When I began researching years ago, I knew the names of my grandparents and what country in Europe their ancestors were from, but not much more. I have now traced most of my ancestors back to the Old Country, some… Read More ›
Ancestors
“This Golgotha of Modern Times” by Joyce Zonana
Our visit to Poland coincides with the Feast of the Assumption, a time when tens of thousands of pilgrims arrive on foot to pay homage to Our Lady of Częstochowa, Poland’s Black Madonna. I too am a pilgrim, visiting the sites, not of miracles but of martyrdom. As I make my way through what Pope John Paul II called “this Golgotha of modern times,” I am overcome; like him, I “am here kneeling down” to implore Our Lady to help us heal the vast, still open wound that is our life on this earth.
Rejecting TMT: Protecting and Protesting the Sacred for Mauna Kea and for all by Anjeanette LeBoeuf
Roughly 3 ½ years ago my FAR post was about the struggle that the Hawaiian people were facing with the proposed building of a Thirty Meter Telescope on the most sacred mountain in the Hawaiian Islands, Mauna Kea. When that… Read More ›
To My Grandchild by Karen Leslie Hernandez
You’re not born yet. You’re still an idea A thought. Yet I think of you often. I hope for you. I wonder what life will be like For you. When you arrive Will each breath Be easy? Will you have… Read More ›
“Go Back to your Country!” OK. But … I’m From San Francisco! by Karen Leslie Hernandez
On December 15, 2018, at 10:22PM, I received a call and a voicemail from someone I didn’t know. The charming message left for me? “Hello, Karen. You fat, disgusting slob. Go back to your country. I hope your new year’s… Read More ›
Happy Birthday Isis: Isis Isis…Ra! Ra! Ra! by Karen Tate
I wanted to pull myself away from the ugliness out there and take time to honor the Egyptian Goddess, Isis, as Her birthday is recognized to be in the latter part of July. My husband, Roy, and I formed the… Read More ›
Sappho’s Poems as an Ethos for Women’s Ritual by Jill Hammer
For by my side you put on many wreaths of roses and garlands of flowers around your soft neck and with precious and royal perfume you anointed yourself. On soft beds you satisfied your passion. And there… Read More ›
Temple Magdalen by Elizabeth Cunningham
Since I began writing for FAR in July 2012, I have written about Mary Magdalen, or excerpted a passage from one of my novels, near or on her July 22 Feast Day. For why I made the controversial choice to… Read More ›
Facing Life Part 1 by Janet Rudolph
I remember the first time I killed a living animal for food. I was a college student. I was traveling with other students on a month-long backpacking trip along the Sea of Cortez in Baja, Mexico. It was a very… Read More ›
What If Jesus Is Dead (And It’s A Good Thing)? by Tallessyn Zawn Grenfell-Lee
Bear with me. I know that most Christians accept some version of the idea that Jesus, the person, died, and then ‘rose from the dead’ in a supernatural, miraculous way – probably the most common definition of what Christians celebrate… Read More ›
Re-Imaging Three Marys by Janet Sunderland
The recent #metoo movement, along with young women entering Congress, has pointed to an important question. Why, in this 21st Century, are these achievements remarkable? Why has it taken so long for women to be recognized as capable for these… Read More ›
The Tree as Mother by Mama Donna Henes
Arbor Day, Earth Day, May Day and Mother’s Day are deeply connected conceptually, etymologically, culturally and emotionally. The tree, with its roots buried deep in the earth and its branches reaching upward toward heaven, spread wide to embrace all of… Read More ›
Where the Dance Is . . . On Cultivating a Daily Practice by Joyce Zonana
Although Goddess traditions invite us to embrace a world of immanence and change, rather than to seek to escape into transcendence—which some yoga teachings seem to point toward—I have come to believe that the “still point,” is, as Eliot writes, where “the dance is.” In other words, daily practice might grant us the capacity to always move through the world with grace and joy. The mind will be steady as it encounters and embraces the turning world. We will be whole.
