Buzz Coil: March '11

A look at some posts of interest from our blogroll and sometimes beyond:

The Wild Hunt: In his March 19 post, "Remembering the Queen of Heaven," Jason Pitzl-Waters begin with the famous quote from Jeremiah 44, and then goes on to blog about the BBC Two series, one segment of which presents the supposedly startling news that the ancient Hebrews/Judeans, Israelites were polytheistic Goddess worshippers. His post the previous day, "Third Wave’s Wallowing in Japan’s Tragedy" is about a "Christian Neo-Pentecostal movement" that sees "The Queen of Heaven" as a "global-level demon spirit."

Queen of Heaven: Blogger Carisa, raised a Baptist, has found herself attending a local Catholic church lately, not fully understanding why. In this March 23 post, "meaningful coincidence," she finds out. With excursions to Jung, a (prophetic? initiatory?) dream, and her discovery of ancient Hebrew polytheism.

Branches Up, Roots Down: Deborah Oak’s March 14 post, "hard rain" tells of Bob Dylan’s song popping out of her iPod Shuffle, and of a nightmare about San Francisco being flooded that she had the night before a tsunami swept Japan. Deborah then recalls her spiritual work relating to nuclear power and weapons.

Driving Audhumla: Victoria Slind-Flor writes about how her knowledge of Japan grew from knowing "Only Three Words" to hosting a Japanese student for the summer, to studying Japanese language and cultures, and being familiar with Japanese goddesses. She shares her reaction to the current disaster in Japan. With 2 videos.

Evoking the Goddess: Blogger Paul explains, in his Feb. 23 post "Hidden Temple of the Goddess," how a short trip to introduce his granddaughter to farm animals also takes him to the studio of a sculptor where he finds "a treasure of Goddess art." With 2 pics.

The Retiring Mind: Recalling her previous post on women-only events written just before February’s Pantheacon, Wendy Griffin, in her March 3 post, "Gender Matters..." again explores this subject, this time in light of an incident at this year’s Pantheacon during which at least one transwoman was not allowed to participate in a Dianic ritual. She includes a description of her participation in a "panel discussion" at Pantheacon about the controversial event.

From Jupiter: Blogger Cosette’s offers her opinion on the Pantheacon incident in her 1 post, "Come As You Are."

A Crone Speaks: Cathryn Platine of the Maetreum of Cybele launched this blog last month. Her Feb. 25 post, "‘The Oldest Religion’," gives a brief history of modern Wicca and Paganism, then traces back to c. 10,000 BCE to what she calls "the old religion." Her Feb. 27 post is a memorial to Merlin Stone.

Association for the Study of Women and Mythology: ASWM’s March 6 post is about "Plans for 2011 Midwest Symposium," including keynote speaker Mary B. Kelly (with pic of her art) and registration information.

Mary Magdalene Within: In her March 20 post, "Magdalene and the Red Egg," Joan Norton writes that she

has never satisfied with the church’s explanation of "Mary Magdalene and the Red Egg Story.

She traces its probable source source to

the deep wisdom of matriarchal religious symbols....When she holds the red egg, she is the goddess herself

With big beautiful pics.

Pagan Godspell: Ruby Sara’s March 20 Ostara post "Io Kore! Kore Evohe!" includes thunder and lightning, sunshine, blueberry cookies, a visit to "Mother Lake" to witness the full red moon, ritual preparation, and hope.

Hecate: Hecate’s March 20 post "Ivo! Evoe! Hail, Kore! Evoe!" describes a deeply spiritual experience in midst of the everyday. After telling us how she got to this place and space, Hecate writes:

And there, sitting at the red light, surrounded by the city, headed for the Teddy Roosevelt bridge, there, I was -- and best of all, knew myself to be -- in the presence of The Kore, in the sunlight, on the day of Os[t]ara. Not, symbolically, not metaphorically, not in any of the ways that it would make sense to say that I was, just a few feet North of that girl, in the presence of The Kore, but, simply, in the presence of The Kore. Not that The Kore "rode" her or that she somehow pulled The Kore down into her. Not that she stopped being a flesh-and-blood girl with a history and a future and braces. Not that she had ever not been The Kore . . . .

And in one of her March 24 posts, Hecate tells us "What This Witch Is For."

Goddess in a Teapot: Carolyn L. Boyd begins her March 23 post, "Spring Goddesses with Their Golden Apples of Hope," by wondering why myths associated with spring often include tragedies that befall goddesses. Then she comes up with an explanation. Her March 10 post, "Merlin Stone: A Foremother of Women’s spirituality," contains a personal anecdote about one of Carolyn’s birthdays.

Broomstick Chronicles: In her March 9 post about the "Hindu-Pagan Interfaith Devotional to Our Great Mother" Macha NightMare/Aline O'Brien writes:

As far as I know, this is the first anyone has blended traditional Hindu practices done by traditional Hindu practitioners (as opposed to Western attempts verging on cultural appropriation) with contemporary American Pagan practices.

The ritual was coordinated by a Dianic priestess and also included Reclaiming priestesses, a sitar player, male chorus and Hindu temple dancers, along with staff from Cherry Hill Seminary. The post appeared simultaneously on on COG Reports.

Veleda: In her March 21 post, "Wu: female shamans in ancient China," Max Dashu writes that

The strong pattern of female shamans in eastern Asia has been erased from history that most people know.

She goes on to explore the history of the Wu. with illustrations and the option to download a pdf of longer article.


Flashsilvermoon Please note the new url of this blog. Flash’s March 22 post, "The Healing is Music" is a 2005 interview by Diane Saarinen in which Flash, now known as an outstanding drummer, tells how she was forbidden to drum by teachers in elementary school through high school because she wasn’t a boy. They wanted Flash to play the play piano but she refused and got into finger painting instead. She developed artistic talents, among other things, that she feels led to her creation of the Wise Woman’s Tarot. Flash’s March 1 post is "Merlin Stone In Memoriam"

Amused Grace: Artist Thalia Took says that she’s "hit a block" and gives a summary of her many projects, confiding that she has mixed feelings about selling her "religious" art. She also discusses the tension between her public and private lives. All in her March 10 post, "Tensions."

Chess, Goddess and Everything: This blog is sponsoring a "Fighting Chess Award" at the Women’s Chess Championship in St. Louis April 15-29. Read all about the history of this cash award in the March 20 post, "The Goddesschess Fighting Chess Award." /2011/03/goddesschess-fighting-chess-award.html

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