Rosemary Radford Ruether, 1936-2022Catholic Feminist Theologian Pioneering Catholic feminist theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether, accompanied by her daughters Mimi and Becky, died peacefully on Saturday, May 21, 2022 at 3 PM PDT in Pomona, California after a long illness. Arrangements are… Read More ›
Feminism
From the Archives: Abortion–the topic that won’t go away–or even morph
This was originally posted on March 12, 2014. It was Esther’s first FAR post. Recently, I got involved in a conversation about abortion. It happened on Facebook when a relative posted that her heart hurts when she considers her “sweet… Read More ›
Carol P. Christ’s Legacy: Is This How Patriarchy Began?
This was originally post on June 19, 2017 In my widely read blog and academic essay offering a new definition of patriarchy, I argued that patriarchy is a system of male dominance that arose at the intersection of the control… Read More ›
Bread and Circuses and Mother’s Day
According to Juvenal, politicians in ancient Rome discovered they could get the downtrodden masses to abdicate their rights and accept shocking degrees of oppression merely by giving them enough bread to eat and circuses to distract them. Meanwhile, in our… Read More ›
Legacy of Carol P. Christ: What Does Mother’s Day Mean in a Patriarchal and Matricidal Culture?
This was originally posted on May 9, 2016 When we seek immortality or spiritual “rebirth,” are we not saying that there is something wrong with the “birth” that was given to us through the body of our mothers? In She… Read More ›
Sedna’s Daughters by Stephanie A. Sellers
To be a daughter seems a most naturally good thing to be on a planet conceptualized and symbolized as Mother Earth since time immemorial by ancient peoples on most continents. And yet, to be a Daughter has become something most… Read More ›
Patriarchy and the Supreme Court by Janet Maika’i Rudolph
I am pissed! I wrote this blogpost the day after Beltane when the leaked draft of the Supreme Court majority opinion regarding Roe v. Wade was leaked to the public. I was up anyway feeling the effects of PTSD. Lessons… Read More ›
My Accidental Baptism into the River by Caryn MacGrandle
Yesterday I fell into the river. I had had a long afternoon and had gone to escape for a bit sitting on a bench by the river I live by. I had just gotten done with reading about Venus, Mars,… Read More ›
Carol P. Christ’s Legacy: Great Goddess, Mother Goddess, Creatrix, Source of Life
This post was originally posted on February 5, 2018 The symbol of the Goddess is as old as human history. The most ancient images of the Goddesses from the Paleolithic era are neither pregnant nor holding a child. In Neolithic… Read More ›
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 ›
From the Archives: Mindful of the Bond We Share in these Trying Times by Vibha Shetiya
This was originally posted on February 14, 2017 I’m sitting in my parents’ balcony in Pune, India, on a quiet morning. Well, this being a bustling Indian city of six million, it can’t really be quiet. As I sit with… Read More ›
Carol P. Christ’s Legacy: Was There a “Golden Age” before Patriarchy and War? by Carol P. Christ
Marija Gimbutas coined the term “Old Europe” c.6500-3500 BCE to describe peaceful, sedentary, artistic, matrifocal, matrilineal and probably matrilocal agricultural societies that worshipped the Goddess as the power of birth, death, and regeneration in all of life. Gimbutas argued that… Read More ›
The Gendered Temptation of Jesus by Liz Cooledge Jenkins
As Luke’s Gospel tells it, at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, the devil comes to him in the wilderness and tempts him.[1] First, the devil latches onto Jesus’ hunger after forty days of fasting: “If you are the Son… Read More ›
From the Archives: Medusa and Athena: Ancient Allies in Healing Women’s Trauma by Laura Shannon
This blog was originally posted on June 24, 2017 Rather than being a bleeding image of female disempowerment, Medusa may be read as…one of the most ancient European symbols of women’s spiritual abilities… [and] an empowering image of feminine potential.’… 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 ›
Carol P. Christ’s Legacy: Please Keep It in Your Pants by Carol P. Christ
This blog was originally posted on November 6. 2017. You can read the original comments here. Trigger warning: this post describes sexual abuse Last week while responding to a comment on my blog, I suddenly remembered a series of incidents… Read More ›
white femininity: whitemalegod’s secret weapon By Christena Cleveland, PhD
For the first several weeks of my walking pilgrimage, I debated whether to visit the famous Black Madonna of Orcival. It wasn’t the walking distance that deterred me; She lived in a gorgeous Romanesque cathedral nestled in a charming medieval… Read More ›
From the Archives: Rape is Not a Political Platform – Rape is a Violent Crime! By Michele Stopera Freyhauf
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. They tend to get lost in… Read More ›
The Lady of Saint Serin by Sara Wright
I just learned about Jen Taylor who is a singer and songwriter and a woman who embraces the goddess. Her philosophical work focuses on re-wilding the body/mind – returning us to our source. Jen Taylor writes: “Statue-Menhirs are sandstone standing… Read More ›
From the Archives: The Feminist Toolbox by Marie Cartier
This blog was originally posted on April 4, 2012. There were a significant number of comments which you can read here. This spring I am teaching “Feminist Ethics” at California State University Northridge. For the students’ midterm and final we are… Read More ›
Scars Of The Body by Mary Gelfand
Despite the distances involved, throughout my adulthood, I regularly visited my parents. As their home was small, I often found myself seated at the kitchen table with my mother while my father watched TV in the adjacent living room. During… Read More ›
Eden, Eve and a Tale of Seeds by Janet Maika’i Rudolph
Last month I wrote about the Garden of Eden. You can read it here: In that post, I described how Eden is essentially a garden of treasures. What are those treasures? I believe that they are seeds, the most prolific… Read More ›
Carol P. Christ’s Legacy: Who Is Gender Queer?
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 March 2, 2015. You can read… Read More ›
My Goddessy by Dale Allen
I am passionate about sharing the image, essence and energy of the sacred feminine. Having presented this material to thousands of men and women at universities, conferences, corporations, expos and theaters across the US, Canada, from Kauai to Dubai, to… Read More ›
On The Baby and The Bathwater by Liz Cooledge Jenkins
It wasn’t until seminary—and even then, only sporadically—that I learned that many of the foundational figures in Western Christianity held some incredibly sexist attitudes. Somehow, in all my years of attending church, hearing sermons, participating in (and leading) Bible study… Read More ›
Carol P. Christ’s Legacy: The Keepers and the Roman Catholic Church featuring Jean Hargadon Wehner
Moderator’s Note: Jean Hargadon Wehner, who is referenced and quoted by Carol in this post will be available to respond in the comments section. Feel free to ask her any questions. Jean has a new book out about her experiences…. Read More ›
Abortion Rights (?) by Esther Nelson
Slowly, yet systematically, women, men, and everybody else along the gender continuum, are losing access to a timely, legal, and safe abortion. This is not breaking news. Pushback in the United States against abortion “rights” has been happening in various state legislatures… Read More ›
‘A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing’ by Sara Wright
The Power of Dreams to Forecast Future Events I have been a dreamer all my life and within the last six weeks I have had a number of dreams that both frightened and baffled me. How is it possible I… Read More ›
Behold! The Treasures of Eden by Janet Maika’i Rudolph
The place and purpose of the Garden of Eden is a topic of endless fascination and interpretation. This blogpost looks at two biblical passages and the word eden itself to see what we can learn about its meanings. At its… Read More ›
From the Archives: Women’s Bodies and the Bible by Janet Maika’i Rudolph
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 ›