My recent move from Northern England to the Silver Coast of Portugal has been a radical change on so many levels. Not only am I coming to grips with a different climate and culture and immersed in learning a very… Read More ›
Interdependence of Life
An Outrageously Strange, Bizarrely Weird, Completely True Tale by Janet Maika’i Rudolph
The word apocalypse keeps coming up when I talk to friends about how our present times feel. We’ve all noted how cracks in our society are tearing open and fault-lines are rising to the surface. It is disorienting yet also… Read More ›
The Sacred HU by Janet Maika’i Rudolph
Sing to the LORD, all you godly ones! Praise his holy name. Psalm 30:4 (New Living Translation) Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name. 2 Sam 22:50… Read More ›
Nourishing Wholeness in a Fractured World, by Molly Remer
List for today: Rescue tadpoles from the evaporating puddle in the driveway. Look for pink roses in the field. Look for wild strawberries along the road. Listen to the crows in the compost pile and try to identify them by… Read More ›
Monotheism and the Shema: Lessons on Oneness and Unity by Ivy Helman
In my last blog post, I explained what we lost when the Israelites became monotheists. That post looked at the move to monotheism from a more historical, feminist perspective. In this post, I want to understand monotheism from a more… Read More ›
Persistent Beauty by Molly Remer
I knelt beside a sprinkling of deer fur dotted with delicate snowflakes. Don’t take a picture of that, my husband said, people will think it is gross. I don’t find it gross. I find it curious. I find it surprising…. Read More ›
The Truth Revealed by Coronavirus – It’s All Connected by Judith Shaw
Coronavirus is revealing many truths to this world – a world grounded in the patriarchal consciousness of domination and separation for millennia. Though still on the fringes of social awareness, the ancient wisdom of community and connection remains alive and… Read More ›
Mess and Magic, by Molly Remer
Maybe beautiful things don’t only grow from peace, maybe they grow from the soil of living, which holds both blood and tears muck and magic. Last week I tried to work on my book while the household debris whirled around… Read More ›
Temple Magdalen by Elizabeth Cunningham
Since I began writing for FAR in July 2012, I have written about Mary Magdalen, or excerpted a passage from one of my novels, near or on her July 22 Feast Day. For why I made the controversial choice to… Read More ›
Facing Life Part 1 by Janet Maika’i Rudolph
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 ›
Independence Day? by Sara Wright
She haunts me little bear, too slight, too wary to seek seed I cast for her under White Pine in whose strong arms she finds comfort and safety, if only for one night. The animals are innocent Where… Read More ›
Birds, Their Song Stills My Heart by Deanne Quarrie
Bluejay I see you perched on the tree checking the perimeter for cats lurking. The feeder below, inviting you down but you, ever cautious, make sure that none are about. Suddenly the sparrows swarm in, eagerly eating the seed offered…. Read More ›
The Tree as Mother by Mama Donna Henes
Arbor Day, Earth Day, May Day and Mother’s Day are deeply connected conceptually, etymologically, culturally and emotionally. The tree, with its roots buried deep in the earth and its branches reaching upward toward heaven, spread wide to embrace all of… Read More ›
The Gifts of Life: Do We Remember? by Carol P. Christ
Strawberries shaped my view of a world full of gifts simply scattered at your feet. A gift comes to you through no action of your own, free, having moved toward you without your beckoning. It is not a reward, you… Read More ›
Sisterhood, Service, Sovereignty: The Living Spirit of Avalon by Elizabeth Cunningham
Like so many women, I read Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Mists of Avalon and got caught up in her vision of the Holy Isle and the priestesses who knew how to navigate those mists and travel between the worlds. Like… Read More ›
Nobel Peace Prize 2017: ICAN and Those Who Can’t by Lache S.
If there is any sanity in the world, it has come from the Nobel Peace Prize of 2017, which was awarded to ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. They received the award for the work they have done… Read More ›
Gaining Perspective by Natalie Weaver
I don’t know if I could be a deep-sea welder. I don’t know what the risks of lethal electrocution, broken limbs, or the bends would be. I suspect it can be a dangerous occupation, like operating heavy equipment on good… Read More ›
The Universe Is on Your Side by Lache S.
While I am sure this articulation is on an “inspirational” meme somewhere, my thoughts coalesced to form it while I was looking at the mid-afternoon blue sky in a moment of rare optimism. Too often can I become confused and… Read More ›
A Return to Light by Judith Shaw
Spring is here in the northern hemisphere and with it the return of light in the yearly round of seasons. Today is Earth Day. Flowers bloom, new seedlings emerge and birdsong fills the air. As the cold and dark of winter… Read More ›
Honoring the Earth in our Rituals of Well-Being by Lache S.
Much of our lives lack the rich culture of ritual that I think would help us repair the relationships we have with our own bodies and with the earth. The Rg Veda is one of the oldest collection of hymns… Read More ›
On Minimalism by Ivy Helman
One of the concerns of ecofeminism is the modern materialistic mindset of capitalism. Materialism in capitalism instills not just owning many possessions, but it also inculcates the “need” to own the newest innovation. In addition, materialism advocates a throw-it-away mentality…. Read More ›
Supporting Embodiment: Societal and Jewish Views on Body Modification by Ivy Helman
Embodiment is a feminist principle which has, as its basis, two fundamental criteria. First, humans require their bodies to live. We must acknowledge that our existence is tied to our bodies. This fact grounds us in this world. Here, and… Read More ›
An Open Letter to President Obama about the Dakota Access Pipeline by Elizabeth Cunningham
I wrote this letter to President Obama on November 18, the morning after I returned from a few days at Standing Rock. I am not an activist by temperament. I went to Standing Rock to support a friend who felt… Read More ›
Can Good Theology Change the World? Part 2 by Carol P. Christ
In the first blog in this series, I argued that one of the hallmarks of a good theology is recognizing that the source of authority must be located in individuals and communities who interpret texts and traditions as they encounter… Read More ›
Restored in Beauty by Carol P. Christ
The path leading to the Klapados Waterfall begins at the edge of an open meadow in the pine and oak woodlands of a mountain in the island of Lesbos. After driving several miles on a very rutted dirt track, we… Read More ›
Moving the World Forward on the Spiral of Life by Carolyn Lee Boyd
The wasp nest dwells at the edge of my vision waiting for me to notice what it has to show me. In my mind, I have come to this beloved circle of earth beneath the embracing branches of this tree… Read More ›
Strength by Kate Brunner
The turning of a new year of some kind is and was often considered a portal time; perfect for rites of divination. In honor of the dawning of 2015, I spent the first few days of this month doing New… Read More ›
Winter Solstice Meditation by Molly
When the wheel of the year turns towards fall, I always feel the call to retreat, to cocoon, to pull away. I also feel the urge for fall de-cluttering—my eyes cast about the house for things to unload, get rid… Read More ›
Reciprocity, Empathy, and Reconciliation: The Roots of Human Morality in Our Primate Ancestors by Carol P. Christ
A link to a talk called “Moral Behavior in Animals” by Franz de Waal recently found its way into my email inbox. I am a big fan of Franz de Waal because his findings confirm what I always believed—that animals… Read More ›
A New Perspective on the Story of Ruth by Ivy Helman
When I think about having returned to the Judaism of my family, I often think about a short phrase that is on almost all of the conversion documents I’ve seen. “Your people shall be my people and your G-d shall… Read More ›
