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Savage Breast: One Man's Search for the Goddess
THE DA VINCI CODE tapped a deep fascination for the sacred feminine hidden at the heart of Christianity. Best-selling author Tim Ward digs deeper into this mystery, propelling the reader into the pre-Christian Goddess religions of the Mediterranean. Ward confronts tough questions * Are men threatened by the innate power of the feminine? * Why do men abuse, rape, and dominate women? Shouldnt loving relationships with the opposite sex be natural and easy? * Did we all lose an essential part of ourselves when we turned our back on the feminine divine? * How would opening to the feminine face of God help men resolve their issues with women? * What would it take for men to really let go of patriarchy and genuinely accept women as equals?To answer these questions, Ward decided to seek out the Goddess, with his own demons in tow. Over a period of three years he travelled to the ruined temples and shrines of the Goddess in the cradles of Western Civilization. At each he encountered one aspect of the many faces of the Goddess. He vividly recreates the experience of ancient believers the Eleusinian Mysteries of Demeter, the sexual rites of the priestesses of Aphrodite, and a human sacrifice on a mountaintop shrine in Crete. And in Turkey he sits at the feet of the many-breasted Artemis of Ephesus, whose rioting followers once threatened to kill the Apostle Paul. Facing the Goddess unleashes turbulent emotions for Ward. With frank honesty he describes the traumas that erupt in his relationship with the woman he loves, who accompanied him on many of his journeys.
400 pages, Paperback
First published April 13, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 24, 2010
This is a very personal book. Ward gets in his research and interviews, as he travels around the Mediterranean looking for clues to the goddesses of prehistory. But his real work, during the course of the book's travels, has more to do with figuring out how his life with women has gotten itself into such a jam, and learning what to do about it. If that sounds all weepy-creepy, well, parts of it are. But it's all part of what looks to me like a very genuine journey. This is the kind of book where I can look at it and say I would have approached the subject differently, but the author nevertheless did it the way he needed to.
During much of his travel, his lover/fiancee/wife accompanies him, so there's a lot about how these two people learn to live with each other--not just superficially, but with a deep appreciation for the ways their differences connect them. I thought this was well done.
Not that I ever would have picked the thing up for that. The stories of archaeology and prehistoric goddesses is more my speed. There's plenty of this in here too, and it's a field that's still advancing. We don't know all that much about ancient civilizations, but that doesn't mean we never will.
The pictures were fascinating. Many ancient goddess statues look exactly like modern art.
During much of his travel, his lover/fiancee/wife accompanies him, so there's a lot about how these two people learn to live with each other--not just superficially, but with a deep appreciation for the ways their differences connect them. I thought this was well done.
Not that I ever would have picked the thing up for that. The stories of archaeology and prehistoric goddesses is more my speed. There's plenty of this in here too, and it's a field that's still advancing. We don't know all that much about ancient civilizations, but that doesn't mean we never will.
The pictures were fascinating. Many ancient goddess statues look exactly like modern art.
August 12, 2010
What an excellent book! It was interesting to see my own changes throughout the book, and how I responded and felt towards the author.
In it, he admits that he was a womanizer, and cheated quite a bit. It was easy to dislike him, especially near the end of the book, when he starts pushing away his fiancee. It was especially difficult after his "big revelation."
**spoiler alert**
Okay, so his big revelation was that he had a good life--he was an author, he got to travel to Greece for weeks, teach classes. But he was unhappy. So, he finally realized he had a good life and had little to complain about.
Yeah. I found myself being a little unsympathetic to a man who has everything, including a wonderful fiancee, and could travel around the world to research a book. I actually started to actively dislike him during the last chapter. I mean, all of this complaining, and brow beating, and the revelation I get is that he's got it all and can't complain?? Sheesh. I wish I could drop everything and travel to Greece to research a book. Puh-lease.
But he did have a some great things to say. He put a lot of the matriarchal prehistory mess into perspective, dicussing Gimbutas and her theories at length. That was great, and it will be a good introduction to when I start to read the feminist response against Gimbutas' work, "The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory."
In all, I enjoyed his revelations about the male, and how women can relate to men better by understanding them a bit more. This is a good read for men and women both.
In it, he admits that he was a womanizer, and cheated quite a bit. It was easy to dislike him, especially near the end of the book, when he starts pushing away his fiancee. It was especially difficult after his "big revelation."
**spoiler alert**
Okay, so his big revelation was that he had a good life--he was an author, he got to travel to Greece for weeks, teach classes. But he was unhappy. So, he finally realized he had a good life and had little to complain about.
Yeah. I found myself being a little unsympathetic to a man who has everything, including a wonderful fiancee, and could travel around the world to research a book. I actually started to actively dislike him during the last chapter. I mean, all of this complaining, and brow beating, and the revelation I get is that he's got it all and can't complain?? Sheesh. I wish I could drop everything and travel to Greece to research a book. Puh-lease.
