Moon Sisters, Krishna Mothers, Rajneesh Lovers: Women’s Roles in New Religions

Celibate sister or devoted Hindu wife; domineering, sexually expressive lover or veiled Nubian bride in polygamy; or perhaps an asexual shaman. Such are the various roles available to women in today’s new religious movements.

Moon Sisters is one of the first books to delve into feminine conversion or opportunities for leadership that women have in these contemporary communal or millenarian groups.

Working almost exclusively from interviews and first-hand data, Susan Palmer focuses on the following seven groups:
Institute for the Development of the Harmonious Human Being
International Society for Krishna Consciousness
Rajneesh Movement
Unification Church
Institute of Applied Metaphysics
Northeast Kingdom Community Church
Raelian Movement

She questions why women join such groups, shows what innovative roles are afforded those women who choose to become members, and explains the groups’ high rate of defection.

Susan J. Palmer is lecturer in the Religion Department at Dawson College, Quebec.