Editing Starhawk (section)

==''The Spiral Dance''==
{{main|The Spiral Dance}}
Following her years at UCLA, after a failed attempt to become a fiction writer in New York City, Starhawk returned to California. She became active in the Neopagan community in the [[San Francisco Bay Area]], and trained with [[Victor Anderson (poet)|Victor Anderson]], founder of the [[Feri Tradition]] of witchcraft, and with [[Zsuzsanna Budapest]], a feminist separatist involved in [[Dianic Wicca]].

She wrote a book, ''[[The Spiral Dance]]'', on Goddess religion, which she finished in 1977 but was unable to publish at first. Feminist religious scholar [[Carol P. Christ]] included an article on witchcraft and the Goddess movement in the anthology ''Womanspirit Rising'' (1979). Christ put Starhawk in touch with an editor at [[Harper & Row]], who eventually published the book.

First published in 1979, ''The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess'' became a best-selling book about [[neopagan]] belief and practice. A 10th-anniversary edition was published in 1989, followed by a 20th-anniversary edition in 1999. The original text of ''The Spiral Dance'' was left largely intact for these editions, expanded primarily by introductions and commentaries reflecting on the book's origins, the rituals described, and the evolution of the author's beliefs and practices. Since its publication, ''The Spiral Dance'' has become a classic resource on [[Wicca]] and modern [[witchcraft]], [[spiritual feminism]], the [[Goddess movement]], and [[ecofeminism]]. The work is distinguished by its visionary mysticism, "broad philosophy of harmony with nature," and ecstatic consciousness.