I received a complementary copy of this book from Hay House for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.
I’m probably one of the few guys who is writing a review of Meggan Watterson’s new book, “Reveal: A Sacred Manual For Getting Spiritually Naked”. Intended for a female audience, Reveal tells how the feminine aspect of spirituality has been suppressed in all of the major religions. “(I believe) there is a connection between our ideas of the Divine and the status of women,” Watterson writes, “and that until there is a more balanced perception of the Divine as both male and female, masculine and feminine … women and girls will continue to be mistreated by both themselves and others. I ardently believe that if men and women could speak with equal spiritual authority about the Divine, there would be far less gender-based violence in the world.”
Watterson’s message about bringing the feminine part of Spirit to light intrigued me. She was interviewed as part of Hay House’s World Summit where she emphasized the importance of divine feminine attributes such as vulnerability, compassion and empathy. The goal, she said, is not to just “see God as male and masculine but also seeing the divine as female and feminine and embodying both. Allowing ourselves to be both.” After listening to that interview, I decided to read Reveal. I was glad I did. Early in the book she writes “what I want most for you (is) to hear and feel the limitless love and wisdom of the truth inside you, to know and trust the voice of your own soul so much that you let it guide you from within.” That message applies equally to me, a man, as it does to Watterson’s female audience.
I once had a powerful mystical experience when I was in my 20’s. A realization within me of God’s unconditional love. 30 years later I still ponder what that was all about. In Reveal I read that the author had a similar experience. “The Divine for me was in the opposite direction from where I’d been told to look,” Watterson writes. “Until then, I had seen the Divine as something outside of me, beyond me, something I had to reach out of myself to attain. But now I had discovered that finding the Divine meant going within.” My feelings exactly. I appreciated the insights Watterson gives in her book for getting in touch with that inner soul voice of unconditional love that we all have.
Other parts of Reveal I didn’t relate to as much, such as the importance of women to recognize their sexuality and bodies as sacred, too. “The majority of the world religions have a negative message about the body, the female body in particular,” Watterson says. Women readers, especially those with body image issues, will no doubt find value in these words.
One of my goals for this year is to be more authentic, a strong theme in Reveal. “To me being spiritual is less about learning something new and more about remembering what I have always known,” the author writes. “Being spiritual is a process of stripping down to what is authentic for me, for my life. Getting spiritually naked is about having the courage to be radically open about the truth of who we are with no exceptions and no apologies, to reveal ourselves without judgment or shame.” Wise advice for anyone, male or female, to follow. Watterson is very open about her own personal struggles and triumphs in Reveal, and in doing so she has created a worthy spiritual guidebook for the rest of us.
You can get “Reveal” from these book sellers:
