This week’s Torah portion is Bamidbar (Numbers 1:1-4:20). Mostly, it concerns itself with: a census; the organization of the Isrealites in camp as well as while traveling; who is responsible for which parts of the Tabernacle; and the redemption of… Read More ›
I have been asked numerous times by numerous people over the years to write about feminist issues, especially regarding teaching kids about consent, pornography, and healthy sexuality. The reason I have not tackled this project yet is that I know… Read More ›
Many questions are asked of us as a community, but the answers which are so complex that we should be commended for even attempting to answer, are heard- if they are not interrupted- but rarely understood. As a Black mother… Read More ›
When I was invited to create this post, a number of topics came to mind. But I decided to start our conversation with my response to the question: why do I write? I am a Colombian woman designer who promotes… Read More ›
Today (May 5) on Feminism and Religion, we have a post by new contributor Laura Casasbuenas. She is our third new contributor from Colombia, the land from where Laura Montoya, our current FAR intern, also hails. But news in Colombia… Read More ›
As an eco feminist I am deeply concerned with the loss of the animals I love. One of these is the Black bear whose visits are becoming more and more scarce as the forest around me disappears. The bear in… Read More ›
Yesterday was Greek Easter and as Greece was still on lockdown, friends brought a lovely meal of roast chicken and vegetables, scalloped potatoes, green salad, and pineapple upside down cake, which we ate together on my balcony. Still I could… Read More ›
Rest awhile, Dear Reader, and dream along with me. We’re standing on a corner, call it Main Street, Any City, USA. We’re chatting, passing the time of day, being happy we can stand among other people without the fear of… Read More ›
Today, May 1, we celebrate Beltane, the Celtic festival between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice. Starting tonight, we also celebrate Greek Easter, with its ritual drama of life and death. In the Western Church, Easter never falls as… Read More ›
Like so many others, I learned this jingle, actually the opening of a lovely poem by Joseph Parry, during a brief stint in the Girl Scouts when I was nine or ten. I’m not sure I understood it then—what was wine, after all? what did it mean for it to “mellow and refine”?—but the words stayed with me, echoing unbidden through the years and shaping many of my choices.
Wren, the first bird to sing at dawn, is known as the Herald of Dawn. It calls out its joy as each day begins.
Susan Simard received her PhD in Forest Science and is a research scientist who works primarily in the field. Part of her dissertation was published in the prestigious journal Nature. Currently she is a professor in the department of Forest… Read More ›
Fairy tales are intwined in our imagination and our spirituality. As Jane Yolan writes, one of the subtlest and yet most important functions of myth and fantasy is to “provide a framework or model for an individual’s belief system.” (1)… Read More ›
April 2021, Poem Visibility is this body opening against itself over and over… an existence moving through fibers was the one thing I had. When was the time…breathe in? Breathe out. My existence to myself was the most political act…. Read More ›
I was recently asked how I reconcile being a Christian with also being a critic of Christian theology, traditions, and culture. I am asked this often and my answer is always the same. I have not found reconciliation and might… Read More ›
Dead CedarWeek after weekheat, wind, sun,shrinks vernal pools. Ditches are dry.Denizensof wet forest,masked gold leaves,seek shallow depressions fed by Spring. One night theheat wave breaksI smell rain,hear hoarse croaks.I stand thereswallowing soundinhaling fragrant airLamenting absence –so many voices stolenby drought.
Like many of you, I was anxious and angry during most of the Trump administration years. I watched MSNBC avidly, hoping against hope that a) he could be stopped or b) he would be impeached. Now that he is gone,… Read More ›
I found a bird’s nest the other day. A perfect, round little nest, with five pale blue speckled eggs. I’ve been working for several years to figure out how to support the birds who share our yard, with bird feeders,… Read More ›
I awakened under cloudsfeeling respite from fierceheat in April that forced maple, birch, beech, and poplar to bud and burst. First we planted Balsam seedlings; He climbed birch to saw off dying trunks, some broken beyond recognition, wreckage from the… Read More ›
This blogpost is about biblical verses and uncovering the magic and spirit behind its words. Why, you might ask, is this a project that belongs on a blog dedicated to feminism? I believe it does because it helps us to… Read More ›
It is often said that every year when you read the same Torah passages, you are in a different place, spiritually and otherwise. Therefore, one will always be learning new meanings and discovering new insights from them. No more is… Read More ›
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 ›
Preface: I am submitting this story for publication because it occurred during the Christian Holy Week and because it involves me, a woman who follows her dreams… That I did so in this instance was important in ways that I… Read More ›
In Greece the liturgies of lent and especially of the week before Easter are known as the “divine drama,” in Greek theodrama. This may refer to the “drama” of the capture, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus and to the suffering of… Read More ›
Note: If you’ve been reading Athena’s story for the past two days (link to Part 2 here), you know what’s happened to her before her third birth. You’ve read her version as I heard it in my mind and wrote… Read More ›
Read Part 1 here. Note: This part of the story concerns what nearly everybody who has read the mythology knows about the Goddess of Wisdom. But what you’ve read in, say, Edith Hamilton or Robert Graves is the patriarchal version…. Read More ›
Note: Inspired by Mary Sharratt’s excellent post on February 13 about the heroine’s journey and by Elizabeth Cunningham’s beautiful novel The Wild Mother (who is Lilith), I took a dive into my archives and found this story about Athena, which… Read More ›
See here to read Part I of the Devotional. Friday: Thought for the day: The Roman authorities executed Jesus for sedition because he posed a threat to their hegemony: their wealth and their oppressive, imperial domination system of exploiting others… Read More ›
I dreamed her name not long before light – Pages fell out of a story written in blood. Every spring the words repeat as mist rises over the river. Harsh white light burns violet blue. She changes everything she touches… Read More ›
Thinking about the discourse between spiritualists and victims of harmThinking about accountability and prison abolitionThinking about how white supremacy tells us people are disposableThat they–that we, don’t matterThinking about “don’t speak ill of the dead”Thinking about “honor your ancestors”Thinking about… Read More ›
