10 Books To Inspire Your Feminine Spirit

Tap Into The Energy Of Spring: Ostara Rituals 🌱🌷 Reading 10 Books To Inspire Your Feminine Spirit 14 minutes Next Litha, Lana Del Rey, and the Lionness

Jun 6, 20190 comments

Nothing provokes change and empowerment more than sharing our stories. The deep, raw words from women who have been through their own kind of hell & back and live to write the tale.

We’ve gathered a list of books ranging from poetry, novels, psychological, and mystical to add some magic to your summer. Quotes & stories you’ll want to highlight, snap photos of to share or save for later when you’re in need of inspiration. I promise you will find wisdom that will last you a lifetime. After all, knowledge is power and we need as much of it as we can get during times like these. If you believe that women are some kind of magic, in need of little extra motivation, or nourishment for your feminist soul, these books are for you.

Here are 10 books written by 10 very talented women to add to your summer reading list:

In no particular order...

Image result for material girl mystical world

Material Girl, Mystical World by Ruby Warrington

“Embracing the Divine Feminine means demanding that your sexual needs are met. As in, demanding this of your partner--and of yourself. Why? Well, there’s what I said about cultivating self-love being about acknowledging your deepest needs for starters. But if it could also be said that sexual desire is the most basic human instinct (the species will survive without food and shelter so long as we can just keep on procreating, right?), then learning to identify and own our desire, and to then ensure it is fulfilled, is at the root of learning to claim and satisfy all our needs as women--as well as our rightful place beside men as cocreators of the Universe.”

-Ruby Warrington, Material Girl, Mystical World

Everything from modern spirituality, health & well-being, sex & relationships, plant medicine, and crystals, this book provides a great overview on all things mystic & magical for the Divine Feminine. This was the first book I picked up that lead me down a path of even more new age books and writings. Whenever I described it to people I’d say, “it’s like a bible tbh.” I could probably describe the remaining books on this list that way too, but especially this one. Written by the creator of the online magazine, The Numinous, the now age guide to a high-vibe life. This is a perfect book for Goddesses just getting into learning about spirituality, as it gives an overview of many ideas and practices.

(And another part because this stuff is just TOO good)

“One of the saddest outcomes of our disconnection from the Divine Feminine is competition among women, which it seems to me is born of the fear that there’s simply not enough (love, acceptance, decent salaries, instagram followers) to go around. But what’s the fastest way to get the support we need to manifest our deepest, most heartfelt desires? To team up with each other. After all: there is POWER in numbers.”

Witch by Lisa Lister

“How do we dare to express our fullness? We must bring it ALL. Rage and laughter. Beauty and strength. Fierceness and grace. Vulnerability and force. Compassion and passion. You don’t need to be less of anything, I invite you to be more of everything. So many of us have an innate need to be liked and approved of. It’s human nature, but it also means we’ve been conditioned into making a thousand subtle compromises. It means we’ve become women who don’t dare to live out our fullness. We make sure we’re not ‘too quiet’, and make sure we’re not ‘too loud’. I see it in myself and the women I work with. We never fully allow our ourselves to GO ALL THE WAY. We hold back just incase we get shamed/judged/accused based on who we are in THAT paricular momentt. You can never claim back your power by being less of yourself, or by squeezing yourself tight enough to fit inside the narrow box marked ‘100% approved.’”

-Lisa Lister, Witch

Now let me start out by saying, don’t let the title stray you if you don’t consider yourself a ‘witch’. This book is for women. It taught me more about why I, as a female, have innate reactions, thoughts, and insecurities, than any psychology class has. It also speaks on themes relating to women and the patriarchy, competition, fear, and body image. Forget everything you’ve ever been told about witches. You will find references to various witchcraft practices, spells, crystals, herbs, and the sabbats/wheel of the year, but a huge part of this book is on the Goddess SHE within all of us. What our intuition is and how to trust it, and how to take your power back as a woman.

Fierce Fairytales & Other Stories to Stir Your Soul by Nikita Gill

“Not all girls are made of sugar and spice and all things nice.

These are girls made of dark lace and witchcraft and a little bit of vice.

These are daughters made claw-first and story-mad, tiger-roar and wolf-bad.

These are women made of terrible tempests and savage storms and the untamed unwanted.

These are damsels made of flawless fearlessness made of more bravery than knights have ever seen.

These are princesses made of valour and poison alike and they are here to hold court as your queens.”

-Nikita Gill, Difficult Damsels, Fierce Fairytales

Fairytales turned into poetry, which are beautifully written and creatively expressed that will ignite a spark within you. Nikita Gill puts a new outlook on classic characters, both the villians and heros, in a real world, real issues context. She has combined century old stories with subjects of empowerment, love, feminism, abuse, and mental illness. Needless to say, these will be the bedtime stories I read to my children someday.

Goddesses in Everywoman by Jean Shinoda Bolen, MD

"What's more, there are many goddesses in one woman. The more complicated this is, the more likely there are many goddesses active in it. And what is satisfying for a part of itself may be irrelevant elsewhere."

-Jean Shinoda Bolen, Goddesses in Everywoman

This book is a rare gem. Jungian analyst Jean Shinoda Bolen explores how specific Goddesses from ancient mythology can be relevant to women today. It’s a Greek mythology “personality type” book that covers aspects of the Goddesses listed below and how every woman can find a piece of each one within themselves. It is also arguably a deep and intimate self-help book by helping women recognize what aspects of ourselves we want to change, as well as self-activating the various character traits we want to invoke.

The Virgin Goddesses: Artemis, Athena, and Hestia.

The Vulnerable Goddesses: Hera, Demeter, and Perssephone.

