About Karen Tate -
Karen Tate, a leader in the Goddess Spirituality community has been organizing sacred travel, leading pilgrimages and traveling to sacred places of Goddess across the globe for twenty years.  As an independent scholar, Karen brings to the tour her wealth of knowledge about Goddess across continents and cultures, which she shares so passionately in her book, Sacred Places of Goddess: 108 Destination, and generously imparts to those on each sacred tour.  As a practitioner, who has written the award winning book, Walking An Ancient Path: Rebirthing Goddess on Planet Earth, she can  help facilitate your spiritual journey through experiential activities planned during the trip.  An experienced leader, priestess, and scholar, combining the right and left brain approach to travel, there are few better equipped to embark upon such a journey. For more information about Karen, you may visit her website: www.karentate.com. And, check out this lovely video Karen has prepared about this exciting tour! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twbcx8IicxI  

About Roy Tate -
Coming along on this sacred pilgrimage is Karen's husband, Roy, a Goddess Advocate and her soul mate for more than twenty-five years.  A long time traveler at Karen's side and beloved within the Goddess community, Roy provides an energetic balance which speaks to humanity's need to restore balance between the Divine Masculine and Sacred Feminine - so feel free to bring along your beloved and experience a journey of a lifetime with someone dear to your heart.  Karen dedicated her second book to Roy for his long-time dedication behind the scenes, enabling her to be of service to her community for more than two decades.

Why Karen thinks Sacred Travel is so important:
Sacred or purposeful travel, the contemporary version of ancient pilgrimage, is undertaken for many of the same reasons as in times past.

Humans still yearn to connect with ancestral roots, curry favor with their deity, or participate in meaningful activities that uplift their spirit or nourish their soul.  Travelers may be called to seek healing for their body and mind or broaden their horizons about cultures and peoples in other places, ultimately feeling more a part of the global family.

Often times these sacred pilgrims are seeking to validate their cultural or spiritual heritage, and  recognize  these transformative journeys as a unique rite of passage, an act very much in short supply in our contemporary world.  Rites of passage are almost completely missing from modern society and constitute one of the most important reasons for the pervasive sense of disconnection people feel between themselves and others, their communities and even Mother Earth.  These rites of passage help us reconnect and feel a sense of belonging, kinship and empowerment. On these pilgrimages we travel to sacred places where Divine and mortal meet, experiencing secular time and sacred time, ordinary reality and the extraordinary.

According to Karen, "The energetics of these places coupled with the preparation we make for each journey helps us connect with the deeper realms of body, soul, heart and mind, often providing needed guidance and direction in our lives. We often hear those we travel with say time and place mysteriously seems to dim, as pilgrims immersed in the cycle of past, present and future see history through a surreal lens."

So, if you are hearing the call, if your Divine Self is urging you to immerse yourself in the sights, sounds, rituals, prayer and magical revelation of a sacred journey, you might want to heed the wisdom of your intuition and God/dess Self.  As Karen says, "Often there is little comparison to reading about a place versus actually experiencing the energy of a sacred locale.  Sometimes the place, the people, objects just speak to you.  It's like the difference between reading a recipe or tasting a delicious stew."

Why Turkey?
Anatolia, the Nourishing Mother, as Turkey was called in the ancient past is a gem in the rough. Not yet fully discovered by mainstream tourists, sacred destinations on the itinerary often provide opportunities for private ritual and personal contemplation. A melting pot of cultures, Turkey further offers the pilgrim the chance to immerse themselves in the essence of the Sacred Feminine within various times and cultures throughout history as they encounter the energies of the Goddess of Catal Hoyuk, Artemis, Cybele, Isis, Mary, Aphrodite and Hecate, all in one sacred destination! Shopping is still very affordable as Turkey has not switched over to the Euro, the food is
delicious, the people are friendly and the sacred sites are a feast for the senses. Few places offer so many exciting activities and varied sacred sites of Goddess awaiting discovery in one journey. Each day will be filled with wonders few have the opportunity to experience, as we nourish our minds, hearts and spiritual souls.

