Part 3 Summary and Analysis

"Grounding" picks up Sue's story after a year and a half of initiation. In Avebury, Sue and Sandy come upon a stone circle larger than Stonehenge, which a tourist book says is shaped to represent the Goddess' body. When Sandy reacts to the taboo word, Sue "unpacks" its meaning, realizing that every culture once worships the Great Goddess. While associated with fertility and sexuality, she also bestows justice and truth. Displaced by a male sky god, her memory is suppressed - and women are subordinated. Sue touches each stone and relights a votive candle. Celtic music helps her feel the "radiant mystery" of being embraced by the Goddess.

Sue ponders the "genderless, formless nature of the Divine." In the Bible, God says "I am that I am" — Absolute Being, transcending pictures but, needing symbols, people attach exclusively male ones and...