Buzz Coil: January '09

At the end of desire: Congrats to blogger Inanna and her Adonis on the birth of their son! See the pic, learn his name on Inanna’s Jan. 14 post, "Welcome, little light."

Branches Up, Roots Down:On Jan. 18 Deborah Oak posted an "Invitation to the Fourth Annual Brigid in the Blogosphere Poetry Slam"
Since she invites us to pass the info along, here it is (yes, Medusa Coils is planning to take part):

WHAT: A Bloggers (Silent) Poetry Reading
WHEN: Anytime February 2, 2009
WHERE: Your blog
WHY: To celebrate the Feast of Brigid, aka Groundhog Day
HOW: Select a poem you like - by a favorite poet or one of your own - to post February 2nd.
RSVP: If you plan to publish, feel free to leave a comment and link on this[branchesup.blogspot.com] post. Last year when the call went out there was more poetry in cyberspace than I could keep track of. So, link to whoever you hear about this from and a mighty web of poetry will be spun. Feel free to pass this invitation on to any and all bloggers.

Daily Kos: [UPDATE Jan. 28] I just found this tonight and didn't want to wait until next month to tell you about it. A blogger called "Tara the Antisocial Social Worker" has started a Wednesday series on Goddess Spirituality and Activism on this well-known progressive political blog. Her Jan 28 diary is "How a Woman Becomes a Goddess: Lakshmi." She uses the story of this Indian Goddess to also tell a story about political bipartisanship. You can access previous diaries in the series by clicking on the blogger's name at the beginning of the diary.

The Village Witch: In Byron Ballard’s Jan. 17 post, "All Acts of Love," in her Asheville NC Citizen-Times blog, Byron tells of a meeting to discuss the bylaws of a planned Goddess Temple. One topic was dating between members of the congregation and the Temple’s "College of Celebrants." Especially if you are a member of a Goddess Temple, you might want to go on over there and see if you want to share what (if anything) your Temple does about this issue. Beginning on Jan. 19, with the post, "Prepping for Cakes," Byron has 3 posts about giving a UU "Cakes for the Queen of Heaven" course. The other 2 are "Yummy Cakes Are Cooling on the Rack in the Kitchen," (Jan. 20) and "Am I High or What," (Jan. 21).

Gorgon Resurfaces: In her Jan. 14 post, "How Do We Experience Our First Call to the Divine?" , blogger Laughing Medusa responds to some of Brian Charles’ House of Inanna posts.

House of Inanna: In response to Laughing Medusa of Gorgon Resurfaces’ Jan. 14 post, Brian Charles tries to answer the question "Can a man embody Goddess in the same way a woman can?" in his Jan. 18 post, "Men, heterosexuality, and the embodiment of Goddess"

The Wild Hunt: Jason Pitzl-Waters’ Jan. 25 post, "Post-Christian Anxiety" looks at a trend in Europe and elsewhere in which as Christianity becomes less popular, those who prefer "a Christian-dominated society are becoming increasingly hostile and defensive." Jason’s examination shows that

The true enemy then isn’t “secularism”, but what they fear the process of secularization will bring about. A post-Christian (and ultimately post-secular) re-enchantment that gives birth to a new multi-religious (pagan) world. Christian groups have responded with increasing hostility to this process, and some are slowly re-embracing once-discarded ultra-conservative factions as a sort of rear-guard action against the secular onslaught. But are all the fears of this “pagan” future justified?

Knitting, Sex and God: Blogger Anna writes about feminist theology’s approach to evil in her Jan. 21 post.

Amused Grace: Artist Thalia Took features a "Goddess of the Week" on her blog. Her Jan. 18 post contains fascinating information about the Arabian Goddess Al-Uzza. As you might expect, this blog has fantastic art.

Radical Goddess Thealogy: In her Jan. 23 post, "Z Budapest’s Review of sWitching Blogger Athana reprints Z’s review of J. Lyn Studebaker’s new book. Z writes that she got so "fired up" while reading the book that she phoned the author to talk about it – plus another neat result (yes, you have to go over there and read to the end to find out what).

Evoking the Goddess: Blogger Paul gives us a look at "Glastonbury in January" in his Jan. 14 post, with 3 gorgeous pics and a visit to the Goddess Temple.

I am WiTCH (previously Matters of Minutia): Blogger Lisa in Australia in her Jan. 25 post, "10.24 am The Winds of Change" is grateful for a cooling trend in the summer weather and writes:

so i am wondering where i am spiritually and truth is
who knows?
changes on a
regular basis
my 'core' belief stays the same but the 'other stuff' changes
according to the wind

In her Jan 26 post, "10.01 a.m. fangs, bruises,...Australia and Auschwitz," Lisa celebrates Australia Day and the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. She also needs help identifying a bug bite on her upper arm.

U.S. Presidential Inauguration

Gorgon Resurfaces In trying to define "Goddess," in her Jan. 19 post, "Judgment, Strength, the Tower and Politics" blogger Laughing Medusa looks within, turns to Tarot, and explores the recent U.S. elections.

Alive Mind & Spirit: In her Jan. 16 post, "Obama Honors Rev. Dr. Sharon Watkins", Carol P. Christ shares a letter she sent to the minister selected by the President to give the sermon at the National Prayer Service . Juliette Lauber, in a Jan. 22 post, "Musings from Paris...Temperance: Iris, the Goddess of the Rainbow", shares her experience of and mystical approach to the Inauguration.

Several bloggers described the "Ritual of Unity and Blessing" at the Jefferson Memorial on Jan. 19, which we alerted you to on Jan. 5. Magick TV captured the ritual on video reproduced here from youtube.com and, if you go to this youtube page you can also see interviews with ritual participants. Don't miss blog links below this video...


Witchvox: Probably the most extensive description is Caroline Kenner’s post, "Animating the Spirit of Democracy". Kenner, who was one of three ritual hosts, includes host Caroline Casey’s remarks. Here is an excerpt:

"O, Spirit of the Compassionate Trickster residing inside each one of us, come on in! After you've waited through 2000 years of Empire for this moment! Open the path before us so we may be danced into place, where each of us can do the most good while having the most fun. May It Be So!"Our incoming president is well-named: Barack means Lightning, Blessing, Hussein means Beloved of God and Obama means The Good. So even if some snarky commentator is saying his name with a negative inflection, he's actually saying "Lightning! Blessing! Beloved of God! The Good!"

Today we are also breaking the spell of martyrdom. Better a Trickster than a martyr be! So as one of our acts of magic today, let us imagine Barack Hussein Obama sitting with Nelson Mandela, celebrated by a grateful nation on his 96th birthday, along with his beautiful wife, former President Michelle Obama, and his kids and his grandkids. If we can get there, it implies so much good! That is what we are animating today!

as well as host Katrina Messenger’s closing remarks, such as this excerpt:

We have an incoming president with all the mythical qualities of the Day Reborn. In short, we have crossed a threshold as a people, as a culture, as a planet. Up in that celestial vault of our highest ideals, it is morning again, and the Sun does rise. Let us approach this gleaming temple and lay upon this altar all of our brightest dreams and hopes."And remember: It is not Obama that rises on the bright sky of our ancient memories. It is all of us reawakened from our slumber of despair.

Nine Ravens: Angela Raincatcher reported on this ritual in her Jan. 25 post, "Invoking compassion and heart into democracy," including the invocation she gave. With pic.

Peeling a Pomegranate: In her Jan. 19 post, "Blessing of Washington, DC...." blogger Ketzirah Carly shares the blessing she gave in the emerging Goddess Judaism tradition at the Jefferson Memorial ritual. With pic.

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