Buzz Coil: January 2014

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

Living a Spiral Path: Blogger Stormy Seaside's Jan. 23 post begins:
 "When I was in kindergarten we were asked to draw what we thought God looked like.. I drew a woman with flowers in her hair in a dress of every color my crayon box had. I was told that God was a man and to redraw my picture. Later I asked my Grandmother if God was a male and she said 'Yes, he was'.. I asked my mom and step father the same thing, and got the same answer."
Stormy's  quest for explanations for his persistent feeling that the divine was female began to make sense to him after visiting an exhibit in a public library when he was in second grade. I could continue paraphrasing this wonderful post, but even better is reading the original of what it means to be "Goddess Born."

Broomstick Chronicles: In her Jan. 21 post, Macha NightMare (Aline O'Brien) gives an extensive and fascinating report on a "Neuroscience & Spirituality Interfaith Retreat," that includes discussions of spirituality/religion and science, brain maturation, and women-related issues.

Annelinde's World: Annelinde Metzner's Jan. 17 post, "Saule, Saule," contains her poem to this Latvian/Lithuanian Sun Goddess plus some background info and pics including a ritual celebration.

My Village Witch: Byron Ballard shares how she is "Preparing for Imbolc," including the first of several poems she plans to post, and a photo of a statue of Brigid.

WoodsPriestess: Blogger talkbirth's  Jan. 17 post, "Celebrations of a Maiden," begins with a poem and ends with ritual words for "Celebration of a Young Maiden." In between talkbirth discusses assessing how her time is best spent in terms of her blog and other activities, including a new website, Brigid's Grove, launching Feb. 1. With pics of talkbirth's Goddess sculptures and a ritual cord.

Works of Literata: In her Jan. 26 post, "Imbolc: Make a Brigid's Cross Ritual," blogger Literata  gives instructions for  using strips of paper to make a Brigid's cross and empowering each strip with an intention to send to Brigid.  

Casa della Dea: In this Italian-language blog's Jan. 20 post, "Viaggio a Kildare: introduzione e informazioni practiche" Eliantha Redspring tells of her journey to Kildare, Ireland, to learn more about the Irish Goddess Brigid. The post includes information about Brigid's sacred spring and sacred fire, directions of how to get to Kildare, and pics of some of what you'll find there.

Contemplation - Yeshe Rabbit: In her Jan. 23 post, "Our Beautiful Radical Hippie Pagan Wedding," Yeshe gives a detailed description of her October wedding to Albert, starting with the proposal, and continuing through the extensive planning, which included:
"one major consideration was that I had already made a vow to myself that I would not legally marry anyone until same-sex marriage was a legal reality. At the time of the proposal, that was still a contentious subject in California. I was prepared to go forward with a spiritual ceremony alone if gay marriage did not pass into legal acceptance....Albert and I decided to use our engagement as a spell to bring about positive results for gay marriage"
 And she tells us about the ceremony. With big pics.
 
 A Crone Speaks Out: Rev. Cathryn Platine 's Jan. 20 post, "We Aren't Wiccan," explains the difference between the Maetreum of Cybele's Cybeline Revival and Pagan reconstructionism, Wicca, and Witchcraft in general as well as "Dianics."

HecateDemeter: Blogger Hecate posted twice this month on the topic of  Everyday Pagans (EDPs):  "Everyday Pagans — They’re Legion" on Jan. 2 and "Everyday Pagans are Everywhere" on Jan. 23. Hecate writes:
You couldn’t pick them out of a crowd as Pagans because they look and dress a lot like everyone else. They get up and go to work, or work at home raising a family, or go to school.  
Hecate shares some of stories about EDPs, and says she'd like to see Pagan Pride organizers et al. focus more attention on them and less on other issues.

The Wild Hunt: Two posts on the possibility that Paganism is becoming more mainstream  appeared in this blog this month: Jason Pitzl-Waters' Jan. 11 post, Institutions vs Counterculture in Modern Paganism , which begins with a discussion of the purchase of land by Circle Sanctuary (and others) and then moves on to other topics, and Heather Greene's Jan. 26 post, "Wicca in the Cultural Spotlight," which examines whether recent mentions of Wicca in the media and elsewhere mean that Wicca, and by extension Pagan paths in general, are becoming more acceptable to the general public.  

Veleda: In her Jan. 6 post, Max Dashu delves into information about  "Taula and Kaula Wahine, prophetesses of the Pacific,"  and tells about the her method in dealing with the difficult aspects of finding and interpreting the information, as well as her interpretation of what she found.   

Love of the Goddess: Blogger Tara refutes some misconceptions about the role of "Priestesses in Ancient Egypt" in her Jan. 10 post. 

WATER Voices: In her Jan. 6 post, "The Trouble With Francis: Three Things That Worry Me,"  Mary E. Hunt assesses the Pope in terms of the history of the papacy's attitudes towards several social issues, "Women and Gays," and the "public relations success, not to say coup, that the papacy of Pope Francis represents." Regarding the latter, she asks:
Is this the stuff of real change or is it a way of shoring up a model of church that has endured for centuries?....Where are the women theologians called in to consult, the young people invited to discuss their lives and choices? Where are the lay people who might preach at the pope’s daily mass so he would listen instead of speak sometimes? Where are the lesbian and gay seminarians to explain the facts of life to an old Jesuit who entered the Society of Jesus before gay was gay? Where are the survivors of sexual abuse by priests and cover-ups by bishops to whom the institutional church, beginning in Rome, owes reparations?  

