Buzz Coil: March

Daily Kos: Many Goddess feminists will be familiar with blogger Philoguy’s explanation of "Patriarchy as a Social Structure," in his March 25 diary "Thoughts About Feminism–Clinton and Patriarchy," Do you agree with his opinion of which Democratic candidate is running the more feminist campaign?

The Village Witch: Writing in her blog in the Ashville (NC) Citizen-Times, in a March 25 post, "Lately I’ve been gathering information...",Byron Ballard compares how she speaks to groups of Goddess-honoring feminist Pagans with the way Rev. Wright speaks to his congregation. Her March 22 post, "The Spirit Moved Us (but I don’t think it’s on YouTube)" Ballard blogs about two Ostara rituals she attended.

Matters of Minutia: Blogger lisa xx brings us reflections on the current celebration of Mabon in Australia in her March 26 post, "7.59 a.m.–how faded are the roses on my favourite nighty."

Peeling a Pomegranate: Blogger Ketzirah Carly’s March 23 post, "Journeying to the Source" tells about an annual tradition for her: journeying to the source of the Potomac River. This year's visit begins with a disturbing surprise but turns into a newer and deeper spiritual experience. The title of her March 20 post, "Esther, Ishtar, Morning Star," alludes to a possible connection between the heroine of the Jewish spring holiday of Purim and an Ancient Near Eastern Goddess. The pic accompanying the article shows traditional Purim pastries called hamentashen, that are supposedly shaped like the hat worn by Purim villain, Hamen. The pastries are triangular and I’ve never been convinced that men of that time wore triangle-shaped hats. As I used to tell students in a Cakes for the Queen of Heaven class I led, I think these may be (remnants of?) the original "Cakes" baked to honor the Goddess in the spring and against which Prophet Jeremiah railed. In her March 9 post, "Considering Kohenet?",Ketzirah Carly gives advice to women considering taking part in the Jewish priestess program into which she was recently initiated. With pics.

Branches Up, Roots Down: In her March 21 post, "full moon," Deborah Oak shares thoughts about a medical diagnosis, achieving balance at equinoxes and other times, and a conversation with younger feminists comparing the Vietnam and Iraq wars.

Evoking the Goddess: In his March 19 post, "Rooted in the land," Blogger Paul ponders the Spring Equinox, our relationship to the land, and the results of dispossessing people of their land, including comments on Darfur. Paul writes:

There is always death, burning, torture and the rape of countless women, the deaths of many children. And then there is the cultural annihilation. The attack on culture and language. The ridiculing of the Goddesses. The forced worship of one all-powerful god or warrior leader.

Hecate: Blogger Hecate shares a lovely Eostara post on March 20, "Balance: Only Two Days Out of Three Hundred Sixty-Five."

Immanent Gorgon: In her March 2 post,"Pre-Croning, the Passing of Time, and a Search for Place," The Gorgon asks, "How do prepping Crones adjust to their loss of moon time" and then reflects on various cycles, and looking forward to a trip to Budapest.

Radical Goddess Thealogy: Blogger Athana cracks up in middle of her March 11 post, "In Nutshell" about male gods making babies. Cracked me up too. It’s good we can retain at least some sense of humor. Athana's March 5 post, "Calling All Catholics: Come Home to Mama," was triggered (I think) by the Vatican’s stand against non-gendered terms for deity. Athana addresses the male leaders of the Church:

Lighten up boyz! Get used to it! You’re dinosaurs in a world beginning to smell your prehistoric, rancid breath and get brief glimpses of your green-glowing, lizardy eyes.

Wild Hunt Blog: In a March 28 post, Jason Pitzl-Waters brings us the news that "Hypatia Comes to the Screen" in a major motion picture. In his March 23 post, he addresses "Christian Attitudes Towards Paganism," assessing the views of Paganism in a number of books by Christians. His March 20 post, "A Blessed Spring Equinox" compares Ostara and Easter. His March 19 post, "The Ramifications of a Post-Christian Society," discusses a recent survey that places "modern Paganism over the one million mark." That's people, people. But I'm not sure if that's just the US, or worldwide. Maybe I was reading too fast. UPDATE: The figure is for the US. See Jason's comment below.

Goddess in a Teapot: March 9's post, "Singing with Ancient Women’s Voices" tells about a performance of Balkan folk music, one of my favs for music and dancing.

Women and Spirituality: This is a multi-(well-known)author blog. On March 27, Amina Wadud, in her blogpost, "Working," ponders how her work relates to "the Other," and Carol P. Christ blogs about "Tithing in the Women’s Spirituality Movement," comparing ways of making "offerings" among Protestants and citizens of modern Crete. In her March 24 post, "Carnival Time: So How’s the Missus?" Susan Reimer-Torn contrasts the response of a certain politician’s wife to that of Vashti in the biblical book of Esther. Charlene Spretnak’s March 21 post, "Thoughts on Good Friday," responds to the Vatican’s addition of several new sins; Spretnak feels, however, that at least one transgression has been left out. Starhawk’s March 16 post, "Women of the Underworld: On Being Thrown Out of Israel," relates how, despite being born Jewish and having invitations from 3 Israeli organizations to give permaculture presentations and training, she was first jailed and then denied entry to Israel because of the work she’s done with the International Solidarity Movement. Starhawk begins the piece writing, "What stays with me most from the last few days is the kindness of women." Donna Read’s March 4 post, "The Crone’s Weekend" is about the importance of women in women’s lives, even if you’re about to get married.

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