Walking An Ancient Path

Mind Body & Soul Ezine Book Review: Walking An Ancient Path - Rebirthing Goddess On Planet Earth By Karen Tate, published by John Hunt Publishing - 2008 Paperback- £11.99 / unavailable on Kindle 390 pages Author website: http://www.karentate.com/

Rev Karen Tate is an ordained minister who conducts ‘rights of passage’ ceremonies, such as weddings, funerals and naming ceremonies. She is also the co-author of ‘Sacred Places of the Goddess – 108 Destinations’ and is eminently qualified, in this book, to suggest an alternate and transformational spirituality which honours the Goddess through connecting to the landscape and through discovering a way of being which involves prayer, peace, honouring and service. She is also Radio Show Host, a writer, a speaker and a workshop leader. She also conducts tours to sacred sites across the world.

It was with excited anticipation that I waited for the post to arrive with my copy of Walking an Ancient Path. I am already an advocate of Goddess spirituality, and I was eager to learn of Karen Tate’s own experience of the Goddess path.

I was drawn in by Tate’s analogy of a wounded world in the absence of the Sacred Feminine which she describes as ‘much like a child growing up without a mother’. Hers is a heart-warming and deeply personal journey to find the feminine face of god and she guides us through the journey and provides many b/w photos.

‘Walking an Ancient Path – Rebirthing the Goddess on Planet Earth’ re-awakens the female aspect of the divine and it stirs the reader to rethink and embrace Goddess consciousness as the missing piece of our spiritual, cultural and political lives.

Written for both men and women of all faiths, the essence of the work reaches out especially to all those who are disillusioned with mainstream religions. It reaffirms that the patriarchal and male dominated religious systems are out of balance with the needs of humanity (and has been since the suppression of the Goddess aspect in ancient times). Tate gives carefully researched reasons for these matters.

There is an explanation of how to use the book and it provides sections to explain the elemental themes of earth, air, fire and water. It also provides a comprehensive guide to the reader seeking to incorporate practical and creative ways of expressing the Goddess in their lives.

The book spans the author’s life from a Catholic upbringing in the bible belt of New Orleans to becoming a Goddess advocate and eventually a Priestess of the Sacred Feminine. Her spiritual quest (shared by her husband of twenty years) includes her love and associations with the Egyptian Goddess, Isis, information about Sekhmet, her sacred tours and travels to many countries, including Rome, Anatolia, the Middle East and Ireland where she was ordained. She has a continued calling to help mid-wife the rebirth of the Divine Feminine in contemporary society. Throughout the book are meditations, prayers and ordination rituals and these provide insight into the depth of the author’s faith and commitment to the Goddess.

Particularly useful are recommended resources and glossaries of the many multi-cultural Goddesses and values and principles for followers of the Sacred Feminine.

The author states that her view of Goddess consciousness is about balancing both feminine and masculine principles - an integral point, as harmony is always achieved through a balance of opposites.

In conclusion, this book will inspire and empower anyone who resonates with Goddess energy and wants to expand their knowledge. Karen Tate’s love and passion for this subject shines throughout the book and she has achieved her aim to imbue the Sacred Feminine into the mainstream. I think she’s done a grand job!

Review by Sheena Cundy Visit: http://www.sheenacundy.weebly.com/Review by Sheena Cundy Visit: http://www.sheenacundy.weebly.com/