Ruth Barrett, anthology editor and contributor, has dedicated her life to stopping gender oppression and providing safe, sacred, female-sovereign spaces for women and girls. She is an ordained elder priestess, ritualist, and teacher of the Dianic tradition.

Barrett graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz with a degree in folklore. She went on to co-found the Temple of Diana, Inc., a nationally recognized Dianic temple, with her life partner, Falcon River.

Barrett received the L.A.C.E. Award for outstanding contributions in the area of spirituality from the Gay and Lesbian Center in Los Angeles. She is author of Women’s Rites, Women’s Mysteries: Intuitive Ritual Creation, and she has contributed to multiple anthologies about women’s spirituality.

Barrett is also a goddess-centered folk musician, mountain dulcimer artist, and singer. She received the Jane Schliessman Award for outstanding contributions to women’s music. She directed the Candlelight Concert at the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival for twenty-two years.