But he did have a some great things to say. He put a lot of the matriarchal prehistory mess into perspective, dicussing Gimbutas and her theories at length. That was great, and it will be a good introduction to when I start to read the feminist response against Gimbutas' work, "The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory."
In all, I enjoyed his revelations about the male, and how women can relate to men better by understanding them a bit more. This is a good read for men and women both.
July 29, 2012
I am frequently distrustful of men who write about women's spirituality (what's your motive, dude?), so when my book club decided to read Tim Ward's exploration of the goddess for our April meeting, I was hesitant.
Boy, was I wrong.
I don't remember the last time I gobbled up a spiritual memoir. (Oh, wait, yes I do: Phyllis Currott's "Book of Shadows", over two years ago).
With a wonderful narrative voice, Ward blends myth and history with his own personal quest, pursuing the vestiges of goddess culture from the Minoans to the Anatolian plains. Each chapter focuses on a certain goddess and her culture, and Ward's work is richly informed by archaeology and Jungian principals. Ward is brutally honest in his writing, including pieces of his own fragile soul in the telling. What emerges is an excellent work, part research and part memoir, examining the widespread yet vastly different goddess of ancient times. Through his fiance and other women in his life, Ward also learns to see the ancient archetypes play out in the modern world.
If you loved "When God was a Woman", or if you have any interest in goddess spirituality, this is a must-read.
Boy, was I wrong.
I don't remember the last time I gobbled up a spiritual memoir. (Oh, wait, yes I do: Phyllis Currott's "Book of Shadows", over two years ago).
With a wonderful narrative voice, Ward blends myth and history with his own personal quest, pursuing the vestiges of goddess culture from the Minoans to the Anatolian plains. Each chapter focuses on a certain goddess and her culture, and Ward's work is richly informed by archaeology and Jungian principals. Ward is brutally honest in his writing, including pieces of his own fragile soul in the telling. What emerges is an excellent work, part research and part memoir, examining the widespread yet vastly different goddess of ancient times. Through his fiance and other women in his life, Ward also learns to see the ancient archetypes play out in the modern world.
If you loved "When God was a Woman", or if you have any interest in goddess spirituality, this is a must-read.
August 23, 2012
This is an amazing book, carefully researched and gorgeously illustrated, documenting the traces of the goddess as she was worshipped in pre-historical times.
While not especially endearing, the author's intertwined account of the development of his own relationship is a bold departure for an anthropological study that shows he has incorporated some of the most important lessons from his reasearch into his life and work,and love.
While not especially endearing, the author's intertwined account of the development of his own relationship is a bold departure for an anthropological study that shows he has incorporated some of the most important lessons from his reasearch into his life and work,and love.
March 21, 2017
Savage Breast is not about a set of breasts on a savage woman, rather it is about ne man’s explorations into the realms of the Goddess. In my eyes it is a three pronged journey. The first prong which is readily distinguishable is about a visiting different sites around the world dedicated to this goddess or that Goddess. The second prong is a journey into the anima of man and how the male anima, or female part of the psyche is stunted. The third prong is a journey into the author’s mind in order for him to confront this own personal issues.
Dealing with the inner issues, the author readily explains his own issues with women. In my mind it seems as though he has a love hate relation with them and he consistently berates himself for seeing them only as sex objects. In the books beginning he can never form satisfactory relationship with a woman. AS a result he ends up having numerous one night stands to fil that ever growing hunger with in. Men seem to see women as mothers or lovers or limit them to certain roles. Men have made women subservient, they have clipped t females wings and limited her power and in doing so have limited themselves in the process and cut their own wings.
While our spirituality would benefit from being more inclusive of the feminine and allowing more room for spiritual leader, I find all this male self-criticism to be a bit problematic. I am not sure if dissing patriarchy is the way to go. Sure we defiantly need more equality, but putting one down over the other is not the answer. Being totally honest I feel that man and women of modern times are spiritually immature and under developed. As an observer of this time frame I find that women can veer towards materialism, manipulation and less than forthright communication. Men suffer from using women for carnal purposes and can be quite rough.
Perhaps my favorite part was about Athena. She may have had her origin on some other Greek isle an she may be a newer version of an older goddess. In a way she is Zeus’s first born with his wife Methis. Like Cronus before him, he swallows his offspring. Athena is born from a headache and in the original version she is sprouting angel wings. The eternal battle hardened virgin, she is a model for many women who have defeminized themselves to make it in man’s world. Of course some of this is understandable because the game is patriarchal, rules written by men t lay many game in a manly sort of way. Tim Ward, the author, always tries to impress this kind of woman an finds himself coming up short. Yet you also learn that women tend to get along better with men than they do other women. As a co-worker of mine states “Women attack other women, they do not go after men” there is a competition between them and when women communicate they’re constantly trying to probe each other mind to find out what they’re thinking.
