I knelt beside a sprinkling of deer fur dotted with delicate snowflakes. Don’t take a picture of that, my husband said, people will think it is gross. I don’t find it gross. I find it curious. I find it surprising…. Read More ›
women’s spirituality
This is for colored girls who are movin to the ends of their own rainbows: Ntozake Shange’s Choreopoem of Spiritual Healing by Carol P. Christ
Ntozake Shange’s choreopoem for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf has reopened at the Public Theater in New York City to rave reviews. I first saw for colored girls in 1976 after my friend Carolyn Broadaway, who… Read More ›
It’s Called Practice For a Reason by Kate M. Brunner
My daily practice isn’t what I’d like it to be these days what with working two jobs, raising three teenagers, and going to grad school. I am clocking about 60 hours of work and school every week, which doesn’t leave… Read More ›
Creating Women’s Circles that Heal and Enrich Our Lives by Anne Yeomans and the Women’s Well
From 1994 until 2012, the Women’s Well, based in Concord, Massachusetts, offered thousands of women the opportunity to participate in women’s circles of all kinds. In the first and second parts of this series, Anne Yeomans, a co-founder of the… Read More ›
Centering Women’s Circles with Altars and Ritual by Anne Yeomans and the Women’s Well
From 1994 until 2012, the Women’s Well, based in Concord, Massachusetts, offered thousands of women the opportunity to participate in women’s circles of all kinds. Here, in their own words in the second of this three-part series, Anne Yeomans, a… Read More ›
Hope for the New Year by Katie M. Deaver
I have never been one to set major resolutions at the beginning of the new year, but this year feels different somehow. I can’t say that I am sad to see the end of 2017. This year has felt like… Read More ›
Ancestor Connection in Williamsburg, Brooklyn by Carol P. Christ
In early December 2016 I visited central Williamsburg in Brooklyn, New York, where my 2x great-grandparents Thomas and Anna Maria Christ and their son George and his family, including my father’s father Irving John, lived for over fifty years. I… Read More ›
Women, Theology and Identity as Believer by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente
Like all my reflections, this is not intended to be conclusive, but rather, to share some impressions about theology and the way in which women are created or given an identity as believers. In the androcentric and misogynist narratives of… Read More ›
Reconstructions of the Past 8: Hafsa bint Sirin (My Story of Her Life 3) by Laury Silvers
As discussed in earlier blogs, the sources tend to paint pious women as recluses for any number of reasons. No matter the intention, the message transmitted over time–in so many ways–is that pious women should restrict their social lives, especially… Read More ›
Khutba “A Call to Radical and Angry Women of Faith” by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente
I am grateful to the Interfaith Group of Feminist Theologians and Women of Faith for remembering my spiritual affiliation and giving me the opportunity to lead this service in this fully of blessings month of Ramadan and share with you a reflection… Read More ›
A Crone’s Life, an Embodied Experience by Deanne Quarrie
In January of 2013, I wrote an article here for FAR called Embody the Sacred. In it I wrote, “If we are to fully embrace living a magical life it is important to remember how to live in our bodies… Read More ›
To Know Her Is to Love Her by Joyce Zonana
“As my mother passed from this life, she was surrounded by a great matrix of love. As she died I began to understand that I too am surrounded by love and always have been. This knowledge is a great mystery.”—… Read More ›
Restoring Ourselves to Ceremony: Red Tent Circles, by Molly
“I believe that these circles of women around us weave invisible nets of love that carry us when we’re weak and sing with us when we’re strong.” –SARK, Succulent Wild Woman Seven years ago, a small postcard at the local… Read More ›
Enemy of (H)Islam by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente
So, again, you, the most holy and enlightened man of the mosque have pointed your finger at me to declare, noisy and hysterical, that I am an “Enemy of Islam.” Then you, who preaches and recites best, have gone out… Read More ›
