The first time I came across the phrase, I thought I must be making a mistake. “Que Dieu l’enveloppe dans sa matrice,” the passage read in French, “May God’s womb enfold her.” or possibly, “May God enfold her in His womb.” His womb?
Carol Christ
Forty Days After Childbirth, Mary Returns to the World by Laura Shannon
All week we have been warming our spirits at the sacred fire of Candlemas / Imbolc, the Celtic holiday in honour of Brighde, Irish saint and Goddess of poetry, smithcraft and healing. Imbolc falls approximately 6 weeks between the winter… Read More ›
The Navajo Mountain: A Feminist Perspective Chant by Sarah Wright
Like the Navajo Night Chant celebrated at winter solstice the Navajo Mountain Chant is the last important winter ceremony, one that marks the shift in seasons and the return of the light. The Mountain Chant was once nine days in… Read More ›
Living with Uncertainty by Sara Wright
I was deeply moved by Carol’s willingness to share deeply personal feelings about how her visit to the hospital , enough so that I decided to write about how the Covid virus has impacted my life and the lives of… Read More ›
Lammas after Lockdown by Laura Shannon
Today, August 1, 2020, is Lammas, the Celtic festival of late summer, the ‘feast of bread’, time of harvest and of golden grain. Here in the UK, Lammas arrives just as we are emerging from our coronavirus lockdown. It’s hard… Read More ›
Canada Goose by Sara Wright
Canadian Geese have been on my mind a lot lately. This past winter I have missed the skeins of geese that fly back and forth up and down the river appearing every single morning like clockwork. In Abiquiu when winter… Read More ›
Navajo Night Chant and the Sacred Dark by Sara Wright
With Winter Moon’s passage and the approach of the winter solstice just a little less than a week away I am much aware of the (potential healing) dwelling place that I inhabit that also characterizes these dark months of the… Read More ›
Ritual Dances for Greek Easter by Laura Shannon
In a previous post on FAR I wrote about some of the Easter customs in Greece in which pre-Christian and Christian practices intertwine, and I would like to pick up this thread again here. Today is ‘Bright Saturday’, the Saturday after… Read More ›
Longing to Heal Family in our Differences and Distances by Lache S.
I can’t even save myself. I make bad decisions just like the ones in the world – bombs and wars and the industrial revolution with chains of greed. But then I go on and, without even knowing any part of… Read More ›
Women’s Ritual Dances and the Nine Touchstones of Goddess Spirituality – Part Four by Laura Shannon
In Rebirth of the Goddess, Carol P Christ offered Nine Touchstones of Goddess Spirituality as an alternative to the Ten Commandments. The Nine Touchstones are intended to inform all our relationships, whether personal, communal, social, or political.[1] In this four-part… Read More ›
Women’s Ritual Dances and the Nine Touchstones of Goddess Spirituality-Part Three by Laura Shannon
In Rebirth of the Goddess, Carol P Christ offered Nine Touchstones of Goddess Spirituality as an alternative to the Ten Commandments. The Nine Touchstones are intended to inform all our relationships, whether personal, communal, social, or political.[1] In this series… Read More ›
Women’s Ritual Dances and the Nine Touchstones of Goddess Spirituality-Part Two by Laura Shannon
In the first part of this article, I looked at how Carol P Christ’s Nine Touchstones of Goddess Spirituality from Rebirth of the Goddess are related to traditional women’s ritual dances of the Balkans. After more than thirty years of… Read More ›
Women’s Ritual Dances and the Nine Touchstones of Goddess Spirituality-Part One by by Laura Shannon
In Rebirth of the Goddess, feminist theologian Carol P Christ offered a list of ‘Nine Touchstones of Goddess Spirituality’.[1] She revisited the Nine Touchstones in an interview with Karen Tate on Voices of the Sacred Feminine titled ‘Gratitude and Sharing:… Read More ›
The Power of Black Panther by Xochitl Alvizo
Note: Black Panther movie spoiler alert. I attended my friend’s dinner party (now my beautiful partner) recently in honor of her birthday. It was an intimate gathering of nine, mostly her immediate family, so I felt privileged to be included…. Read More ›
Notes from A Goddess Pilgrimage by Joyce Zonana
The solar eclipse has had me sensing deep alignment with earth, sea, and sky, with my sisters and brothers and Self. This, then, from my 1995 journal of my first Goddess Pilgrimage to Crete with Carol Christ, a trip still… Read More ›
