No blogging today

No blogging today; have been consumed with computer problems I can't seem to shake, namely, "stack error at line 54." I've checked my computer for viruses at so many sites my head's spinning. The last scan took 3 hours, during which time I could not use computer. Arrrgghhh!!!

PUBLICLY Whipped FOR ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION

“… [R]eligious police reporting directly to the U.S. Secretary of State stormed Boston’s Zoot Suit nightclub and handcuffed young women who they believed were dressed immodestly. And now, for the first time, two young people who were caught drinking alcohol face the threat of a public whipping.”

Scared you for a second, didn’t I? Actually, this did happen. Not in Boston, however, but in a country that’s lost its separation between church and state – something that could happen here if we’re not careful. Here’s the original paragraph:

“… [R]eligious police reporting directly to the prime minister stormed Kuala Lumpur's Zouk nightclub and handcuffed young women who they believed were dressed immodestly. And now, for the first time, two young people who were caught drinking alcohol face the threat of a public whipping.” MORE >>>

The country, Malaysia, has been kidnapped by Muslim Right-Wingers. And now those same fundies are trying to take over Malaysia’s next-door neighbor, the great and peaceful Buddhist Thailand. I was rudely awakened to this fact by Cousin Doris (the Christian Fundamentalist),* who – bless her heart! – emailed me a picture from InJesus.com of a Muslim-beheaded Christian girl. I will do you the favor of not passing it on. Doris is forever complaining that Christians are being picked on. I’ve told her they deserve it. I guess she thought I wasn’t taking her seriously enough.

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*Cousin Doris is not related to me by blood. Years ago, she snagged one of my favorite cousins and dragged him from the relatively benign church of our childhood into her church of the Rapture-Right. (This is not to say that some of my own blood haven't gotten themselves into fundie churches under their own steam. None of them, however, is as rabidly Rapturous as Doris.) Although I'm glad we're separated by bloodlines, I'm otherwise grateful to have Doris in my life -- she's a world-class instructress in the ways of the wild and wooly American fundie.

CRYING Goddess?

"SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Carrying rosary beads and cameras, the faithful have been coming in a steady stream to a church on the outskirts of Sacramento for a glimpse of what some are calling a miracle: A statue of the Virgin Mary they say has begun crying a substance that looks like blood.

Snip

“Thousands of such incidents are reported around the world each year, though many turn out to be hoaxes or natural phenomena." MORE >>>

The interesting thing is this: It is my understanding that almost all of these incidents are connected in some way to women, female figures or female deities.

WHERE DID gods COME FROM?

Much evidence suggests that before around 6000 BC, most humans worshipped Goddess/es, primarily. Around 6000 BC, however, large swaths of North Africa, the Middle East and Asia begin turning to desert. For generations the agriculturalists there tried to escape the dehydration, starvation, and accompanying severe stress (psychological and physical). In their desperate hunt for food and water, they turned nomadic. Often the strongest in a group – the younger men – were sent ahead for help, and the old, young, and women died.

In a nutshell, this process drove these desert-trapped people nuts. Only those who learned violence survived -- by violently confiscating scarce water sources. At some point these crazy, violent peoples abandoned female for male deity, and their warrior way of life solidified into a permanent culture-type. They spread over much of the globe, overwhelming peaceful Goddess peoples.

A lurid but possibly important sideline: anthropologists have long known the widespread custom of head-binding and skull deformation. Evidence shows this is found primarily in and around the 6000 BC areas of desertification. The theory goes like this: as the deserts came, women bound their babies to their backs, on boards, to keep them safe on horseback over rough terrain. Some historical “swaddlers” keep babies tightly swaddled for entire days. DeMeo suggests this produced deeply imbedded negativity toward mothers and women.*

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*James DeMeo. 1998. Saharasia: The 4000 BCE Origins of Child Abuse, Sex-Repression, Warfare and Social Violence in the Deserts of the Old World. This 450-page, 8-1/2” x 11” book is based on the most respected anthropological and geographical evidence available. Don’t judge it based on my three paragraphs above; DeMeo's theory is amazing. Go HERE to read glowing reviews of it.

Slippery SLOPES & SAM ALITO

This morning, the Associated Press released “Religion in the News,” about Supreme Court nominee Sam Alito:

“Liberals are upset … that Alito allowed a city Nativity display on grounds that it wasn't totally religious and included secular symbols (Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus). They also note that Alito joined a dissent that would have legalized high school graduation prayers so long as students initiate and deliver them rather than teachers or clergy.” MORE >>>

People, do we need to trudge back to school to re-learn why America’s founders sweated bullets to make sure “religion” (i.e., godFather religion) couldn’t get its sticky fingers into government pies? Remember how, before the Revolution, if ya didn’t show up for Sunday services they marched you straight to jail? Remember Salem “witchcraft”? Where the god Church called the shots about who should be hung – based on the blather and babble of a buncha teenage church girls?

And how ‘bout those Quakers the Puritans had a nasty habit of killing off – just ‘cause they were Quakers? Didja know that, before the Revolution, ya couldn’t vote unless you were a godFather church goer? Way! Do we really wanna return to Rule by Religion? Do we even wanna step one toe onto that slippery slope?
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Thnx to MiiraT for the great little-witch foto

WILD Turkey SPIRITUALITY

HAPPY TURKEY DAY, all you North Americans south of the Canadian border. HERE'S an article that says many Native American peoples ...