A Women’s Mosque: An Interfaith Space for Feminist Spirituality by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente
If you thought that all I could do in regards to feminism and religion is challenge Patriarchy and tease around ladies and gentlemen of good temper and better reputation with my corrosive comments, this post may change your mind. As… Read More ›
Facing Depression by Carol P. Christ
The suicide death of Robin Williams prompted me to reflect again on my own experience with depression and to share my story in the hope that it can help others. In my twenties, thirties, and forties, I suffered severe intermittent… Read More ›
Five Years of Untamed Spirituality and Challenging Feminism by Vanessa Rivera de la Fuente
In Chilean tradition, the number five has an important meaning regarding the understanding of life. At 5, a person starts school and life in society. At 15, we celebrate the entrance into the young adulthood. At 25, it is expected… Read More ›
Ancestor Connection Revisited: Anna M. Christ of Little Germany, Brooklyn by Carol P. Christ
These days I can’t get my 2x great-grandmother Anna Maria Christ off my mind. She may be the independent female ancestor I have been looking for all these years. My father’s father was transferred from New York to San Francisco… Read More ›
IS IT ESSENTIALIST TO SPEAK OF EARTH AS OUR MOTHER? by Carol P. Christ
The charge of “essentialism” has become equivalent to the “kiss of death” in recent feminist discussions. In this context it is taboo to speak of Mother Earth. Yet, I would argue there are good reasons for speaking of Mother Earth… Read More ›
Staying In or Leaving the Religious Community of Your Birth: The Dialogue Continues by Carol P. Christ
This blog is part of an on-going discussion between me and my friend Jewish feminist theologian Judith Plaskow about the differences in our choices to stay in and leave traditional religious communities, which is part of our forthcoming book Goddess… Read More ›
Are Buddhist Women Happy? by Oxana Poberejnaia
The basic question is the same as in a “A Bit of Fry and Laurie” sketch about a sour-faced champion car racer: “Are you happy?” Are we, Buddhist women, happy with Buddhism? Are Buddhist men happy with the position of… Read More ›
Brigid, Goddess of Healing, Poetry, and Smithcraft by Judith Shaw
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 in honor of Brigid and the growing… Read More ›
Epona, Celtic Horse Goddess by Judith Shaw
Epona, Celtic Horse Goddess was worshipped by the Gauls (the Celtic French). Her worship spread to Britain and Rome from Western Europe. Hundreds of statues and shrines dating from between the first and third centuries CE have been found in… Read More ›
WOMEN FOR PEACE–TAKE TO THE STREETS by Carol P. Christ
Sometimes we are told that domination and violence and war are innate in human nature; therefore, it is futile to protest war. But this is not true. I oppose war because I oppose all forms of power-over, domination, and violence. As a radical… 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 ›
Goddess as Love: From Experience To Thealogy by Carol P. Christ
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. One of these was the moment of my… Read More ›
“LOVE PATRIARCHALISM”—ITS UNDERSIDE IS HATE by Carol P. Christ
Where patriarchalism trumps love, when push comes, shove often follows. The underside of love patriarchalism is hatred of the independence of women. We are told that it is the duty of a loving father and husband to protect his wife… Read More ›
SHADOWS OF THE GODDESS IN GREEK ORTHODOX TRADITION: EASTER AND THE DORMITION OF THE VIRGIN by Carol P. Christ
While I would not wish to argue that Greek Orthodoxy is in any way a “feminist” tradition, the shadow of the Goddess falls long over the two great festivals of spring and midsummer. In Greek Othodox tradition, there are two… Read More ›
IS ‘HAVING TO HAVE’ ONE OF THE ROOTS OF SUFFERING? by Carol P. Christ
There is a strong thread of fatalism in modern Greek culture that has been a powerfully healing antidote to my American upbringing in the culture of “I think I can, I can.” When confronted with an obstacle, many Greeks throw… Read More ›
LOVING LIFE* by Carol P. Christ
My religious views have changed over time, but the spirituality I learned from my grandmothers has remained constant. I have been Protestant, Catholic, a lover of Judaism, an admirer of Christian Science, and a Goddess feminist. I have always loved… Read More ›
