In this blog post I’d like to take you with me on a recent visit to the special exhibition “Arts and Prehistory”* in the Museum of Mankind (Musée de l’Homme) in Paris.** Like the Feminine Power in London exhibition I… Read More ›
Women’s Voices
Women’s March in CA 1/22/23 by Marie Cartier
WOMENS MARCH, Long Beach, California on the 50th anniversary of the passing of Roe v Wade,January 22, 2023
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
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 ›
“Our Lady of the Shards”: Icons for the Buried and Rising by Lauren Raine MFA
When I became a feminist, I realized that somebody had to write all about this women’s art that was out there being totally ignored, and it was going to be me. And of course the ideas and the discoveries about… Read More ›
Deconstructing and Reconstructing Love by Chasity Jones
Note: This is based on a podcast which can be heard here. What is love? What’s love got to do with pain and suffering? Are they related? Pain and love? Must one always be present with the other? In this… Read More ›
We Endure Abuse to Survive, Part 2 by Karen Tate
Part 1 was posted on December 18. You can read it here. But what was the straw that broke the camel’s back in my case? What hurled me into that dark abyss I described earlier? The paranoia, the anxiety, the nightmares… Read More ›
We Endure Abuse to Survive, Part 1 by Karen Tate
I considered myself savvy and educated and an advocate for peace, fairness and equality. I thought abuse was something that happened to others, not me. But it was happening to me. It had happened to me and I didn’t see… Read More ›
Carol P. Christ: Weaver of Visions by Beth Bartlett
Author’s Note: Today’s post is the 4000th FAR blog post! I first became aware of the Feminism and Religion blog when participating in a symposium honoring the life and work of Carol P. Christ in October 2021. I was inspired… Read More ›
Willful Women, Feminist Killjoys, and Jesus: Reflections on Sara Ahmed’s Living a Feminist Life by Liz Cooledge Jenkins
I’ve been thinking about willful women and feminist killjoys—two main guiding images in feminist scholar Sara Ahmed’s book Living a Feminist Life (Duke University Press 2017). The idea of the willful woman (or willful girl, or willful person) is something… Read More ›
Re-Anointing the Body by Eline Kieft
How ‘at one’ are you with your body, and what reasons might there be if your body-sense got separate(d) from your soul-sense? This piece starts with the difference between feminine and masculine spirituality, and introduces a few reasons why living… Read More ›
Biblical Poetry – Trees by Janet Maika’i Rudolph
In many cultures of the world, including our own, trees are considered the ancestors of humanity – own our ancestors. Trees are connected with great goddesses throughout antiquity. We see this in the bible where, as I’ve noted before, the… Read More ›
Unsung Heroines: Pamela Coleman Smith by Mary Gelfand
If you’ve ever had a Tarot reading or played with reading cards yourself, you’re probably familiar with the work of Pamela Coleman Smith, illustrator of the great-grandmother of all contemporary Tarot decks—The Rider Waite Smith Deck. First published in 1909, the… Read More ›
For Mahsa by Lori Stewart
On Friday, September 16, 2022 Mahsa Amini died in a Tehran hospital having been arrested by Iranian morality police on September 13 for wearing “inappropriate attire”. She was 22. Mahsa’s family claims she had bruises to her head and limbs… 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 ›
The People Who Have Always Had Questions by Liz Cooledge Jenkins
A few weeks back, author and historian Jemar Tisby tweeted that an acquaintance of his “described their general experience with white evangelicals as ‘people who don’t have any questions.’ I immediately knew what they meant.” The tweet gained some traction,… Read More ›
Equinox amongst the Stones
A Modern Pilgrimage to the Isle of Lewis & Harris, Part 2 In the previous post of October 14th, I introduced my recent pilgrimage to meet the Goddess, honour the physical and psychological changes that have happened inside me recently. I described… Read More ›
Triple Goddess in the Land by Eline Kieft
A Modern Pilgrimage to the Isle of Lewis & Harris, Part 1 For a long time, I felt a soft but insistent tug to go to the Isle of Lewis & Harris, on the west coast of Scotland. Third time… Read More ›
Authenticity by Beth Bartlett
The leaves have finally begun to turn. I’ve been longing for the trees to reveal their true beauty in all their colorful array, and am glad for this beginning. Soon the woods will be filled with the golden, amber, scarlet, and… Read More ›
Unorthodox; Embracing Kali on the Eve of Rosh Hashanah; ‘May you be be inscribed in the Book of Life’ by Joyce Zonana
A few weeks ago, I received a phone call from one of my spiritual teachers, a senior disciple of Sri Swami Satchidananda, whom I had immediately recognized and accepted as my guru when I first encountered him in the Summer… Read More ›
What is Wrong with This Picture? Rewriting Eve by Caryn MacGrandle
One of my oldest friends who I met when I was eight years old reached out to me the other day saying that if there was ever anything she could do, please let her know. She lives in another state… Read More ›
RELIGION, GOD, CHURCH, THE STATE, AND ABORTION by Esther Nelson
The phrase, “separation of church and state,” crops up frequently in conversation these days. I hear it most often when someone wants to clinch their argument on a politicized subject. Lately, it’s been concerning one’s “right” to an abortion. “It doesn’t matter… 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 ›
“Guns: The Sanctity of Life” by Marie Cartier
What can I say about guns? I want to be like Gabby Giffords and survive I want to be Emma Gonzalez and fight back I want to be I want to talk about how GUNS are less regulated than my… Read More ›
What Would a “Good Christian Woman” Do? by Liz Cooledge Jenkins
Early morning lap swim at the local pool is generally a peaceful space for me. It’s usually pretty uneventful. I try to go three times a week; I don’t always feel like going, but I always feel better after I… Read More ›
The Fall of Patriarchy: I Got Scammed by Caryn MacGrandle
I am a few months out of my second marriage. There will be no third. I know my task right now is to become self-sufficient. Thanks to my second husband, I have valuable Project Management skills. He set up an S-Corporation when he… Read More ›