Description
Aquelarre
Book Summary
Aquelarre (Coven) is a poetic work that pays homage to the first feminists in history: priestesses, shamans, healers, and witches. Through her verses, Pilar Sánchez-Serrano Astray invokes the figure of the great mother and remembers all those women who perished, murdered by men's fear of the light. The reader will find a highly sensitive collection of poetry that connects ancestral feminine memory with contemporary vindication, paying special attention to young girls and old women, forgotten links in a genealogy of resistance.
What is it about?
The work is constructed as a poetic invocation that rescues from oblivion those female figures persecuted throughout history for their wisdom and power. Sánchez-Serrano Astray weaves a collective chant that spans from the priestesses of antiquity to the witches of the witch hunts, including the healers and shamans who guarded ancestral knowledge. The collection not only denounces the violence exercised against these women but also celebrates their legacy as the first feminists. The poetic voice addresses itself especially to young girls and old women, two extremes of female life that have been historically silenced, to restore them to their place in memory and in the struggle for light.
Main themes
- Feminine historical memory and the genealogy of wise women.
- Vindication of the figures of witches, shamans, and healers as pioneers of feminism.
- Denunciation of the patriarchal violence exercised against feminine knowledge and power.
- Celebration of the figure of the great mother and the life cycles of women (childhood and old age).
- Resistance and resilience through the poetic word as a tool for healing.
Who is it recommended for?
This book is aimed at readers interested in contemporary poetry with a strong social and vindicatory component. It is especially recommended for those seeking a read that connects feminine spirituality with the feminist struggle, as well as for those who wish to explore the silenced history of women through lyricism. It will also be of interest to scholars of current Spanish poetry and readers who appreciate works that combine aesthetic sensitivity with political commitment.
What this book offers
- A unique poetic perspective that rescues and dignifies the historical figure of the witch and the healer as a symbol of feminist resistance.
- A chant of memory that makes visible young girls and old women, two female groups often marginalized in poetic and social discourse.
- A reading experience that invites reflection on the power of feminine knowledge and the violence exercised to silence it.
- A work that connects the ancestral past with present struggles, offering a bridge between spirituality and activism.
Technical specifications
- Author: Sánchez-Serrano Astray, Pilar
- Publisher: Huerga y Fierro Editores
- Language: Spanish
- Subject: POETRY, POETRY BY INDIVIDUAL POETS
- Collection: FENICE POESIA
- Binding: Paperback
- Edition date: June 2018
- Number of pages: 90
- Weight: 140 g
Editorial assessment
Aquelarre presents itself as a solid and committed poetic proposal that manages to articulate a discourse of feminist memory without losing lyrical quality. The work stands out for its ability to build bridges between the past and the present, offering a reading that is both a tribute and a denunciation. For its target audience, interested in poetry with a social conscience and in the vindication of women's history, this book represents a valuable and necessary addition to their library.