This was originally posted on December 25, 2018 We’ve all been there. Sitting around the tree watching the kids open presents. Attempting to enjoy a holiday meal with extended and immediate family that you may or may not have traveled… Read More ›
Relationships
A Fable for the Season by Marie Cartier
Once upon a time there was a person who only saw themselves in the mirror—even if someone else was passing by in the background, and they certainly never saw the shadows of all the people who had helped them in… Read More ›
Calling on the Ancient Ways to Make a New Future by Caryn MacGrandle
Dawn follows the dark. Call on Elen of the Ways for the ancient pathways revealing the mysteries of the deep wild wood where your heart resides. Well, duh. Of course. I camped out alone on my newly bought land in… Read More ›
Coming Home for Samhain by Carolyn Lee Boyd
Samhain is the beginning of winter according to the Celtic calendar. On this day, people brought their livestock in from the pastures and settled by their hearths to survive the coming cold until the magical renewal of spring. Here in… Read More ›
From the Archives: A Feminist Retelling of Noah’s Ark
This was originally posted on May 4, 2018 My daughters came to me after Sunday School one day, concerned about a story they had heard in which God drowned almost everyone on Earth. So I sat down and thought about… Read More ›
Redefining Sex and Intimacy in the New World We Are Making by Caryn MacGrandle
TRIGGER WARNING: Post divorce, I find myself redefining my relationships and want to share some discoveries I have made about sex and intimacy, and how that relates to my spirituality and identity as a feminist. I freely admit they might… Read More ›
My Daughter’s Religions by Sara Frykenberg
I find it interesting how certain or settled we often expect our little ones to be instead of getting curious about them or acknowledging that they are curious.
The Blessing of the Elders by Rachel Thomas
, elders are people who have illuminated my path, inspired me to see my own potential. To open my eyes, all my senses, even those I did not know I had. Elders show bravery and model for us how to be strong.
Rituals for Our Sons, Part 2, by Molly Remer
Five years ago, I wrote an essay for Feminism and Religion musing about rituals for our sons. I wondered aloud how we welcome sons in manhood, how we create rituals of celebrations and rites of passages for our boys as… Read More ›
On Duty and Compassion Towards the Elderly by Vibha Shetiya
At the outset let me state that this post is mostly a collection of musings, rather than having a definite thesis statement. I’m currently in India. I had to think hard before coming here for many reasons as you can… Read More ›
Vigil by Sara Wright
The third daydawns under a cloud. Mourning dovesspread their wingsacross leaden skies.I am walking on air.Two restlessnights – a hugetruck in the yard –Blocked,my stomach lurches.I read Tributes in a daze.Fierce Little FlowerWarrior Womanfights a torrent of waves.She is bridging raging watersforging a New… Read More ›
The Pear Tree by Sara Wright
She was more than a sapling, so robust. One summer she bowedher tear shaped body,offeringa hundred sweet pearsto any creaturethat sought her gifts.Did the deer remember? Fruit that fermented becamefertilizer for hungry plants. When theygirded her slender trunkthat winter I felt betrayedby the herd of graceful… Read More ›
Will You Be My (Feminist) Valentine? by Tallessyn Zawn Grenfell-Lee
Valentine’s Day was never about romantic love in my family. Mom always gave us Snoopy Valentines. Dad would write hilarious rhymes. My stepmom created gorgeous tea parties with chocolates and flowers, and we even gave red treats to our dogs…. Read More ›
Dancing for Forgiveness and Reconciliation – Part Two By Laura Shannon
In Part One of this article, I described dancing Jewish, Romani, and Armenian dances for forgiveness and reconciliation with groups in Germany and all over the world. I also offered danced rituals of remembrance at former concentration camps and other places… Read More ›
Dancing for Forgiveness and Reconciliation – Part One By Laura Shannon
When I first began researching traditional circle dances in the mid-1980s, I was amazed to find that the peoples who have suffered the worst of human experience – oppression, exile, genocide, war – also produce the most vibrant and joyful… Read More ›
