Goddess Pages: Autumn 2008

The cover image of the Autumn issue of Goddess Pages ,is "Diana" by Gillian Booth; medium, paint on shelf fungi.

Continuing Goddess Pages' tradition of high caliber poetry, 9 poems crown this issue: "Another Year" and "She Stands on the Horizon" by Helen Carmichel, "Lammas 2007" by Rachel Clyne, "Sister Song" by Jacqui Woodward-Smith, "The Island of Mujares, Mexico" by Maria Duncalf-Barber, "The Mermaid’s Lament" and "The Watchtower" by Doreen Hopwood, "The Song of Iseult" by Caeia March, and last but definitely not least, "Wild Crafting" by Penn Kemp, which consists of several parts: opening verses, "Stirring Not Stirring," Homing to the Given," "Culture Shock and Smooth Return," "Last August Light", and "Recurring Dream Theme."

Articles include:
"Balancing on air" by Geraldine Charles. Written with reason, insight, and wit, this article tackles the questions of "balance and "equality" on the Goddess path. If you think Goddesses need to be "balanced" by Gods, read this spectacular article right away (if you don’t, you can wait 5 minutes)!

"Inner Journeys: Surfing the Imaginal Realm as a Struggling Shamama" by Theresa Curtis-Diggs begins with quotes from Joseph Campbell and Jim Morrison. Curtis-Diggs writes of trying to receive messages from ancient boulders connected with Goddess and how the practices of a "shamama"("budding female shaman") can help visit the archetypes of petroglyphs, honor the spiritual core of a place, and work through fear to follow a shamamic calling. She tells of seeing petroglyphs in Nevada bearing the same symbols that Marija Gimbutas found in Europe. "How is it that this has never been investigated?" she asks. A breath-taking article.

"Mythology, Menstruation and the ‘Woman with the Issue of Blood’," by Andre Zsigmond, begins with a story from the Gospel according to Mark about Jesus cursing and destroying a wild fig tree because it had no figs (it wasn’t fig season, DUH). Zsigmond points out that this may be a metaphor for destroying the Roman Goddess Juno, who was associated with wild fig trees. Zsigmond also explores the Scottish ritual uses of menstrual blood during Lammas and Beltane and also the healing of the "woman with the issue of blood" in the Christian gospels.

In "The Liberation of Surrender," Karen Tate poses the question of whether, when considered spiritually, obstacles are guideposts. For example, she tells about receiving an email about her new book, informing her that 650 pounds of the books (22 cases, she says--lets see, is that about 1200 books?) were being shipped to her home while she was away...and that was just the beginning.

Reviews in this issue are The Mary Magdalene Within, a book by Joan Norton, reviewed by Miriam Raven; and Living the Goddess: a way to Goddess through sacred chant, song and prayer, a music CD by Anique Radiant Heart, reviewed by Sandra Roman.

In accordance with our review policy , I can’t go into detail about this journal's "premium content," which you can read the beginning of for free, but have to pay to read the full article. I think I can get away with just listing the premium articles, though: "Amazing Artemisias" by Susun S. Weed, "Celebrating the Triple Spiral" by Glenys Livingstone, Ph.D., " Embracing the Feminine Consciousness" by Karen Tate, and "The Chronicles of Baubo Biggins," as told to Katara Moon.