Finding The Goddess

The Ottawa Sun interviews Tim Ward, author of the book “Savage Breast : One Man’s Search for the Goddess”. Ward (a former “born again” Christian) travels the world in search of the sacred feminine in hopes that reconnecting with ancient goddesses will help heal his (and in turn, the world’s) problems relating to women.

“When I was first a Christian, I embraced my faith so zealously, I forced myself to follow its moral code. I tried to be good, but it was killing me inside. Eventually I quit. For several dark years, I had no real faith. The Goddess was a new way for me to approach the divine. With Her, I discovered a spirituality that’s rooted in physical reality: The earth, the body, the present, rather than an other-worldly afterlife. It’s connected me to life in a way I never knew…Writing Savage Breast has left me with the conviction that it is in men’s own enlightened self-interest to put an end to patriarchy. Only with women as equal partners can we create a future that is different from the past.”

Ward goes into even more detail on his web site, there he includes an excerpt from the introduction of his book.

“Why on earth would a man searching for the goddess? Especially a guy like me? “Oh, I get it! You’re getting in touch with your feminine side!” my friends say. No, I have to laugh. It’s just the opposite. It’s my masculinity, the darkest part of it, that yearns for her, like a lost lover, like an orphaned child. It is as if a ghost touched me on the shoulder and as I turned she disappeared. Her shadow lured me deeper into the unknown than the gods of my fathers ever did. Jesus and Buddha, they urged me away from the world, taught me to resist the ways of the flesh and seek a Kingdom of God, heaven, nirvana, a higher consciousness. It’s different with her. It’s visceral, immediate, a matter of the heart, balls and belly.”

There are many books that talk of women reconnecting with the sacred feminine, but few that chronicle a man’s journey towards the goddesses. In that this book is somewhat unique and should be a fascinating read for those of us (male and female) who worship the old gods (and goddesses).

Tags: Paganism