Foremothers: A Book Review & So Much More by Kate Brunner
I sometimes feel as though I live caught between feminism’s assorted waves. I am too young to have experienced the rise & crest of the Second Wave. I only just began to learn there was an actual -ism type name… Read More ›
Give Me That “New” Time Religion! by Susan Gifford
I want a new religion. I have changed to the point that I cannot be a part of a patriarchal religion and I feel that all of the major organized religions fall into that category. It has taken me a… Read More ›
Twelfth Night: Men’s Dance Rituals in Northern Greece by Laura Shannon
The twelve days between Christmas and the New Year are still held to be holy days in Greece, a mystical and dangerous time when mischievous spirits emerge from the underworld, seeking to wreak havoc in the human realm. On the 6th… Read More ›
Essentialism Reconsidered by Carol P. Christ
In my Ecofeminism class we have been discussing essentialism because some feminists have alleged that other feminists, particularly ecofeminists and Goddess feminists, are “essentialists.” They argue that essentialist views reinforce traditional stereotypes including those that designate men as rational and… Read More ›
We are Worth the Time it Takes to Create a Practice by Xochitl Alvizo
Recently, in response to the excellent conversation following Nancy Vedder-Shults’ post on the goddess Kali, Carol Christ commented to Nancy, “I too love our conversations, wish there was more in depth talk on our blog [FAR], maybe there will be.”… Read More ›
Women’s Ritual Dances: The Dancing Priestess of the Living Goddess by Laura Shannon
Kyria Loulouda calls to her sister to help her wind the yards of woven girdle around and around my waist. Kyria Stella’s aged fingers, still strong, tuck the sash ends in tightly, smoothing down the fabric she and Loulouda wove… Read More ›
Deciding to Leave or Remain in the Religion of Your Birth – Part II by Judith Plaskow
This is a response to Carol P. Christ’s blog of April 29, 2013 on why she decided to leave the Christian tradition. Carol and I discuss these questions further in our forthcoming book Goddess and God in the World: Conversations… Read More ›
For the Love of Gaia by Jassy Watson
On January 26, 2013 a rare, devastating tornado hit our community in Queensland, Australia, a coastal town on this sub-tropical coast. My family experienced nature’s elemental force firsthand and hopefully will never again. The tornado viciously shattered houses, peeled away… Read More ›
What Is Love? by Jassy Watson
I asked this question at the family dinner table, on facebook, and by e-mail. Many heartfelt responses were offered, all insightful. Some spoke of romantic love, sexual love (eros), self-love, spiritual love, the love a parent has for a child,… Read More ›
Gods of War by Barbara Ardinger
Let’s talk about Mars and Ares. It’s common to think the Greek and Roman pantheons were identical and the gods and goddesses just had alternate names. This is not true. The Roman gods and goddesses personified civic virtues, whereas Greek… Read More ›
Blessed By Gratitude and Sharing by Xochitl Alvizo
Carol Christ’s post yesterday has gotten me thinking about the differences between Christianity and earth-based spiritualities. Of course, there are many differences, that goes without saying. However, being someone who comfortably stands at the intersection of them both I am usually more… Read More ›
Sustaining Feminist Spiritualities in the Seeming Absence of Community by Lache S.
The spirituality I cultivated during my teens through evangelistic Pentecostal Christianity was based on possession, hierarchy, and exclusivity, although I would not have said that at the time. As I gradually moved away from that faith community in my mid-20s, no… Read More ›
Inspiration by Jassy Watson
This “Mountain Mother” painting is an ode to women’s earth wisdom and is my prayer for reclaiming of that wisdom to heal the earth and all her beings. When I am inspired to paint I can think of nothing else,… Read More ›
Feminist Music By Gina Messina-Dysert
Last week Caroline Kline shared the article “Feminist Films” and discussed the Bechdel Test as a way to identify whether or not a film is feminist. It left me wondering – can we identify music as feminist in the same… Read More ›
A Room of One’s Own: Sacred Women’s Space by Amy Levin
I normally don’t get too personal in my blog posts. I figure if I’m going to take up space on the blog I might as well offer up something other than me, my voice, my body, and instead some good… Read More ›