"...[C]onsidered the turkey a shamanistic medium between the powerful sky spirits and the earth. As birds that seldom flew they were considered to be more closely linked to the earth than other birds yet, with their ability to fly, also on good terms with the sky. In the southwest the dead were wrapped in turkey feather robes for burial, since turkeys were considered as the guides which escorted the departed to the next world."

This article has a few errors, so I wouldn't trust every small detail. But you get the picture: Mr. Gobbler to us today was probably a semi-deity to those who came before us.

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Thnx to radagast89 for the turkey foto

KALI THE Not-Nice GODDESS

I suspect Kali was a patriarchal makeover. The earliest Indus Valley settlers seem to have been peaceful, non-hierarchal Goddess worshippers. Around 2000 BC, however, give or take a few hundred years, a shift happens. We see signs of patriarchal “Aryans.” The old Goddess ways disappear. And the Indian caste system -- the most venomous hierarchy on the planet -- rears its ugly head:

"Archaeological evidence reveals that before the Aryan invasions the indigenous populations of India revered the Goddess" (Stone, When God Was a Woman, p. 72).

"Much study has been given to the real origin of the [Indian] castes, and the most dependable theories trace these back to the invasions of ancient times. The white-skinned Aryans did not wish to mingle with the dark skinned Dravidians, who were the original [Goddess worshipping] inhabitants.." (Stone, p. 71).

Shaking STARS FROM HER FEET

For everyone who likes "deep," here's something to chew on for a while: a theological look at one verse from “The Charge of the Goddess”:

“’Hear the words of the star Goddess, the dust of whose feet are the hosts of heaven, whose body encircles the universe.’

“In this verse, we are enjoined again to listen to the speech of the Goddess. But here, before we come to the first-person narrative, there is a description. ...[T]here is a mirroring of Christian liturgy which contains references to "hosts of heaven". In this context, however, we can move away from the notion that heaven is a place that we go after we die and have been judged. Rather, the clauses must be read together. This seems to me to be a description of the all-encompassing nature of the Goddess, indicating that she is the universe, and that all matter is indeed either an emanation from her (dust of her feet) or part of her body.

“Now, here is an interesting paradox. Generally, it is unusual to find these two ideas co-existing. Either philosophers/theologians have argued that we are the same stuff as the Divine spirit, or that we are a creation/emanation of that spirit, but not both…. Yes, we are the very body of the Goddess ourselves, just as the earth and all creation are, yet we are not the Goddess herself. She is a sum greater than her parts. This then gives us a possibility that in joining together, we create something greater than ourselves even while we understand ourselves to be important and divine….”

From “Equality and Pluralism in the Divine Embodied: An Exegesis of The Charge of the Goddess Part III,” by Kila-Ri

Now, in my head, I have magic movies of thousands of stars falling into place as the Goddess, shaking dust from Her feet, walks the night skies.

Go HERE for more.

ARE THERE ANY GOOD gods?

A few days ago, a reader emailed me about the Headline at the top of this blog: “Male gods are dangerous, to men as well as women. Female deities are role models for unconditional love.”

He said he thought these observations arbitrary. “How is Kali a role model for unconditional love?” He asked. “How is Baldur dangerous? And what about Artemis, who is ambivalent, what about Hermes, who is mischievous, but generally helpful to both men and women?”

Lately, I’ve opened up a sliver to the notion that some gods might be good. What I can’t abide, however, is a mean god on top (Zeus; Odin), and swarms of little goddesses and gods pressed under his thumb. And I don’t know any Goddess/god pantheons not built this way. It’s always Big-Daddy god sitting on his throne, and little girl and boy gods sitting in a ring around Daddy’s feet. The little girl gods are waiting to be raped (see my Oct. 11th post for info on the appetites of Zeus), and the little boy gods are waiting to die in Daddy’s wars. Absolutetly stunning reinforcement for the Patriarchy.

But am I wrong? Can someone name a pantheon minus domination & hierarchy? Greek? No. Roman? No. Germanic? No. Tuetonic? No. Russian? No. Hindu? Goddess forbid! Egyptian? I don’t think so…. Celtic? Maybe, in certain times and places. Iroquois? Any African? Mosuo?

As for Kali, I suspect she was a patriarchal makeover – more on this in a later post.

Ridicule & Violence First?

Just uncovered this little nugget in Digest 1473 of the Re-Formed Gongregation of the Goddess International (rcgi):

"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed, second it is violently opposed, and third, it is accepted as self-evident" (Arthur Schopenhauer, 1788-1860).

My question for you: is the Goddess Movement in stage one, or stage two?
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thnx to ronaldbrucemeyer.com for the foto of Mr. Schopenhauer

AH, SWEET Success!

Ah, Victory! How sweet it is!! Wikipedia modified my new 2nd paragraph in their Minoan article but left its essence untouched -- and left it in place as the second paragraph. The first two paragraphs now read:

"The Minoans were a pre-Hellenic Bronze Age civilization in Crete in the Aegean Sea, prior to Helladic or Mycenaean culture (i.e. well before what we know as Classical Greece). Their civilization flourished from approximately 3000 to 1450 BC.