Mourning with the Goddesses, Now More than Ever by Carolyn Lee Boyd
We may all remember 2020 as the year when we could no longer look away from death. Our western culture has hidden death away in hospitals and funeral homes for generations. However, in these past months we have all… Read More ›
Pandemic Grace: A FAR Message from Xochitl Alvizo
Hello FAR friends, I hope you are each doing well – that you are holding up ok during these trying times. It’s Xochitl here. I’m the behind-the-scenes co-weaver keeping things afloat (to varying degrees!) on this collaborative endeavor we call… Read More ›
Feeling Squeezed by Esther Nelson
Tyler Foggatt, associate editor of The New Yorker magazine’s, “The Talk of the Town series,” recently contributed (March 23) an essay titled “Cooped Up.” She notes that China, the first country to shut down due to COVID-19, is now in… Read More ›
A Lonely Mystic by Molly Remer
I want to be a lonely mystic dwelling in devotion, constantly dialoging with divinity, drenched in wonder, and doused with delight in knowing my place in the family of things. I want to weave spells from wind and wildness, soak… Read More ›
I’m Going Over the Cliff: How About You? by A Friend of FAR
It appears that I am getting a divorce. My husband and I have struggled – well, we have struggled – our entire eleven year marriage. We’ve had a lot to deal with: court problems with my first husband, lost jobs,… Read More ›
Woke Men, Stop Shitting On Women by Trelawney Grenfell-Muir
Woke Man is often a Leader of some kind, someone Well Respected for his Work in some sort of Important Progressive Cause. Woke Man may, understandably, think pretty Highly of himself. He’s got quite a Clever Sense of Humor, you… Read More ›
Winter Solstice Drama by Sara Wright
Last year I attended a bonfire on the night of the winter solstice at a friend’s house. As my companion and I walked towards the ledge where the fire had been the year before we were both astonished. Where was… Read More ›
Love Actually Is All Around by Karen Leslie Hernandez
For over a year and a half, I’ve worked at an organization in San Francisco called, St. Anthony’s. At first, I was a full time employee and now, part-time. A well-known entity in the City, St Anthony’s is most recognized… Read More ›
Poem: Make America Kind Again by Marie Cartier
Make America Kind Again was my favorite poster slogan of every Women’s March. We’ve had three and will have a fourth soon, January 18. I’ll be there and hope I see this sign again. It’s a sign that maybe it… Read More ›
Archy and Mehitabel by Barbara Ardinger
Archy the Cockroach and Mehitabel the Cat were introduced to the world in 1916 by Don Marquis, a columnist for the New York Evening Sun. Marquis was more than a mere columnist; he was a social commentator and satirist admired… Read More ›
Imagine. A Relationship. by Karen Leslie Hernandez
Imagine. A relationship. So painful. So needed. Never. What it needs. To be. Yet the Desire. For what. For what. Imagine. A relationship That’s not. Doesn’t exist. Isn’t. A relationship That strives To go. No where. A relationship Of fear…. Read More ›
Call Out Culture vs. Mentor Culture: Which one will save us from the apocalypse? by Trelawney Grenfell-Muir
Have you felt the satisfaction of putting someone in their place? Have you ever felt the rush of power that comes with delivering a cutting set-down? Have you ever felt a glow of pride after making fun of a horrible… Read More ›
A Blinding Light? by Sara Wright
Nature is a Living Being. Animals and plants have souls, and a spirit. Each species is unique, and yet we are all interconnected, human and non – human species alike. This is more than a both and perspective; its multi-dimensional…. Read More ›
I’m That Trump Voter You Hate by Trelawney Grenfell-Muir
There are people in my family who believe Christianity to be so inherently oppressive and harmful, that anyone who identifies as Christian is culpable for all of the harm done by all imperial colonization by Christian empires and nations, all… Read More ›
The Truth About Humans by Natalie Weaver
I have greatly enjoyed an odd little book I read over the summer. It is Lucy Cooke’s The Truth About Animals (Basic Books, 2018). Cooke takes us through a journey of animal behavior, chronicling the curious narratives that naturalists, philosophers, theologians, and… Read More ›