The White Goddess: a Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth is a book-length essay upon the nature of poetic myth-making by author and poet Robert Graves. First published in 1948, based on earlier articles published in Wales, corrected, revised and enlarged editions appeared in 1948, 1952 and 1961. The White Goddess represents an approach to the study of mythology from a decidedly creative and idiosyncratic perspective. Graves proposes the existence of a European deity, the "White Goddess of Birth, Love and Death," inspired and represented by the phases of the moon, who lies behind the faces of the diverse goddesses of various European mythologies.
Graves argues that "true" or "pure" poetry is inextricably linked with the ancient cult-ritual of his proposed White Goddess and of her son. His conclusions come from his own conjectures about how early religions developed, as there is no historical evidence that the "White Goddess" as he describes her ever figured in any actual belief system-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_White_Goddess
