When Reverend Anne Hines of Roncesvalles United Church in Toronto invited me to write a poem for Easter Sunday 2020, I had no idea that this invitation would become a dance with Word via words, that would alter my very… Read More ›
Art
The Egg by Annelinde Metzner
In 1989 I was 37 years old. My body’s sacred work, centered around eggs, hormones and fertility, strongly governed my everyday existence. I’m sure that influence is strong for all women of that age, mothers or not, body conscious or… Read More ›
Carol P. Christ’s Legacy: Kassiani: Placing a Woman at the Center of the Easter Drama
This blog was originally posted on April 13, 2015. You can read the original comments here. For many years I been told of the beautiful Hymn of Kassiani, sung only on Easter Tuesday night, but I had never heard it… Read More ›
From the Archives: The Quality of Mercy by Barbara Ardinger
This was originally posts on October 4, 2020. You can see the original comments here. The quality of mercy is not strained;It droppeth as the gentle rain from heavenUpon the place beneath. It is twice blest;It blesseth him that gives… Read More ›
From the Archives: Longing for Hermitage by Elizabeth Cunningham
This blog was originally posted on October 20, 2013. You can read the comments here. At least since the days of the Desert Mothers in the 4th and 5th centuries CE, there have been women in the Christian tradition (and… Read More ›
From the Archives: Grainne – Sun Goddess/Winter Queen by Judith Shaw
This was originally posted on June 24, 2015. You can see the original comments here. In the ancient Celtic world the Goddess was the One who expressed Herself through the many. Grainne is such a one. She is both Winter… Read More ›
Carol P. Christ’s Legacy: THE LABRYS: A RIVER OF BIRDS IN MIGRATION
Moderator’s Note: Carol Christ died from cancer in July, 2021. Her work continues through her non-profit foundation, the Ariadne Institute for the Study of Myth and Ritual and the Goddess Pilgrimage to Crete. This blog was originally posted July 29, 2013. You can its original… Read More ›
From the Archives: Buddhist Misogyny Revisited – Part I by Barbara McHugh
Recently, I wrote a novel about the Buddha’s wife disguising herself as a man to join his religious community. When I showed the manuscript to a Buddhist friend, whose knowledge and practice I respect greatly, he expressed apprehension that it… Read More ›
From the Archives: Lessons from Candide by Barbara Ardinger
Moderator’s note: This marvelous FAR site has been running for 10 years and has had more than 3,600 posts in that time. There are so many treasures that have been posted in this decade that they tend to get lost… Read More ›
From the Archives: Miracles Of The Great Mother by Jassy Watson
I was brought up in a household where attitudes to God and church were quite negative. My Nanna, however, was deeply religious, and I can still remember sitting in her dining room as a very young child staring up in awe… Read More ›
From the Archives: That Which Is Sacred by Max Dashu
Moderator’s note: This marvelous FAR site has been running for 10 years and has had more than 3,600 posts in that time. There are so many treasures that have been posted in this decade that they tend to get lost… Read More ›
Carol P. Christ’s Legacy: Of Birds, Angels, and Tidings of Great Joy
Moderator’s Note: We here at FAR have been so fortunate to work along side Carol Christ for many years. She died in July this year from cancer. To honor her legacy as well as allow as many people as possible… Read More ›
From the Archives:“Vaginas are Everywhere!”: The Power of the Female Reproductive System by John Erickson
Moderator’s note: This marvelous FAR site has been running for 10 years and has had more than 3,600 posts in that time. There are so many treasures that have been posted in this decade that they tend to get lost… Read More ›
From the Archives: And the Pies! Ongoing Grateful Thanks for Tradition by Marie Cartier
Moderator’s note: This marvelous FAR site has been running for 10 years and has had more than 3,500 posts in that time. There are so many treasures that have been posted in this decade that they tend to get lost… Read More ›
Facing the Angel: Samson’s Mother as a Model for Feminist Spiritual Practice by Jill Hammer
Dedicated to Kohenet Andrea Jacobson of blessed memory, a deep practitioner of priestess presence I have always loved obscure biblical women. My wife, who was educated in a yeshiva, marvels at the names and tales I mention to her; she’s… Read More ›
Looking Again at The Magic Flute by Barbara Ardinger
