This was originally posted on January 31, 2013 Brigid, the Celtic Goddess of Healing, Poetry, and Smithcraft, begins her reign on Imbolic, February 2, the midpoint between winter solstice and spring equinox. On this day the ancient Celts held their Fire Festival… Read More ›
feminism and religion
Legacy of Carol P. Christ: “What Would Happen If One Woman Told the Truth about Her Life?”
This was originally posted on September 24, 2018 According to poet Muriel Rukeyser, “the world would split open.” This poem accurately describes what many women experienced in consciousness raising in the 1970s and what many women experience today in the… Read More ›
Legacy of Carol P. Christ: The Mountain Mother: Reading the Language of the Goddess in the Symbols of Ancient Crete
The blog was originally posted on May 22, 2017 Before he told the story of how his people received the sacred pipe, Black Elk said: So I know that it is a good thing I am going to do; and… Read More ›
Two Steps Forward, Three Steps Back By: Anjeanette LeBoeuf
It is a new year, 2023 and with it, some truly concerning elements. One of the most all consuming is that of the persistent and continual attack on women, communities of color, non-Christian communities, and the queer community. One of… Read More ›
Legacy of Carol P. Christ: Mountain Mother, I Hear You Calling
This was originally posted on July 7, 2014 The mountaintop shrines of Mount Juctas in Archanes, Crete are situated on twin peaks, which may have symbolized breasts. Ancient shrines on the northern peak date from 2200 BCE until at least… Read More ›
Legacy of Carol P. Christ: Think About the Consequences of Your Actions for Seven Generation
This was originally post on Aug 6, 2018 Nurture life. Walk in love and beauty. Trust the knowledge that comes through the body. Speak the truth about conflict, pain, and suffering. Take only what you need. Think about the consequences… Read More ›
Toward an Alternative Ecclesiology by Xochitl Alvizo
I mentioned in a recent post that I would share a little more about my current research, as one of the aspects of my life I gained more clarity in during my recent process of regrounding was in the area… Read More ›
From the Archives: New Year and Sustainable Resolution by Sara Frykenberg
This was originally posted on January 3, 2017 I am writing this blog on New Year’s Day, so Happy New Year! Today I say these words as both a statement of hope and as invocation. Happy New Year: may it… Read More ›
Legacy of Carol P. Christ: What I Celebrate at Christmas
This was originally posted December 28, 2020 Though I have not been Christian for many years, I love to decorate my house for the holidays. I have many decorations that I have collected over the years, including a Hummel angel… Read More ›
Legacy of Carol P. Christ: On Believing Things That Are Not True
This was originally posted on August 19, 2019 (when the former guy was President. Although former guy isn’t in power now, Carol’s points are still operative in our world.) Anyone who is following American politics these days knows that the… 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 ›
Goddess Pilgrimage to Crete – Reborn! by Laura Shannon
Thirty years ago, Carol P. Christ founded her Goddess Pilgrimage to Crete, which she wrote about in her book A Serpentine Path: Mysteries of the Goddess (original 1995 title Odyssey with the Goddess) and in numerous posts on this site over the years. She… Read More ›
Legacy of Carol P. Christ:“Ursula Niebuhr, Ursula Niebuhr”: Unacknowledged Co-author of Great Works of Theology?
This was originally posted on August 26, 2019. It fits in with our new project of Unsung Heroines. A few days ago while watching the movie The Wife, I kept hearing the words “Ursula Niebuhr, Ursula Niebuhr,” in my mind…. 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 ›
The Problem of Jehosheba: Reading One Biblical Character in Two Different Feminist Ways by Jill Hammer
Tucked away in II Kings 11 is the story of a mother-daughter feud that is personal, political, and ultimately fatal. Jehu, a charismatic military commander, is anointed by Elisha as the next king of the northern kingdom of Israel. Jehu kills… Read More ›
Women, Life, Freedom زن زندگی آزادی : Let’s talk about the protests in Iran by Anjeanette LeBoeuf
Trigger Warning: This post deals with violence towards women, violence towards humans, and egregious abuses of power. Women, Life, Freedom; Zan, Zendegī, Āzādī; زن زندگی آزادی has become one of the main slogans for an incredibly important and crucial global… Read More ›
Unsung Heroines: Self-Worth takes Time: The Transformation of Angela di Foligno by Elisabeth Schilling
Angela di Foligno was a 13th century Umbrian Franciscan mystic who began her initiation on the spiritual path when she was almost 40. She was officially declared as saint in October of 2013. Her works were dictated to a relative… Read More ›
Legacy of Carol P. Christ: Can We Celebrate the Dark? Can We Sleep?
This was originally posted on December 19, 2019 According to Marija Gimbutas, the religion of Old Europe celebrated the Goddess as the power of birth, death, and regeneration in all of life. Agricultural peoples understand that seeds must be kept… 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 ›
Legacy of Carol P. Christ: It’s Time to Thank Stacey Abrams Again
This was originally posted on January 18, 2021 The insurrection in the Capitol on January 6 has dominated the news ever since. Coverage of the Democrats’ victories in the two Senate runoffs in Georgia has been virtually nil. Now that… Read More ›
Legacy of Carol P. Christ: Practice Great Generosity
This was originally posted on August 20, 2018 Nurture life. Walk in love and beauty. Trust the knowledge that comes through the body. Speak the truth about conflict, pain, and suffering. Take only what you need. Think about the consequences… Read More ›
Legacy of Carol P. Christ: Restored in Beauty
This was originally posted on May 11, 2015 The path leading to the Klapados Waterfall begins at the edge of an open meadow in the pine and oak woodlands of a mountain in the island of Lesbos. After driving several… Read More ›
Legacy of Carol P. Christ: Tree-Hugging Is About Trees and So Much More Than Trees
This was originally posted March 11, 2019 Not too long ago I heard someone deride members of a seminar who were building labyrinths in the olive groves of Greece as “a bunch of tree-huggers.” I bristled! I probably first heard… Read More ›
Spill that Tea: Catholic Nuns, Meghan Markle, and Theological Feminism by Anjeanette LeBoeuf
I wrote a piece in March 2021 regarding the British Royal Family and their horrendous treatment of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. On August 23, 2022, Meghan released her first podcast episode for her… Read More ›
Beauty in the Heart of the Beholder by Janet Maika’i Rudolph
In the past two years, I began a project which I call biblical poetry. I had been doing my own translations of biblical verse based on the hieroglyphic meanings of Hebrew words. Ancient Hebrew or Semitic Early writing grew out… Read More ›
Legacy of Carol P. Christ: The Devil’s Bargain: “If You Can Convince a White Woman”
This was originally posted on August 12, 2019 This week’s news from America. Where to begin? When will it end? The President of the United States is a racist who incites racist violence. Republicans have been slow to condemn the… 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 ›
Legacy of Carol P. Christ: “Calling All Women” to Save the Earth, signed and shared by Carol P. Christ
This was originally posted on April 1, 2019 We are calling all women and our allies to come together to save the earth that sustains us all. Is it any wonder that from Rachel Carson to Wangari Maathai to the… Read More ›
Legacy of Carol P. Christ: Goddess as Love: From Experience To Thealogy
This was originally posted on September 24, 2012 If theology is rooted in experience, how do we move from experience to theology? In my life there have been a number of key moments of “revelation” that have shaped my thealogy…. 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 ›