I have a productivity obsession. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it an addiction, though in describing to a friend how euphoric it feels to check off a bunch of to-dos, he said, “You kind of sound like… Read More ›
Spiritual Journey
Restoring Ourselves to Ceremony: Red Tent Circles, by Molly
“I believe that these circles of women around us weave invisible nets of love that carry us when we’re weak and sing with us when we’re strong.” –SARK, Succulent Wild Woman Seven years ago, a small postcard at the local… Read More ›
Who Sits at the Center of this Story? By Elise M. Edwards
Have you ever heard of the Vitruvian Man? It’s an image from 1490 inked by Leonardo da Vinci that came to symbolize the centrality of the individual in the Renaissance. It is quite clearly a depiction of a muscular, European… Read More ›
Stoneflower by Molly
Like flower growing from rock the world is full of tiny, perfect mysteries. Secrets of heart and soul and landscape guarded tenderly taking root in hard crevices stretching forth in impossible silence. Sleeping resting waiting watching knowing that all one… Read More ›
The Importance of Rituals (Part 2) by Elise M. Edwards
In my previous post, I wrote about the importance of rituals. The rituals of the Easter season helped me process some difficult emotions. The way that rituals mark time and demonstrate consistency has been a comfort for me when facing… Read More ›
The Gift of Life by Judith Shaw
Life – a precious gift I so often take for granted. Events of recent weeks have turned that blatant disregard into profound gratitude. I began keeping bees about three years ago. My first two years were unsuccessful. But last year,… Read More ›
Uluru: Gratitudes & Farewells at the Red Centre by Kate Brunner
It is one of the challenges of choosing this migrant expatriate life to be dependent upon the current job and the willingness of your host country to give you a temporary home. When the job ends and the host country… Read More ›
The Importance of Rituals by Elise M. Edwards
My sister once said about me, “One thing you have to understand about Elise—she takes the ritual of whole thing very seriously.” My sister was right and her words helped me see this quality about myself. What ritual was she… Read More ›
What’s God Got To Do With It? by Esther Nelson
We’re no longer shocked, albeit still horrified and sickened, by the images of violence that come at us daily from all around the globe. I’ve come to expect it. Beheadings. Burning people in cages. Shootings–“execution-style.” Bombings of all kinds–including drones… Read More ›
Remaining Teachable: A Vital Component of Spiritual Leadership by Kate Brunner
A long time ago, at a young age, I became aware of a calling to leadership. Over time this calling continues to undergo expansion and evolution. In its current state, this calling- which I have come to experience as a… Read More ›
The Power to Interpret for Myself by Jameelah X. Medina
My father always encouraged us to interpret scripture for ourselves. We read text, learned mainstream interpretations, and then he would ask for our authentic self-generated interpretations delivered in the form of book and chapter reports due to him. Growing up,… Read More ›
Hail Mary: The Rosary and Why I Keep Praying by Marie Cartier
My mother-in-law is currently in hospice and expected to cross over any time now. My wife is with her. Those two sentences alone—since I am a woman writing this blog—signify historic/herstoric change. I am a woman and I am writing… Read More ›
Art, Nature, and Spirit by Judith Shaw
The beauty and the power of the Earth are all around us. Even in the poorest and most blighted urban environments trees, hollyhocks, sunflowers and other sturdy plants grow up through the concrete. We are children of the Earth, of… Read More ›
Stop. Drop. And Pray. by Valentina Khan
The other night, it was close to 11:00 pm and I was finally enjoying my own little ‘midnight’ snack and a healthy dose of reality TV when I got a phone call from a cousin I haven’t heard from in… Read More ›
Bringing Back the Boon: Life After Pilgrimage by Kate Brunner
I made it. Last month, I actually made it from Australia to Wales and back on an official Sisterhood of Avalon/Mythic Seeker Pilgrimage called The Priestess and the Healer. I also overnighted in Brisbane, passed through the Netherlands for a… Read More ›
From Evangelical Christianity to Feminist Evangelism by Andreea Nica
I always knew I was a feminist, despite my lack of knowledge in the movement and philosophy growing up. I did, however, have the religious support of my family and community to be an Evangelical Christian. I knew all the… Read More ›
Coming to Consciousness: Eckhart Tolle and Yoga by Lache S.