I have just spent a week watching four productions of Mozart and Schikaneder’s 1791 opera. Four in a row! Now we all know that I adore musical theater more than almost anything else in the world. Operetta. Nelson and Jeanette…. Read More ›
Leonora Carrington’s THE HEARING TRUMPET – Book Review by Sally Abbott
Long a fan of Surrealist artist Leonora Carrington, I was initially hesitant when the New York Review of Books reissued her 1974 novel, The Hearing Trumpet. I didn’t know what to expect when this extraordinary painter picked up a pen. To my… Read More ›
Loving Venus, a poem by Marie Cartier
Dedicated to Carol Christ, 1945-2021, who taught so many of us how to love the Goddess She is called “Nude Woman” and currently livesin her natural museum house in Vienna.Nude woman. She is art, but she is not in an… Read More ›
The Red Hand on the Cave Wall by Carolyn Lee Boyd
As I have gotten older, I find I am drawn more to non-anthropomorphic, inexpressable-in-words, nature, and everyday focused visions of the Divine. Whereas before my spiritual practice involved more rituals and circles, unusually indoors, with others, now I more often… Read More ›
The Healing Spirit of Sacred Play by Carolyn Lee Boyd
Many years ago I participated in seasonal, Goddess-focused celebrations featuring handmade decorations, including some by enormously talented artists who attended. One year, our spring fete was graced with gorgeous paintings, intricately woven and colorful fabric art, sensuous sculptures, and exquisitely… Read More ›
C.G. Jung and the Heroine’s Journey by Sally Abbott
I was intrigued by the discussions of Jung and Jungian motifs, such as the sacred marriage, that sprang up in response to Mary Sharratt’s wonderful post “The Via Feminina: Revisioning the Heroine’s Journey,” partly based on Maureen Murdock’s book. Carol Christ pointed out… Read More ›
Buddhist Misogyny Revisited – Part II by Barbara McHugh
Read Part I here first… Webster defines myth as “a usually traditional story of ostensibly historical events that serves to unfold part of the world view of a people or explain a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon,” and in this… Read More ›
Buddhist Misogyny Revisited – Part I by Barbara McHugh
Recently, I wrote a novel about the Buddha’s wife disguising herself as a man to join his religious community. When I showed the manuscript to a Buddhist friend, whose knowledge and practice I respect greatly, he expressed apprehension that it… Read More ›
Crane Song: Finding my way Home through Image, Myth, and Nature – Part 2 by Sara Wright
Read Part 1 here… Recently, I returned from the Southwest where I was introduced to the ceremonies of the Pueblo peoples, ceremonies that reflected my own spiritual practice reinforcing its authenticity. This interlude also allowed me to be part… Read More ›
Crane Song: Finding my Way Home through Image, Myth, and Nature – Part 1 by Sara Wright
The last gift I received from my very distant parents was a print of a Native American Medicine Wheel by Ojibway artist Joe Geshick. I received this present on my birthday in 1993. When I opened the cardboard tube I… Read More ›
Dancing for Forgiveness and Reconciliation – Part Two By Laura Shannon
In Part One of this article, I described dancing Jewish, Romani, and Armenian dances for forgiveness and reconciliation with groups in Germany and all over the world. I also offered danced rituals of remembrance at former concentration camps and other places… Read More ›
The Mask and the Mirror – Part 3 By Sara Wright
One concrete way of accomplishing this change is to submerge ourselves in the rest of Nature and stay open to the appearance of animals, birds, plants, etc., and by paying close attention to images and words, nudges, synchronicities, dreams, and… Read More ›
The Mask and the Mirror – Part 2 by Sara Wright
Artist Debra Fritts When I asked Debra about this circle she said “the circle around the eye is symbolic of the moon, a nightly ritual of seeing the moon.” Curiously, women as ‘seers’ have an intimate relationship with… Read More ›
Cat – Mysterious and Magical by Judith Shaw
Cat moves elegantly through our lives with grace, independence and an unquenchable self-assurance. “My dog believes its human; my cat believes its god” is a saying reflected by the beliefs of our ancestors. Since Neolithic days cats have been associated… Read More ›
Embroidery in the Time of Covid by Esther Nelson
In her recent essay on this “Feminism and Religion” site, Ivy Helman wrote: “Over the past few months, I’ve been struggling to write posts. This month is no different. I am currently sitting with four different half-drafts on three semi-related… Read More ›