Author Archives

Carol P. Christ is a leading feminist historian of religion and theologian who leads the Goddess Pilgrimage to Crete, a life transforming tour for women. www.goddessariadne.org

• THE DIVINE DRAMA AND THE UNIVERSALITY OF DEATH* by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on April 5, 2021 • ( 7 )

  

  In Greece the liturgies of lent and especially of the week before Easter are known as the “divine drama,” in Greek theodrama.  This may refer to the “drama” of the capture, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus and to the suffering of… Read More ›

• Out with the Old: In with the New by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on March 22, 2021 • ( 20 )

  

  A few days ago, a Greek friend told me she was going to bring holy water from a church so that we could bless my house. Ever since I moved to my new apartment in Heraklion, I have intended to… Read More ›

• What If We Begin from the Hypothesis that Ancient Crete Was Matriarchal, Matrifocal, and Matrilineal? by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on February 22, 2021 • ( 12 )

  

  If we begin from the hypothesis ancient Crete was matriarchal, matrifocal, and matrilineal, what would we expect to be the central focus of the its religion?* Harriet Boyd Hawes and her colleague Blanche E. Williams presented an incipiently feminist, woman-centered,… Read More ›

• The Last Chemo by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on February 15, 2021 • ( 26 )

  

  When I went to the hospital for chemo on Thursday, the doctor told me it would be my last one. That was a surprise. I thought I would have at least one more. But it was a good surprise, because… Read More ›

• Living with Cancer Treatment by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on February 1, 2021 • ( 61 )

  

  At the end of July 2020, I was diagnosed with stage 3 aggressive cancer. As of this week, I will have been receiving a very high dose of chemo (5 hours on the drip every 3 weeks) for 6 months,… Read More ›

• It’s Time to Thank Stacey Abrams Again by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on January 18, 2021 • ( 7 )

  

  The insurrection in the Capitol on January 6 has dominated the news ever since. Coverage of the Democrats’ victories in the two Senate runoffs in Georgia has been virtually nil. Now that it seems that at least as long as… Read More ›

• Waking Up in Shock by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on January 11, 2021 • ( 13 )

  

  I went to sleep in Greece on Wednesday night January 6 feeling elated that Jon Ossoff, following Raphael Warnock whose victory had been declared earlier, was officially named the winner of his runoff election in Georgia, returning the Senate to… Read More ›

• Another Bow to Hestia by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on January 4, 2021 • ( 9 )

  

  I am not big on New Year’s resolutions, but this year I have vowed to change one of my habits. I have always been house-proud and love using my artistic flair to decorate my home in beauty. I have had… Read More ›

• What I Celebrate at Christmas by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on December 28, 2020 • ( 11 )

  

  Though I have not been Christian for many years, I love to decorate my house for the holidays. I have many decorations that I have collected over the years, including a Hummel angel gazing at the Christ child that was… Read More ›

• Gratitude and Hope: With a  Lot of Help from My Friends by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on December 21, 2020 • ( 34 )

  

  Last Friday my oncologist gave me the best birthday present I could have imagined. (My birthday was 7:30 pm last night December 20, California time.) Without going into details, my latest CT scan was so much more positive than the… Read More ›

• Winter Solstice: Can We Celebrate the Restful, Welcoming Darkness?

  By Carol P. Christ on December 14, 2020 • ( 22 )

  

  The days are slowly winding down toward Winter Solstice in the northern hemisphere, the longest night of the year. Today the sun rose at 7:20 and will set at 5:08 in Crete. In Sweden, the sun will rise at 9:25… Read More ›

• Maternal Gift Economy: Webinar Gifts by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on December 7, 2020 • ( 9 )

  

  In the 1960s and 1970s, American-born Genevieve Vaughan was living in Rome with her husband, philosopher Ferruccio Rossi-Landi, and their three daughters. When Rossi-Landi, using Marxist models, began to write about language as a form of “exchange,” Vaughan was inspired… Read More ›

• Altars Everywhere, Part 2 by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on November 30, 2020 • ( 13 )

  

  This is a continuation of an earlier blog in which I discuss home altars as a way to bring beliefs about women’s spiritual power into the body and daily life. In my bedroom, images of the Snake Goddesses of Knossos… Read More ›

• Altars Everywhere, Part 1 by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on November 23, 2020 • ( 22 )

  

  In a recent blog, Carolyn Boyd invited us to reflect on how our women’s spiritual power is activated through symbols that help us to remember and manifest the “deep well” of our inner knowing. According to historian of religion Mircea… Read More ›

• Covid in Greece by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on November 16, 2020 • ( 9 )

  

  Greece is on nationwide lockdown due to a surge in Covid cases in the fall. What does this mean? For three weeks until December 1, we can leave home only for essential reasons which include: going to a nearby supermarket;… Read More ›

