Buzz Coil: April

Goddess in a Teapot: The April 6 post, "Find Your Power with Max Dashu" is a well-deserved tribute to Max Dashu and her work. If you’re not acquainted with this wonderful Goddess historian, let this post be your introduction. Max has for many years been untiring in her willingness to help others learn about the Goddess both in her workshops and on Internet discussion lists. After you read the Teapot blog post, go on over to Max’s website suppressedhistories.net , where you can read many of Max’s engrossing essays and reviews, and see clips from her newly released DVD "Woman’s Power" (and read the transcript!).

The Village Witch: In her blog running in the Asheville N.C Citizen-Times, Byron Ballard writes a 3-part series on Beltane beginning on April 14. Part I gives a general background on the "old customs of May Day" and the holiday’s relationship to sex. Part II (April 15) expands on loving our physical bodies. Part III (April 16) discusses developing a new attitude that replaces self-hate with self-love.

Textual Arachne: Blogger Arachne offers a Spring blessing that may have special meaning for students at every level in her April 20 post, "Study and spring."

Wild Hunt Blog: In a April 24 post, "National Day of Prayer vs. May Day," Jason Pitzl-Waters asks readers to act on the issue of restricting the U.S. "National Day of Prayer," to activities based on "Judeo-Christian principles." This year NDP coincides with Beltane. Jason gives some options available to you to join people of other faiths in objecting to limiting NDP to just certain religions. And while you’re at the Wild Hunt, you might also want to have a look at Jason’s lovely April 22 "Earth Day" post.


Panthea - All Things Are Goddess: In her April 24 post, "Kali: Goodbye Obstacles," blogger Grian tells what happened when she started chanting a mantra to Kali every day.

At Brigid’s Forge: In her April 12 post, American tarotist, Goddess rosary creator, and former editor of SageWoman Lunaea Weatherstone blogs about Canadian tarotist James Wells’ invitation to all to pray a Goddess rosary every month dedicated to the "The Restoration of Avalon." Take special note, friends at Glastonbury Goddess Temple!

At the end of desire: Blogger Inanna explores the meaning of "desire" in both Pagan and other trads , especially as it appears in the phrase from the Charge of the Goddess, which her blog is named after. A number of posts on the subject start on April 15 with "Desire’s End, Part I." and continue at least through April 20.

Branches Up, Roots Down: Writing as she travels through Europe, in her April 18 "Lessons," Deborah Oak ponders the recent lifestyle changes she’s had to make, commenting

When you choose to embrace the shamanic lifestyle, you can’t get away with anything. If you find yourself making fun of something, soon enough you become the butt of the joke yourself.

Evoking the Goddess: In his April 13 post, "Goddesses Restored to Memory" blogger Paul writes that archeologists in the UK are unearthing tributes to Goddesses native to the British Isles put there by the Romans about 2,000 years ago. You’ve probably heard of some the goddesses, such as Brigantia, but others are apparently becoming known to us for the first time through these excavations.

Goddessing: Blogger Sage tells us about the baby girl in India born with two faces, whom the local population is worshipping as a reincarnation or emanation of the Goddess Durga, in her April 9 post, "Durga Reincarnated."

Hecate:Blogger Hecate’s April 22 post, "The One they Pick. The One You’ll Know By," discusses the Democratic primary campaign, generational differences among feminists, and related Reclaiming issues, Hecate writes (greatly excerpted):
I

I have had it with red herring questions...pre-empting conversations about the real issues that Reclaiming has avoided for years. I am speaking here mostly of Bay Area Reclaiming, but frankly the patterns that have been set here get exported regularly to other areas...
....the attempt to exercise power-over, to control the very questions that may even be discussed, becomes the topic of discussion. Feminism, as a movement based upon the notion that the personal is the political, can't be about shutting down discussion. ....sadly, young women...are as willing to shut down those women in boxy blazers (we all know that's code for "up-hip middle-aged woman") as the women in the boxy blazers are to tell young women to shut up about issues that weren't as important to us when we were blazing new feminist trails back in the sixties and seventies....That
Clinton's candidacy has gotten us -- boxy-blazered old women and young women --
talking about generational issues seems to me like one of the benefits of her campaign.

Peacock Dreams: Thorne Coyle writes touchingly about a visit with Cora Anderson, 93, (widow of Feri’s Victor Anderson) in her April 15 post, "Cora Visit." With a special message for people who know Cora.

Radical Goddess Thealogy: Focusing on the Fundamentalist church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, blogger Athana takes "another peek at the underbelly of the beast" in her April 7 post, "Father Gods Fall Short Again."

The-Goddess: In her April 16 post, "Prosecuting Polygamy," blogger Morgaine comments on an AlterNet article and says that for her, the issue in the recent raid on the Fundamentalist Church of LDS is not plural marriage, but child abuse.

Women and Spirituality: In an April 21 post, this site offers a special Mothers Day combo deal on the DVDs "Women and Spirituality" by Donna Read (previously a video trilogy) and "Signs Out of Time," Donna Read and Starhawk’s documentary about Marija Gimbutas.
In an April 15 post, "A Crone’s Files," Donna Read shares part of the original script by Starhawk for part of the Women and Spirituality videos. Read says she found the script recently while cleaning out her files. It's really nice to have access to this. Thanks, Donna!
Charlene Spretnak’s April 4 post, "Present at Creation" looks at her look at photos from "a momentous event" about 30 years ago: the first large gathering of women’s spirituality, which took place in Santa Cruz CA. In a comment to this post, Carol P. Christ gives us some welcome info: her keynote address at this event (and later much-published essay) "Why Women Need the Goddess" is now online. If you’ve never read this, what are you waiting for?
In an April 16 post, "What an arranged marriage can feel like to an intelligent young girl," Carol P. Christ discusses the tradition among polygamist Mormons, Muslims, and rural Greeks (Christians?), and she relates a combined story about this custom’s effects. In her April 8 post, "Questions Not Asked: The Popes visit to the U.S.," Carol discusses what few others have, including this Pope’s silencing of theologians and denying women their reproductive rights.
In an April 7 post, "Soul Sisters and Laundry," Susan Reimer-Torn discusses the Kabbalist doctrine called in Hebrew, "gilgul neshamot," a variation on reincarnation in which each person’s soul contains sparks from several previous people’s souls.
In an April 6 post, "Learning from Our Mistakes," Starhawk tells about staying with Margot Adler when Starhawk returned to the States after getting "thown out of Israel" and the consolation she’s found in her permaculture work at home. With pics.
In her April 3 post, "Scorpio Rising," Amina Wadud, shares the spiritual apsects of her natal astrological chart.
The blogs at Women and Spirituality are wonderful! I just wish there was more contrast between the text (yellow) and background (lavender on my screen), so it would be easier to read. A deep purple background would do it!

Changes . . . touches . . .
Immanent Gorgon has gone *poof* . Gorgon, if you want to let us know what happened we’d welcome your comment. Hope you’re okay! UPDATE 4/28: The Gorgon is now blogging at Re-Emerging Gorgon. See her comments below.

The Furious Spinner: Kim Antieau has stopped posting on this blog and is now blogging at kimantieau.com

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