We will open the first chapter of our 2026 book club with reflections on the life-bringing forces of the Goddess of Love. Forwarded by Marion Woodman, Nancy Qualls-Corbett‘s book explores the sacred dimensions of sexuality, encouraging us to contemplate on how the body-soul split in patriarchal cultures has separated our innate desire for joy and intimacy with another human being from the spiritual meaning of such a union. Following Qualls-Corbett’s lead, we will look at how the Goddess of Love has been desecrated and how we can heal the split between sexuality and spirituality by tending to our wounded instincts and restoring the wholeness of the sacred union of body and soul. We will reflect on how we can rekindle our love for life itself, bringing this sacred feminine element back into our lives, free from shame around our body and its instinctual nature.

In preparation for each session, students will be asked to read approximately 40-45 pages each week. In addition, students will receive short prompts that will encourage them to actively engage with the text by taking notes of their experiences, journaling, drawing, etc. During our sessions, we will work in small groups of 3-4 people in Zoom breakout rooms as well as in the larger group together to reflect on the reading and discuss the prompts that students were working with at home prior to the session. Reading the chapters and working with the prompts in preparation for each session is a mandatory requirement for participation in this group. Please ensure that you can join us from a computer as breakout rooms don’t always work on the phone or other devices.