Matrifocus: Lammas '08 Issue

Congrats to Matrifocus which with this 28th issue celebrates its 7th birthday!!!

Kate Clapper’s art, entitled "Spiraling," opens this Lammas issue.

Johanna Stuckey continues her exploration of Mesopotamian Goddesses with the article, "Ancient Grain Goddesses of the Eastern Mediterranean," in which she compares deities of this region with the Greek Demeter. Did you know, for example, that the more horns on the Goddess or God, the more important the deity? Do you know what grain is most usually represented in this part of the world? Well, I’m not going to tell you. . .pop quiz at Midnight will include material shown in ancient drawings that accompany the article.

Written in Santa Cruz amid wild fires, Vicki Noble’s "Get Beyond Fear: Save What You Love," tells about the Black Dakini (with pics and art).

In "One Woman’s Trash," Mary Swander writes about gardening, and about helping an Amish friend.

Susun Weed reveals ways to treat backache that your doctor probably never told you in "Back Ache First Aid Tips—The Wise Woman Way."

In "High on the Mother in the Desert," Lance writes about traveling through red canyons, across pink sands, and becoming aware of time, while trying to reconcile the Utah landscape’s matrist images with patriarchal names given them by colonists. Lance writes:

And after we uncover the ancient names, how hard would it be to include aboriginal names with every official reference to these natural monuments, these children of earth, wind, and water? It would demonstrate a bi-cultural consciousness, and stretch the imaginations of visitors. It would convey a reverence for the Mother, a connection with, rather than a domination of the Earth. It would go a long way towards reversing the colonizer mentality pervading U.S. and global patriarchal history.”

Poems include "Birthday" by Andrea Gibson, and "Monday Afternoon" by Sharon Brogan. This issue’s photo essay is "Clouds at Sunset, Blue Mounds Wisconsin" by Gwyn Padden-Lecthen.

Madelon Wise reviews the book Transforming Feminist Practice: Non-Violence, Social Justice and the Possibilities of a Spiritualized Feminism by Leela Fernandes. Wise begins the review by quoting from one of my posts on this blog.

In this issue’s editorial, "The Biggest Bully on the Block...Any Block," Feral explores the various meanings of "bully," and various types of bullies, at this particularly political time in the U.S.

Crossword puzzle? Yes, yes intellectual game-players, this issue has a crossword puzzle: "Grains of the World" by Sage Starwalker.