Book Goddess Heritage

In the period 2007 – 2014 I worked on a book, in which I have brought together all the research I have done in which for many years has been my prime field of interest: the Goddess heritage. In it I do not focus so much on the Goddess heritage itself (because many good books have already been devoted to this topic), but on the way it has survived in our culture, and today is even going through a revival. The Dutch version, which was printed privately, has  already found a small, but widening circle of readers. As some Dutch readers had assured me that the theme is definitely of interest to readers outside the Netherlands, I decided to translate the text into English – a job I finished in 2018.  

Short description of the theme of my book

In the Western world (the Christian) religion is often contrasted with (materialistic) science. In the many discussions on these issues in the media often the impression is made that both cover the whole spectrum of reality. For more than a century, however, there is a growing awareness of a completely different experience of reality: of the Goddess heritage. This heritage has always implied a deep sense of being embedded in and connected with the environment (both human and non-human), experiencing Nature in an animated or ensouled way, a culture which emphasizes partnership, an ethic of care and gift giving, and living life from the inside out – an experience of reality which at some point has been expressed in the form of Goddess worship. Despite the many studies in this field that have appeared in the last decades, unfortunately it is not generally known yet that this heritage has much older roots than the patriarchal forms of religion in which the worship of a masculine God has been central. It expresses a completely different spiritual experience and therefore also a completely different experience of reality. It differs particularly with respect to the place that is assigned in this spiritual experience to the material world – which includes plants, animals, in fact the whole of surrounding Nature, and of course also the human body. In the Goddess heritage the material world is a direct expression of spirituality. It assumes that all living creatures, humans included, are always in the midst of ever-changing life, embedded in diverse matrices, and can never position themselves outside of it to observe or study it from without – like institutional Christianity and materialistic science have done.

The Goddess heritage has not only existed in a distant past, but has survived into modern times. After having led a misunderstood and suppressed existence for millennia, in our time it becomes ever stronger again, moving back to the foreground. From mid 19^th century on discoveries in various fields in a fragmented way were assigned to different scientific disciplines. Among those has been of course the (re)discovery of the Goddess herself, the numerous Goddess figurines and statues which have literally been unearthed by archaeologists. But there were also other discoveries and new insights, which perhaps in the first instance people would not have associated immediately with the Goddess heritage, but make a lot of sense in this context when they are brought together and interlinked to each other. As is shown in my book, in a surprising and powerful way they give expression to the survival of the Goddess heritage.

My book is written from the conviction that something essential has always been missing in Western culture, and that the Goddess heritage represents this missing element. The millennia-long struggle against it appears to have been nothing but a struggle against life itself, and more in particular a struggle to remove spirituality from nature and project it on an abstract, supernatural realm. That is also the main reason why the Goddess heritage could never be fully suppressed. It is characterized by a deep trust in (the cyclic and rhythmic processes of) life, in which death is completely integrated. When Western culture finally can give to the Goddess heritage the place it deserves to get, it simultaneously opens a door to the future.

More information about the book

• Consult the titles of the chapters. These titles give you a good idea of the subjects which are discussed in my book.
• Consult the bibliography. This shows which varied sources I have used.
• The rediscovery of the landscape.  This article, that is included in my selection of articles on this website, gives a good summary of the theme of the Goddess heritage and the way it is related to the experience of the (sacred) landscape.

Order details

My book is not yet officially published, but if I have raised your interest: I have a few copies printed privately. It is a nice edition, including many notes to the text, a bibliography and an index. The book itself costs 15  Euros, that is without the postage (which varies per country). If you are interested to buy a copy, please send me a mail: info@wimbonis.nl. After I have received your payment, I’ll make sure that you will receive the book as soon as possible.

Of course in the mean time I’ll keep on trying to get my book officially published…