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

• “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 • ( 10 )

  

  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 ›

• Safe Hands in the Moria Refugee Camp in Lesbos: A Starfish Project

  By Carol P. Christ on April 20, 2020 • ( 17 )

  

  Imagine that you are a young mother of three from Syria, and that after fleeing your home with your husband and family, you arrived in Lesbos and have been waiting for months to have your asylum papers processed. You don’t… Read More ›

• I Am a Progressive because of Not in spite of My Feminist Spirituality by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on April 13, 2020 • ( 17 )

  

  Feminist spirituality is often disparaged in academic feminist and progressive communities. Many of the strongest critics are Marxists, but there is a general agreement that religion is the opiate of the people, a false belief system that diverts energy from… Read More ›

• Coronavirus: The Villain Is Not Mother Nature: It Is Ourselves by  Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on April 6, 2020 • ( 16 )

  

  Over the past few weeks of lockdown in Greece, I have asked myself numerous times: if we can shut down the world economy because of a virus, why don’t we shut everything down until we end war or find real… Read More ›

• Last Will and Testament by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on March 30, 2020 • ( 15 )

  

  Just over a month ago and shortly before Greece went into Coronavirus lockdown, I signed the contract on my new apartment in Crete (after waiting 6 months for the owner to submit his paperwork). Though I did not realize it… Read More ›

• Dignity of Women Across the World’s Wisdom: Parliament of World Religions Webinar by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on March 23, 2020 • ( 5 )

  

  I have been asked to post my contribution to the Parliament of World Religions Webinar: Dignity of Women Across World’s Wisdom.  I am participating in this discussion as a representative of women who are on a Goddess path. I do… Read More ›

• Women’s Circles Need Well-Established Structures to Ensure that Everyone’s Voice Is Heard by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on March 16, 2020 • ( 15 )

  

  In a recent blog on Feminism and Religion, “Insights on Sisterhood,” Eirini Delaki opened a dialogue about problems that arise in women’s circles. According to her, many of us are reacting against the poisonous pedagogy of control which is all… Read More ›

• Grief, Disappointment, and the Big Comforting White Guy Who Can Make It All Right by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on March 9, 2020 • ( 14 )

  

  As the results from America’s Super Tuesday election primaries came in, I found myself feeling disoriented. I could not focus on any task and found myself obsessively reading the news and checking my Facebook timeline. Many of my friends who… Read More ›

• Ancient Mothers, I Hear You Calling Me to Crete by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on February 24, 2020 • ( 19 )

  

  On a cold and rainy morning in Lesbos, I ponder the advice of my intuitive friend Cristina to reflect on the spiritual dimensions of my decision to move to Crete. When asked why I am moving from Lesbos to Crete,… Read More ›

• “And a Rich Old White Man Shall Lead Them”? by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on February 17, 2020 • ( 5 )

  

  “And a rich old white man shall lead them.” Is this saying found in the Bible or any other collection of sacred texts that those committed to social justice admire? If not, then why are liberal pundits (and even some… Read More ›

• The Ability to Feel and to Feel the Feelings of Others by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on February 10, 2020 • ( 16 )

  

  The term “panpsychism” is made up of two Greek words: pan, meaning all, and psyche, often translated mind or soul. Panpsychism is the view that (forms of) soul or mind or consciousness are found throughout the web of life. This… Read More ›

• Today Is the Day by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on February 3, 2020 • ( 14 )

  

  I have been thinking of moving to Crete for almost two years. I signed the pre-contract for my new apartment in Heraklion on September 28 last year and anticipated signing the final contract in October. However, the owner did not… Read More ›

• Spiritual without a Tradition and Feminist to the Core! by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on January 27, 2020 • ( 19 )

  

  In “Who Owns the Sacred?” Eline Kieft, who was raised Protestant and considers nature and the ancestors her teachers, noted that those of us who have left the Christian tradition but who have not signed on to another tradition are… Read More ›

• Do We Have to Hate Our Mothers? No, We Do Not! by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on January 20, 2020 • ( 19 )

  

  It is commonly accepted in American culture that children–boys especially–must go through a “phase” where they hate their mothers in order to grow up. We are told that the mother-child bond is so intense as to become suffocating. We are… Read More ›

• The Matricide Basic to Patriarchy’s Birth by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on January 13, 2020 • ( 35 )

  

  About 20 years ago I witnessed a performance of the 3 plays of the Oresteia (the Orestes plays) by Aeschylus. I was stunned. Watching them in sequence, I understood that the plays were one of patriarchy’s “just so stories” and… Read More ›

• Quaker Ancestor Buys 6 Year-Old Indian Captive by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on January 6, 2020 • ( 8 )

  

  When I wrote about Anne Hutchinson as America’s first feminist theologian a few years ago, I mentioned that I had a Sackett ancestor living in Boston at the time, who might well have been a follower of Hutchinson. That branch… Read More ›

• Liminal Space by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on December 30, 2019 • ( 9 )

  

  From the Latin word limen meaning threshold. When I returned to Lesbos in mid-October, I imagined I would be living in my new apartment in Crete for the holidays. In fact, my lawyer and my realtor insisted that I arrange… Read More ›

• Old Men Get Away with It: Why? by Carol P. Christ

  By Carol P. Christ on December 23, 2019 • ( 14 )

  

  A few days ago, a friend told me she had just learned that she had a 2x great-aunt who was a beloved and honored single white teacher in the US south in the first half of the twentieth century. The… Read More ›