Samhain - Hallows 2007

We celebrate our Ancestors,
whose wise actions, teachings,
and love eased our way
and inspire us still.

We remember those who this year crossed
over. May they find
rest and renewal
in the arms of our Goddess.

We welcome the new ones
born to us this year. May we help them flourish
as we teach them to honor the Earth and each other.
May they find love and fulfillment here.

TAGS:life Halloween Samhain Goddess Pagan Goddess Spirituality

Australian Goddess Conference

Thank you to Glenys Livingstone, Ph.D. for giving us permission to reprint here a report on the recent Australian Goddess Conference, that she posted to some mailing lists:

I have just returned from days at the Australian Goddess Conference. I wanted to offer a bit of a report on the conference, and to note here that the place was decorated with Lydia Ruyle's banners. Lydia had generously sent them to the conference weaver Patricia Corner and I helped put them up. Thank you Lydia - I often gazed at them during the conference and remembered all the places they had been.

It was an excellent event! The opening ritual was for me an awesome entry into sacred space remembering our lineage - our Maternal lineage, which may be many things to the many different women present there. And there was a great diversity of women, but what united us in this sacred space was our passion for Goddess, or the embodiment of ourselves as Sacred/Divine, or Sacred/Divine as female. But the Joy of this claiming and celebration was apparent.

Patricia Corner, the conference weaver, and the team of priestesses from her Pomegranate Grove do a marvellous job in organizing it and holding the space. I found it a very nurturant space, as it was last year. Like all good ritual, it nurtured the deep self, in deep community, expressing a deep truth. The sacred space was maintained really well thoughout the event - in all the other facets that need to be attended to in such a meeting. The final ritual was a powerful joyous spiral. One of the songs we spiralled to was Julie Walton's "The Witches Dance". It was amazing to see the exuberance of the women. Then Anique Radiant Heart sang while we remained in the centre, and the receptive shining faces of all revealed an ecstasy that goes with all entrances to the Universe.

I came away with a new will and capacity to live more erotically - true to my nature... it had been the title of my presentation! The theme of the Conference was Aphrodite. This new capacity in me was partly the result also of combining my attendance at the Conference with a journey to visit the grave of my maternal great-great grandmother... a site that no living person in my family had known about until recently.That's another story.

I highly recommend putting the Australian Goddess Conference on your agenda ... same time, same place in 2008 - 3 days this time - and combining it with your own particular journey. The first day of the 2008 conference will be open to the public, and we will offer more teaching/input. We are growing - Her presence becoming stronger.

Glenys Livingstone, Ph.D.
author of PaGaian Cosmology
http://pagaian.org

TAGS:life news spiritual feminism Goddess women and religion conferences Goddess Spirituality

Buzz Coil: October

We’re buzzing about what is for some of us our most important holiday, and the related topic of death:

UPDATE Oct. 25: Daily Kos: "The War Against Halloween: The Christian Right Strikes Again" by iriswitch; a strong serious diary about lies some Christians tell about this holiday, with many links to get you angry.

Pagan Godspell: Sara Sutterfield Winn writes America a tongue-in-cheek letter about what she considers "the lack of respect given to Halloween" in her Oct. 11 post, "The War on Halloween." In a longy-but-goody Oct. 8 post, "On Breathing Out My Darkness," she contemplates the necessity of darkness and includes her partial rewrite of a Brazilian folktale.

Branches Up, Roots Down: In her Oct. 11 post, "the veil gets thinner," Deborah Oak reflects on the role death has played – and is likely to play – in her life.

Mother of Willows: This blog has a new url: motherofthewillows.blogspot.com. In his Oct 9 post, "And when we die, " Peter Schogol ponders death and concludes that our beliefs influence what we experience when we die.

The Wild Hunt: Jason Pitzl-Water's Oct. 17 post, on "The Business and Controversy of Halloween" has links to a number of different points-of-view.

Evoking the Goddess: In his Oct. 18 poist, "Where the fae are tangible," blogger Paul ponders the relationship between "the call of wild places," particularly in Brighid’s Isles (such as northeast England and Highland Scotland) and Halloween’s popularity.