"One of the outstanding features of Minoan Civilization was their worship of female, not male divinity. "That a powerful goddess of nature was the chief deity of the Minoans was recognized already by Evans [the original excavator of Minoan culture] and has never been seriously questioned." [1]

(As noted in an earlier comment, I expected them to ax my whiny comments about being a "woman living in a man's world." -- which they did...)

a CHRISTIAN EYES the Goddess, Part 2

Yesterday, we treated ourselves to snippets from a Christian’s history of the Goddess Movement. Today (as promised) we examine some funkier snippets from the same article:

“The fact that spiritual feminists … were attempting to work their “magick” for a former member of the U.S. Weathermen … is quite consistent with the string of violence that runs through those who worship the mother goddess.

WHA!!?? Wha’d I miss?! Any of you seen any violent Goddess worshippers hanging around lately? Nooooo, neither have I. Also, this dude’s Weathermen/Goddess data is news to me. Gotta tell ya, though, sounds kinda fishy.

“In his informative book Unmasking The New Age, Douglas R. Groothuis notes that the word thug originally referred to a class of Kali [the Hindu Goddess] worshippers in northern India who terrorized the country for several hundred years…. [T]he thugs would … ambush and strangle their victims [and] ritually sacrificed untold scores of people....

Kali is a counterfeit Goddess, sprung from the fevered patriarchal brain. At one time, Kali was undoubtedly a real Goddess, but, like most historic Goddesses (to a greater or lesser degree), the patriarchy remodeled Her to serve its own purposes. Be that as it may, what does the Thuggee movement, run by a group of Indian Muslim men, have to do with the modern Goddess movement? Have any of you heard of anyone from the Goddess movement ambushing, strangling, or ritually sacrificing even a fly? Most Goddess worshippers I know won’t step on an indoor ant. They scoop it up and deposit it gently outdoors where it can scamper away.

“… Although adherents of the Mother Goddess vehemently deny it, human sacrifice and violence have historically been an intricate part of goddess worship. The definitive book on this subject, The Golden Bough, was written by Sir James Frazer and was published in 1900. Even Robert Graves, who has probably been the greatest force for the revival of interest in goddess worship, wrote in his book, The Masks of God, that “human sacrifice...is everywhere characteristic of the worship of the Goddess.”

Ummmmm…. Whoops! Robert Graves wrote The White Goddess. It was Joseph Campbell who wrote The Masks of God…. And I have to warn ya, sir, don’t ever tell an anthropologist you’re seriously looking for accurate info from the 115-year-old book The Golden Bough – you’ll be laughed out of the room and down the block. Just ta let ya know. So ya won’t be humiliated. Oh, and DEFINITELY don’t call The Bough the “definitive book” on, well, anything. An anthropologist would hafta suppress a fleeting thought of having you locked up somewhere. And gee, I pulled out my copy of The Masks of God, and I don’t see a thing about sacrifice being “everywhere characteristic of the worship of the Goddess."

Frankly, I’m a bit bored with patriarchals throwing the Goddess in the same tub with human sacrifice -- give me a fat break! It’s like the white-guy fantasy that black guys are forever raping white women. I think it comes from some primordial fear patriarchals have passed down through the ages. It stems from guilt that they tried to kill off the Goddess (and almost succeeded, I might add). I don’t know of any good archaeological evidence connecting Goddess worship with human sacrifice.

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thnx to dalsabzi for the pic of Kali

CHRISTIANITY EYES THE Goddess

I am impressed! Still another EXCELLENT Christian summary of the Goddess Movement. Would that our Movement itself could write such poignant self portraits. There’s so much good stuff in this, that I’m dividing it into two: Today the sweet and neutral stuff, tomorrow the “These-women-kiss-the-hindquarters-of-the-Horned-One” stuff:

“The Goddess movement ... considers its first major gathering to have been a conference attended by about 1,200 women at the University of Massachusetts in late 1975...

SNIP

“The Feminist spirituality movement ... has become one of the largest submovements within feminism. [Wow! Goody for us!]

SNIP

“...the ancient female religions present a striking contrast to established Christianity: in the female theology [sic], nature is sacred; time is circular; body and spirit are one; original sin is absent; THE INDIVIDUAL'S WILL IS EQUAL TO THE GOD'S; play, humor, and sexuality have an important place in rituals; and pleasure is a positive force, not a sin [Emphasis his, not mine].5 [Sounds great to me!]

SNIP

“Many modern feminists are dedicated to destroying patriarchy along with all its perceived “injustices” and “inequalities.” [And? So?]

SNIP

“Clearly, the destruction of patriarchy seems to be common to the various “networks,” “circles,” and “covens” involved in this movement. [Yawn]

SNIP

“Furthermore, witchcraft, goddess worship, neo-paganism, or whatever it is called, is on the rise in America and around the world…. [I]t is the extreme example of the popular self-esteem, self-love gospel of the New Age. “Love of self for self,” according to Starhawk, “is the creative force of the universe.”38

snip

"The horror of great darkness is sweeping over the West today. [Chill out, dude! You're the type we try to convert before you splinter into 1000 icy fragments!]

"Christians must be aware that when the moon is full, writers, teachers, nurses, computer programmers, artists, lawyers, poets, plumbers, and auto mechanics — women and men from varied backgrounds — gather on hilltops, beaches, in open fields, and in ordinary houses to invoke the Mother Goddess and her consort, the “Horned One,” by their varied names. [Yay! But some of us aren't too familiar with your “horned one”]

SNIP

“... As Christians, we, too, are their enemies. [Ummmmm…. Well, yeah…. How many people did you say you slaughtered during the Inquisition? How many children have your priests raped? How many Crusade/Wars did you say you booked with the Middle East? Total number tortured in your conversion process? Total of my pagan ancestors you burned alive?].

