WOMENS MARCH, Long Beach, California on the 50th anniversary of the passing of Roe v Wade,January 22, 2023
General
Why Feminism Needs the Fierce Goddesses by Susan Foster
The recent backlash against women and feminism, highlighted by the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, has left many people asking: Is feminism dead? Or if it isn’t dead, is it lost? The decision dealt a blow to one… Read More ›
Grandmother’s Story by Judith Shaw
The past few years have been way too busy. Every winter I longed for quietness and solitude – for time and space to see and feel the strong bones of tree trunks and branches standing sharp against the sky and… Read More ›
Feeding the Birds….Refuge, Part 1 by Sara Wright
It’s another gray snowy day with large white flakes falling from the sky… January lasts “forever” every single year. I feed chickadees on my window ledge until the squirrels show up; then I scatter seed on the ground. Chickadees begin… Read More ›
Legacy of Carol P. Christ: The Mountain Mother: Reading the Language of the Goddess in the Symbols of Ancient Crete
The blog was originally posted on May 22, 2017 Before he told the story of how his people received the sacred pipe, Black Elk said: So I know that it is a good thing I am going to do; and… Read More ›
Love and Other Fruits by Esther Nelson
The modern-day play “J.B.,” authored by Archibald MacLeish (1892–1982) and published in 1958, portrays a modern rendition of the Biblical character, Job, someone who became a pawn in a battle between God and Satan. God “allowed” all kinds of misery… Read More ›
The Patriarchal Dilemma by Janet Maika’i Rudolph
I was listening to a newscast when it was reported that the Ukraine sent missiles into Russia. My initial thought was “it’s about time they took it to the Russians.” The next moment I was horrified at myself. I am… Read More ›
The Motomami Theology: “Segundo chingarte, lo primero Dios.”* Part II
*“God comes first. Fu*king you, a close second.” In Part 1 of this post, I described my first encounters with Rosalía’s music and visual arts, which are controversial for many, but I find them wonderful. I mentioned how she integrated… Read More ›
The Motomami Theology: “Segundo chingarte, lo primero Dios.”* Part I
*“God comes first. Fuc*king you, a close second.” I went to Rosalía’s promotional concert for the Motomami album in Boston a month ago. I knew some songs from her 2018 album El Mal Querer (Bad Love), a musical masterpiece. That… Read More ›
A Womanist’s Perspective by Sara Wright
Last night I was listening to plant scientist Monica Gagliano who is pushing the boundaries of what we know about plants. She proved that plants respond to the sound of water by moving toward it and cannot be tricked. Bio-acoustics… Read More ›
Legacy of Carol P. Christ: Mountain Mother, I Hear You Calling
This was originally posted on July 7, 2014 The mountaintop shrines of Mount Juctas in Archanes, Crete are situated on twin peaks, which may have symbolized breasts. Ancient shrines on the northern peak date from 2200 BCE until at least… Read More ›
Finding that Feeling and Standing to Heal the Earth by Caryn MacGrandle
Something happened to me while listening to a song yesterday Mycelia by Yaima Music about the Mycelium Network: the largest living organism in the world underneath our feet, connected by synapses, communicating and assisting life. I found that feeling. The one… Read More ›
The Curse of Being Kind
Since earliest childhood, girls have been admonished to be kind and accommodating. To repress our intuition and gut instincts. We’ve been socialized to gaslight our innate sense of right-and-wrong and self-preservation in order to be NICE, to appease. Good Girls… Read More ›
From the Archives: Storytelling as a Spiritual Practice by Nurete Brenner
This was originally posted on April 10, 2019 “The master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house.” Audre Lorde Question: What tools do we have that are powerful enough to dismantle the Master’s house? Answer: Storytelling. Storytelling does not belong… Read More ›
Hawaiian Adventure Shamanism by Janet Maika’i Rudolph
While my experience of Hawaiian spirituality isn’t explicitly feminist, I am attracted to it because of its loving and gentle nature. It doesn’t feed the patriarchy. It is a philosophy that doesn’t use dogma but rather principles. It doesn’t work… Read More ›