At Brigid’s Forge: Lunaea Weatherstone’s "blogue" has several seasonal posts. Among them, "Halloween Sparklies" on Oct. 15, about a dozen new Goddess Rosaries she’s made, and "Season of the Witch" on Oct. 5 about putting up her Samhain decorations.

We’re also buzzing about other concerns:

Broomstick Chronicles: M. Macha NightMare writes about what happened when she tried to bring up "the topic of the feminine divine" at an interfaith event in California to which she had been invited as a Pagan in her Oct. 1 post, "Holy Convergence."

Goddess in a Teapot: In Blogger Carolyn Lee Boyd’s Sept. 22 post on how celebrating the "Sacred Feminine" helps people heal from violence, she writes:

Quite simply, when we grow up in a culture that considers Divinity to be exclusively male, as women, we must readjust our thinking to honor our female selves as being sacred. Once we see ourselves as sacred, we begin to understand that violence is never deserved.

Flashes of Insight: In her recently-started blog, Flash Silvermoon writes in her Oct. 9 post about participating in a Yoriba drum circle during a power outage one night in Florida in "African Rhythms/Drumming With the Orishas." In her Oct.8 post, "Dancing with Orisha/Yemonja," Flash tells about her participation in the previous night’s "28th Year Celebration of Yemonja" in Florida.

Hecate: In her Oct. 8 post, "Oddly When You Spend A Generation Acting Like A Bunch of Asses, Young People Grow Up Disliking You," blogger Hecate writes about young people’s disillusion with "xtianity" due to the change of the version of this religion that has come to dominate in the USA in the last 10-20 years. A real good think piece!

The Wild Hunt: "Is Paganism A Major Religion?" Jason Pitzl-Waters asks in his Oct. 20 post, responding to Marshall University’s announcement that it now excuses absences for Pagan holidays due to the finding that Paganism is practiced by a sufficient number of people to be considered a "major religion."

Did we miss an item you think is important? We’d like to know about it, so please leave it as a comment.

First Issue of Ochre!

Welcome to Ochre: Journal of Women's Spirituality, whose first issue has just been published on www.ciis.edu/ochrejournal/. Ochre is a peer-reviewed, academic online journal published by the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) and initiated by CIIS students.

This first issue includes:

Introductory Letters by Joseph L. Subbiondo, CIIS President; Mara Lynn Keller, CIIS Director of Women’s Spirituality; and Dunya Nuaimi and Tamara T. Thebert, Editorial Directors

Articles: "Women’s Spirituality and the Primacy of Women’s Stories," by Elizabeth Shillington, to whom this issue is dedicated in memoriam; "Deconstructing This Self: One Black Woman’s Exploration of Childhood Sexual Abuse and Process of Personal Reclamation" by Annette Williams; "The Female Principle in the Magoist Cosmogony," by Helen Hye-Sook Hwang.

A Photoessay, "Benedictine Spirituality and the Land" by Katherine Kunz. Three poems by Mary Saracino. Artwork by Krinin Washington Carroll.

Congratulations CIIS!

Gore Wins Nobel

Al Gore and the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change received the Nobel Peace Prize today. Gore also recently won an Oscar for his movie on global warming, "An Inconvenient Truth." His earlier book, Earth in Balance (1993) refers to the works of Marija Gimbutas and Riane Eisler (p. 260 and Bibliography).

TAGS:life news Al Gore Nobel Prize environment Marija Gimbutas Riane Eisler

Hallelujah, Doris Lessing!

British author Doris Lessing has received the 2007 Nobel Prize for Literature. She is only the 11th woman to receive the literature prize in its 106-year history. Lessing is probably best known for her 1962 masterpiece, The Golden Notebook, and for her Children of Violence novel series. Lessing received the Prize a week before her 88th birthday, and is the author oldest at the time of receiving the award.
TAGS:life news Doris Lessing feminism literature Nobel Prize

Events Coil: Oct. 7 - Nov. 30

We are bolding the links to events that last more than one day because you often need to make plans well ahead of time for those. As far as we know, all events we list are open functions; but some may be limited to women or to adults. Please check the websites for group policies. If no country is given, the event is in the USA. All times are local. When listing events for the same date, we have tried to list those occurring first, taking into account time zone differences. If there is a difference between our listings and the listings on the web page linked to, assume their web page is correct, as it may have changed since we listed from it.