YOU'RE Joking, RIGHT?

My letter to a site for kids called "Mysteries of Catalhoyuk," and put together by The Science Museum of Minnesota:

Yo! Nice graphics. On your "artifacts: figurines" page, however, I see an obviously female figurine [see above]-- quite regal, well-made -- and another figurine [see also above] sporting no signs of either sex.

This latter figure, which I've never seen before, you label "god," while the former figure, which I've seen often, is labeled as -- nothing.

Could you please email me and tell my why the unimpressive, sexless figure is a deity, while the impressive, stately female figure seated on what could be a throne and flanked by lions, is not?

Thank you.

Looking forward eagerly to your reply,

Athana

CONSPIRACY Theory

Okay, brace yourselves. Another conspiracy theory: we don’t hear about Goddess because the Powers That Be are hiding Her.

The sources for this chilling scenario? The book The Goddess and the Bull (about the Catalhoyuk archaeological excavations), and the Catalhoyuk website, with its treasure chest of info about the ongoing excavations there.

Both book and site suggest that Catalhoyuk excavators are intentionally obscuring signs of Goddess worship at this 8000-year-old Goddess site.

The original excavator, James Mellaart, found Goddess worship everywhere at Catalhoyuk. So it’s a bit eye-popping when the current excavators find it -- NOWHERE. The current excavators go to extremes to serve fairly astonishing reasons why Goddess figurines at Catalhoyuk are – NOT Goddess figurines. On the other hand, they offer no alternative explanations for the intricate, well-formed, large-breasted marble figurines that obviously took more time to produce than other figurines at the site (which, BTW, are rarely described). Why female figurines exuding awesome “otherness,” but NO figurines of males -- at all? No one touches this topic. Hmmmmm.

In my opinion, here’s what’s going on: Ian Hodder, the current excavator, is one of a handful depending on big-corporation funding to excavate. And these aren’t just any corporations. They’re Big-Guy Corporations: Boeing, IBM and Shell, for instance.

And Hodder’s terrified he’ll lose these Big Guys. He’s mostly into validating a new methodology (“post-processual”), which takes a ton of money to carry out. And Mr. Ian knows that these Deep Pocket Big Guys won’t be thrilled about funding female deity, aka female power. Poor Ian. He’s only human. He wants to do his digs. But damn! Don’t we level-headed folk need to step in, and shine the light of Truth on all of this?!?

Go HERE to read the exciting 2004 Catalhoyuk excavation report – and see for yourself the “indeterminate-sex” figurine with the buxom bosom and the admitted vaginal triangle.

GOD AS war SYSTEM

I’m slowly walking my way through The 2nd World Congress on Matriarchal Studies Conference, including, today, a paper called “The Utopia of a Motherless World – Patriarchy as ‘War System,’” by Claudia von Werlhof. Claudia is a women’s studies professor from the University of Innsbruck (Austria). Some sexy sound bites:

O Patriarchy is a threat not only to the few surviving matriarchies, but to humankind as a whole.

O The purpose of patriarchy is to build a utopia, but one based on war and elimination of mothers.

O The father god is a fiction; mother god is not.

O The old medieval alchemists were the “mothers” of the patriarchy: they (supposedly) created living matter out of dead.

O The aim of the alchemist was to create life without love, and without mothers.

O We still have alchemists: they create cyborgs and genetically modified organisms and such.

O In the patriarchy, violence is needed for creation: violence against nature, matter, and women.

O In nature, all death is followed by life. In patriarchy, death leads to violence and more death. Example: Genetically modified plants will first kill all other plants, and then die themselves.

O There is no infinite production on a finite globe.

O We are prisoners; we behave like inmates; we must break out; we can remember what is left of matriarchies; we can defend our alive parts from the patriarchy's dead parts.

O We CAN get the patriarchy out of our minds, emotions, and fantasies.

O Never in history has there been a people who know less about the Goddess and natural death than we do today.

O “Take the toys away from the boys!”

Go HERE to hear the entire address.
Go HERE to read a little more about Claudia

Heart-Altering FULL CIRCLE

Friday night was a heart-altering evening. A woman from my old Goddess group invited me to a “Full Circle” concert. These 20 women blew me away. They're an a capella group with, occasionally, an instrument or two thrown in – like saxophones or gungon drums. Yesterday I did nothing but play their CD, which is packed with deep-heart music.

Even today I’m thinking about settling into that pew at Yarmouth’s First Universalist Church (one of those old New England churches with the big white steeples and the V-shaped pews with little walls separating five people on one side, five on the other). The church was packed, and at the last minute a slender nine-year-old named Sam with a basketball-sized tousle of hair squeezed in next to me (his parents sat in the pew ahead). I asked Sam why the pews had walls, and he said he didn’t know -- but he knew they always did.

Even though it includes the word “God” (twice), the CD song I keep playing is Song of Peace (Finlandia). If everyone woke singing this song every morning, I swear it’d put an end to war:

“This is my song, Oh God of all the nations,
A song of peace for lands afar and mine.
This is my home, the country where my heart is;
Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine.
But other hearts in other lands are beating,
With hopes and dreams
As true and high as mine.
My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,
And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine.
But other lands have sunlight too and clover,
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine.
Oh hear my song, oh God of all the nations,
A song of peace for their land and for mine.”

