http://ffrf.org/fttoday/1998/jan_feb98/walker.html
Restoring the goddess: equal rites for modern women (2000) ISBN 1-57392-786-4
A fourth treasury of knitting patterns (2000) ISBN 0-942018-20-6 (includes Sampler knitting (1973))
The essential handbook of women's spirituality and ritual (2001) ISBN 1-931412-64-2
I Ching of the Goddess: Divination Kit (Boxed Set with Cards) (2001) ISBN 1-931412-72-3
Mosaic knitting, revised (2006) ISBN 0-942018-15-X