Asphodel P. Long
1921 – 2005

Born in 1921 in the UK of refugee Polish Jewish parents, Asphodel (formerly Pauline) Long has been called a grandmother of the Goddess Movement in Great Britain. 

She was a founder member of the European Society of Women in Theological Research, the London Matriarchy Study Group (1975) and the Matriarchy Research and Reclaim Network (1980). She received a degree in  Theology at London University in 1983 at the age of 62. In 1996 she was the first Sophia Fellow at the University College of St. Mark and St. John, Plymouth.

Her course Female Aspects of Deity was offered by the Centre for Continuing Education at the University of Sussex in an unbroken cycle from 1987 to 1994. The syllabus included Goddesses of the World, Goddesses of Britain, and Goddesses of the Ancient Near East. She was joined by Magenta Wise who gave several classes on ritual and celebration in the same series.

From 1993 to 1996 Asphodel was a tutor in the Feminist Theology Outreach Programme of the University of Wales at Lampeter, again focusing on ‘Female Aspects of Deity’. The programme led to the award by the university of the Certificate in Feminist Theology, and was accepted at various colleges as credit towards a BA in Religious Studies. She taught a similar course in 1996 at the University College of St. Mark and St. John in Plymouth.

In a Chariot Drawn by Lions

Asphodel authored numerous writings on Goddess topics and also on Jewish women’s history and on antisemitism. Her book, In a Chariot Drawn by Lions: the Search for the Female in Deity (The Women’s Press, London 1992; Crossing Press, Freedom CA 1993) is a discussion of Wisdom Goddesses, looking at goddesses in Hebrew and Ancient Near Eastern traditions, researching into the background of Western culture with emphasis on Hochma/Sophia – her reign, her banishment and return.

The book also addresses a theme, now commonplace among biblical scholars though perhaps not yet known to the general public, that the ancient Hebrews were not monotheists, but worshipped both the god Yahweh and the goddess Asherah. Scholarly material is used in an accessible manner and analyses the causes of misogyny.

In a Chariot Drawn by Lions is available in book form, as is Athene Revisited – Asphodel’s complete set of poems. To buy a copy please get in touch here.

In a Chariot Drawn by Lions – £6.50 incl. p and p Athene Revisited -£7.50 incl. p and p. Enquire for non-UK prices.

In a Chariot Drawn by Lions is also freely available as a PDF thanks to Goddess Ink, as part of their Legacy PDF series.

Asphodel’s articles on The Goddess Movement in Britain Today (Feminist Theology, a scholarly journal published by the Sheffield Academic Press, January 1994) and The One and the Many: the Great Goddess Revisited (Wood and Water 53, Winter Solstice 1995 and Feminist Theology, May 1997) have also been influential.

Asphodel’s book of collected poems Athene Revisited  (Writers Workshop, Calcutta 1999) is bound in sari fabric and handcrafted in India. Some of these poems have appeared in Voyages, Women’s Poetry Publishing Collective, London 1977;  If Women Want to Speak what Language do they Use?, Beyond Patriarchy Publications, London1977;  One Foot on the Mountain, Onlywomen Press, London 1979;  Panakeia, London 1980;  Bread and Roses, Virago, London 1982;  Arachne, Matriarchy Research and Reclaim Network, London 1984-91;  Wood and Water, London 1985-99;  Lunar Calendar, Luna Press, Boston 1990-2015; GoddessingRegenerated, Malta, 1997-9;  Gravesiana, Oxford 1998.

Asphodel’s archival material is held in the Feminist Archive South at the University of Bristol. Bliss Magdalena Qadesh, who has worked towards cataloguing this archive, has talked about Asphodel at the Glastonbury Goddess Conference and also presented a pre-recorded offering on her centenary for Glastonbury Goddess Temple celebrating Asphodel’s life and work, titled Remembering Asphodel Long, which is available below.