Go HERE for more info on this incredible anthem.

I don’t even want to change the word “God” to “Goddess” in this song! Of course it helped that it’s followed (on the Full Circle CD) by the following Goddess-friendly version of the 23rd Psalm:

The lord is my shepherd,
I have all I need.
She makes me lie down
In green meadows
Beside the still waters
She will meet.
She restoreth my soul
She rights my wrongs
She leads me in a path of good things
And fills my heart with songs.

Even though I walk through a
Dark and dreary land
There is nothing that can shake me
She has said she won’t forsake me
I’m in her hand
She sets a table before me
In the presence of my foes
She annoints my head with oil
And my cup overflows.

Surely, surely goodness and kindness
Will follow me all the day of my life.
And I will live in Her house
Forever, forever, and ever

Glory be to our Mother and Daughter
And to the Holy of holies
As it was in the beginning,
Is now and ever shall be,
World without end.

Amen

Mostly the songs are international –Japanese, Bulgarian, South African, Jamaican, Serbian, etc. Too bad I can’t blog the whole album (I can’t, can I? Anyone know how to blog music?)

I'm telling ya, this CD has drained me of all ambition. I’m purring like a kitty kat today, mesmerized, and full of peace.

If you want a Full Circle CD, write to them c/o Webster, PO Box 201, Brunswick, Maine 04011. But I’m warning ya – don’t expect to rise in life after you’ve heard it; nothing will matter any more except floating on a cloud of Full Circle.
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thnx to miniBloom for the foto of the ice boat in Finland

New Pope Backs Darwin

Catholic Cardinal Paul Poupard argues that the description in Genesis of the Creation [is]

"'…perfectly compatible' with Darwin’s theory of evolution, if the Bible were read properly.

“'Fundamentalists want to give a scientific meaning to words that had no scientific aim.'

"[Poupard] argued that the real message of Genesis was that the Universe did not make itself, and had a creator. 'Science and theology act in different fields, each in its own.' In Rome, the immediate reaction was that this was a Vatican rejection of the fundamentalist American doctrine of 'intelligent design.' No doubt the Vatican does want to separate itself from American creationists, but the significance surely goes further than that. This is not another Galileo case; the teachings of the Church have never imposed a literal interpretation of the language of the Bible; that was a Protestant mistake. …

Snip

"It is a precautionary statement, distancing the Church from the American attack on Darwinism that Rome considers to be neither good science, nor good theology. It will also be taken as an indication of the priorities of the present Pope Benedict XVI."

For more, go HERE.

Govt. Warns Church Re: Anti-War Sermon

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Internal Revenue Service has warned a prominent liberal church that it could lose its tax-exempt status because of an anti-war sermon a guest preacher gave on the eve of the 2004 presidential election, according to church officials.

Well okay, then. Just as long as you guys also unburden other churches of their taxless status – say those little eager beavers who regularly huddle in their church basements, madly scribbling out letters to Congress, and disguising the fact that the letters come from a church? (See Charlene Spretnak, who talked about this as long ago as 1982, in "The Christian Right's Holy War Against Feminism," in The Politics of Women's Spirituality.)

Let's be certain, too, to relieve Mr. Pat Robertson of his tax breaks – remember Mr. Pat, the televangelist who called on the American government to assassinate the President of Venezuela? I'm just guessing -- but could this have gotten a bit more press than the anti-war sermon above, seeing as how Venezuela called it a “’terrorist’ statement that need[ed] to be investigated by U.S. authorities….”?

And while we’re on Mr. Pat, I suppose you’ve heard that he’s dusted off his megaphone and is now announcing to the world that disaster may strike tiny Dover, Pennsylvania, at any minute, seeing as how it ‘voted God out of your city’ by ousting school board members who favored teaching intelligent design?

Yes, never a dull moment these days, with the wingnuts winding themselves up tighter than cuckoo clocks.

MARRIAGE FROM hell

Go see The Gods Are Bored for a lively yet informative interview with the Goddess Asherah that will keep you in stitches. Much of it is about her marriage to Yahweh. Some tidbits:

Anne: Asherah, are you at all related to Queen Brighid the Bright?

Asherah: No, but I see her sometimes at the hairdresser.

Anne: I'm hardly believing these notes my producer gave me for this interview. It says here you were married to Yahweh? Wow, Asherah, that's a bold assertion!

Asherah: Archaeologists have found documents from extremely ancient Israel that leave no doubt as to our former marital status. One tablet clearly says "Yahweh and His Asherah." We had sons, too!

Anne: I am flabbergasted. No one told me about that in Methodist Sunday School.

Asherah: Well, you know, once a god gets the Immaculate Conception thing ironed out, why keep a spouse around? Especially one who was as popular as I was.

snip

Anne: .... So, Asherah, as a bored goddess, you're allowed to make a bald pitch for support on this site.

Asherah: I just want to stop being seen as some second-class, harlot, evil wicked witch. It hurts my feelings. I was respectable, and I resent the revisionist history.

Anne: As well you might. I'll ask Queen Brighid the Bright to put you on her "A" list for parties.

Asherah: Oh, would you do that? She does have lively ones!

Anne: Goddess Asherah, thank you for being our guest today on "The Gods Are Bored." I wish you the best of luck regaining a praise and worship team!

Asherah: Thank you. Are you going to finish that Pop Tart?

