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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in goddess spirituality

Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs

BigBangGoddess.jpg

Since discovering my GoddessMuse several years ago, I have worked with women in middle age and beyond to help them do the same through the experience of transformational art.

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  • Áine
    Áine says #
    Beautiful words, and an even more beautiful painting - it was well worth the time it took to develop! I have considered the idea o

Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs
The Empowered Goddess

The beauty of the Goddess is often displayed by the luminous glow of her skin, the fluid movement of her body and attire, and by her nourishing and loving qualities that identifies so splendidly with the Feminine Divine.  When we envision the Goddess, we visualize the mermaid, the fairy and the priestess; all very beautiful and soft representations of the Female aspect.

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  • Lizann Bassham
    Lizann Bassham says #
    Thank you for your wise words - if time is not linear, but really simultaneous, our nature as Maiden, Mother, Crone, can be as wel

Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs

Admittedly, most of the time, when someone refers to me as a feminist, the word they follow it up with is not “Witch” (though the word they choose does rhyme with Witch). In fact, I find that people are somewhat confused when I refer to myself as a “Feminist Witch.” This confusion is probably best summed up in the question I got from a young woman in a college class I had been speaking to about Witchcraft and Paganism. Her voice full of sincerity and clear perplexity, she asked, “So you're a feminist? What's the difference between you and a man-hater?”

Well then. I guess that's better than the “What's the difference between you and a Satanist?” bit I usually get at these public lectures, I thought to myself. Then I took a deep breath and gave her my standard answer: “Feminism is the radical idea that women are people. Feminism is the idea that there is no such thing as a lesser person, and that all people deserve dignity and equality, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race, class, or anything else.”

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  • Ashling Kelly
    Ashling Kelly says #
    Couldn't have said any of this better myself; in fact, you expressed it far better than I could have. Thank you for bringing this
  • Greybeard
    Greybeard says #
    Its good to hear that young women in college today have so much wisdom.
  • Heather Freysdottir
    Heather Freysdottir says #
    I just love how every time a woman self-identifies as a feminist, that has to be quantified with "but I'm not a man-hater, honest!

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

It could be argued that there is no more famous Goddess in modern Paganism than Isis. Her figure -- often winged, with ankh in hand or perhaps an infant Horus, usually crowned by a sun and horns -- is immediately recognizable. 

Such was the case in much of the ancient Western world, as well. Known as Au Set or Aset in Egypt, her myths and worship spread across northern Africa, deep into the Middle East, throughout Europe, and as far north as Roman Britain. The memory of her survived even into the Christian Middle Ages. With the (re)birth of Paganism, songs and hymns are once again being raised in her honor; Wiccans, solitary Pagans, Goddess Spiritualists, Kemetics and many others praise her as the Queen of Heaven, the Throne of Creation, the Great Magician, the Mother of Mothers, the Rose of Eternal Life.

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  • Rebecca Buchanan
    Rebecca Buchanan says #
    @Isidora: I'm so glad to hear that "Isis Magic" is back in print. And I'm glad to hear that you've been enjoying the devotionals
  • Isidora Forrest
    Isidora Forrest says #
    Thanks for the mention, Caity! Isis Magic had been out of print for several years...but happily, it is now back in print in a 10t
  • Rebecca Buchanan
    Rebecca Buchanan says #
    Caity: thanks for the suggestion!
  • Caity
    Caity says #
    I really enjoyed "Isis Magic: Cultivating a Relationship with the Goddess of 10,000 Names" by M Isidora Forrest, which falls into

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

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  • Naomi Shank
    Naomi Shank says #
    What a wonderful trip and story you have to tell of it. I hope someday I can travel to China and have as memorable an experience.
  • Jen McConnel
    Jen McConnel says #
    Thank you, Naomi! I hope you get there soon!

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

In my last post, I discussed a few of my favorite nonfiction Goddess Spirituality texts; and those were only a few of the many, many books available on the subject. This time, we'll look at some of the fiction books which focus on Goddesses, the Goddess, and Goddess Spirituality. They include children's picture books, graphic novels, romance novels, fantasy, and science fiction.* 

First is the picture book, Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave, by Mariana Mayer and KY Craft. Baba Yaga is an amorphous figure from Russian lore who is sometimes a Goddess, sometimes a malevolent figure, sometimes a shamanic guide, sometimes a witch, sometimes all four and more at once. Here, she reluctantly takes in the young Vasilisa, a courageous and clever girl eager to learn everything Baba Yaga can teach her. The Russian hag is a terrifying figure, making this book an excellent way to introduce children to more frightening Goddesses, or aspects of the Goddess. 

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs

Like many people moving out of Christianity and into "alternative" spirituality, it was devotion to female Deities which first attracted me. As a child, I was drawn to Artemis and Athena (and Apollo). Through my teen years and into college, it was books about the Goddess and Goddesses which steadily filled my shelves, eventually overflowing. I was fascinated, enthralled by this idea of a female Deity, so different from the male Deity I had grown up honoring.

In graduate school, that overflowing pile turned into a landslide as Goddess Spirituality became the focus of my master's thesis. While I concentrated on the Fellowship of Isis (even making a pilgrimage to Clonegal Castle), I read broadly on the subject -- and it quickly became apparent that there is no one Goddess Spirituality. Goddess Spiritualities would be more accurate, as those who honor the Female Divine fall all along the spiritual spectrum, often touching different points simultaneously. Some devotees are monotheistic in their thealogy, believing in a single, all-encompassing female Deity. Others are more pantheistic or panentheistic, honoring nature and the female entity which created and manifests in it. Still others are henotheistic, acknowledging the existence of other Deities but choosing to honor only one (or a small handful). And there are devotees who identify as polytheistic, acknowledging and honoring multiple female Deities exclusively, or giving them priority over male Deities. Finally, there are strains of Goddess Spirituality running through progressive branches of Judaism and Christianity and (less visibly) Islam. 

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  • Sharon Fargo
    Sharon Fargo says #
    I believe Karen Tate has a book about goddess tours. At the least, she gives guided tours. She hosts the radio program Voices of t

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