The Alchemical Goddess: Aphrodite.

Women Who Run With The Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

“Women's curiosity was given a negative connotation, whereas men were called investigative. Women were called nosy, whereas men were called inquiring. In reality, the trivialization of women's curiosity so that it seems like nothing more than irksome snooping denies women's insight, hunches, and intuitions. It denies all her senses. It attempts to attack her fundamental power.”

-Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Women Who Run With The Wolves

This book is for any woman who feels an urge to connect with wild and ancient concepts of what it means to be female. Especially relevant to women who’ve encountered struggles because of the pressures and pre-tailored expectations of societies, religions, families, men, etc. Using multicultural myths, fairy tales, folk tales, and stories, Dr. Estes helps women reconnect with the healthy, instinctual, visionary attributes of the Wild Woman archetype. This one can be a slow read as it’s full of depth. The knowledge in it is timeless. I recommend reading it one story at a time and getting it in print copy so you can highlight and add your own notes.

My Life On The Road by Gloria Steinem

“You should write about take no-shit women like me. Girls need to know they can break the rules"

“I myself cried when I got angry, then became unable to explain why I was angry in the first place. Later I would discover this was endemic among female human beings. Anger is supposed to be "unfeminine" so we suppress it -until it overflows. I could see that not speaking up made my mother feel worse. This was my first hint of the truism that depression is anger turned inward; thus women are twice as likely to be depressed. My mother paid a high price for caring so much, yet being able to do so little about it. In this way, she led me toward am activist place where she herself could never go.”

-Gloria Steinem, My Life On The Road

A New York Times Bestseller, AND on the list of Oprah Magazine’s ten favorite books of the year. The legendary feminist Gloria Steinem writes on her lifetime of travel, activism, leadership, and stories from listening to people whose voices and ideas would inspire change and revolution. I listened to this one on audio book. Perfect read to listen to while running or driving.

Women Are Some Kind Of Magic Series by Amanda Lovelace

It will never cease to amaze me the way strings of words bring tears of happiness to my eyes. That is what I encounter when I read anything by Amanda Lovelace. Her raw, and honest writing on some more traumatizing events helps to heal all of us that have gone through something similar. This series contains 3 poetry books:

The Princess Saves Herself in This One: Exploring love, loss, grief, healing, empowerment, and inspiration.

The Witch Doesn’t Burn in This One: The witch: supernaturally powerful, independent, and now—indestructible. The poems encourage resilience and embolden women to take control of their own stories.

The Mermaid's Voice Returns In This One: This book in particular does have a significant amount of intense content and messages related to sexual assault and abuse but along with it comes the powerful parts of healing and self love.

The Sun And Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur

“i am the first woman in my lineage with freedom of choice. to craft her future whichever way i choose. say what is on my mind when i want to. without the whip of the lash. there are hundreds of firsts i am thankful for. that my mother and her mother and her mother did not have the privilege of feeling. what a honor. to be the first woman in the family who gets to taste her desires. no wonder i am starving to fill up on this life. i have generations of bellies to eat for. the grandmothers must be howling with laughter. huddled around a mud stove in the afterlife. sipping on steaming glasses of milky masala chai. how wild it must be for them to see one of their own living so boldly.”

-Rupi Kaur, The Sun And Her Flowers

The Sun and her Flowers is a collection of poetry in five parts by Rupi Kaur. These five sections are a journey of wilting, falling, rooting, rising, and blooming. A celebration of love in all its forms. A journey toward self-love and self-empowerment. A collection of poetry that will teach you that people too must wilt fall root rise in order to bloom.

The Strength In Our Scars by [Sparacino, Bianca]

The Strength in Our Scars by Bianca Sparacino

“You ruin your life by desensitizing yourself. We are all afraid to say too much, to feel too deeply, to let people know what they mean to us. Caring is not synonymous with crazy. Expressing to someone how special they are to you will make you vulnerable. There is no denying that. However, that is nothing to be ashamed of. There is something breathtakingly beautiful in the moments of smaller magic that occur when you strip down and are honest with those who are important to you. Let that girl know that she inspires you. Tell your mother you love her in front of your friends. Express, express, express. Open yourself up, do not harden yourself to the world, and be bold in who, and how you love. There is courage in that.”

-Bianca Sparacino, The Strength In Our Scars

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is healing through a difficult season. Reading it is like having a friend tell you all the things you ever needed to hear through a heartbreak or struggle. This book is encouraging, it will strengthen you, and make you feel like you’re not alone. Bianca Sparacino’s reminder to you: No matter what you’re going through, no matter where you are on your healing journey—you are strong.

In the Company of Women by Grace Bonney

What characteristics do you most admire in other creative women?

“I admire their fire and their empathy, their devotion to what they make and the consistent return to work, no matter the perceived success or failure. I admire these things because I believe them to be what is most important about creativity.”

-Thao Nguyen in The Company of Women

For all the Girl Boss’, creators and artists, this book is a MUST HAVE to your coffee table book collection. Over 100 exceptional and influential women, describe how they embraced their creative spirit, overcame adversity, and sparked a global movement of entrepreneurship. This book is full of empowering advice and inspiration. Also a very easy read you can pick up and enjoy whenever you feel like it. Each page contains quotes and stories that will spark something deep within us all.

“Dive into the stories of women who inspire you and captivate you. Real or fictional, historical and present day--and get geeky about them. Go read about them, watch movies about them and explore the mysteries of who they are, who you are, who we are and what we’re made of.”

-Lisa Lister, Witch

Have you read any of these books? What did you think about them? Are there other books that come to mind when you see these? Share in the comments below to recommend to others. And have a magical, literature filled Summer. 💭🌞🌻📚