Possible Activities Facilitated by your Hostess, Karen Tate:
* Guided visualizations
* Meditations
* Simple offerings made to deities at sacred sites
* Breathing, Grounding, Energy techniques to help us connect with the sacred energies of these destinations
* Group sharing when possible and applicable, including dreams, impressions, any channeled information
* Dream incubation
* Divinations
* Sounding
* Lectures on the bus on Goddess herstory as we travel from place to place
* Evening activities such as viewing relevant DVDs with group discussion
These are all optional and participants are not required to participate.
No one will be required to exceed their comfort zone.

DAY 1

Nov 2.  Arrive in Istanbul. Your transfer agent meets you at the airport and transfers you to your hotel.  Rest up, unpack a little bit and stroll around the neighborhood.  There are very interesting shops along the "tram" street to the left as you leave the hotel.   Dinner and overnight at Arcadia Hotel. (D)

Nov 3.  Today we visit Goddess sites in Istanbul. We visit the Basilica Cistern, with the head of Medusa hidden at one of its corners; Haghia Sophia, the great cathedral dedicated to the Gnostic mother Sophia; and the Church of Chora dedicated to Mary as the Mother of God.  A refreshing early evening cruise along the Bosphorus will be followed by dinner at a Bosphorus Restaurant. Overnight in Istanbul. (B, D)

Nov 4,  We drive along the Sea of Marmara to Troy, cross the Dardanelles by ferry and proceed to the remains of the legendary city, Troy. After leaving Troy and its mythic labyrinthine magic, we drive to Assos to visit the remains of the Athena Temple.   This lovely site overlooks Sappho’s Island, Lesbos.   Dinner and overnight at a hotel on the Aegean near Assos. (B, D)

Nov 5.  Following the rocky Aegean coastline, driving through olive groves, we arrive at the Aesclepion at Pergamom where rituals and dreams were used for healing. High above the sacred well and oak trees of the Aesclepion lies the site of ancient Pergamom.  There will visit a temple dedicated to Athena on it Acropolis, the 2nd century Isis temple, marvel at the view from the heights of the city center, and experience a Greek style theatre.  Dinner and overnight at Ontur Hotel on the Aegean Sea, in Izmir. (B, D)

DAY 6 CLAROS - EPHESUS

Nov 7. Visit Claros, the ruins of an ancient divination centre dedicated to Artemis and Apollo--a peaceful site with sacred pools.  Notice how the columns seem to have just gently toppled over, their drums lying next to one another as if a goddess-like hand gracefully arranged them.  From Claros, we proceed to the ancient city of Ephesus.  Near the current excavations are the meager remains of the once great Artemis Temple.   Of course, we will visit the museum where statues of  Artemis as the Great Mother are on display, and the humble house where the Virgin Mary is believed to have spent the last years of her life.  Interestingly, Mary's "house" is located near Ortega, the birth place of Artemis according to tradition. Dinner and overnight at Charisma Hotel in Kusadasi.

November 8. Drive to Magnesia where there was a temple dedicated to Artemis and to Lagina near Bodrum, to visit the sacred grounds of the Temple of Hecate. Dinner and overnight at Charisma Hotel in Kusadasi.  (B, D)

Nov 9, Drive to Aphrodisias, the Roman city dedicated  to the Great Mother as Aphrodite. Visit her temple, the great theatre, the lovely Odeon with its dolphin embellishments, and the Museum with her cult statue. Drive to Pamukkale.  Dinner and overnight at Lycus River Hotel. (B, D)

DAY 9 - PAMUKKALE

DAY 10 - SIDE

Nov 12, Drive to Catalhoyuk the remains of the Neolithic settlement where thousands of individuals led a peaceful, egalitarian, non stratified existence, guided by the goddess. Drive from Catalhoyuk to Konya and visit the shrine of Rumi and the whirling dervishes. In the evening we will attend a semah, a performance of the dervishes. Dinner and overnight at Dedeman Hotel in Konya. (B, D)

Nov 13, Drive to Ankara. Visit the award winning Anatolian Civilizations Museum with magnificent collections of Neolithic including the discoveries at Catalhoyuk. Afternoon flight to Istanbul. Farewell dinner and overnight. (B, D)

November 14. Transfer agents take tour members to the airport, for their respective flights. Those with after the tour stays in Istanbul, will have their transfers on their dates of departure. (B)