Kristin Madden and I have been friends for a long time. Over the years, we’ve shared ideas, laughter and secrets. We’ve shared festival venues, cabins and the adventures that doing so always brings. We also have a mutual respect for each other’s work. So when she contacted me about co-authoring a Maiden/Mother/Crone book, I jumped at the chance. Truth be told, though, I had an ulterior motive. You see, I’d outlined a similar project many years ago that included dancing as a way of putting one’s life back into balance, and a co-authorship with Kristin seemed just the thing to bring the book to life. I pitched it to her, she loved it, and Dancing the Goddess Incarnate was born.

Dancing the Goddess Incarnate isn’t just a book about dancing, though. It’s a book about you — your needs, your dreams and your desires — and how to attain the most from your life path. But we didn’t stop there. We’ve also given you a complete system to assist you on your journey. It’s a tool we call the “Goddess Circle.” And used as directed, it’s not only guaranteed to bring your life back into balance, but to manifest your every dream — even those you’d always considered virtually impossible.

But what exactly is the Goddess Circle? It’s a pie chart divided into the three wedges of Maiden, Mother and Crone, with each of those portions subdivided into three more. Each of the nine slices belongs to a specific Goddess, the sector of your life in which She’s proficient and the dance that brings Her lessons to the stage. All you have to do is dance equally with each Goddess and — presto! — your life twirls back into balance. It’s not only fun and exciting, but finally puts you back where you belong: in control of yourself, in control of your life and in control of your personal path. What could be better than that?

To give you a better idea of what’s involved here, though, let’s take a look at your dance partners, their realms of expertise and their specific dances.

While you may think that some of the dances associated with these Goddesses seem extremely inappropriate and disrespectful — admittedly, it’s difficult to imagine Athena stepping out to the New York hustle or Hecate kicking up her heels to the Charleston — I can assure you that it’s just not so. To start with, our Goddesses aren’t sour, dour or disempowered. These Goddesses are fragments of ourselves — pieces of the whole, if you will — and as such, They like to have fun just as much as we do. But since some of you probably still aren’t sure, let’s take a good, hard look at Their areas of expertise.

According to the chart above, Athena’s area has to do with career. And no matter what we do for a living, whether we work inside the home or out, there simply aren’t enough hours in the day. Even when we’re at our best, it’s nearly impossible to scratch every single item from our to-do lists. Because of that, we’re constantly pressed to work harder, faster and more efficiently. It’s not just a rat race out there, it’s a battlefield, and those who can’t keep up get left behind. So I ask you: Would a good teacher — especially one as well-equipped as Athena — expect you to do any less than hustle? I think not.

Hecate’s lessons, on the other hand, have to do with self-empowerment, gumption and personal attitude. And the only creature in existence ever to possess all three and exhibit them with such class was (you guessed it!) the flapper. She never balked at a crossroads in her life. She was a mover, a shaker and single-handedly did more for women’s rights than a whole convention of suffragettes. And since Hecate is the supreme mover and shaker (She does, after all, spend a lot of Her time yanking us through the crossroads of life) there’s no better dance for Her than the one so enjoyed by the flapper — the Charleston.

But there’s more to Dancing the Goddess Incarnate than the Goddess Circle. Much more. It’s filled with surprises, fun and good, practical advice. You’ll also find rituals, spells and meditations. But most of all, you’ll find an easy way to put your life back into perspective, bring your dreams to the forefront and manifest a personal reality you’d really like to live. Best of all, all you have to do is dance!