Remnants of ancient goddess beliefs were very much a part of nineteenth century Eastern European folk culture. Even up until the twentieth century, Eastern European women supervised rituals in honor of the goddess (see cover for a recreation of one such ritual), and carefully embroidered her image on their ritual cloths and clothing.
Today, the strong, powerful goddess figure can still be seen on many examples of Eastern European folk art. Author Mary B. Kelly brings these figures to our attention, introduces the folk life from which they sprang and explains changes in both the goddess motif and its meanings.
She unfolds for us rich examples from textile collections in Russia, the Ukraine, and Yugoslavia. She describes folk art from Rumania and Poland, and relates some of her own conversations with village folk artists in Czechoslovakia. She even shows us examples of goddess embroideries here in the United States from museum and private collections.
Kelly weaves a tale of her search for the goddess Berehinia and her research on why goddess embroideries exist in Eastern Europe.