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This book is divided into two main sections. The first discusses general information about goddesses and the second describes twenty goddesses, including Artemis, Athena, Isis, Inanna, Kwan-yin and Kali.

The general information section discusses whether the Goddess is immanent (internal) or transcendent (external), and whether there is a single goddess or multiple goddesses. Monaghan also talks about the different goddess aspects of maiden, mother and crone, and adds the fourth aspect of lover.

The second section describes each goddess in about 12 pages. For each one, there is information on the goddess' story, her symbolism and feasts, ways to invoke her and questions you might want to ask yourself or exercises to perform related to the aspects of your life which relate to that goddess. For example, the Lithuanian goddess Saule and her daughter Saules Meita are appropriate goddesses to invoke to help restore mother-daughter relationships and recover from family violence, since the story for these goddesses involves the rape of Saules Meita by her father and her mother's vengeance upon him. Monaghan provides a ritual for re-enacting Saule's protective actions in order to help women's healing today.

This book reminds me of "The Witches' Goddess" by the Farrars. Both books give fairly detailed attention to individual goddesses, but I prefer the methods Monaghan suggests for invoking the goddesses. Monaghan is not assuming you are enacting rituals as part of a full coven. Her rituals usually require, at most, three or four people, and most are designed for you to perform on your own or with a few friends. Her approach strikes me as more adaptable and more personal. The Farrar book does include a lengthy appendix which lists a large number of goddesses from many different cultures. It serves as a mini-encyclopedia.

I would say this book is worthwhile. It is well organized. Monaghan's writing has feminist leanings, but it is not overwrought. She's chosen a good cultural cross-section of goddesses, including African, Buddhist, Hindu, and Finnish in addition to the more well-known Celtic, Greek and Egyptian.