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 ›
Death and Dying
Goodbye…and Hello by Ivy Helman
Dear Mini, I wish, desperately, that you were still here. I miss you everyday. My body aches with grief. Tears run down my face. It was so hard to say goodbye. Sometimes, I feel like I should have done more. … Read More ›
My Near-Death Experience, Or How I Met the Goddess Face to Face By Barbara Ardinger
Oh boy oh boy oh boy—another June 17 has passed (I’m writing this on June 18) and I’m still here. Every year, this is my day to be careful. And to keep breathing. I have two specific associations with June… Read More ›
Embracing Elderhood by Joyce Zonana
In Europe and Mexico, younger women and men of all ages regularly offer me their seats on buses and metros. I usually refuse, although at home in New York City, I’m always a little miffed when no one bothers to… Read More ›
The Goddesses Ereshkigal and Epona and Their Help in My Grief by Anjeanette LeBoeuf
In November, my paternal grandmother passed. She was five days away from her 93rd birthday. As I was/am going through the grieving process, I started to actively recall all the studies I have done regarding death and grieving practices across… 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 ›
Saying Goodbye to my Grandmother, by Molly Remer
Part 1: The Question It is October, the veil is thin the year is waning the leaves are turning I am trying to say goodbye to my grandmother she is dying. I do not know what to say. The leaves… Read More ›
Death is a Gift, and Christ is a Hag by Trelawney Grenfell-Muir
My father is dying, and I am haggard with grief and exhaustion. Over a month of frantically arranging child care, driving to the ICU in the middle of the night, fighting to protect my Dad from neglect and malpractice, chasing… Read More ›
Grieving through the Holidays: Painting Holy Women Icons of Grief by Angela Yarber
The holiday season is a particularly difficult time for grief. Whether it is grieving someone who died earlier in the year as you celebrate your first holiday season without them, or the lasting memories of loved ones who are no… Read More ›
Gifts from My Father by Carol P. Christ
My father was a very intelligent man who tested “genius” in the army. Drafted into the army at a young age, he decided not to take advantage of the “GI Bill” that would have paid for his college education after… Read More ›
Shame and the Caregiving Relationship by Stephanie Arel
I was asked recently to present my work on shame and guilt for a documentary about the experience of being in a caregiving relationship. Initially, I felt concerned. My conceptualization of the idea of caregiving circulated around 1) aspects of… Read More ›
Grief and Healing by Carol P. Christ
My father died on July 6, 2017, 98 years, 4 months, 12 days. The last time I saw him was in the spring of 2004. During that visit, he gave me “the silent treatment” (refused to look at me or… Read More ›
Gratitudo et Fortitudo by Natalie Weaver
One of the bigger problems with being the only Classics major at a Jesuit university is that all my friends were fairly old men before I had even reached drinking age. Now, they are pretty much gone back to the… Read More ›
Beginning with Death on the Goddess Pilgrimage to Crete by Carol P. Christ
Our first ritual on the Goddess Pilgrimage to Crete is a death ritual in which we honor the memory of those who have gone before us. Like so many things on the pilgrimage, the death ritual evolved. I did not… Read More ›
The Death Penalty and Human Dignity: Where Do We Stand? by Stephanie N. Arel
On Wednesday, March 22, I had the pleasure to speak at a conference on law, economics, and religion hosted jointly by Georgetown University Law Center and the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies. Entitled “The Moral Economy,” the conference provided rich… Read More ›
This Time by Joyce Zonana
And the new sun rose bringing the new year. Alfred, Lord Tennyson, “The Passing of Arthur,” Idylls of the King It’s arbitrary, of course, this designation of January 1st as New Year’s Day on the Gregorian Calendar, but it’s also… Read More ›
Ancestor Connection in Williamsburg, Brooklyn by Carol P. Christ
In early December 2016 I visited central Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York, where my 2x great-grandparents Thomas and Anna Maria Christ and their son George and his family, including my father’s father Irving John, lived for over fifty years. I… Read More ›
Priestess as Shamanic Path – Part 2 by Molly Remer
This is a continuation of Molly’s piece from Wednesday, 10 August 2016. You can read Part 1 here. After explaining that the homebirth of her second son was her, “first initiation into the Goddess…even though at that time I didn’t… Read More ›
Priestess as Shamanic Path – Part 1 by Molly Remer
It is late autumn, 2009. I am 30 years old and pregnant with my third baby. He dies during the early part of my second trimester and I give birth to him in my bathroom, on my own with only… Read More ›
Remember by John Erickson
Remember the loss, because we’re going to need it for the tomorrows to come and for those that need our protection the most: the next generation. Remember, we are Orlando; now, tomorrow, and always.
Caroline Schelling on Birth & Death by Stuart Dean
Of the many letters Caroline wrote to her lifelong friend Luise, one of the most intense (the 57th Letter) dates from seven years after the 4th Letter discussed in my last post. By then both were married; only a few… Read More ›
Releasing Artemis by Carol P. Christ
As I was writing this story, my Word program froze several times, and I lost what I had written. This has never happened before. The fifth time, it occurred to me that Artemis was not happy with the way I… Read More ›
The Importance of Rituals (Part 2) by Elise M. Edwards
In my previous post, I wrote about the importance of rituals. The rituals of the Easter season helped me process some difficult emotions. The way that rituals mark time and demonstrate consistency has been a comfort for me when facing… Read More ›
The Importance of Rituals by Elise M. Edwards
My sister once said about me, “One thing you have to understand about Elise—she takes the ritual of whole thing very seriously.” My sister was right and her words helped me see this quality about myself. What ritual was she… Read More ›
I Come From a Long Line of Beautiful, Strong and Capable Women by Jassy Watson
In 2014 I wrote about the passing of my dear Pop and the painting that burst forth when I was told very clearly that Pachamama had come to accompany him on his return. It is with a very heavy heart… Read More ›
Hail Mary: The Rosary and Why I Keep Praying by Marie Cartier
My mother-in-law is currently in hospice and expected to cross over any time now. My wife is with her. Those two sentences alone—since I am a woman writing this blog—signify historic/herstoric change. I am a woman and I am writing… Read More ›
My Immortal Mother-in-Law by Elizabeth Cunningham
Before Olga Eunice Quintero Smyth died on December 4, 2014 at age 101 and 10 months, I was tempted to believe she was immortal, literally. I knew Olga for forty-five years (from age 16 to 61). For thirty-five of those… Read More ›
Morrigan, Celtic Goddess of Sovereignty, War and Fertility by Judith Shaw
Morrigan, Celtic Goddess of War and Death, is a dark goddess we mortals tend to approach with fear and trepidation. A great Warrior Goddess, She represents the more terrifiying aspects of female energy; sensuality, magic, prophecy, revenge, and war. She… Read More ›
Responding to Human Suffering by Elise M. Edwards
In the past few weeks, there have been renewed debates throughout the US about death with dignity laws and the role of government is providing or securing access to health care. The tragic story of Brittany Maynard and the incessant… Read More ›
A Moment of Silence by Natalie Weaver
In my last post, I shared with you my wonderment at the power of music to speak for us when we lack speech and to touch us when we are beyond reach. Now, I experience wonderment at the power of… Read More ›
