The Way of the Wild Goose
Three Pilgrimages Following Geese, Stars, and Hunches on the Camino de Santiago
- 2022 INDIES Winner
- Silver, Travel (Adult Nonfiction)
In Beebe Bahrami’s The Way of the Wild Goose, a mystery, the wild feminine, and trail magic come together on the Camino de Santiago.
Carrying a pack filled with “just in case” items, Bahrami set out to walk the Camino, feeling “ethereal energy” emanating from the ground beneath her feet. Intense dreams accompanied her as she followed the sun’s path across the sky, looking for places marked with the sign of a goose, or its three-pronged-footprint abbreviation—places said to be imbued with spiritual energy arising from prehistoric sacred springs and wells, standing stones, and grottoes over which now-ancient chapels stand. She walked in delight, not knowing when or where she would eat or sleep, allowing synchronicities that lifted the veil between her inner and outer worlds to supply her needs.
Bahrami reveals the heart of the Camino as the heart of the fierce feminine, enshrined in folklore, legend, and the mystery of the goose. She finds evidence that the feminine divine, though dominated by patriarchy, has not been extinguished—although she notes that, by the fifteenth century, women healers were targeted as witches, as churches and states joined in their efforts to dominate and exploit the natural world and all of humanity.
Both intriguing and marked by delightful descriptions, the book links the past to the present well. Bahrami affirms that the Camino is more than a mere road—it’s an initiation. With skill and insight, she details the joys, challenges, and human kindness she experienced on this “great leyline forged from the mix of natural earth energies with the human imagination” that became her road to self-discovery and a heart-centered life.
The Way of the Wild Goose is a travel memoir that invites lingering, as well as a return to Mother Earth and her wisdom.
Reviewed by
Kristine Morris
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