Both Eckhart Tolle and yoga have helped me become more conscious lately. As a Christian, I had always been a bit of a spiritual hypochondriac. Believing in the ultimate external body that had an opinion about my body – how… Read More ›
Thealogy of the Ordinary by Molly
The Goddess Gaia is alive In this time and in this space She speaks in sunrises And waves against the shore She sings with the wind She dances in moonlight She holds you close Your heart beats in time with… Read More ›
Women are like countries: both need to fight hard for independence by Oxana Poberejnaia
Rita M. Gross in her book Buddhism After Patriarchy presents portraits of prominent women from Buddhist history. Some stories are extraordinary for the brutal details they contain. For example, Yeshe Tsogyel was raped, kidnapped and beaten by her suitors to… Read More ›
No Ramadan Gloom and Doom by amina wadud
The first blog I read about Ramadan this year was full of the usual self-righteous pontification that takes this occasion to remind people to do such and such at this or that level. Who is the target audience for such… Read More ›
Finding Sovereignty in the Move from North to South by Kate Brunner
The Sisterhood of Avalon is not a huge organization. We probably have less than 500 members, all told. Most of our membership are women living in North America; primarily the US & Canada. In addition, there are a handful of… Read More ›
The Mosaic Language of God by Andreea Nica
Throughout my “bible-thumping, smitten with God” years, I scribbled countless thoughts and prayers in four devotional journals. Recently I came across these journals, wiping away the years of dust accumulated. As I have been detaching from the Pentecostal god, it… Read More ›
Confession by Darlena Cunha
Good afternoon, Fr. John. I’m here for confession. No, I’d like the curtain back, please. I want you to see my face. I really need to talk to you, get my bearings. But this confession will not be solely about… Read More ›
Expanding the Cycle of Pilgrimage by Kate Brunner
At the beginning of this year, I mapped out my assorted travel plans for 2014. We expected to be living in Australia through the end of the year, so I committed myself to the Sisterhood of Avalon’s August pilgrimage through… Read More ›
Painting Martha Graham by Angela Yarber
Joining Virginia Woolf , the Shulamite, Mary Daly, Baby Suggs, Pachamama and Gaia, Frida Kahlo, Salome, Guadalupe and Mary, Fatima, Sojourner Truth, Saraswati, Jarena Lee, Isadora Duncan, Miriam, Lilith, Georgia O’Keeffe, Guanyin, Dorothy Day, Sappho, Jephthah’s daughter, Anna Julia Cooper,… Read More ›
Redefining Spirituality, One Church for All by Andreea Nica
As a former lover of Christ and ex-Pentecostalist, I had countless visions and dreams that one day I would be a spiritual leader. While growing up in the charismatic church, it was even prophesied that one day I would become… Read More ›
Five Years of Untamed Spirituality and Challenging Feminism by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente
In Chilean tradition, the number five has an important meaning regarding the understanding of life. At 5, a person starts school and life in society. At 15, we celebrate the entrance into the young adulthood. At 25, it is expected… Read More ›
Writing Holy Women Icons by Angela Yarber
For two years I have had the great privilege of writing a monthly article about one of my Holy Women Icons with a folk feminist twist for Feminism and Religion. Virginia Woolf , the Shulamite, Mary Daly, Baby Suggs, Pachamama… Read More ›
BOOK REVIEW: Amy Wright Glenn’s Birth, Breath, & Death by Natalie Weaver
Amy Wright Glenn’s Birth, Breath, & Death: Meditations on Motherhood, Chaplaincy, and Life as a Doula is a mid-life memoir of the author’s personal encounters and professional insights drawn from her work in the spaces of birth and death. Glenn… Read More ›
Witch’s Night In by Kate Brunner
There is doctrine. There is tradition, liturgy, scripture, & exegesis. And then sometimes, there is simply real life. There is the precious gift of spending time engaged in deep communication with everyday women living spiritual lives the best they can… Read More ›