Brawling WITH WIKIPEDIA

Several months ago, I did battle with Wikipedia over their article on the Minoans. They refused to allow that the Minoans worshipped female deity! “Give us an exact quote,” snickered a Wikipedia arbitrator. Well, today, finally, I got around to getting him his quote. Here it is, placed regally in paragraph two of the article:

“One of the outstanding features of Minoan civilization was their worship of female, not male divinity (‘That a powerful goddess of nature was the chief deity of the Minoans was recognized already by Evans [the original excavator of Minoan culture] and has never been seriously questioned.’ Nanno Marinatos, 1993, Minoan Religion: Ritual, Image, and Symbol, University of South Carolina Press, p. 147 [NOTE: When I tried in the past to begin this article with information about the extraordinary fact that these advanced ancient peoples worshipped primarily -- if not exclusively -- female divinity, I was told I was wrong, and that if I persisted in inserting "erroneous" information, I must support it with a quote. Thus the reference by the well-known and highly respected Minoan archaeologist Nanno Marinatos; and thus the plight of modern woman in a male-dominated world]).”

I know they’ll pitch the last several of my magnificently whiny sentences (about being a poor woman in a male world), but at least a few people will read the magnificence before it’s pitched.

Frankly folks, this foray into the land of Wikipedia has been a bit forbidding: I’ve never before gotten this close to the smelly face of the patriarchy. I could feel its grimy whiskers brushing me on the cheek. Guh - ROSS!

Go HERE, to Wikipedia, to read the entire article, which still could use quite a bit of improvement, in almost every section.
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Thnx to the American Library Color Slide Co. for the picture of the highly reconstructed ancient Minoan triumfeminate (aka "The Blue Ladies").

FLASH! New Goddess Figurine Discovered

Heavy stuff going down in the Goddess world, my friends. An amazing new Goddess figurine has been discovered, at perhaps the most famous and most controversial Goddess site of them all: Turkey’s 7,500-year-old Catalhoyuk. The excavators admit this figure has stunned them, and that it might “… force us to change our views of the nature of Catalhoyuk society.”

A little background on this site might suggest some of the irony in that last statement: James Mellaart, the British archaeologist who discovered Catalhoyuk in the 1950s, felt fairly convinced that the Mother Goddess was a major force among the ancient Catalhoyukians. However, Mellaart’s excavations were closed down in the 1960s, due to politics, and for 30 years the site sat dormant. It wasn’t until the 1990s that archaeologist, Ian Hodder reopened the dig. Unfortunately, Hodder’s stood on his head to deny even the possibility of Goddess worship at Catalhoyuk. Want a good laugh? Read him sometime and get a gawk at the lengths he goes to in order to explain away the complex, finely made figurines with bulbous breasts. Or to explain why there are no male figurines at Catal Huyuk, let alone anything remotely resembling a god. Religion? What religion? Hodder appears never to have heard the word, making Catalhoyukians the only people in time or space who didn’t have any.

Here’s what Hodder has to say about this stunning new figurine:

“This clay figurine was found in 2005 in … the fill of a burnt house. Immediately on finding the figurine we were all taken aback by its very strange and unusual imagery. The front of the figurine looks very much like the so called 'Mother Goddess' figurines that are so well known (though rare) from Catalhoyuk. There are full breasts on which the hands rest, and the stomach is extended in the central part…. [T]he arms are very thin, and then on the back … one sees a depiction of either a skeleton or the bones of a very thin and depleted human. The ribs and vertebrae are clear…. The figurine can be interpreted in a number of ways - as a woman turning into an ancestor, as a woman associated with death, or as death and life conjoined. [NOTICE HOW THE WORD ‘GODDESS’ IS PAINFULLY AVOIDED?] Whatever the specific interpretation, this is a unique piece that may force us to change our views of the nature of Catalhoyuk society….”

Eat your hat, Hodder! I’d say, yes, you need to change your views! A “woman turning into an ancestor”??!! You know, human beings typically have words for people who turn themselves into other beings, and they all have to do with otherness, with the spiritual world. “Fairy” comes to mind. Or “god.” Or “witch.” Or “Goddess.” Spit the word out, boy, it won’t burn you: “Goddess.” “Goddess.” “Goddess.”

Go HERE to see pictures of this awesome new Goddess, which is shown from several angles.

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thnx to IstanbulPortal for the foto of one of the most famous Goddess figurine found by Mellaart at Catalhoyuk.

Jesus Loves WHICH Little Children?

Yo! Here’s an interesting tidbit to query your Christian friends about. Ya know how Jesus is supposed to love all the little children? I don’t know about you, but when I went to church back in the cave days, one of my fav songs was

“Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world,
Red and yellow black and white,
They are precious in his sight,
Jesus loves the little children of the world.”

(See? Me of miniscule memory – and I remembered every word -- w/o peeking anywhere.)

Well, turns out – Not. If Jesus loved all those multi-colored kids, no one in the Bible – the official Christian Word – ever mentions it:

“‘… certainly [in the Bible] one should find empathy toward children’s needs, for isn’t Jesus always pictured holding little children? Yet when one actually reads each of the over 2000 references to children listed in the Complete Concordance to the Bible, these gentle images are missing. You find lots on child sacrifice, on stoning children, on beating them, on their strict obedience, on their love for their parents, and on their role as carriers of the family name, but not a single one that reveals empathy for their needs.’” James DeMause, 1974, “The Evolution of Childhood,” in The History of Childhood, James DeMause, Psychohistory Press, NY. (James DeMeo, Saharasia, p. 170)

DeMeo goes on to say that “The central ‘holy books’ of other patristic, high god religions (Torah, Koran, Vedas, etc.) are no better on this point.”