• Breathing a Big Sigh of Relief by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on November 9, 2020 • ( 17 )

  

  During the past few days I have begun to breathe again. As I exhale, tensed muscles relax and feeling comes back into my body. I realize that I have been holding my breath not only for the days it took… Read More ›

• Vote, Vote, Please Vote! American Democracy Is at Stake by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on November 2, 2020 • ( 15 )

  

  Like many of you, I am weary this election season. In the early part of the Democratic primaries I was enthused. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and also Kamala Harris, and sometimes Amy Klobochar were articulating progressive political positions with which… Read More ›

• “Fertility” and the Regeneration of Life by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on October 12, 2020 • ( 13 )

  

  Prehistoric and indigenous religious traditions are often disparagingly mischaracterized as primitive fertility religions, concerned not with higher morality, but rather with the processes of reproduction of humans, animals, and plants. When these religions feature a Great Mother Goddess, it may… Read More ›

• Patriarchy as a System of Male Dominance Created at the Intersection of the Control of Women, Private Property, and War by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on October 5, 2020 • ( 7 )

  

    Recently feminist scholar Vicki Noble said this is the best definition of patriarchy she has read–but she hadn’t known of it earlier! I am am republishing it now in hopes that all of you will share it on your… Read More ›

• Masculine: Aggressive/Feminine: Passive: Can We Imagine Alternatives? by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on September 28, 2020 • ( 9 )

  

  Today a couple of friends and I were discussing egalitarian matriarchal values. I stated that in these societies there is no great difference in male and female personalities because both males and females are expected to be as kind and… Read More ›

• The Silence of the Girls: A Reflection on War by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on September 21, 2020 • ( 11 )

  

  Suppose, suppose just once, once in all these centuries, the slippery gods keep their word and Achilles is granted eternal glory for his early death under the walls of Troy. . .? What will they make of us, the people… Read More ›

• With Beauty Around Me by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on September 7, 2020 • ( 29 )

  

  With Beauty Around Me by Carol P. Christ   When I moved from Lesbos to Crete, I decided to take some 30 large and medium-sized handmade terra cotta pots acquired over the years along with me. As I had been… Read More ›

• Kamala Harris! “I Feel Heard” by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on August 17, 2020 • ( 8 )

  

  Shortly after Kamala Harris was announced as Joe Biden’s choice for his Vice Presidential running mate, a panel of black women were asked, “How do you feel right now?” “I feel heard” was the simple yet profound response of one… Read More ›

• Judaism or Christianity: Which Tradition Is More Open to Feminist Change? by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on August 10, 2020 • ( 15 )

  

  Jill Hammer’s recent post on midrash surrounding the Biblical figure of Eve (Hava in Hebrew) sparked me to muse again about the fact that, despite its patriarchal roots and overlay, Judaism is a much more flexible tradition than Christianity and,… Read More ›

• Seven Days in a Greek Hospital by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on July 20, 2020 • ( 42 )

  

  I was released from a national hospital in Crete on Friday afternoon after a seven day stay. During that time, I had over fifteen tests, including several ultrasounds, two CTs, a colonoscopy, a gastroscopy, and an excruciating forty-five minute MRI…. Read More ›

• Dear Cousin: Can We Talk about Structural Racism? by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on July 6, 2020 • ( 12 )

  

  ,A few years ago, I visited the family farm founded by ancestors from Germany in the Pokonos with a newly discovered cousin. The woman I met was delightful: warm and friendly and very much connected to family still living in… Read More ›

• Losing My Skin by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on June 29, 2020 • ( 19 )

  

  I arrived to Crete on June 6. Movers were in my house in Lesbos on the 4th and 5th. I put myself, my car, and my cat on an overnight ferry from Lesbos to Athens on June 5, and, after… Read More ›

• Women Invented Agriculture, Pottery, and Weaving and Created Neolithic Religion by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on May 11, 2020 • ( 10 )

  

  When I look at the two chapters on Goddess history in my book Rebirth of the Goddess (1996), there is very little I would change, but there is new evidence I would add.* Before discussing that, I would like to… Read More ›

• Visions of the Goddess: A White Horse by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on May 4, 2020 • ( 21 )

  

  Imagine my surprise when, a few days ago, I looked out my window to see a dappled horse munching on flowers in the field across the street from my house. In the next days I got used to her being… Read More ›

• Designing with the Goddess in Mind: A Meditation on Greek Spring Fountains by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on April 27, 2020 • ( 9 )

  

  During the past week I have been thinking about Greek spring fountains while designing a water fountain for my new apartment in Heraklion, Crete. When the architect sent photos showing that the tiles had been removed from my balconies, I… Read More ›