Sacred Places of Goddess: 108 Destinations (Sacred Places: 108 Destinations series) [Paperback]

Karen Tate (Author), Brad Olsen (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Sacred Places: 108 Destinations series | Publication Date: January 1, 2006

This fascinating travel perspective is sure to become an invaluable resource in every library and on every coffee table and bookshelf as the past is uncovered through the lens of sacred travel. Including both academic and popular religious perspectives, this comprehensive world guide will be of interest to both experts as well as the spiritual novice. Author Karen Tate deftly combines current trends, academic theories, and historical insights, some of which may surprise even the most well read or jaded traveler. This volume of sacred sites brings both lesser-known and famous locales into perspective as it explains the significance of Goddess both today and in centuries past. Whether the reader is an armchair or seasoned traveler, they will be delighted by the insights, humor, as well as the in-depth cultural and artistic experience of Sacred Places of Goddess. Never before have so many cultures, places, and spiritualities of Goddess been compiled between two covers.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Reverend Karen Tate, independent scholar, accomplished researcher, gifted writer, seasoned traveler and sacred tour organizer is a prolific lecturer on the subject of Goddess worship.

Product Details

• Paperback: 424 pages
• Publisher: CCC Publishing (January 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1888729112
• ISBN-13: 978-1888729115
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #487,187 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Travel Guide for Seekers of ancient Goddess sites, February 2, 2006

By 

Thabion "Thabion" (Orange, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sacred Places of Goddess: 108 Destinations (Sacred Places: 108 Destinations series) (Paperback)

Sacred Places of Goddess by Karen Tate

This book is not the usual popular archaeology offering on the subject. It is a combination of that and a travel guide as well---so you not only learn the historic and mythological background on the various ancient sites, but are supplied with current information on how to get there. The coverage is impressive. Karen even briefly mentions the ruined shrine of Astarte at Aphaca in Lebanon which is the ancient source of the pre-Christian (Canaanite) Holy Grail legend according to anthropologist Jesse Weston (From Ritual to Romance). This beautiful natural site, where hundreds of Goddess worshipers were massacred by emperor Constantine's soldiers in the 4th century, is still venerated by local Pagans but has been almost completely forgotten by the Neo-Pagans of America and Europe.
Hopefully Karen's book will go through several updates as time goes by and thus it will continue to be carried along on sacred grad tours for years to come.

Reviewed by Poke Runyon
Producer: The Rites of Magick

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars sacred places of goddess, February 8, 2006

By 

juliette ashmoon "tjventura" (californina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sacred Places of Goddess: 108 Destinations (Sacred Places: 108 Destinations series) (Paperback)

This is an amazing book!! The author has done a wonderful job, the book is extremely well organized, structured and laid out. Her writing style is straight forward and I felt as if she was there talking just to me. I especially liked the infomation in the indroduction on safety tips.

This is more than a guide book that puts the foucus on the spirtuality of each site, but one that provides scholarly infomation and history of the sites as well.

Included as well are Gaia Alerts, which put the focus on the environment and Goddess Foucus side panels, which provide even more information about certain sites.

Her vivid description and information on the birthplace of Aphrodite was fascinating and totally new to me even though I have been studying and practising Goddess spirituality for 16 yrs.

I am ready to begin a jouney to visit Goddess with this book as my guide.

Juliette Ashmoon, Elder Priestess and writer for The Beltane Papers

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sacred Places of Goddess, February 6, 2006

By 

Jayne Demente "Jayne DeMente" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sacred Places of Goddess: 108 Destinations (Sacred Places: 108 Destinations series) (Paperback)

Karen Tate weaves wonderful stories of how present day women and men experience sacred sites of the divine Mother. She encourages our imaginations to actually be in those locations. She gives us information and images about how these Goddesses were venerated in another era and how their power still affects worshippers and travelers today.

In her guidebook, she takes the reader to sacred places everywhere around the globe, introducing contemporary and past theories, connecting the dots about how the Goddess went from one area of the world to another. Within each site discussion of sacred locations she brings activism or ecofeminist issues into the mix in her sections entitled Gaia Alert! She also discusses sexual practices, economies, artifacts, etc. Of course, given my own interests, I was lost in her interpretation of the Goddesses of Israel, their location of artifacts and the interconnection to the Christian Madonna. Reading this material leaves me aching to visit soon. But before taking off to these exotic locations she reminds us that some of these sites are in our own backyard!

This is much more than a travel book, this should be a reference book in anyone's home library with an interest in history, archeology, mythology, philosophy, spirituality and travel. Through clear and concise academic references and her recorded experiences, she adds further spice to the recipe by including how to guide oneself to remote or difficult to find sites. I encourage this book for oneself or to purchase as a gift.

Reviewed by Jayne DeMente, MA
Founder and Director, Women's Heritage Project