The "Myth" of Matriarchal Prehistory

A few days ago, Anonymous left this comment:

"If you want, look up the book 'The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory: Why an Invented Past Will Not Give Women a Future' on Amazon[.com]... All of the praising reviews are just so depressing."

To which I reply, "Yes, anon, I've seen reviews of this book. Men terrified of the power of women adore it, and so sing its praises. In my opinion, however, it's a matter of "Methinks the men do protest too much." It's part of an anti-feminist backlash.

The fact is, evidence is exceedingly strong for a time in which women were mighty, and peace and plenty reigned.

Here's the problem: the past is murky -- especially the past that existed before written (decipherable) records, which is when the Goddess reigned. Very little can be "proven" beyond a shadow of a doubt for these time periods. All you can go on are percentages. For example, if 95% of the figurines you find at an archaeological site are female, and if a high percentage of these figurines are acceptably "sacred" in appearance, and if women have more artifacts in their graves than men do, and if the artifacts in women's graves took longer to make than the ones in men's graves, then you are justified in saying "Women probably had higher status in this group than men did," and "Female divinity was probably valued over male divinity."

This is what the archaeologist Marija Gimbutas did with ancient Goddess sites. Her detractors complain that she saw a Goddess in every artifact and drawing she excavated. What they fail to mention (probably because they failed to read her complex books entirely) is that Gimbutas based her theories not only on art, but also on additional evidence: grave goods, for example. Archaeologists agree that higher quality grave goods indicate a higher status for the buried individual. In "Old Europe" Goddess sites, Gimbutas often found a higher quality of grave goods in women’s graves than in men’s graves (Old Europe today is southeastern Europe.)

Here's another thing that most people don't seem to "get" about Gimbutas: she discovered that the old Bronze-Age Goddess archaeology sites were mis-dated. These old Goddess sites were so technologically advanced, and so civilized, that archaeologists typically considered them far younger than they actually were. Gimbutas, however, came along and dated them with a new dating technique -- carbon 14. What she discovered was that the sites with all the female figurines, the spiritual female figurines, and the rich women's graves, were actually FAR OLDER than they appeared.

Why? Because the advanced Goddess societies were followed by a dark age in which male-dominated and male-god-dominated peoples took over. At this time, the level of technology, culture, art, and civility plummeted. This was the beginning of Patriarchy, an illness that still muffles us today, and may, if we fail to eradicate it, eradicate us.

In Which Athana Gets Born-Again

Did you see it coming, gentle readers -- the day when Athana would join a CHURCH?!? Yes, it’s the Church of Stop Shopping, run by the Right Reverend Billy:

“… Rev. Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping, delivered a rousing sermon denouncing the evils of sweatshops on the steps of [the San Francisco] City Hall before he and his choir marched into the offices of Ross Mirkarimi, Aaron Peskin and Fiona Ma. None of the supervisors was present, but the Rev. Billy blessed their desks, chairs and computers anyway.

"’We are in the office of exalted leader Peskin,’ the reverend told Peskin's stunned staff. ‘He is on vacation in Utah, but we know he will use San Francisco's taxpayer money to do the right thing.’

“New York's the Rev. Billy is a nationally known -- well, in some circles -- performance artist and crusader who travels the country to support local movements against big-box retailers and rampant consumerism.”

Here, in the words of one convert, is what joining the Church of Stop Shopping is all about:

“’Hi. My name is Carol Ann. [Hi Carol Ann.] I'm a recovering shopaholic. I used to shop as a bonding activity with my mother and sister. … Now I'm shopping free. I don't even like the smell of it. I realize that my shopping was only fueling our corporate-owned government. Right on, Rev. Billy. Keep preaching the word. You are one talented brother.’”

“Wal-Mart, Home Depot and Starbucks are frequent sites of the Rev. Billy's sermons.”

Yes, gentle readers, I’ve engaged in so much rage over the death of American democracy (which was shot and killed not long ago by Big Business and replaced by the Corporatocracy – rule by corporation) that I’ve become a victim of rage-aholism. Yes, I admit it -- I’m a raving rage-aholic. I only hope the Rev. Billy can cure me of my illness.

Go HERE to join the Church of Stop Shopping, confess your shopping sins, or subscribe to the Church Bulletin.

What Would Jesus Do in Congress?

Found this on Al Franken’s site:

What Would Jesus Do in Congress?

The top two items on the Christian Coalition's 2005 legislative agenda:

*Passing President Bush's Social Security reform (with personal accounts)

*Making permanent President Bush’s 2001 federal tax cuts.

Mysteriously absent from their agenda are the words "poverty" and "poor."

Read more on the Republican misuse of religion in Bill Press's new book: How the Republicans Stole Christmas

Gloomy Without Goddess

Think only modern women love the Goddess? Think again: In 1948, the talented writer/historian Robert Graves alleged that until we regain Goddess worship, we are doomed to misery:

“There can be no escape from the present more than usually miserable state of the world . . . until the repressed desire of the Western races, which is for some form of Goddess worship, . . . finds satisfaction at last.” Robert Graves in The White Goddess, as quoted in Elizabeth Gould Davis, The First Sex.

