Reveal - by Meggan Watterson (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Harvard-trained theologian Meggan Watterson marched out of her church at age ten. With little-girl clarity, she knew something tremendously crucial was missing...the voices of women. Watterson became a theologian and a pilgrim to the divine feminine to find the missing stories and images of women's spiritual voices. She knew women's voices had never been silenced, just buried. But what she truly sought was her own spiritual voice inside her--the one veiled beneath years of self-doubt. At a sacred site of the Black Madonna in Europe, Watterson had a revelation that changed her. Rather than transcending the body, denying or ignoring it, being spiritual for her meant accepting her body as sacred. Only then, Watterson realized could she hear the voice of unfaltering love inside her- the voice of her soul. With passion, humor, and brutal honesty, Watterson draws on ancient stories and lesser-known texts of the divine feminine, like The Gospel of Mary Magdalene, making them modern and accessible to reveal the spiritual process she went through. She suggests that being spiritual is simply about stripping down to the truth of who we really are. Through her extensive work with women, Watterson found that she was not alone. There are countless women who long for a spirituality that encourages embodiment rather than denies it, that inspires them to abandon their fears but never themselves, and to be led by the audacious and fiercely loving voice of truth inside them. No matter where you rest on the spectrum of spirituality; religious or secular, devout believer or chronic doubter, freelance mystic or borderline agnostic, this story is about the desire in all of us to want to shed everything that holds us back. Reveal provides what religions have left out--the spiritual voice of a woman who has claimed her body as sacred--a woman who has found the divine insider her. In essence, this is a manual for revealing your soul. "I have spent the majority of my life gathering stories of the divine feminine. Each time before getting my masters degrees in theology and divinity, I went on a pilgrimage to sacred sites of the divine feminine throughout Europe. The first one was with a group and the second was on my own... The stories of the divine feminine, of Christianity's Mary Magdalene, Catholicism's Black Madonna, Hinduism's Kali ma, and Buddhism's Green Tara for example, allowed me to begin to see that I wasn't as much of a spiritual misfit as I had thought. There was a red thread that became visible to me that ran through so many of the world religions, especially through their mystics, relating that the way to find the divine is to go within. And, that our potential to be transformed by going inward is exactly the same whether we are a man or a woman. The real barometer of our spiritual potential is not our sex, but the commitment of our desire to want to encounter the divine." Excerpt from Reveal

Review Quotes

"Reveal cracked me open, reawakened my spirit, and reminded me that I'm not alone on my spiritual journey. Meggan Watterson addresses so much of what we're afraid to say. This book opened my heart and fed my soul. Reveal is a blessing to the world."
-- Gabrielle Bernstein, New York Times best-selling author of May Cause Miracles

"Meggan Watterson writes from the white-hot place where two passionate inquiries intersect. She is a seeker, in the fullest sense, and her feminism runs just as deep. Reveal is a fireball of a book . . . Meggan is so adept at limning out a story that you come away feeling as if you'd read an engaging novella even as you were absorbing her remarkable seven-point program for claiming and reclaiming just about everything that matters!"
-- Carol Lee Flinders, Ph.D., author of At the Root of This Longing: Reconciling a Spiritual Hunger and a Feminist Thirst

"Watterson's voice is so powerful that when you open this book you will feel like she is sitting next to you, staring into your eyes over a cup of tea, and talking directly to you about all that matters in life. Even skeptics can't help but respond to such a brilliant, clear vision about waking up the voice you are meant to have. This spiritual memoir will reach straight into your soul and stay there."
-- Donna Freitas, Ph.D., author of Sex and the Soul: Juggling Sexuality, Spirituality, Romance, and Religion on America's College Campuses

"Intimate, vulnerable, and courageous, Meggan Watterson's Reveal: A Sacred Manual for Getting Spiritually Naked, is a gift to liberate your spirit and set you free!"
-- China Galland, author of Longing for Darkness: Tara and the Black Madonna

"Meggan Watterson is a poet and a scholar and a real-life 21st century seeker. She's your best girlfriend . . . and a trusted spiritual guide suggesting shortcuts toward wisdom and happiness. This is a lovely book."
-- Elizabeth Lesser, co-founder of the Omega Institute and author of Broken Open: How Difficult Times Can Help Us Grow

"Meggan Watterson writes of the body, 'it is your chance to be here.' The same could be said of this book--it is a chance, a wish, a vision of a world where women's bodies and their spirits are united, where their pasts don't lock them in shame, where their futures are wide open and self-created. Meggan's fiercely original, unapologetically intense writing sucks you in from page one and doesn't let you go until you spin out from the end, changed."
-- Courtney E. Martin, author of Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: How the Quest for Perfection Is Harming Young Women

"Meggan Watterson brings alive the concept of spirituality as something that is not separate from us, or something we have to go out and pursue or attain. I just love the way she weaves everything, from her sexuality, her body, her emotions--in fact, her life--into a seamless tapestry that teaches us the spiritual importance of being who we are, and that our life is our prayer to the universe. This is a book after my own heart!"
-- Anita Moorjani, best-selling author of Dying to Be Me

"This book is an invitation back to who you really are. Read it and be reminded. Reveal is a call to return to the essence of you, beautifully interwoven with stories that will make your soul sizzle in recognition."
-- Kate Northrup, author of Do Less: A Revolutionary Approach to Time and Energy Management for Busy Moms

"The Divine Feminine has found a beautiful voice in Meggan Watterson's new book, Reveal: A Sacred Manual for Getting Spiritually Naked. Written with a vulnerable heart and a fierce commitment to truth, Meggan's spiritual journey will inspire you to find and follow your own true soul-voice. I loved every single page!"
-- Cheryl Richardson, author of The Art of Extreme Self-Care

"The world is hungry for the awakening consciousness of the feminine spirit. Meggan's journey is riveting, magnificently told, and will help you to unlock your own."
-- Regena Thomashauer, New York Times best-selling author of Pussy: A Reclamation

"Reveal is a healing, a retelling, a remembering. The words fly like ignited prayer from the heart of Meggan Watterson. This book is a passionate calling to mend the desecrating separation between body and soul and make the world whole."
-- V. (formerly Eve Ensler), Tony Award-winning playwright and New York Times best-selling author of I Am an Emotional Creature

"Reveal reminds us that we are sacred, that we must worship at our own inner altar, and that everyone has access to a mystical experience of life. Finally, spirituality from the embodied feminine perspective--this book is a touchstone for the next generation of women and their spiritual lives."
-- Alisa Vitti, best-selling author of WomanCode

About the Author

MEGGAN WATTERSON is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Mary Magdalene Revealed: The First Apostle, Her Feminist Gospel, And the Christianity We Haven't Tried Yet. She is a feminist theologian with a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School and a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary at Columbia University. Her work has appeared in media outlets such as The New York Times, Forbes, The Huffington Post, and Marie Claire. She lives with her beloved son and his exuberant goldfish, Bob. Website: megganwatterson.com