Habitrot and the Wood Maiden: Spinning Goddesses and Imagery in European Tradition

This volume builds off of discussions in previous volumes, but digs deeper into the native spirituality indigenous to Europe.

In this volume we look deeply into spinning goddesses, feminine divinity, and the symbolic meaning behind spinning and weaving in European spirituality in relation to life force, creation of life, and fate/destiny.

​This volume culminates with an analysis and retelling of two European fairy tales that involve supernatural beings associated with spinning.

Table of Contents:

1 Introduction 6

2 Our Lost Goddesses Lived On 9

3 Saving Fairy Tales from Feminist Distortion 19

4 European Spinning Goddesses in Myth and Fairy Tale 23

5 Spinning’s Symbolic Meaning in European Myth 30

6 Analysis of “Habitrot” and “The Wood Maiden” 41

7 “Habitrot “– A Scottish Fairy Tale 48

8 “The Wood Maiden” – A Czech Fairy Tale 59

9 Bibliography and Further Reading 78