The next Events Coil is planned for early to mid November and will include events listed here that haven't yet happened, plus new events through the Solstice. If you have an event you want listed in future Events Coils, please leave info a comment. See the end of this Coil for what info we need for listings.

Oct. 7, 11 a.m. Service with guest priestess Kathy Sandoval, Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

Oct. 9, 7:30 p.m. The Craft Connection, Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

Oct. 11, 8 p.m. New Moon Song & Drum Circle, Montreal Reclaiming, Montreal CANADA

Oct. 11, gather 7 p.m., ritual 7:30 p.m. New Moon Women's Mysteries: Ancestor Altars , Temple of Goddess Spirituality Dedicated to Sehkmet, Indian Springs NV

Oct. 11, gather 7:30 p.m., Celebrate Rhiannon, Daughters of the Goddess (Dianic), San Francisco CA

Oct. 12, 7:30 p.m. "The Old Goddess and Her Night-flying Witches," with Max Dashu, Redwood Gardens, Berkeley CA

Oct. 19-21, Hallows Gathering, RCG-I, Wisconsin Dells WI

Oct. 19, time tba, Welcoming the Shekhinah, Mishkan Shekhinah, San Francisco CA

Oct. 20, time tba, Havdalah: "Pronouncing Our Gateways," Mishkan Shekhinah, San Francisco, CA

Oct. 26-28, Samhain Festival, Circle Sanctuary, Mt. Horeb, WI

Oct. 26, time tba, Full Moon on the Mountain, Montreal Reclaiming, Montreal CANADA

Oct. 26, doors open 6:30 p.m., ritual 7:30, 24th Annual Spiral Dance celebrating Hallomas, with Leilani, Evelyie Posch, Carlolyn Brandy, Z Budapest et al, Daughters of the Goddess (Dianic), Orinda CA

Oct. 26, 7:30 p.m. "Witch Hunts" with Max Dashu, Emeryville CA

Oct. 26, gather 7 p.m. , event 7:30 p.m., Broom Making, Temple of Goddess Spirituality Dedicated to Sekhmet, Indian Springs NV

Oct. 27, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Z Budapest, "The Healing Hug of a Woman, Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

Oct. 27, 8 p.m-Midnite, Samhain Drumming, Open Hearth, Jefferson Memorial, Washington DC

Oct. 27, 7 p.m. Season of the Crone Ritual and Feast, Temple of Diana (Dianic), Madison WI

Oct. 27, arrive 7:15 p.m., Drumming 7:30 p.m., ritual 8 p.m., Samhain Celebration with Tarot, Moonfire CUUPS, Arlington VA

Oct. 27, doors open 6 p.m., ritual 7:30 p.m. Samhain Spiral Dance (Reclaiming), with Starhawk, San Francisco CA

Oct. 27, gather 7 p.m., ritual 7:30 p.m. Full Moon Ritual: Bonedance with Vegas Vortex, Temple of Goddess Spirituality Dedicated to Sekhmet, Indian Springs NV

Oct. 27, 7:30 p.m. "Witches and Pagans," with Max Dashu, Redwood Gardens, Berkeley CA

Oct. 28, gather 11:30 a.m., ritual noon, Samhain, ConnectDC, Washington DC

Oct. 28, 11 a.m., Halloween Costume Party with Z Budapest and Mary Melkonian, Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

Oct. 28, 1 p.m. Z Budapest, Ritual/Workshop in celebration of the Magdalene Center's First Anniversary, N. Hollywood, CA

Oct. 28, 7 p.m. Samhain, Chicago Reclaiming, Evanston IL

Oct. 28, doors open 6:30 p.m., ritual 7 p.m. Starhawk leads trance to Isle of Apples, North Bay Reclaiming Samhain celebration, Sebastopol CA

Oct. 31, 7:30 p.m., Samhain Ceremony, Glastonbury Goddess Temple, Glastonbury ENGLAND

