In my novel, ZARDA, we are immersed in the goddess culture.

Having traveled all over Europe, Egypt, and China, the female deity was much in evident. However, the book that solidified my feeling that the Goddess was important came from THE LANGUAGE OF THE GODDESS, by Marija Gimbutas (Harper & Row, 1989).  Joseph Campbell points out in the Foreword “that in her assemblage, classification and descriptive interpretation of some 2000 symbolic artifacts from the earliest Neolithic village sites of Europe, c.7000 to 3500 B.C of an otherwise undocumented era, she establishes the main lines and themes of a religion in veneration, bothe of the universe as the living body of a Goddess-Mother-Creator, and of all the living things within it as partaking of her divinity in contrast to Genesis 3:19, where Adam is told by his Father-Creator “you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” In the earlier mythology, the earth out of which all these creatures have been born is not dust but alive, as the Goddess-Creator herself.”

However, the book that solidified my feeling that the Goddess was important came from THE LANGUAGE OF THE GODDESS, by Marija Gimbutas (Harper & Row, 1989).  Joseph Campbell points out in the Foreword “that in her assemblage, classification and descriptive interpretation of some 2000 symbolic artifacts from the earliest Neolithic village sites of Europe, c.7000 to 3500 B.C of an otherwise undocumented era, she establishes the main lines and themes of a religion in veneration, bothe of the universe as the living body of a Goddess-Mother-Creator, and of all the living things within it as partaking of her divinity in contrast to Genesis 3:19, where Adam is told by his Father-Creator “you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” In the earlier mythology, the earth out of which all these creatures have been born is not dust but alive, as the Goddess-Creator herself.

In contrast, to the mythologies of the male-dominated pantheons, the iconography of the Great Goddess arose in reflection and veneration of the laws of Nature. The message here is of an actual age of harmony and peace in accord with the creative energies of nature which for a spell of some 4000 prehistoric years anteceded the 5000 of what James Joyce has termed the ‘nightmare’ of contending tribal and national interests from which it is now certainly time for this planet to wake.”

Certainly, my novel is not a dry treatise on the Goddess Culture, but rather an adventurous journey in a time and space where women keep the Great Goddess alive and well. It would be comforting to think of this time as non-violent and nurturing to all humans. Alas, as humans the characters in ZARDA are burdened with all the ills we know today: greed, avarice, lust, jealousy, etc. ZARDA and her followers seem as lambs navigating alien worlds. ZARDA works very hard to stay true to her philosophy that the truth is love and love is the truth.

(You may recognize the Venus of Wellendorf in the photo from the book)

 ZARDA, The Journey Begins will be available as an ebook, paperback and print on demand by the end of February on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and many other sites. I will keep you informed. Thank you for following my blog. It would be wonderful if you could share with your friend.