Book Description: Selected as New York Times Notable Book in 1986, The Flame Bearers , a mythical tale of madness and magical portents, is the story of an ancient Goddess worshiping sect and its claims on a contemporary woman. Fiercely independent, Rae Shadmi, has worked hard to divorce herself from her strange, proud family a family dominated by Rae s grandmother, the leader of a mysterious spiritual group of women called The Flame Bearers, whose legendary rights, mystical knowledge and age-old tales have been handed down from mother to daughter over centuries. But now the old matriarch is dying and Rae is summoned back to San Francisco, where she must find the courage to accept or reject her grandmother s legacy. Rae s spiritual journey leads her to confront her own spiritual ambivalence, and awaken to the sacred powers within her.