Barbara Walker

I have been so pleased to see many references to Barbara Walker in the knit-internet. Her Treasury of knit patterns, mosaic knitting and top down patterns are revolutionary and rivalled only by Elizabeth Zimmerman.
But Barbara G. Walker has published extensively about female symbolism and mythology and the origins of our present culture based on matriarchal roots. I was lucky to find a copy of Crone at the Bookman, our local brilliant used book store and loved how it gathered up all the myths and stories and ideas into a cohesive account. Her Women's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects has been out of my price range, but I've seen it a few times in book stores in the states.
My dilemma is that I'm not interested in tarot. My grandmother would have said that it is evil and satanic, but she lived under the heavy yoke of a paternalistic home.
Barbara tries to explain to me that female intuition and creativity, and anything that is a threat to the male culture has been successfully maligned.
Lately I've had trouble with some people who can't have a relationship with me because they are male. They are threatened by powerful women. I 'm not powerful, I'm a housewife, but I share my skills for the good of the group.
If someone can only think within their gender, they are cancelling out more than half the population and may as well join the taliban and put me in a burkha. If I can't speak out and act with equality, why do people pretend I can?
I grew up in a house of all women- my mom and three older sisters. We were people in our home and I thought we were normal. Now I'm over forty, I just want to fight back at those who would put my daughter in a cheerleader outfit and make her lose 20 pounds.
Has no one read Reviving Ophelia?
There was a great interview in Interweave Knits a few years ago that let Barbara G. Walker discuss what she thinks is a very simple life. We are so lucky to have such a strong and brilliant woman sharing her gifts with the knitting community.
If you read "And She Knits Too!", "January One" and "Math4Knitters" you'll see, today, how these brilliant women embelish their knitting with the impartation of real knowledge.