Oct. 31, "Allhelgona Samhain," Gudinne Templet, Soderhamm SVERIGE (Sweden)

Oct. 31, doors open 6:30 p.m., ritual 7 p.m., Hallows Ritual with guest priestess Dr. Barbara Ardinger, Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

Oct. 31, ritual 7:30 p.m. and 11 p.m., Samhain rituals, Temple of Goddess Spirituality Dedicated to Sekhmet, Indian Springs NV

Nov. 3, arrive 6:45 p.m.; ritual 7:30 p.m. Hallows Eve, Temple of the Goddess, Pasadena CA

Nov. 4, 14.00 uur, Samhain, Avalon-Mystic Godinnentempel, Hillgom NEDERLAND

Nov. 4, 11 a.m., Goddess: The Fates, guest priestess tba, Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m. Monthly ritual, "The Craft Connection," Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

Nov. 9, 8 p.m. New Moon Song & Drum Circle, Montreal Reclaiming, Montreal CANADA

Nov. 9, 7 p.m., New Moon Drumming with Candy Eaton, Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

Nov. 10, gather 7 p.m., ritual 7:30 p.m. New Moon Women's Mysteries with Goddess Path Class: Broom-Making, Temple of Goddess Spirituality Dedicated to Sekhmet, Indian Springs NV

Nov. 11, 11 a.m. Veterans Day Service with guest priestess Dianne Kapral, Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

Nov. 13, 7 p.m. "Women Healers: Transformative Shamanic arts," with Max Dashu, sponsored by Austin and SA RCG-I circles, Isis Institute of Women's Studies, and Book Woman, Austin TX

Nov. 16, 7:30 p.m. Welcoming the Shekhinah, Mishkan Shekhinah, San Francisco CA

Nov. 18 11 a.m., "Gratitude as an Act of Power," with guest priestess Diahann Reyes, Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

Nov. 24, 7 p.m., Full Moon Drumming, Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

Nov.24, gather 7 p.m., ritual 7:30 p.m. Full Moon Ritual, Temple of Goddess Spirituality Dedicated to Sekhmet, Indian Springs NV

Nov. 25, 11 a.m., Labyrinth with guest priestess Erin Huey, Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

Nov. 30, 7:30 p.m., "The Canaanite and Hebrew Goddess," with Max Dashu, Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

Ongoing
Australia
Canberra, 10 a.m.most Saturday mornings, Meditation. The Goddess Shrine, Temple of Lunation Magick
Perth (White Gum Valley): Mondays, 6 p.m., Chalice Ceremony, Daughters of Ishtar.

Canada
Sudbury: 1st Friday (Sept.-June) 7:30 p.m., Sudbury Women's Circle.
Hamilton: Saturdays, 4-6 p.m. Open Classes ; gather 6:30-7 p.m. Open Circles , Hamilton Temple, Wiccan Church of Canada.

Sweden
Soderhamn, Mondays, 7-9 p.m., meditation prayer, conversation, Gudinne Templet.

USA
Arlington VA: 3rd Sunday of month, gather 12:45 p.m., ritual 1 p.m. Moonfire CUUPS.
Baltimore MD: Sundays 10 a.m., Rites of Cafeina, Cedar Light Grove (ADF)
Geyersville CA: Sunday Services 2-4 p.m. Temple of Isis
Houston TX: Sundays, 10 a.m. Magdalene Community, Rothko Chapel; Mondays at Noon, Christian feminist theology study group ; 1st &3rd Fridays at Noon, Group studying Gospel of Mary, Brigid's Place, Christ Church Cathedral.
Irvine CA: Sunday Services: 1st Service at 9:30 a.m. inward, meditative; 2nd service at 11 a.m., dancing, drumming, singing; see dates for guest speakers. Goddess Temple of Orange County,
Mt. Horeb WI: Goddess Circle, Thursdays 7-8:30 p.m., Circle Sanctuary.
Portland OR: Rituals at new and full moons, quarters and cross-quarters. Full Circle Temple , Tuesdays-Sundays 10 a.m.-10 p.m. "Open to all self-identified women and girls."
Rockville MD: night before new moon, Dark Moon Book Group, Spiral Heart (Reclaiming).
San Francisco CA: Wednesdays, Christian Goddess Rosary, Ebenezer Lutheran Church; 1st Fridays, evenings at various locations, Woman's Spirituality group.
San Francisco CA: New Moon and Full Moon observances, Maa Batakali Cultural Mission.
West Concord MA: 1st Monday, 7-9 p.m. Women's Circles; other ongoing groups include Demeter & Persephone's Circle for mothers and daughters; Council of Mother Bears; Menopause As Spiritual Journey; Menarche, for mothers and Daughter, at Women's Well.