I Am Her by Karen Leslie Hernandez
I hear this a lot: “You’re Mexican? You don’t look it?” A friend I have had for over 40 years always says, “I don’t think of you that way.” I am never quite sure how to respond to these opinions…. Read More ›
The Room Where We Support Each Other, Part 2 by Carol P. Christ
Last week, In the Room of Undressing where women strip themselves to the bone, my great-great-grandmothers on my father’s side spoke in me. I had been afraid they would judge me for not being a wife and mother like they… Read More ›
The Room Where We Support Each Other, Part 1 by Carol P. Christ
Over the past year or so I have been reciting my mother line, seven generations back, as a mantra of gratitude that helps me sleep at night. Sometimes I also name my sixteen great-great-grandparents, though I often fall asleep before… Read More ›
Why Pro-Life Stops at Birth: Who Really Supports Life and Why by Winifred Nathan
The patriarchal Catholic Church claims to be pro-Life. But is it pro-Life? Or is it pro-Birth? A Catholic Benedictine sister outed the pro-Life movement. Her position: the pro-life crowd shows little if any ongoing interest in life after birth. They’re… Read More ›
Windigo by Sara Wright
Windigo, the Potawami Nations call him. Malignant, this spirit thrives in the Northern Woods, within the human soul. Hatred for self or other hidden under Lies. Windigo, the Potawami Nations call him He thrives on greed. Empty He can… Read More ›
Celtic Awen, Spiritual Homecoming, and Singing with Trees by Trelawney Grenfell-Muir
Does your name have a special meaning? Mine does. In fact, in one corner of the world, you would be very hard pressed to find anyone who did not know the significance of the name Trelawney and its history. They… Read More ›
Dear Mary by Sara Wright
This piece was written in response to Gina Messina’s recent Feminism and Religion piece “Who is God?” Dear Mary, When I responded to a post on feminism and religion this morning I wrote that you were my first goddess. As… Read More ›
On Tetzaveh by Ivy Helman
The Torah parshah for this week is Tetzaveh (Exodus 27:20 – 30:10). Mostly it describes the priesthood, both of Aaron and his sons. It details how they should be consecrated, what they should wear, the difference between the garb of… Read More ›
Generosity and Community: the Alternative Worldview of Women’s Ritual Dances, Part 2 by Laura Shannon
Starhawk describes the work of her Reclaiming collective as the creation of ‘spaces of refuge from a harsh and often hostile world, safe places where people can heal and regenerate, renew our energies and learn new skills.’[i] These words also… Read More ›
Seeking Enlightenment? Let’s Try Endarkenment by Barbara Ardinger
In the version of the calendar I follow, February 1 is the true beginning of spring. That’s because early February is when we can see the light coming back. We know spring is really coming. February opens with a holiday/holy… Read More ›
Generosity and Community: the Alternative Worldview of Women’s Ritual Dance, Part 1 by Laura Shannon
My life’s work with traditional women’s circle dances of Eastern Europe and the Near East has been a natural interweaving of feminism, activism and Goddess spirituality. In more than thirty years of experience, my students and I have gained valuable… Read More ›
Find Your Warrior Archetype, Sisters: We are in the Fight of our Lives by Trelawney Grenfell-Muir
I read a news story this week about dozens of children sex trafficked at an auto show in Detroit. I read about a young man getting no jail time for sexually assaulting a six year old girl… sex traffickers targeting… Read More ›
Receiving, Giving, Reciprocating vs. Nonintervention: Two Different Models for Environmental Ethics by Carol P. Christ
“Gifts from the earth or from each other establish a particular relationship, an obligation of sorts to give, to receive, to reciprocate.” –Robin Wall Kimmerer The notion of a gift economy is at the heart of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding… Read More ›
Eve is the Hero of the Garden of Eden, Part 1 by Janet Rudolph
She is a tree of life to those who embrace her and those who lay hold of her are blessed. Proverbs 3:18 (Berean Study Bible) Eve’s story, as it has been passed onto us from the Bible, makes Her responsible… Read More ›
Eulogy for My Father by Natalie Weaver
Fourteen years ago, I was pregnant with William Valentine. I had no idea what to expect. I knew only that I was in a body, and it was pregnant. Things happened to me, to my body, that seemed extrinsic to… Read More ›
The Santa Goddess from The Goddess Project: Made in Her Image by Colette Numajiri
Frau Holda Poem Hail to Frau Holda, the beautiful and bright, Crowned and clothed, all in glistening Winter white. Ay seeking and searching, She sweeps o’er the land, Scourge for the slovenly, held firmly in hand. As Holda fares forth,… Read More ›
Vayigash: Lessons from Joseph’s Behavior by Ivy Helman
Parshah Vayigash covers Genesis 44:18 to 47:27. It involves the reunification of Joseph with his brothers and his father, the immigration of Jacob’s entire family to Egypt and Joseph successfully leading Egypt through famine. In other words, the parshah provides… Read More ›
