Odyssey With the Goddess: A Spiritual Quest in Crete

by Carol P. Christ

Odyssey with the Goddess depicts a spiritual journey from death and despair to healing and rebirth. At its deepest level, it is a story with universal resonance. But it is also a woman's story and a spiritual quest from a particular point of view. It begins with a very simple experience of despair - abandonment in a love relationship. What follows is a journey not willingly or consciously chosen. The author is present as her mother dies and glimpses the mystery of love. She is taken to Crete, a land where the Goddess once reigned in peace and harmony. There she descends into the darkness of a cave, finds the tree of life in the center of a garden, and dances to the strange rhythms of mountain goat songs. Eventually she comes to understand that life is not a goal to be achieved by effort and will. It is a dance along a serpentine path offering many gifts at every turn.

Genres: Nonfiction, Goddess, Religion, Feminism, Spirituality, Greece

173 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Carol P. Christ, who was a leading feminist thea-logian and a founding voice in the study of women and religion, was named one of the Thirteen Most Infuential People in Goddess Spirituality. She held a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Yale University and taught at California Institute of Integral Studies, Claremont Graduate University, Harvard Divinity School, Columbia University, and San Jose State University. She was the Director of the Ariadne Institute and led the Goddess Pilgrimage to Crete (www.goddessariadne. org). Her books include She Who Changes, Rebirth of the Goddess, Laughter of Aphrodite, Diving Deep and Surfacing, and with Judith Plaskow, Goddess and God in the World and the ground-breaking anthologies Weaving the Visions and Womanspirit Rising. She lived in Greece where she ran for of ce with the Green Party and worked with World Wildlife Fund to save bird and wildlife habitats.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Like other readers, I thought that the opening sections seemed a little bit whiny, but after a while I realized that what was getting on my nerves was that there were things that the writer related about her personality that were very similar to mine. I definitely went through a couple of years where I was very wrapped up in thinking that I needed to be married to feel love, in the aftermath of a very difficult and unexpected divorce. I feel like I'm at the point where the writer gets to by the end of her journey, where she recognizes that love comes in all forms. This is something I've learned to discover over the last year or so, so reading this book was a worthwhile confirmation of a process that I went through, in that it felt good to know that there was someone else in the world Who experienced a lot of the same things that I did. By the time I finished reading her book, I thought about how brave it was for her to openly acknowledge and reveal all of these deep held feelings that she had, particularly for a woman in academia. I've been fascinated by Ariadne for several years now and that's what led me to even find this book… Trying to read more about Minoan culture and Ariadne. And the book isn't really about her. But it's about a lot of things that are part of the culture in which her story existed. I'm now compiling a list of other books I need to find from looking at Christ's end notes as well as the books suggested by Laura Perry in her books. I think there's a small part of me that would love to go on one of these pilgrimages with the author, but given the fact that I am unbelievably close to my cats and have one with special needs, I don't ever travel, so it was pretty wonderful to be able to read an account of what a trip with this author would be like, to read about the places that they visited and to read about the types of rituals and offerings that they gave. I'm definitely going to incorporate some of the elements of ritual that they took part in in Crete at my own altars at home. This book is a very fast read because I found I was very interested and could not put it down. Very glad that I came across it.

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

”Odyssey with the Goddess depicts a spiritual journey from death and despair to healing and rebirth. At its deepest level, it is a story with universal resonance. It is also a woman’s story, a spiritual quest told from a particular point of view.”

These are Christ’s own words and there is no way I could explain what this book is better than the author. This book did resonate with me and I found it more accessible than the other works that I have read by Christ.

I am considering visiting Crete with Christ. She is a scholar and a believer in the Goddess. Her faith has led her to Crete and she has taken many others to the important religious sites on this island. I find her trips intriguing. However, so far, I have found good reasons not to travel on this adventure. In the meantime, I have been reading all of Christ’s works in chronological order.

My religious beliefs and Christ’s are not the same, however, I find much of what she says thought provoking and challenging. I was brought up as a Christian and did not encounter many other faiths until I got to college. I don’t want to say my beliefs were set in stone, but it took me awhile to consider other options. I am grateful to Christ and other writers who have helped me examine my faith and figure out what I believe.

If you are interested in religion, especially exploring faiths that you may not be familiar with, you should pick up this book. It is a memoir and so more accessible (in my opinion) than Christ’s scholarly works.

[Rebecca Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read, serving as a memoir of the author's experiences up to and including her leading her first Goddess tour through Crete for women. You get quick glimpses of some sacred sites of Crete, and a quick glimpse into the author's psyche during and around this time. I found it an enjoyable read, but it lacked some of the emotional depth of other spiritual memoir books of this type. It needed more character development (including the author), more descriptions (this IS a book about travel) and better stoytelling. I'd recommend it if you are interested in Crete. For other spiritual memoirs, I highly recommend Patricia Monaghan's The Red-Haired Girl from the Bog, and Phyllis Curott's A Book of Shadows and The Love Spell.

[Shirley · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first introduction to Carol Christ. I was hooked by page 2! I'm going on her tour of Crete in search of the feminine divine and any of my questions about what I'd signed up for are settled. It is one thing to experience the wisdom and divinity of the goddess in those rare moments alone - another still to be in the midst of it.

For anyone interested in the history of the feminine divine, this is a must read.

[Sarah]

A very interesting book. The beginning starts out a bit whiny and self-involved, but once you get to the part where she actually does the Goddess tour of Lesbos, it becomes very moving. I'm glad I stuck with it because I ended up really enjoying it.

[Abby · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading this book I decided that going to Crete and experiencing what this author described is high on my priority list.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is inspirational and really gets me in the mood to go to Greece for my own odyssey of self-discovery!!

[Sandy Veitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought this book a few years ago before going to Crete - stayed up all night to finish it!Well worth a read.