Exploring the F-word in religion at the intersection of scholarship, activism, and community.
Voices as One
HER glory showers
Tremendous poignancy upon
Our persistent walk. We are
Joined. Siblings in Spirit.
Imbibing the hymn of
Reformation. The song
Of justice. The canticle
Of joy and freedom.
©Margot Van Sluytman
As the story was told to me, my parents were listening to composer Claudio Monteverdi’s Lamento d’Arianna when my name was decided. I would be called Arianne, after mythical Ariadne’s melancholy refrain, sung to the heavens after being abandoned on a deserted island by her lover, Theseus. Raised on the Greek myths as bedtime stories, my father regaled me nightly with tales of gods, goddesses, and mortals twirling in the maelstrom of life. I was in awe of Cyclops and Sirens, but it was the myth of Ariadne and the Minotaur that I requested most often.
Continue reading “Ariadne’s Dancing Floor by Arianne MacBean”Stage Twelve – Return with the Elixir – Surfacing/ReEntry – Personal Symbols
How would I share my newfound knowledge with my community, tribe, clan, sisterhood or family upon my return? From my vision quest on Crete, there will be much to share over time, but I will start with these three pieces as my Heroine’s return gifts to you.
The heroine needs time and space to surface, and to gently manage re-entry.
Why? When you have immersed yourself in the matriarchal culture (Ariadnian or Minoan), in the peaceful personal rightness of this culture that existed 3000 to 5000 years ago, it is very difficult to suddenly be plopped back into the patriarchy we live in, in 2023. It’s startling for body, mind and spirit. I offer the teaching of self compassion as you adjust to reality. My leave-taking from the bosom of Mount Ida and from Her gentle ministrations during my convalescence was paradoxically heart-wrenching.
Continue reading “The Road Back Home, part 2 by Terry Folks”
Review: In my first four posts sharing my recent Goddess Pilgrimage to Crete, I combined Joseph Campbell’s mono-myth with Maureen Murdock’s feminist version.
In this post and the final one to come, we complete the journey home. In Murdock’s feminist adaptation, I am now poised to Integrate the Feminine and Masculine within. My hybrid combines Campbell’s Reward (Seizing of the Sword), the Road Back, Death and Resurrection, and my Return with the Elixir.
Briefly: Having tested positive for COVID on the first day of the pilgrimage, I was required to quarantine at Hotel Idi near the village of Zaros near the Psiloritis foothills in the bosom of Mother Mountain Ida. Four other sisters eventually joined me and we formed the Avocado Sisterhood, meeting daily for support and encouragement. However, I spent much of my time alone, moved inward, became very still, and underwent a personal spiritual transformation during this liminal time. My sisters left before I did as I still had not tested negative.
Stage Ten – The Road Back – Integration of the Feminine and Masculine
Continue reading “The Road Back Home, part 1 by Terry Folks”
This midwinter has been a time of sadness so far. Two major deaths in the family, and two baby losses, the grief has come thick and fast for me and my kin this season. At a time when we are usually all gathering to celebrate the rebirth of the light in the dark, my spiritual practice is all at sea, leaving me wondering how I can call on Goddess, on Mother of God, at this time.
Then I remember Branwen.
Continue reading “Branwen, Goddess of Grief by Kelle ban Dea”
The collision of the 2023 Christian liturgical season of Advent with American reproductive politics has been jarring. Feminist religious critique and transformative activism are imperative.
With the Texas Supreme Court decision on a dire abortion case, alongside increasing criminalization of women having miscarriages, we are witnessing the principle of patriarchal dominance of female reproductive capacity and the denigration of women’s full, equal personhood pushed to the extreme. In part, this barbarity is perpetuated by Christianity. Even though this tradition often challenges social systems of injustice, and it does not actually support their hollow theology of “life at conception,” misogynist oppressors have plenty of Christian religiosity to stand on.
Continue reading “Can Feminist Christians Hasten the Advent of Reproductive Liberation? by Elizabeth M. Freese, PhD”
Prayer to Justice
Justice, we call you into the center of our hearts, our minds, our spirits.
May the fire of your being inspire us to believe your beauty can shine forth in our world.
May the flow of your being purify and release us from wounds that come from the places where You are violated.
May the breath of your being pass through us and form on the lips of all words of wisdom.
May the endurance of your being aid us to persist in serving You.
May we hear your truth. May we know your balance. May we gather your wisdom.
Justice, guide us.
Justice seems so far away, obscured by terror, purposely ignored in these days of war and season of darkness. How can we invite Her back? What will bring Her renewal?
Continue reading “Embracing the Shadow Woman of Justice in Dark Times by Carolyn A. Cushing”Part 1 was posted yesterday, you can read it here.
Stage Nine – Reward (Seizing the Sword) – Healing the Mother/Daughter Split
Some contemporary versions of the Heroine’s Journey have the heroine or hero seizing the sword quite dramatically. She takes possession of the treasure ‘sword’ as knowledge, experience, or greater understanding. My reward was more subtle but deeply profound. It took Her awhile to help me understand but eventually I stopped fighting and leaned into Mother Mountain. When I was calmer, when I became still, stopped trying so hard … when I finally surrendered I was able to ask Her why.
Why Mother Mountain? Why COVID? Why now?
Her response was as clear as though She was speaking in my ear:
“It was the only way we could meet each other. Every step you have taken up to now has led you to this sacred moment.”
I wept.
Continue reading “Initiation and Descent, part 2 by Terry Folks”Review: In my first two posts about my recent Goddess Pilgrimage to Crete, I invited you to consider your stage in your current Heroine’s Journey as you followed me.
In my hybrid of Joseph Campbell’s mono-myth with feminist scholar Maureen Murdock’s version, the first six stages of the Heroine’s journey are: Ordinary World, the Call to Adventure, Refusal of the Call, Arrival of Mentors, Crossing the First Threshold, and Encounters with Tests, Allies, and Enemies. These archetypal stages were overlaid with Murdock’s Separation from the Feminine, Identification with the Masculine, Gathering of Allies, Road of Trials, Meeting Ogres and Dragons, Finding the Boon of Success, and Awakening to Feelings of Spiritual Aridity and Death.
Briefly: At home on Vancouver Island, Canada, I was overworked, other-focused, burnt out and overwhelmed with horrific family crises. I was terrified of doing the Goddess Pilgrimage on my own. I finally accepted divine assistance and flew to Crete. I tested positive for COVID on the first day of the pilgrimage.
Continue reading “Initiation and Descent part 1 by Terry Folks”
It seems that the hearts of the whole world, and especially the hearts of women, are grieving now, as war and warmongering take over more and more of the Earth. Patriarchy rages on, like a monster in its death throes, and we wonder, “will they take us all down with them?” It is my hope that these poems will help us to keep on keeping on, keep on loving Her.
My grief, my love for the world
I watch the dancer, one arm framing her face,
one hip drawing upward in the belly’s rhythm.
The dance of mature women, Raqs Sharqi
born of the sensuous music of the Middle East.
Her hips pull us into infinity,
an inward-outward shout of beauty and desire.
Feminism and Religion 