BURKA WEARERS Bamboozled

"In the 21st century, the Islamic burka, the full-face-and-body veil, adopted by more women every day, has become the most potent human symbol on earth. But what exactly does it symbolize? Many say it stands for piety. No, that's wrong, says Marnia Lazreg, an Algerian-born professor of sociology at the City University of New York. Piety has little to do with it; the Koran doesn't even mention the veil.

In truth, the veil stands for political ideology and male power."

MORE >>>>
________
Thnx to jjay69 for the foto; go HERE to see more of his work.

PLEASE Pass THE YAJ*

Ever notice how YAJ* barks and bites at himself -- 24/7? It’s not just Yahweh stomping on Allah, Allah jumping on Jehovah, and Jehovah yammering away at Yahweh. It’s Baptists beating up on Methodists, and Methodists mopping the floor with Mormons.

And each sect beats up on its own, the Reformed Baptists blistering the Free Will Baptists, and the Evangelical Methodists bellowing about how the United Methodists don’t have a *clue.*

And so on.

Even in YAJ houses of worship there’s a feast of fussing and fighting. How to spend the church coffers. Who to hire to replace the priest (rabbi, iman, etc.). How many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

Maybe the way to sweep away the entire mess is just to let YAJ fight himself harder and faster, and faster and harder -- until he becomes a puddle of butter.

And we can take that butter home to Mama, who’ll make us some pancakes.

Yum!
___________
*YAJ: the god Yahweh-Allah-Jehovah. Most think YAJ is three separate gods, but they're wrong. YAJ is just one mean old dude with a split personality. He's the god of the Old Testament patriarch Abraham.
_______
Thnx to jeromestarkey for the foto of the Afghan dog fight. Go HERE to see more of his work.

WARFARE IS not IN OUR DNA

This article in NewScientist is worth a look-at. Says what I do in Switching to Goddess: anyone who thinks warfare is in our genes is off track:

OPTIMISTS called the first world war "the war to end all wars". Philosopher George Santayana demurred. In its aftermath he declared: "Only the dead have seen the end of war". History has proved him right, of course. What's more, today virtually nobody believes that humankind will ever transcend the violence and bloodshed of warfare. I know this because for years I have conducted numerous surveys asking people if they think war is inevitable. Whether male or female, liberal or conservative, old or young, most people believe it is. For example, when I asked students at my university "Will humans ever stop fighting wars?" more than 90 per cent answered "No". Many justified their assertion by adding that war is "part of human nature" or "in our genes". But is it really?

MORE >>>>

CHICKEN WINGS & Red PEPPERS

Am microwaving chicken wings, brussels sprouts, squares of sweet red peppers and broccoli spears for dinner.

The aroma is wafting out to me on my sunporch and I’m salivating.

AND thinking about how the wonderful chemicals and substances and nutrients in these foods come directly from Mother Earth – really, they ARE Mother Earth, Her gift to us.

Amazingly, She gives of Her Body to sustain us and keep us alive and in good health.

Thank you Great Mother. I adore You more than words can tell.

Dressing THE BRIDE

This poem moved me to tears. Called "Dressng the Bride," it was written by Goddess Pages Editor Geraldine Charles.

Geraldine captures the heart & soul of what on this blog we call the 6000-year "slippery slide" of the Goddess into Her current underground hideaway. But read all the way to the end, because there you'll find a golden promise:

Sure, ‘twas as though the granite bones
And flesh of earthen Mother,
Rose up, said, “Well, I’ve a will to be wed
To my white and golden lover
My white, my gold-haired lover.

“He’s a son of the sun and a son of my own
So the sun and the sky I will wed,
For they say I’m owed a warrior bold
To protect the fields in my stead
To preserve the land in my stead.”

Will Sheelah-na-Gig then jig for joy?
Will fairies then dance in a ring?
Or will Morgan le Fay angrily say,
“We’ve started a terrible thing
Oh, begun a terrible thing.”

“Oh, Mother”, we said, “don’t marry that man,
We need no warriors bold and brave -
His kind will call you whore and hag,
Rip minerals from your caves,
Yes, rape iron and oil from your caves.

“No, Mother, don’t marry the son of the sun,
His sons will bring you sorrow -
They’ll shit in the ocean and piss in your wells,
For you there’ll be no tomorrow,
For all of us no tomorrow.”

And Sheelah-na-Gig won’t jig for joy,
The fairies won’t dance in a ring -
And Morgan le Fay will sadly say,
“We’ve started a terrible thing
Oh, begun a terrible thing.”

We’ll give you a day like you never had
A day of praises, joy and mirth -
Far better than tying yourself to that lad
A day for Mother Earth
Just to celebrate Mother Earth.

We’ll dress you in green; we’ll dress you in brown,
We’ll polish your lakes, from swords make ploughs,
And braid wildflowers into your crown -
And berries for your brow,
Gather berries for your brow.

And Sheelah-na-Gig will jig for joy,
The fairies will dance in a ring -
And Morgan le Fay will gravely say,
“We’ve avoided a terrible thing
Oh, escaped a terrible thing.”

But oh, my darlings, sad to say,
She wed the warrior bold and brave.
His sons forced all our maids away,
Ripping minerals from the caves,
Raping iron and oil from our caves.

So we went down to Troytown,
One cold and bitter winter’s day -
And danced into the Maizey Wheel,
And never came out again,
Not for five thousand years and a day.

