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may/june 2018yogajournal.com.auI SAT IN AN UNCOMFORTABLE WOODEN
PEWwith my hands crossed in my lap
andstarted repeating Hail Marys out of
habit. It’s practically impossible to go to
Malta, a tiny island country just 70
kilometres south of Sicily, without
visiting more than a few of its 359
churches. And, apparently for me, it
was also impossible to sit in one of the
country’s most beautiful cathedrals and
not pray, despite it having been more
than 20 years since I’d gone to church
regularly.
It did feel a little weird to pray, in a
church, to a Catholic God while on a
yoga retreat. But in fairness, this wasn’t
a typical yoga retreat. I’d traveled to
Malta with Perillo’s Learning
Journeys—a company that specialises
in spiritual travel—on a weeklong trip
focused on wellness, gastronomy, and
culture. Rather than the typical twice-
daily yoga and meditation sessionsMALTA
offered on most retreats, we were
encouraged to practice on our own—
and then experience the kind of oneness
with Source that happens off the mat:
the divinity you feel when wandering
around cobblestone streets, say, or
eating just-baked bread drenched in
exquisitely fresh olive oil.
To get to know Malta is to learn
about the country’s history, which dates
back to the dawn of civilisation. The
country went through a golden Neolithic
period, the remains of which are evident
in the 50 prehistoric temples scattered
around the country—all built between
3600 BC and 700 BC, making them older
than Stonehenge and the Egyptian
pyramids. Particularly interesting to our
group of yogis was learning about the
statues of female figures found in many
of these Maltese temples, collectively
known as the “Fat Ladies” of Malta.
Their generous thighs and bellies have PHOTOS: CHEN WEIZHONG/VIEWINGMALTA.COM; MERLAS/ISTOCKPHOTO.COM; VIEWINGMALTA.COM;Tapping the source
BY MEGHAN RABBITT
led some archaeologists to hypothesise
that they were fertility deities—signs
of a goddess religion that the highly
regarded mythologist and writer Joseph
Campbell once called an expression of
“that primordial attempt on humanity’s
part to understand and live in harmony
with the beauty and wonder of
Creation.”
As we walked through the Ggantija
Temples on the small Maltese island of
Gozo—known for some of the best
swimming, snorkelling, and diving in
the Mediterranean—I couldn’t help but
think about the vast array of world
religions and how, historically, they’ve
all served to help us seek greater
meaning and feel a connection to
something larger than ourselves.
While strolling through Hagar
Qim, a prehistoric temple on a hilltop
overlooking the sparkling Mediterranean
Sea, I was schooled in primitive design:
This stone structure, like all of the
temples I visited, had a central corridor
that cut through two (or sometimes
more) chambers, ultimately reaching a
small altar at the far end. Carved into
the stone walls were elaborate designs,
likely markings denoting the passage of
time. Stone furnishings, figurines,
and other artefacts found in these
temples, now on display in the country’s
national museums, indicate that early
Maltese society was likely a powerful
matriarchy dominated by priestesses,
female leaders, and mother goddesses.
My heart was full.