(In addition to The White Goddess, Graves was the author of Goodbye to All That (1929), a landmark memoir of World War I. The highly successful BBC mini-series I, Claudius (1976) was based on Graves's work. Go HERE to learn more about him.)
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thnx to Answers.com for the foto of Robert Graves

Matriarchy: Model for a Sustainable Future

Today I treated myself to another of the amazing presentations at the fabulous Societies of Peace, 2nd World Conference on Matriarchal Studies held at the beginning of October in Austin, Texas. This one was by Heide Goettner-Abendroth, the Conference moderator and person responsible for getting the conference together. Heide’s German, and her presentation – delivered in a rich, melodius, and commanding voice and accent that you’ll love -- was titled “Matriarchal Societies – Definition and Theory.”

Here are some highlights: ~

Hiede begins by saying that she’s a philosopher, not an anthropologist. But in order to develop her understanding of matriarchy, she’s focused on anthropology for the past several years; she says she’s found prejudices among anthropologists (against the idea of matriarchy) (BWA HAHAHAHA).

Matriarchies are not just the reverse of patriarchy. They are not societies in which women dominate men. On the contrary, they are free of hierarchy and domination. The differences between the genders are honored, not muted. The same is true with the various age groups.

In matriarchal societies there is an attitude of peace making. Matriarchal societies are great models, she says, for a just and peaceful society.

The rest of her speech centered around five levels: economic, social, kinship, political, and spiritual/cultural.

A. ECONOMIC LEVEL
In matriarchal societies, goods circulate as gifts! For example, wealthy clans invite all to be their guests at a festival, at which they give gifts to everyone. The wealthy clans gain nothing but honor. The term for this is the “gift economy.” This leads to economic equality.

The gift economy is based on the value placed on “motherliness”. It allows a balanced economic system.

B. SOCIAL LEVEL
In matriarchies, mothering is transformed into a behavioral model. Patriarchies, in contrast, make mothers into slaves.

C. KINSHIP LEVEL
In matriarchies, people live in large kin groups based on the female line, the mother’s line. In most living units there are usually three generations of women and their brothers. These live in a big clan house. The daughters never leave this house.

In the most ancient matriarchal patterns, men practice “visiting”: They are guests for overnight only, and must leave in the morning.

In a matriarchy, everyone is related to everyone else, if not by blood, then by marriage. This promotes strong bonds of love and care among equals.

D. POLITICAL LEVEL
In matriarchies a primary political tool is consensus. Before a decision is made, all must agree to it. When a decision must be made, everyone gathers in the clan house. First there’s discussion. Then there’s a vote. If there’s no consensus, more discussion follows until consensus is met.

Each clan house sends a delegate to the village council. A vote is taken. If there’s no consensus, the delegates travel back and forth between the clan house and the village council until a consensus is arrived at.

At the next level is the Regional council, where the same process takes place, with delegates traveling back and forth between their villages and the regional council meetinghouse until consensus is met.

This, says Heidi, is true grass-roots democracy. But the basis for it is the gift economy and matrilineal kinship.
Matrilineal societies are free of domination. There is no ruling class. There is no subjugated class.

D. SPIRITUAL LEVEL
Matrilineal societies are not based on a god that is untouchable, unseeable, and unattainable. Divinity is immanent. The entire world is the feminine divine. It is the Great Goddess, the Great Mother.

All is imbued with divinity – men and women, pebbles and the stars. There is no separation between the sacred and the secular. Building a house, sewing, taking a journey – everything has ritual significance.

Matriarchal societies are peaceful.

SUMMARY
The knowledge of matriarchies is urgently needed in the shrinking world of destructive patriarchy. Matriarchies are not abstract utopias. They have existed! Until today [a few matriarchies still exist -- and their representatives spoke at the Conference -- but these are weak and getting weaker as the patriarchy batters away at them]. They embody an enormous amount of knowledge that we can use [to heal the world]. Matriarchies can be our guiding light toward a just and peaceful world society.

Go HERE to hear Heide's entire presentation (you can still hear many of the Conference speeches on FIRE, but I don't know how much longer they'll be there).

Does the Goddess Luv U?

Anonymous asked, on Oct. 30, “How can someone be sure that the Goddess loves them …?”

Since Goddess religion was destroyed some 6000 years ago and we’re just now rekindling it, my answer may not match everyone’s. On one point, however, everyone agrees: the Goddess adores every last one of us – without reservation anywhere in her magnificent, miraculous body:

Every time I see a mother loving her children, I know the Goddess loves us. Every time I see a picture of a panda or a polar bear nuzzling and nurturing her young, I know we’re all loved by the Mother. When I hear a mother describing the almost mystical adoration she feels for her newborn, I know I’m loved -- just so – by my Mother Goddess. When I hear of mothers lifting two-ton vehicles – because their child is pinned under one, I realize how ardently we’re all loved by the Mother. I know we’re all loved by the Goddess when I hear stories like the one about Cindy Parolin who, to save her 6-year-old, wrestled for hours with a wild cougar (see May 11 post).

Now, after millennia of battering by the patriarchy, it’s a testament to the deep-rooted power of women that we have any healthy mothers left anywhere. But we do. And if your mother wasn’t one, go switch on the nature channel. Watch a mother koala cuddle with her cubs. Healthy mothers don’t care who you are – they worship you, they adore you! They can’t help it! And so it is with your Mother Goddess; she loves you now and forever more, through infinite time and infinite space. No holds barred. No strings attached.
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thnx to big foot for the foto