I am thankful to Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy for writing "Jesus and the lost Goddess" and also "The Jesus Mysteries". I have for 25 years attempted to find or understand the universal truth that was at the core of all "religions". I could never find the answer, mainly because I had neither the time nor the knowledge to read the original texts. In addition, I found that the main objective of most authors who wrote books on this subject was to convince the reader of the righteousness of their own religious beliefs versus those of others. They thus lacked objectivity. I am grateful to Tim and Peter for dedicating their lives to this study of universal truth and then writing about it in plain English with well-referenced texts. I strongly recommend their book(s) to anyone from a Christian background that wishes to understand the origins of Christianity. Also to any spiritual traveller who wishes to absolve themselves from the fear and guilt that was shamelessly imprinted on our young impressionable Christian minds. They would be helpful to those who want to deepen their spiritual knowledge. I also recommend them to men and women who wish to understand how women, or rather "the feminine", came to be repressed in the patriarchal Christian church.
Anger
This is one of the emotions that swept through me as I read "Jesus and the lost Goddess". The anger is now much reduced and been replaced by more positive emotions but it is still present. I am angry because the book proves beyond reasonable doubt that I/we have been deceived. It annoys me to think that Christian theologians, philosophers, historians and members of the hierarchy must have had access to the same data as Timothy and Peter, since time immemorial, and yet have chosen to ignore it, at best, or suppress it, at worst. Whatever the reasons, it had served to keep the members of the Christian Churches subservient. It disenfranchised them by not permitting them to have direct access to God (the Cosmic Consciousness). On a personal level my anger comes from me having lived most of my life in fear of God and, worse still, in fear of hell. This crippled me both physically and spiritually for a large portion of my life. I know that this fear is continuing to cripple millions today. So I am angry at the institutional church(es) who have perpetrated lies and myths for centuries. My anger is directed at those who knew and yet did nothing, or worse, at those who blocked the truth, which perverted the course of justice, who were more interested in power than in God. Any of you who are similarly crippled should read this book to begin to understand how unnecessary this fear is. You will learn how simple and loving the original Christianity really was before it was polluted by The (unholy) Roman Empire, particularly by the barbarous Constantine.
Fear and liberation
As with many Christians, fear has had a hugely detrimental effect on my health, my life, my wife and my family for many years. It eventually led me to a "breakdown," which in turn led to my "breakthrough", from which began my spiritual journey, over 25 years. I was afraid of death, of God, of the devil, of hell, of heaven, of eternity, of sin, of my body and of my thoughts. In effect, I was afraid of living. I was an emotional cripple. I am, though, acutely aware that millions of people are still living with this fear which induces depression, lethargy and hate. Wouldn't it be wonderful if they could be liberated from this fear?
Although I felt anger when I first read "Jesus and the lost Goddess" and" The Jesus Mysteries", the overwhelming emotion that coursed through my veins was one of liberation. I felt that the shackles of 2000 years of unsubstantiated dogma had been shattered. I felt this at a personal level even though there was a sense that the knowledge and wisdom in these books had global implications far beyond and of infinitely greater importance than my personal sensation of spiritual freedom.
This feeling amazed me because I had long ago begun to question the beliefs/teachings of my own (Catholic) Church. Many of them I had rejected at an intellectual level. This had allowed me to begin my own journey looking for truth. In spite of this, the fifty years of dogma which had been force-fed into my brain/ my being had not allowed me to fully embrace my new knowledge. I kept some of this wisdom at a distance, unconsciously. It was only when I read this book that I became aware of this. The sense of liberation from that dogma, initiated by the two books, was very profound and has remained with me during the intervening twelve months. I would hope and pray that others will be lucky enough to find and read this book so that they too can be liberated to continue their spiritual journey in peace.
There have been a few books which, when I read them during my spiritual journey, seemed to contain information, which although it was new to me, resonated through my being as if I had always known it. "Jesus and the lost Goddess" was one of those. This is not meant to sounds conceited, because I (my ego) was not involved. In fact, I emailed Timothy Freke when I had read only half of the book to thank him for writing such a well-referenced, scholarly text and to tell him that the knowledge was resonating in my bones telling me that it was true. He acknowledged my email with genuine delight!
Freke and Gandy have written two books that will not only change how you think about religion and God, but have the potential to change western society.