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We welcome comments and appreciate all viewpoints shared. There is no single definition of feminism and this is a place of many voices. Please be respectful and share with the intent of furthering dialogue and creating community. Personal attacks and insults will not be posted – nor will unsolicited ads or plugs. Comments with hyperlink/s are automatically sent to moderation and will be reviewed before receiving approval. Blog admins reserve the ultimate right to review, moderate, and screen comments. By submitting a reader comment, the reader agrees to be bound by and accepts the terms laid forth here.
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feminismandreligion.com 
I recently danced with Laura for the first time though have danced in circles for many years. With her gentle but erudite guidance I had a new experience of my female self held both within a circle and also within a spiral linking me to all who have been and those who will come. We danced ourselves open and closed, we danced our water ,earth, fire and water,.We danced where we found ourselves in landscapes,in peoples homes, to bless our food ,to ask for rain, to say hello and goodbye as our ancestors have no doubt danced before.Thankyou Laura for holding those rivers open for us…..Katherine Gowing
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The intersection of Feminism and Religion is a passionate concern of mine. Thank you for your site. I can’t find a place on it to simply introduce myself and my work; so I’ll just say something here.
Thanks to a strong growing tradition of foremothers in feminist religion, I have begun to address a lifelong challenge for me, and am writing about it in a book: _Persephone’s Choice: Re-visioning the Victim Goddess.
As I get parts of it finished, they go online at the URL I mention below. You can also contact me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/kay.baird.79.
Io Evohe!
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Leaves
giant fig fronds rest
liquidamber leaves blaze red
cool autumn stillness
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Just stumbled upon this site, in search of a friend who is somewhat involved inWomen’s Spirituality and feminism. I’ll return at another time to read more thoroughly.
I met and became good friends with Merlin Stone prior to When God Was Å Woman was published under that title. In my, and many others opinion, Merlin’s book and its sequel “Ancient Mirrors of Womanhood” were the start, and the catalyst for what then became known as the “Women’s Spirituality” movement in the 70’s.
It bothers me a lot that her work and her life (e.g. hitchhiking from country to country to gather information and research) are hardly mentioned when the “mothers” of women’s spirituality/feminism as we know them talk. It was thanks to Merlin that led women to study, speak out, become involved in a much needed look at religious institutions. I would be interested to get others comments about this. Thank you.
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I just came upon your website today. thank you for this sharing space! I also came upon this article “ARE ALL THE CARTOON MOTHERS DEAD?”…stunning in its implications of influencing untold millions with a “message”.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/07/why-are-all-the-cartoon-mothers-dead/372270/
If the patriarchal religions have suppressed/oppressed/killed off the goddess/mother/sacred feminine over the centuries, Hollywood continues to reinforce the message today….same thing that’s been ongoing in films and advertising. With increased violence/oppression against women around the world, the explosion of trafficking and violent pornography…is this being fueled by the continuous stream of ‘entertainment’ that devalues, erases, and kills off mothers/women,or just the contemporary incarnation of witch hunts? Peddling the princess archetypes vs. the agressive super heroes, toy aisles of pink/purple vs. black/camoflage…in the toddler departments. Imprinting the next generation. Again. We’ve a long way to go.
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Are you an ADL minister?
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It does seem to me that just about any experience that women have is deemed, in common perception, as less palatable, as unacceptable for general sharing, as opposed to all other aspects of life. The taboo on these subjects is of equal strength, probably, to that which keeps the truth about animal cruelties behind closed doors. I am still, personally, astonished at how there is NO discourse about the impact of breastfeeding on all concerned – baby, mother, family, partner, the rest of society.
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Are the words Bigotry, Racism, and Misogyny allowed? I am a feminist and strong support of equality and humanitarianism. These three words are very evocative, however, I will not use them in future, if they are considered not helpful. I am a new follower and love your erudite posts for educating and learning. I have read your Comment Policy. Thank you so much, K. D. Dowdall
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I LOVE your rules and Iove the word “nurture” in your rules
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Given the intrinsic natures and ways of operating of patriarchies and matriarchies respectively, it is easy to see how it happens that a matriarchal culture can come to be supplanted by a patriarchal system. That, in fact, is exactly what has happened in many cases upon the conquest and colonization of indigenous cultures all over the world.
But it is not easy to see how a whole matriarchal system can ever replace a patriarchal one. Or even to foresee that a patriarchy will ever permit any substantial modification of its power. I wonder if Heide Goettner-Abendroth has done any thinking about this (or if any other readers have)? The Pueblo Indian culture of the American Southwest can be seen as an fascinating synthesis or balanced blend of matriarchy and patriarchy, but who knows how it evolved to be that way? Even the Pueblos themselves don’t know.
(It is not unusual, of course, for isolated individuals within a patriarchal system, when they experience religious conversion or spontaneous spiritual awakening, to–in effect– exchange a patriarchal values system for a matriarchal one.)
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Thank you. That is one of the clearest definitions of feminism I’ve read.
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I’m hoping people will see this comment now, since I’m listening to the first day of the soundhealingglobalsummit.com, July 10, 2023 – anyone can sign up to listen to this 5-day summit – and the 2nd speaker, a man in Peru named Puma is giving a demonstration of sacred songs in a matrifocal culture – honoring Pacha Mama, explaining the order of invocation and the healing singing done by the entire community who goes up to a mountain in Chincero, Peru to sing – fascinating, like we’re there in an ancient matrifocal culture. Each day shows for 24 hours so you all have until some time Tuesday July 11 to catch this one. These summits usually repeat soon after their first time through, so it’s another opportunity to catch days we might have missed.
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