Customer Reviews

Sacred Places of Goddess: 108 Destinations (Sacred Places: 108 Destinations series)

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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

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

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

Great color photos from across the globe, interesting side panels that explain aspects of the Feminine Face of God, Mother Nature advisories - this book has it all between two covers. I can open to a section of the world and not only learn about the Goddess who lived or lives there, I can learn about the most current archaeology, anthropology and environmental issues. And I don't need a passport. This book allows me to learn about sacred sites around the world relevant today and yesterday and I don't have to leave home to do it. Author talks about practical aspects of travel, how to get there, and reveals what not to miss. Many, many more locales are discussed than the 108 destinations across all continents. This is going to be a favorite reference book on my shelf for a long time. I'd recommend it to someone new to Goddess or even the long time practitioner. I've traveled to many of these destinations before and didn't know what I was missing right under my nose. This book unveils the long hidden truths.

After reading this book, I understand why people hole up in living room recliners with travel books. You feel like you have a friend named Karen leading you by the hand around the world to the Goddess. You actually feel you're inside Hina's Cave in Hawaii, or inside the Temple of Hera on the Island of Samos, or gazing at the Labyrinth in Britain's Glastonbury Tor. This book is dense with fascinating female-deity facts and blocks of solid info backed up by a 12-page bibliography. It's also packed with photos, drawings and maps, too - at least one to every page spread. I'm keeping this book handy as a reference source as well as a source of travel ideas.

~ Jeri Studebaker, author of Switching to Goddess: Humanity's Ticket to the Future

Author Karen Tate has amassed an extraordinary amount of colorful and practical information on 108 Sacred Places that have as their focus, the Divine Feminine, the Goddess in her many forms. With Karen as your guide, you will not only understand how to get to your destination, but you will be armed with extensive historical, archeological and religious facts that will enrich your traveling experience. The more commonly known sites such as those in England, France, Greece, Malta and Turkey are covered but many lesser known sites such "the ancient city of Leptis Magna," in Libya that has intact temples to Cybele and Artemis are also covered. Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Oceana, South America, the West Indies, Mexico and North America are all included in this ground breaking new work from Karen Tate. Highly Recommended!

Rev. Karen Tates "Sacred Places" is like stepping into these
sacred sites yourself.While reading, you can see what karen is describing, with the knowledge that she has been there, and recently. To stand on the ancient ruins of Delphi, or the riverside temple of Oshun, The Santuary of the Goddess Temple of Orange County, comes alive from Rev. Karen Tate's writings. I highly recommend This book.

Anniitra Ravenmoon

This book can be used by writers and adventurers the way some people use the bible. Flip it open randomly and read the page where you land. That page will provide you some insight into `herstory'-images and ideas to fuel your daydreams, your night visions, your literary adventures as well as your travel plans. It's a travel guide as well as an authoritative text. It is an opportunity to reach across time and continents and connect with the goddess-either by visiting in your physical aspect-or just making a spiritual pilgrimage from your altar.

With each of my daughters, when they hit 8th grade, I am planning to homeschool for a year-steeping them in goddess knowledge and understanding themselves before they are assaulted by all the `challenges' of high school. Your book could be our guiding text.

This book is very inspiring for followers of the Goddess, and can be used in different ways. One can glean spiritual insights from it, or just use it as a travel guide. A great read for all! -Cicely Gilman

This book, along with Karen Tate's book 'Walking an Ancient Path', are both excellent books. I would suggest BOTH of them to anyone.