Tamis Hoover Renteria: asks, in her Jan. 20 post, "Is Philippa Gregory a Political Lefty and Closet Goddess Writer?." Tamis explains why the work of this historical romance novelist causes her to answer in the affirmative. 

Large Group Blogs

Feminism & Religion: From this month's posts of bloggers from many paths:

In a Jan. 25 post, "Imbolc and Transformation," Deanne Quarrie discusses the meaning of, and her preparations for, Imbolc.

Dawn Morais Webster discusses Catholic Church issues, including those surrounding Pope Francis, in her Jan. 22 post, "Women for a Franciscan World," writing: 
"Women have been seen primarily as little more than petri dishes, vessels for the development of fertilized eggs and the perpetuation of the human race. The refusal to accord to women the right men enjoy of making their own decisions about their lives is the basic dehumanizing affront that underlies the tradition of male dominion over women."

In a Jan. 19 post, "Beyond Clenched Teeth: Reflections on Forgiveness,"  Elizabeth Cunningham looks at an alternative to the concept, actions and reactions of "forgiveness."

In Carolyn Lee Boyd's Jan. 16 post, Tending the Fire of Our Circle of Older Women, she writes:
"...the older I become, the more aware I am of how obsessively American culture has belittled and marginalized older women.  Bringing a powerful, vital, and wise image of the  older woman back into our  consciousness — whether by calling older women “Crones” or using other words — is, to me, a tremendous achievement of feminism and feminist spirituality."
She also discusses the difficulties that today's older women face.

Carol P. Christ has two posts on the story of Jepthah's Daughter in the Hebrew Scriptures. In her Jan. 13 post, "Who Is Jephthah’s Daughter? The Cost of War," she responds to Angela Yarber's January 11 essay and painting on the subject, and compares the story to the story of Agamemnon’s daughter, Iphigenia, referring to the rewriting of this myth by Daniel Cohen. She also tells about the discussions she and Judith Plaskow have had about whether such "texts of terror" should be excised from liturgies.  In her Jan. 20 post, "Who Is Jephthah’s Daughter? The Sacrifice of Women and Girls," she focuses on the gender dynamics of the story.

In her Jan. 9 post, Saba Farbodkia  asks: "Is My Baha’i Faith Compatible with Feminism?" and reaches some provocative conclusions. 

In a Jan. 7 post, "Why I Need the Goddess," Judith Shaw tells how Goddess affects her paintings and her environmental views and actions. With examples of Judith's artwork.

Barbara Ardinger answers the  sometimes complicated question, "Who Are the Pagans?" in her witty Jan. 5 post.

Return to Mago: Some of this month's posts from this Goddess-centered blog of many bloggers hosted by Helen Hye-Sook:

Lydia Ruyle shows and explains her art of the "Acheulian Ancient Mother" in her Jan. 24 post.

Hearth Moon Rising's Jan. 20 post, "When Drummers Were Birds," begins with a reference to the late Layne Redmond, frame drum teacher and author of When Drummers Were Women. Hearth then looks back further, to a time, she theorizes, when people copied the drumming activities and other sounds of birds. To back up her theory, she embarked, with a frame drum, upon a 9-day "auditory journey" in the woods.

In a Jan. 13 post, Con-Text: Personal/Cultural/Cosmic Stories  Glenys Livingstone shares an excerpted chapter of her book, PaGaian Cosmology.

In her Jan 7 post, "The Magoist Cosmogony," blog owner Helen Hye-Sook Hwang shares part of a book she is writing.

The Nüshu (Women’s Script) Poets  is Donna Snyder's Jan.1 post, in poetry and a bit of prose, about the secret poetic language of Chinese girls and women.

Pagan Square: Some of this month's post from this blog of many Pagan paths, sponsored by BBI Media:

In a Jan. 17 post, Byron Ballard, asks: "But what am I to do with all this fury, all this rage?"  Her rage is about the the chemical leak into Elk River, West Virginia, and the (insufficient) response of the press and others. Byron, who lives in the mountains of North Carolina tells how she moved
 "out of the fear and frustration, and into a cold and calculating fury. It was honed by the comments of ignorant and arrogant bloviators who think that the people of West Virginia somehow deserve this...." 
And then she hints at what she plans to do about the situation.

In her Jan. 14 post, Sable Aradia explains why she considers "Cyberspace: An Astral Realm."   She writes that she considers "Surfing the net.... astral travelling of a sort...." and gives advice on how to use the same sort of protection for the 'net as for other forms of astral traveling, including befriending a cyberspace spirit guide.

Molly begins her Jan. 13 post, "Endarkment," with a poem. She then explores the "Dark Mother," and writes:
"Darkness holds our DNA–-our link to past and future. At the birth of the universe, some part of us was there. I do not find that dark automatically translates as “bad” or negative or as the 'shadow side' of anything."

On Jan. 11, Lia Hunter blogs, "Where Women Gather, Magic Rises: WomanSpirit in 2014." She tells of her plans for attending a UU women's circle, and the meaning it has for her, writing:
"There is something unique here among the women…...a part of the larger whole of existence....
This...has been appreciated through the ages (some ages more than others).... It is gathering up again.... It is coming home… a home that has been locked up for centuries, unless you knew the secret entrances. Now enough women have come home that they can melt away the locks from the inside, start healing the poison of internalized patriarchy, and welcome in all their sisters (including their two-spirit sisters), and prepare the temple-house  for becoming a full participant in the human community, again." 

In a Jan. 4 post, "Santa Muerte," Lillian Comas tells of her "special relationship" with death, including her family name, a premonitory dream, and other communications. She also explains the Latina Santa Muerte.