Tim’s journey leads him to a fruitful relationship after years of research, traveling and hard work. Along the way shrines to goddesses like Gai, Artemis, Aphrodite, Hecate and several Central European goddesses are discussed and visited. They are part of the anima and dwell in each man and in each woman. The Goddesses are part of the soul.
Dealing with the inner issues, the author readily explains his own issues with women. In my mind it seems as though he has a love hate relation with them and he consistently berates himself for seeing them only as sex objects. In the books beginning he can never form satisfactory relationship with a woman. AS a result he ends up having numerous one night stands to fil that ever growing hunger with in. Men seem to see women as mothers or lovers or limit them to certain roles. Men have made women subservient, they have clipped t females wings and limited her power and in doing so have limited themselves in the process and cut their own wings.
While our spirituality would benefit from being more inclusive of the feminine and allowing more room for spiritual leader, I find all this male self-criticism to be a bit problematic. I am not sure if dissing patriarchy is the way to go. Sure we defiantly need more equality, but putting one down over the other is not the answer. Being totally honest I feel that man and women of modern times are spiritually immature and under developed. As an observer of this time frame I find that women can veer towards materialism, manipulation and less than forthright communication. Men suffer from using women for carnal purposes and can be quite rough.
Perhaps my favorite part was about Athena. She may have had her origin on some other Greek isle an she may be a newer version of an older goddess. In a way she is Zeus’s first born with his wife Methis. Like Cronus before him, he swallows his offspring. Athena is born from a headache and in the original version she is sprouting angel wings. The eternal battle hardened virgin, she is a model for many women who have defeminized themselves to make it in man’s world. Of course some of this is understandable because the game is patriarchal, rules written by men t lay many game in a manly sort of way. Tim Ward, the author, always tries to impress this kind of woman an finds himself coming up short. Yet you also learn that women tend to get along better with men than they do other women. As a co-worker of mine states “Women attack other women, they do not go after men” there is a competition between them and when women communicate they’re constantly trying to probe each other mind to find out what they’re thinking.
Tim’s journey leads him to a fruitful relationship after years of research, traveling and hard work. Along the way shrines to goddesses like Gai, Artemis, Aphrodite, Hecate and several Central European goddesses are discussed and visited. They are part of the anima and dwell in each man and in each woman. The Goddesses are part of the soul.
February 25, 2020
What hope for the future of our species! Savage Breast is both compelling and terrifying, every step of this journey rocking the soul of the reader with the visceral account of Tim Ward's struggles to approach the Divine Feminine. Honest and vulnerable, he has invited us into the psyche of man on a journey through history to come face to face with the Goddess. The parallels drawn between the innate struggle for man to find his place alongside the power of the Feminine and the many faces of the Goddess presented here give a clear picture of how this ancient connection got derailed. This book is an incredible step toward healing and repairing the relationship between the masculine and feminine, God and Goddess, and men and women in our world today.
Thanks for courageously putting yourself out there, Tim! We will take you up on your invitation to open a conversation.
Thanks for courageously putting yourself out there, Tim! We will take you up on your invitation to open a conversation.
July 8, 2015
Despite the many, many typos throughout the book, this was a fascinating look at how and why our religious beliefs developed as they did. It's also a personal journey, which always makes the history and technical portions of interpreting history easier to swallow.
Some of the dialogue between Ward and Teresa was rather stilted and awkward (I suspect it was paraphrased heavily and arranged to be more flowery and philosophical). That could certainly have been handled better.
All in all, a delightful book that I am really happy to have read and would certainly recommend to others interested in religious/spiritual history and women's studies.
Some of the dialogue between Ward and Teresa was rather stilted and awkward (I suspect it was paraphrased heavily and arranged to be more flowery and philosophical). That could certainly have been handled better.
All in all, a delightful book that I am really happy to have read and would certainly recommend to others interested in religious/spiritual history and women's studies.
August 11, 2011
It was... weird. The author portayed things as universal that were very foreign to me. Perhaps it was generational or just from my own unusual nature, but I don't share a number of the ideas he mentioned. There were some interesting tidbits interspersed in the text, and it was worth reading, but very different from how I feel, personaly.
September 19, 2008
best ever!
May 27, 2009
This was the best book that I have read all year! I think everyone should read this!
November 22, 2009
It is about a man in his search for the old world godesses and what emotion each one brings out of him.
July 17, 2012
Enjoyed the book, hated the author.
June 2, 2012
One of the best books I've read all year. Ward's journey is so insightful and informative.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews