Buzz Coil: August '08

Radical Goddess Thealogy: In an August 19 post, "Fooey on Fighting," blogger Athana takes issue with a documentary film about "warrior" Goddess Durga. Writes Athana:

But see, I just don't wanna go there. I want to heal the world through Mother love. Fooey on fighting violence via violence. Call me addle-brained, but I just can't let go of the idea that teaching, and "gentle prodding" will do the trick.*
In my opinion, Durga, Kali, Nemesis and other violent goddesses are simply patriarchal makeovers (i.e., beginning around 6000 years ago, the war gods began taking non-violent goddesses and turning them violent....

We're with you , Athana!

Branches Up, Roots Down: Deborah Oak writes about her reaction to her son’s all-too-real-life encounter with violence in her Aug. 22 post, "a call for help." After a vivid description of the events, Deborah concludes:

I have believed it’s important to try and do as little harm as possible in traversing life and to do what I can to devoke violence and face it down. That’s why I like the Wiccan Rede. That’s why I have no truck with calling myself a warrior. Because I have the power to heal, I know I could also hex. True strength means not doing so.

The Village Witch: In her Asheville NC Citizen-Times blog on August 23, "Cob...and More Cob...and what can we do with the rest of this cob?" Byron Ballard tells us what she and her circle did with that cob, starting with creating a votive Goddess. The circle is awaiting a land donation for their Mother Grove Temple. In her Aug. 5 post, "Shekhinah Mountainwater: The Final Interview," Ballard tells about an event held Aug. 15 in memory of Shekhinah Mountainwater who died last August. The Ashville NC group viewed the interview given by Shekhinah about a month before her death. Shekhinah lived in California. The Ashville group took an offering, with proceeds going towards the work on the Mother Grove Temple...I can see Shekhinah smiling about that....

A Flower for the Lady: Blogger Kelly offers poety tributes to Goddess several times a month. August 13th’s tribute is by Emily Dickenson.

Readthisandweep: UK blogger Mag asks, "Excuse Me, May I Have My Spirituality Back?" in her Aug. 19 post. She feels her Dianic spirituality is being "hi-jacked" by people who need to get their facts straight.

Panthea - All Things Are Goddess: In her Aug. 8 post, "The Goddess Lilith", Blogger Grian/Lee wonders about the demonization of Lilith, comparing interpretations that see Lilith as demon with interpretations that see Her as a Goddess. Grian/Lee’s July 31 post, "Create-a-Goddess" enables you (or your children?) to mix and match graphics to create a "goddess doll" which, if you want, can function as an "avatar." (If you post your creation to the web, please remember to link back to www.1greeneye.net/panthea/dolls)

The House of Inanna: Brian Charles tells of his reservations about the Kumari tradition in his Aug. 19 post, "The Living Goddess–until she bleeds." [If you want, compare the viewpoint in my post .] In his Aug. 22 post, "There is no fool like an old fool" Brian writes lyrically about exploring hills near Budapest.

Carrie and Danielle: Danielle Port began "The Goddess Experiment" on August 8. She writes:

I’m wondering what will shift or bloom or go bust in my psyche if I very intentionally envision God in female form. For the next 21 days, including weekends, I’m going to actively re-frame He into She. His Highness into Her Highness. I’m collecting images that speak to me of God-dess.

Among the Goddesses she blogged about are Kali (Aug. 11), Saraswati (Aug. 12), Isis (Aug. 14), Quan Yin (Aug. 21), Morgaine LeFay (Aug. 24), and Changing Woman (Aug. 25). Not all posts are about specific goddesses, though. For example, Danielle also includes in her Goddess experiment mandalas, Alicia Keyes, and perfume. There’s a link at the end of each post that’s supposed to take you to all the posts, but when I clicked it took me to good old "Error 404." Maybe they’ll fix it by the time you get there.

Evoking the Goddess: After the Glastonbury Goddess Conference, blogger Paul visited the town of Bath, in Somerset, England, which has "the only hot spring in Brigid’s Isles." In his Aug. 11 post, "Honouring Sulis," Paul gives us a fascinating history of the springs at Bath and also describes the site as it is today. With pics.

Textual Arachne: In her Aug. 4 post, "Still Time," Blogger Arachne completes a theme cycle with a post on the holiday, Lughnasa, whose meaning to her is not as clear as other Pagan holidays.

Gorgon Resurfaces : In her August 10 post, "Underground Ruminations," Laughing Medusa shares her thoughts on the relevance of the Persephone myth to her personal experiences. In her Aug 20 post, "The Moon and Healing Love," she wonders about the effect of prayers prompted by a beautiful moonrise.

Changes...touches...

The Corvid Diaries has morphed into Debi Crow’s Journal .

UPDATE 9/1:
In our July Buzz Coil, we reported that Women and Spirituality had being absorbed by http://www.alivemindmedia.com/, which I didn't feel was as good a presentation. Apparently others agreed because this situation has changed: Women and Spirituality has now become Alive Mind & Spirit (this is the new url, but the old Women and Spirit url will also get you there :-). This site now has all the bloggers from Women and Spirituality plus a few new ones, and it's much easier on my eyes than the previous format. We plan to report on the content next month.

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