Buzz Coil: June

Tripping round the blogs shows that some people are living easy for summer and not posting much. But there’s still enough to keep us buzzy, I mean busy. For instance:

Doire Musings: In her June 17 post,"Dismantling the Castle (and the Cathedral)...Part II," blogger mdiv94 discusses the effects of exclusively male divine language and imagery, why the way Mary is venerated in Catholicism is problematical, and how to better empower her. Then she writes:

Movements in women’s spirituality including neo-pagan goddess worshipping traditions have revived female images for the divine being. These divine images take many forms. Some resurrect the ancient Paleolithic and Neolithic Mother Goddess, some are constructive of completely new associations and some simply replace the male language for the God of the Bible with female metaphors and images. There is scriptural foundation for the latter. A plethora of female images for God already exist in the Bible, though they have been suppressed. God is described as Mother Bear, Mother Eagle. The God who dwells among humankind, the Shekinah is female. The Wisdom of God, Sophia is female.

She bolsters her arguments with examples from the "Wisdom" literature in Proverbs 8 and Wisdom 8 and then continues:

....I have strong reservations about some of the modern movements for the "divine feminine," because despite good intentions it is all too often the case that female imagery for God is attached to "feminine" qualities. The female is cast in the role of nurturer, sensitive and compassionate sufferer, mother, kind healer, etc. This does not serve us (or Her) well. The result is the reinforcement and further propagation of the traditional (and patriarchal) Western sex-gender system which attributes to the female "feminine" characteristics and to the male, "masculine" ones. What must occur is NOT the attachment of "feminine" qualities to God, but rather the attachment of divine act and power to the female....

She then adds a combined quote from Proverbs 1 and 8.

Radical Goddess Thealogy:In her June 18 post, "Churning Out Goddesses," blogger Athana writes about so-called archeologists, this time Japanese, who are in Goddess-denial. (Reminds me of labyrs’ post on this blog about a similar [lack of] thinking.)

The-Goddess: Blogger Morgaine tries to convince ODE magazine to include Goddess in her May 24 post, "To ODE magazine: "Now we’re getting somewhere...."

Branches Up, Roots Down: This is the blog formerly known as "Roots Down," and we’re going to keep it that way in our blogroll for now. I personally liked the "secret password" aspect of the blog name being "Roots Down" and the url being "branches up," but maybe not everyone "got it." In her extraordinary June 13 post, "Queen of Hearts," Deborah Oak writes about the Reclaiming/Feri tradition of Three Hearts. In her June 20 post, "Some Things are Illuminated," she writes about Summer Solstice in San Francisco, past and present.

Hecate: In her June 20 post, "The Longest Day," blogger Hecate writes about "one of the most wonderful Summer Solstices of my life," and finding the right ritual group. The post ends with a Mary Oliver poem. In her June 16 "Saturday Goddess Blogging," Hecate writes about her women’s circle annual retreat and their choice of a Goddess to work with.

Driving Audhumla: In her June 23 post, "Dancing in the Meadows,"Victoria Slind-Flor describes her coven’s summer solstice celebration in Cesar Chevez Park, Berkeley, with raven solstice flags, the theme of sisterhood–and varying ages of sisters, dancing and drumming.

The Furious Spinner: In her June 21 post, Kim Antieau gives us "Summer Solstice Blessings."

Pagan Godspell: In her May 21 post, "Embodied Spirituality, Pagan Bodies," Sara Sutterfield Winn blogs about rumored efforts of speakers at a certain con to get Pagans to lose weight. (Pass the chocolate!)

Blog o’Gnosis: When is not-an-altar an altar? Anne Hill tells and shows in her June 21 post, "An Altar by Any Other Name."

The Wild Hunt: In his June 23 post, "Glastonbury Festival and Faith,"Jason Pitzl-Waters blogs about the June 22-24 Glastonbury Festival (not to be confused with the upcoming Goddess Conference in Glastonbury, Aug 1-5) . In addition to music, the Festival includes such Pagan or Pagan-like activities as a healing area, crafts, and environmental activities. Jason writes that this has made the Festival a target of some individuals and groups who seek to link Paganism with the Nazis (?!). At the same time, Jason writes, some Pagans feel the Festival is ruining their Summer Solstice at Stonehenge. In his June 18 post, "Sinead O’Conner and the Christian Market," Jason reveals that Sinead O’Conner is now singing to the Christian market.

O Sinead Sinead Sinead, what happened to the woman who sang to "Universal Mother," tore up the pic of the Pope on SNL, and was ordained a Catholic priest in spite of the RC Church’s prohibition on women’s ordination?

If we missed an blog post you think is important. Please leave the info as a "comment."