And Sheelah-na-Gig is forced to church,
The fairies are no longer near.
And Morgan le Fay’s called bitch and whore,
There’s no place for the Lady here,
No, no place for the Lady here.

***

Now the dragon paths are trod again,
The veils are lifting from our eyes -
As earthen mother breaks her chains,
Flicks the warriors off like flies,
Flicks the warriors off like flies.

We’ll dress her in green; we’ll dress her in brown,
And polish her lakes, from swords make ploughs,
And braid wildflowers into her crown -
With berries for her brow,
Yes, to bind around her brow.

And Sheelah-na-Gig will jig for joy,
The fairies will dance in a ring -
And Morgan le Fay will gladly say,
“Our mother is everything
Mother Earth is everything.”

And Sheelah-na-Gig will jig for joy,
The fairies will dance in a ring -
And Morgan le Fay will sing all day,
“Our mother is everything
Mother Earth is everything.”

©2004, Geraldine Charles

When I read this poem, I want to sing it. Actually, I did sing it, in a Medieval kind of minor key that I just made up as I went along.

For me, singing this poem is a powerful experience. Try it, I think you'll like it!

In Switching to Goddess, I call for artists of all kinds to create works of art that bring The Goddess to the attention of the world.

This poem certainly does just that. I wonder if Geraldine would mind if a musician in our community put this poem to music?
__________
Thnx to Geraldine for letting me use this foto of her.
_______
Postscript: July 5, 2009. Geraldine said she has music to go with the poem. However, anyone who wants to put new music to it can, just give her credit for the words. Also, she's going to ask a good friend of hers -- a professional singer -- to make a podcast of the song. Alright!

MRS. B. BOWERS Explains MARRIAGE

In this not-to-be-missed video, Mrs. Betty Bowers, America's best Christian, explains marriage to everyone else:

THE WICKED CHILLY LINK BETWEEN War & RELIGION

It’s no accident that the Christian Bible is peppered over 300 times with the words “war” and “warrior.”

It’s no accident either that the History Channel offers almost nothing but shows on war and the bloody, blood-soaked Abrahamic religions*.

Fact is, there’s a wicked chilling link between war and the Abrahamaic religions*: It’s the Abrahamic and other war religions that cause war.

So how do we rid the world of war? Well, unless you’re willing and able to scrap the war religions, might as well forget it and go home, prop your dogs up, and snooze.
_______

*The Abrahamaic religions are Christianity, Judaism and Islam. So few differences exist among these three that they might as well be one religion. And since they spread like cancer, they now infect over half (53%) of the people in the world.
____________
thnx to spatial mongrel for the foto; go HERE to see more.

HAPPY SUMMER SOLSTICE!

Seems everyone who's anyone in the northern hemisphere celebrates (or has celebrated) the Summer Solstice.

Everyone except YAJ* that is, who despises Mother Earth as much as flies despise flypaper (because She's way more powerful than he is. Temper, temper, YAJ*!)

“Most societies in the northern hemisphere, ancient and modern, have celebrated a festival on or close to” the Summer Solstice.

For example, the Ancient Celts, Ancient China, Ancient Gaul, the Ancient Germanic countries, the Slav and Celtic tribes in Europe, Ancient Rome, Ancient Sweden, the Essenes, Native Americans, and the people of Prehistoric Europe.

Even the early Christians set their feast day of St. John the Baptist on June 24. It’s “one of the oldest [of all Christian] feasts, if not the oldest, introduced into both the Greek and Latin liturgies to honour a saint.”

Go HERE to read more.
_________
*YAJ is the god Yahweh-Allah-Jehovah, a schizoid diety who usually tries to pass himself off as three totally distinct holy dudes.

COMPASSION -- Like a Fox

These technically fab but amazingly violent illustrations come from a rare antique children's book I found recently.

I'm blown away by how violent and chillingly callous this book is. I can't believe that only a little over 100 years ago we, in our YAJ*-based culture, were reading this stuff to our four- and five-year-olds.

The book has four stories.

The pictures you see here come from "Tittums and Fido," and "Reynard the Fox."In "Ann and Her Mamma," Mamma points to a beggar girl and tells Ann to think how much more god has given her, Ann, than he has the beggar.

This girl is in bigtime trouble: "... her hands look like skeleton's bones; She has got a few rags, just about her to tie; And her naked feet bleed on the stones...."

And yet there's no mention of helping this human being starving right in front of their eyes; she's only an object lesson for lucky little Ann.

So much for Jesus and Christian compassion.

While I think we've come a long way, baby, since 1871, I seriously doubt YAJ* or Jesus had anything to do with it.

I just think the Goddess is on the rise again.

BTW, if you're interested in owning a book like this -- if only to remind yourself how far the Goddess has gotten us -- I'm selling it on eBay. Go HERE to see it (it's the red book with the parrot and crow on the front, called The Poll Parrot Picture Book).

You won't find any other copies of this book for sale on the Net -- it's just too rare. But you will find two copies in UK’s National Art Gallery.

The first was given to the Prince of Wales as a gift . Its gift inscription reads “To Prince George of Wales. June 3rd 1871 Michys (?), humble devoted duty. Many happy returns of the day.” Also in the book is this: "This book was presented to the Library of the Victoria & Albert Museum by Her Majesty Queen Mary."
______
*YAJ is Yahweh-Allah-Jehovah, the god of Abraham. Many think YAJ is three different gods, but on this blog we know he's just one mean ol' cuss who's shot the world into the mess you see it in now.