Book Review: The Divine Feminist

By Christine MacIntyre

The Divine Feminist dives deeply into an age-old notion of misalignment within people and the universe. Author Ceryn Rowntree examines the imbalance she believes to be prominent between the Goddess and that which holds a feminine energy and the patriarchal forces that seem to reign. 

Gleaning off her personal experience, she doles out common ground, eliminating readers’ potential fear of judgment. The introductory chapter provides readers with her backstory and explains how she came to Divine Feminism. Her story will likely resonate with many readers, even if only in part. Familiar woes include overworking, feeling drained, people-pleasing tendencies, and feelings of “not-enoughness.” In her 267-page text published in 2021, Rowntree invites readers to follow suit and turn inward, focusing on reconnection with self and finding a place of balance and contentment.

Throughout the text, readers learn what imbalances Rowntree believes exist, their implications, and how these imbalances affect daily life. The theme is consistent throughout, positing that the sacred balance of life can be re-aligned. However, she deems the energies of masculinity and feminity equally necessary. Her intent is not to overthrow the patriarchy, but to lift Goddess and patriarchy on equal pedestals to work in collaboration with, rather than against each other.

Information in each chapter is as much insight as it is a call to action, highlighting the elemental energies aligned with the text and coaxing readers to connect and work with the elements to create a space for transformation. The first element is synergy, in which Rowntree expresses the importance of acknowledging the existence of binaries and dualities designed to separate and restrict human beings. To bridge the gap, she suggests contemplating the notion that “we—all of us—are the cake, so much greater than the sum of our parts.” Bringing up the rear of each chapter are exercises and prompts, in which Rowntree suggests meditation, rituals, and journal prompts that correlate with the chapter. Activities pertaining to synergy include sitting “outdoors under the light of both the Sun and the Moon” and noticing how it feels as these energies soak into the body.  

Following synergy, key concepts include courage, discernment, empathy, faith, responsibility, pleasure, allowing, boundaries, connection, wildness, beauty, and grounding. Each element introduced is followed by a discussion on how it relates to the journey toward wholeness. Each element circles back to turning inward, becoming in tune with ourselves, and developing an inner knowledge and awareness of what we need to do. While the process can seem intimidating, Rowntree’s voice is present throughout the book, which appears to breed confidence—confidence in her readers’ ability to obtain self-empowerment, achieve a healthy flow between doing and being, and cultivate wisdom through feeling and logic.

Seemingly a call for human awakening, much like she did herself, Rowntree urges readers to “build a deeper connection with the Earth and with our most primal selves.” Deepening the connection between written text and an understanding and awareness of their meaning, The Divine Feminist is equipped with invocations. Additionally, an additional materials list indicates a web link where readers can hear the invocation in full, along with short stories. 

Rowntree utilizes sincere but loving guidance to steer readers down the appropriate path to transformation. By addressing limiting beliefs, such as love vs. fear or soul vs. ego, she invites a healthy discussion that introduces new points of view. Her theories are based on optimism but are not so embedded in positivity that they are unrealistic. The ideas presented are rooted in the belief that the oversimplified paths of love vs. fear and soul vs. ego are limiting and lead to self-criticism and second-guessing ourselves. As a way to reclaim our power and stay on a realistic path of discovery, the text is based on the belief that love and fear can go hand in hand—that we should work with the inevitable pain and challenges we might face rather than against them. She points out that stepping out of the box in search of the “big, expansive truths our souls want us to follow” could trigger fear, uncomfortable feelings, and even persecution; however, she explains how to carry on and why she believes we should. 

“For the longest time, that fear of listening to anything but the positive voice kept me from making some seriously powerful choices… and at times from making any choice at all.” Rowntree’s admission opens the floor for self-reflection as this trial is likely a familiar concept for many readers. She puts the struggle in simple terms—”as a spectrum of expansion and restriction”—while acknowledging its complexity. In doing so, she conveys the relevance of the individual’s journey, where there are no absolute rights or wrongs, “only ever the choice to keep moving, growing, and expanding in the best way we know how.” 

Equal parts playbook, workbook, guide, and testimony, The Divine Feminist is not rooted in any religion despite using words such as sacred, soul, and spirit. Rowntree says that the concept of the sacred whole “isn’t linked to religion, or about any sort of spiritual belief system;” instead, “this is about finding meaning in life.” As such, people from all walks of life, belief systems, and backgrounds can utilize the concepts held in the text. Some readers will relate the information to their beliefs, “allowing us to feel somehow connected to whatever it is that we consider greater than ourselves, be that God, Goddess, Nature, or the Marvel Comics.” Others’ meaning in life is rooted in improving the world, leaving a legacy, supporting a cause, being a shining light for others, making every day count, or something else. 

Rowntree invites readers to define their meaning and embrace those things within their lives, asking them to reclaim the fundamental principles of connection, balance, and flow required to live in a place of wholeness. In closing, Rowntree quotes from an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer—fitting, given its context. 

“I hate this. I hate being here. I hate that you have to be here. I hate that there’s evil and that I was chosen to fight it. I wish a whole lot of the time that I hadn’t been. I know a lot of you wish I hadn’t been either. This isn’t about wishes. This is about choices…

Overall, this book is a forthright account of Rowntree’s personal view about the dualities inflicted on femininity by society and how we can overthrow them to get back to a place of inner peace and wholeness. A step-by-step playbook to reclaim the principles of connection, balance, and flow that are the foundation of life, Rowntree challenges how we’ve been taught to feel, think, and act in this life. While her diction is fierce and many truths a harsh reality, the prose is beautiful and invokes a sense of magic-infused inspiration and hope.

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