From the Archives: They Really Do Hate Us* by Esther Nelson
This was originally posted on Nov. 20, 2020 A year or so before the November 2020 U.S. presidential election, a private Facebook group now titled “Wives of the Deplorables! Go Vote!” came together because many women were distraught about the… Read More ›
Answering a Call by Sara Wright
“Shamans bridge the night flow…” the first lines from a poem I wrote long ago keep coming into my mind. Frustrated because I can no longer access the poem, I accept that the first line is what I need… ‘bridging… Read More ›
Legacy of Carol P. Christ: Think About the Consequences of Your Actions for Seven Generation
This was originally post on Aug 6, 2018 Nurture life. Walk in love and beauty. Trust the knowledge that comes through the body. Speak the truth about conflict, pain, and suffering. Take only what you need. Think about the consequences… Read More ›
Is Sin An Antiquated Concept? by Rev. Dr. Karen Tate
I believe many could and would characterize abuse and exploitation as varying degrees of sin, from gossip and verbal intimidation on one end of the spectrum to murder, rape or thievery on the other. Yet, while we’ve normalized some acts… Read More ›
Radical Joy by Beth Bartlett
On Christmas mornings my brother, sister, and I had to wait patiently upstairs until we heard the music playing. Then, at last, the trumpets and voices singing “Joy to the world!” beckoned us down to the living room, with presents piled… Read More ›
What are you looking forward to in 2023?
Someone I care a lot about asked me on New Year’s Eve, “What are you looking forward to in 2023?” This question was the follow up to another question, which was, “What are you grateful for from 2022?” I was… Read More ›
Toward an Alternative Ecclesiology by Xochitl Alvizo
I mentioned in a recent post that I would share a little more about my current research, as one of the aspects of my life I gained more clarity in during my recent process of regrounding was in the area… Read More ›
When Betrayal Makes Sense by Sara Wright
When I was a young woman, a divorced mother of two, working as a waitress I became obsessed by a window hanging in a local store. This cluster of grapes was fashioned out of thick, uneven hunks of stained glass… Read More ›
Legacy of Carol P. Christ: ERA—Equal Rights for Women—in the US: Has Our Time Finally Come?
This was originally posted on Nov 18, 2019 On August 26, 1970, I borrowed an old VW bug from my mentor and summer employer Michael Novak to drive from Oyster Bay, Long Island to New York City to take part… Read More ›
From the Archives: New Year and Sustainable Resolution by Sara Frykenberg
This was originally posted on January 3, 2017 I am writing this blog on New Year’s Day, so Happy New Year! Today I say these words as both a statement of hope and as invocation. Happy New Year: may it… Read More ›
Crawl Across the Sacred Circle and Take My Hand by Caryn MacGrandle
On Winter Solstice, I hosted a Return of the Sun event at the local healing arts center where I do my Circles. We had offerings and presentations all night long. It was the first time I have ever done anything… Read More ›
Return to the Grandmothers and 2 Other Poems by Annelinde Metzner
This past summer, my family and I lovingly carried my brother’s ashes to a favorite spot of his, in the woods at our grandparents’ Catskill farm. My mind was on the simple, beautiful ritual, each of us stating memories and… Read More ›
Elena and the Reindeer Goddess by Judith Shaw
The mad pre-Christmas rush of activity has passed and we find ourselves again in the quiet, dark and cold of winter. Winter Solstice, the longest night and shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, occurred last week. With… Read More ›
Solstice Stories : Fire and Ice by Sara Wright
The winter solstice is almost upon us just as the first heavy snow buries the forest and house under 28 inches of snow. I never look forward to this shift into the cold, ice, and snow, although I do wrap… Read More ›
Legacy of Carol P. Christ: What I Celebrate at Christmas
This was originally posted December 28, 2020 Though I have not been Christian for many years, I love to decorate my house for the holidays. I have many decorations that I have collected over the years, including a Hummel angel… Read More ›