Buzz Coil: October '08

Oakwillow: Blogger Jodie reports on the recent Australian Goddess Conference in her Oct. 14 post, "Back from the Goddess Conference." A quote from Jodie’s post:

From the moment we walked out in song Priestesses and initiates wearing our deep red cloaks and veils to meet the other great women attending, to the closing spiraling and shrieking witches dance that exploded into laughter and then deep resonance and song to the Earth Mother we were transforming, shedding and working with the Earth. We learnt a lot about drumming the elements and the rhythm and heart beat of the Earth, we heard about the power of Priestessing the Earth. I had the joy of watching how great Priestesses from around the country I have never met before called in the elements, singing in water, laughing in Air. We heard from an Elder Bilawara Lees about Song Lines and Aboriginal culture and the importance of people of Celtic decent stepping up and working their own Indigenous Law to bring balance.

There's more---with pics!

Broomstick Chronicles: In this month of transition, M. Macha NightMare reports the deaths of two priestesses. On Oct. 20, her post "A Mighty Redwood has Fallen," tells of the passing of Sequoia Greenfield, one of the first members of Susan B. Anthony Coven No. 1 (founded by Z Budapest), biker, pilot, and builder of houses. Macha’s Oct. 10 post, "Death of a Priestess, " memorializes her friend and belly dancer Tara Webster, aka Ishtara and Soror Adessa.

Peacock Dreams: Thorn Coyle, who was present when Tara Webster passed, writes a beautiful moving account in her Oct. 8 post, "RIP Tara Webster, Witch," noting that Tara was co-founder of Crescent Hellions and Twilight Gathering. Thorn shares a chant/song she wrote as Tara crossed. It will be included in a new CD.

Branches Up, Roots Down: Deborah Oak’s Oct. 16 post, "pictures instead of words," does actually have a few words, but it is mostly pics of Deborah’s seasonal preparations: spirit bottles, sugar skulls, altar-in-progress, etc.

The Wild Hunt:In his Oct. 20 post, "The Epicenter of Halloween in America," Jason Pitzl-Waters writes that the Halloween celebration in Salem MA "has grown to Mardi Gras proportions" and now includes a bikers’ "Halloween Witch Ride," fireworks, and a multiweek "Festival of the Dead" including at least 3 balls (Retro Zombie, Vampires, Official Salem Witches’).

Alive Mind & Spirit: In her Oct. 17 post, "To Judge or Not to Judge," Carol P. Christ responds to a recent post in this same blog by Jonathan Ellerby. Carol asserts her right to judge "religions and spiritualities that are harmful to women." Carol writes,

If a religion does not validate women’s spiritual paths by allowing and encouraging female leadership, I reserve the right to find fault with it. If all spiritual leaders in a given tradition are male, I reserve the right not to look up to them or to model my spirituality on theirs. If a religion or spiritual leader encourages a woman or girl who is beaten or raped by a father or husband “to obey” or “to forgive” in the absence of repentance by the abuser, I reserve the right to make the judgment that this is harmful to women. If a religion consistently portrays the highest power in the universe as symbolically male, I reserve the right to make the judgment that such symbolism valorizes male domination.

She goes on to discuss under what circumstances she has the right to judge statements by specific individuals such as Sarah Palin and Pope Benedict XIV.

In her Oct. 16 post, "Every Day Magic - Hecate and Artemis - Goddesses of the Full Hunter Moon," Juliette Lauber writes about her "abundant magical journey...under the light of the full Hunter Moon."

Chess, Goddess and Everything: In her Oct 21 post, "Golden ‘Spindle-Shaped’ Objects Discovered in Bulgarian Tomb," blogger Jan takes a report of an archeological find to task for assuming an important male is buried in a tomb despite findings in the Bulgarian tomb typically associated with women, such as "spindle-like objects" (connected to spinning flax and to date found only in women’s tombs), and a gold bead necklace. Nice catch, Jan!

Hecate: In her Oct. 19 post, "If I Can’t Dance I Don’t’ Want to Be Part of Your Revolution," blogger Hecate notes that:

There are countries where it is a punishable crime to dance.

Women must cover their heads,
never riase their voice in song and
never ever display such immoral conduct s dancing.

and continues with a beautiful poem about dancing in difficult circumstances.

House of Inanna: Introducing his subject with Joseph Campbell’s "Ten Commandments for Reading Myth," in his Oct. 10 post, "The reading of myth," Brian Charles, a native of Britain now living in Hungary, delves into his relationship with the Sumerian Goddess Inanna and how he perceives her.

The Village Witch: In the Oct. 17 post of her Asheville NC Citizen-Times blog, Byron Ballard titles her post,"Max Dashu," and notes a presentation in North Carolina by the Goddess scholar visiting from California. In Byron’s Oct. 15 post, "Ancestors are the Reason for the Season," she tells of tracing her ancestors by visiting local cemeteries and the Old Buncombe Geneology Society.

Washington Post’s On Faith: On Faith's Oct. 21 question was "Does religion empower women?" Among the responders:
Daisy Khan ("Faith-Based Feminism, The Most Powerful Model")
Deepak Chopra ("If Religion is Power, Women Deserve Their Share")
Starhawk ("The Goddess Empowers Women")
Rev. Susan K. Smith ("Religion has Duped Women")
Rev. Susan Brooks Thistlewaite ("Eve was Empowered")
Bishop John Bryson Chane ("Too Many Leaders Promoting Gender Inequity")

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