This journey, titled "On the Trail of the Mother Goddess in Anatolia" was led by Resit Ergener and Lydia Ruyle; the occasion was the 20th anniversary of the first Anatolia goddess tour they led together in 1980.
If you want the day by day, place by place, experience by experience account of the journey, please visit my photo collection at www.flickr.com/photos/kaykeys/collections/72157624654824300/.
Here, I'll just give hightlights, first of thematic favorites from my time in Turkey, and then of the places we visited that impressed me the most.
Note that in both cases, what I've highlighted with photos is presented in alphabetical rather than geographical order.
OK, I'm a cat person, and Turkey has plenty of cats, all over the place, particularly at the power places.
I'd seen the evil eye charms in Greece, but in Turkey they are just everywhere!
There's a great number and variety of Anatolian goddesses, including Cybele, Aphrodite, and Mary Mother of Jesus.
Goddesses at Ephesus (from Artemis temple), Bodrum (from shipwreck), and Ankara (from Catalhoyuk)
Mary at healing spring churches in Istanbul and at
Mary's House near Ephesus
Cybele at the
Archaeological Museum in Istanbul
Anatolian twins, Anatolian goddess, and Hittite Goddess Ishtar at
Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara
Caressing a giant goddeess at Claros, or on a Phrigian altar at Midas City, we are the goddesses!
Turkey is big (the part of Turkey in Asia is about the size of Texas), and much land is still agricultural, though machines and men are taking over from manual labor and women.
Turkey is a happening urban place, too, with all the signs including new cars from lots of countries of origin, Starbucks, and construction (both housing and highway) everywhere.
The people of Turkey are friendly and welcoming, and the women are beautiful, veiled or Western, traditional or modern!