We'll be happy to add your Goddess and spiritual feminist events (and those you know about that are open to the public) no matter where in the world they are. Leave a comment with your event, giving: Name of event, sponsoring organization (if any), town, date, time (if known), and, required: url of website where person can get more info. (Do NOT give street addresses, phone numbers or email addresses. People should go to the website to get that info.) We plan to publish an Events Coil every month.

RCGI Salon - Fall Equinox Issue

Call me a contrarian, but I'm going to note the last article listed in the RCG-I Salon's contents page first:

"Empires are doomed to fall," by historian Max Dashu is a brave and biting commentary on the political state of affairs in the USA at present. Max takes a look at what the situation means for women and what it all has to do with Goddess reverence.

Other autumn offerings from the Reformed Congregation of the Goddess-International's e-journal:

Noting that the word "bede" means prayer, Bellezza Squillace, in "With Bedes in Hands," discusses the use of prayer beads among the Strega, participants in Cella and Womens’ Thealogical Institute students, as well as other religions and cultures. Interesting pics and ideas!

Short fiction by Patricia Monaghan, "Lesser Known Goddesses and Heroines - Selu," tells a story about the Cherokee vegetation Goddess, Selu, aka Corn Woman.

Rounding out this issue are Donna Fay Reeves’ "Goddess Limericks – Part II," and Debby Zygielbaum’s "Seasonal Poems from a Mediterranean Climate," consisting of "Rain Chant," "Rain Return," and "Fall."

Global Goddess Oracle: Fall Equinox Issue

Global Goddess Oracle’s Fall Equinox Issue is a richly-filled cornucopia of articles, rituals, poetry, and other yummy things. Lovely art by Aimee Santana follows you as you click through the pages.

A poem/prayer by Wendy Andrew that begins "Feel Me now as Mother Earth," opens the issue. Other poetry includes: "Mist" by Leni Austine, and "Seeds and Harvest" by Dancing Star.

Articles for any season include: "WE are the Twinkles in the Goddess’s Eye,"in which Mat Danu shares ideas about how to help wake up the Goddess; "Entering the Sacred Dance of Life," by Flash Silvermoon, an excerpt from her forthcoming book, about Flash’s inner journey, animal companions, and a morning ritual walk; "Birthing a Goddess Garden" by MarVeena-Vision Seeker, about how she created a labyrinth on her Texas ranch where walks are held on full moons; and the latest in Barbara Ardinger, Ph.D.’s humorous series: "Found Goddesses – Scissorella: Goddess of the Good Haircut."

The issue contains 2 rituals for this season: "Solitary Autumn Equinox Ritual" by Dawn "Belladonna" Thomas; and "Fall Equinox Rites" by Deanna Quarrie, a group ritual with labyrinth, acorns, drumming and dancing.

Other seasonal material includes: "Day Long Prayer for Abundance," by Mut Danu, a prose poem addressed to Habundia; "A New Year in Autumn" by Mama Donna Henes, explaining how various cultures determine the New Year; "Harvest Home versus the Wicker Man" by H. Byron Ballard," discussing the pleasures of beekeeping and the celebration of Harvest Home; "Mabon Seasonal Projects: Luminaries," by Dawn "Belladona" Thomas, which tells how to make luminary bags to honor women in your life and how to make a "Grape Wreath" and a "Gratitude Plaque."

Other features include: "Marigold (calendula officinalis)" and "Moon Schedule with Planting and Harvesting Days," both by Dawn "Belladona" Thomas; and "Animal Speak" a Ted Andrews CD review by Deanne Quarrie.