The world Sappho envisions in her poetry is one with many lessons for us in the 21st century about how to live. While ancient Greek society, especially in later eras, was deeply misogynistic and women had few rights, Sappho’s words… Read More ›
Sappho
Visions of the Goddess: A White Horse by Carol P. Christ
Imagine my surprise when, a few days ago, I looked out my window to see a dappled horse munching on flowers in the field across the street from my house. In the next days I got used to her being… Read More ›
Sappho’s Poems as an Ethos for Women’s Ritual by Jill Hammer
For by my side you put on many wreaths of roses and garlands of flowers around your soft neck and with precious and royal perfume you anointed yourself. On soft beds you satisfied your passion. And there… Read More ›
A Matter of Life and Death: The Military or the Green New Deal? by Carol P. Christ
“I have set before you life and death . . . Choose life.” (Deut. 30:19) Scientists tell us that an environmental catastrophe which has already begun threatens every aspect of life as we know it on planet earth. The choice… Read More ›
Three Herstorical Divas to Die For by Mary Sharratt
The Urban Dictionary defines a diva as a woman who exudes great style and confidence and expresses her unique personality without letting others define who she should be. In my mind, a diva is a woman who stands in her sovereignty… Read More ›
“It Came Upon a Solstice Morn” by Carol P. Christ
It came upon a Solstice morn, that glorious song of old, with angels bending near the earth, to touch their harps of gold. “Peace on the earth. good will to all,” from heaven’s all glorious realm. The world in silent… Read More ›
Plato’s Diotima as a Symptom of Psychosis by Stuart Dean
As I mentioned in my January 30, 2016 post, Grace Jantzen in Foundations of Violence makes a compelling case that Diotima is a fictional figure. She does not, however, adequately distinguish her from the poetizing female figures Parmenides and Boethius… Read More ›
Caroline Schelling on Birth & Death by Stuart Dean
Of the many letters Caroline wrote to her lifelong friend Luise, one of the most intense (the 57th Letter) dates from seven years after the 4th Letter discussed in my last post. By then both were married; only a few… Read More ›
Caroline Schelling’s 4th Letter by Stuart Dean
Caroline Schelling (‘Caroline’) wrote the fourth letter of hers that survives (the ‘4th Letter’) on October 7, 1778, shortly after she had turned 15, to a girl she met at boarding school who was to become her lifelong friend (Luise)…. Read More ›
Artemis As Artemisia: Ancient Female Spirituality & Modern Medicine by Stuart Dean
The 2015 Nobel Prize for Medicine was awarded in part to a Chinese woman (Tu) for her identification and isolation to treat malaria of a chemical known as Artemisinin. The name of that chemical derives from the fact that it… Read More ›
Sappho, Frankincense, and Female Spirituality by Stuart Dean
White Howjary Frankincense (photo: Trygve Harris (www.enfleurage.com)) Sappho is the first Greek author to attest to the usage of frankincense. The word she uses to refer to it (libanos) is what comparative linguists call a ‘loan word,’ in this case… Read More ›
Sappho’s Prescription For A Healthy Heart & the Taoist/Buddhist Concept of Forget (忘)
A two line fragment of Sappho’s poetry (S.120) reads: But I am not one to keep venting my anger: Rather I let some things in my heart go unspoken Sappho’s word choices here make this as difficult as any of… Read More ›
The Sphere: A Symbol of Ancient Greek Female Spirituality by Stuart Dean
Originally, in ancient Greek, ‘sphere’ simply meant ‘ball.’ Though its grammatical gender varied, it was primarily a feminine noun. It is in that sense and with that gender that it bounces into Western literature in the episode of the Odyssey… Read More ›
The Physician Luke, the Virgin Mary and the Poet Sappho by Stuart Dean
Since my last contribution to Feminism and Religion my interest in Sappho and her influence has led me to a detailed analysis of Luke 1:27-45 (hereafter, the “Conception Story”). I want to share two observations from that analysis that I… Read More ›
Painting Sappho by Angela Yarber
“Someone, I say, will remember us in the future,” she once wrote. To my knowledge, she was never dubbed a prophet. A muse, yes. A romantic, perhaps. But never a prophet, rarely holy, and nary an icon. Until now. Hailed… Read More ›
Jesus, the Woman at the Well, and the Meaning of ‘Man’ by Stuart Dean
The story in the Gospel of John of the encounter Jesus has with a Samaritan woman (hereafter, ‘the Samaritan’) at Jacob’s well (4:7-29) has attracted considerable scholarly attention. For an overview of some of the interpretive issues raised by it… Read More ›
Sappho & Early Christianity by Stuart Dean
Given modern perceptions of Sappho it is, I am sure, going to seem at a minimum counterintuitive that early Christians would have had an interest in Sappho. The issue is not helped by the fact that a story about Saint… 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 ›
Sappho Chose Love Not War, What Will You Choose? by Carol P. Christ
* We have been taught to speak of war and the heroes of war in hushed tones. We have been told that evil Helen’s choice was the cause of the Trojan war. 2600 years ago Sappho, known as the greatest… Read More ›
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