WE (heart) THE WINTER SOLSTICE!

Our Goddess Spirituality: isn't it the most magnificent in all the world?  

To think about humans imprisoned in other religions, and what they suffer through, day by day, year by year -- it  breaks my heart.  

Please enjoy the Winter Solstice story below, don't forget to count your many blessings, and make sure to have a very, very MERRY WINTER SOLSTICE!  

Winter Solstice Story (author unknown) 

A group of little Faeries huddled in their home deep under the roots of a giant oak tree. They were safe and snug in their tiny underground cave lined with dandelion fluff, bird feathers, and dried moss. 

Outside, the wind blew cold and the snow fell softly down to cover the ground. "I saw the Sun King today," the faerie named Rose said as she pulled her mossy cloak tighter about her. "He looked so old and tired as he walked off through the forest. What is wrong with him?

"The great oak said he's dying" answered Daffodil.

"Dying? Oh, what will we do now?", Little Meadow Grass started to cry, "If the Sun King dies, our little plant friends will not grow. The Birds will not come and sing again. Everything will be winter for ever!" Lilac, Dandelion and Elder Blossom tried to comfort their friend, but they were all very sad. As they huddled together, there was a knock on the tiny door. 

"Open up, Faeries," called out a loud voice. "Why are you hiding instead of joining us in our Solstice celebration?" Rose opened the door and the little gnome Brown Knobby pushed inside, shaking the glistening snowflakes off his brown coat and hat. 

"We are too sad to celebrate," Daffodil said wiping her eyes, "The Sun King is dying, haven't you heard?" 

"He is dead you silly Faeries." Brown Knobby's round dark eyes sparkled with laughter. "Now hurry, or we'll be late for the celebration!" 

"How can you be happy and laughing?!" Elder Blossom stamped her little foot and frowned at the gnome. "If the Sun King IS dead, it will be winter always. We will never see the Sun again!" 

"Silly little child-Faeries." Brown Knobby grabbed Dandelion by the hand and pulled her to her feet. "There is a secret to the Winter Solstice. Don't you want to know what it is?" 

The Faeries looked at him in surprise. "Secret?" they all said. "What secret? We are only new little Faeries, you silly gnome. We've never been to a Solstice celebration before." 

"Come and see. Come and see. Get your capes and come with me." Brown Knobby danced and jigged around the room. "Hurry, Hurry, don't be slow! To the Sacred Oak Grove through the snow!" He danced out of the door and disappeared. 

"What did that gnome mean?" Rose asked as she gathered up her cloak of dried rose petals held together with cobwebs and lined with goose down. 

"I don't know, but the Lady lives in the Sacred Grove." Meadow Grass pulled on her hat.

"Perhaps if we go to see the Goddess, She can explain what Brown Knobby was talking about". 

The Faeries left their snug little home and trudged off through the snow toward the sacred oak grove. The forest was dark with only the light of the Moon shining down through the thick fir branches and bare limbs of maple and hawthorn. It was very difficult for them to get through the snow because they were very, very small. As they waded through the wet snow and shivered in the cold wind, they met a fox. 

"Where are you going, Faeries?" the fox asked. 

"To the sacred grove," they answered, they were cold and shivering. 

"Climb on my back and I will take you there swiftly." 

The fox knelt down so the Faeries could climb up. Then he raced off through the dark. 

"Listen!" Lilac said as they neared the Grove of Sacred trees. "Someone is singing happy songs. A LOT of someones." 

The beautiful music carried over the cold, still, moonlit air. It was the most beautiful music the Faeries had ever heard. The fox carried the Faeries right to the edge of the stone altar in the center of the grove, then knelt down. 

"Look!" said Elder Blossom as they slid to the snow covered ground. "There is the Maiden and the Mother and the OLD Wise Crone, and many other Little People." 

"They are all smiling and happy," said Lilac as she looked around at all the creatures. 

"All the animals are here too," whispered Dandelion. "Why are they all looking at the Mother?" 

The Faeries moved closer to the three Ladies seated on the altar stone. The Mother held a bundle close in Her arms, smiling down at it. The Maiden reached down and took the Faeries gently in her Hands. She held them close to the Mother so they could see what She held. 

"A Baby!" the Faeries cried. " A new little Baby! Look how he glows!" 

"He is the newborn Sun King," said the Maiden smiling. 

"But Brown Knobby and the old oak tree said the Sun King was dead," the Faeries answered her. "How can this little baby be the Sun King?" 

"That is the great secret of the Winter Solstice." The Old Wise One touched the baby's cheek with her wrinkled hand. "Every year the Sun King must come to the sacred grove during the darkest days of winter where he dies. I take his spirit to the Mother who gives him new life again. This is the way for all creatures, not just the Sun King." 

" You mean everything lives and dies and lives again? the Faeries looked down in wonder at the baby Sun King, nestled in the arms of the Mother. 

" Yes, Little Ones," answered the Old Wise Crone. "There is never an end to life. This is the great mystical secret of the Winter Solstice." 

The Faeries laughed because they were so happy. 

"I think the little Sun King should have gifts," said Rose. "I will show him where the wild roses bloom in the early summer." 

"And, I will teach him to call the birds and listen to the songs of the wind," exclaimed Dandelion. 

"When he is older and stronger, " said the Mother, "then the flowers will bloom at his touch, the birds will return to sing their songs, and the air will be warm from his breath, and winter will be gone for a time. Then the Sun King will run and play with you in the forest." 

The little Faeries sang to the Baby Sun King, songs of the coming spring, the sweet smelling flowers, the bumbling bees, and all the secrets of the forest. And all the creatures within the sacred grove sang with them. Then the fox took them back to their snug home under the roots of the giant oak tree where they dreamed wonderful dreams, waiting for the warmth of spring and the fun they would have with the little Sun King. 

___________

Many thanks to Moonshadow Magick for this story.  

love THE PEOPLE, retire THEIR RELIGION

My Dear Muslim Children,

I love you to pieces, I do.

But it's time your religion paddled on down the creek and into the sunset.

Please go hook up with some other religion, ASAP -- preferably one headed up by a goddess.

If that doesn't float your boat, however, then almost any other religion will do (except of course the other Abrahamaic religions, Christianity and Judaism -- as cousin religions to Islam, they share many of its seedy ways).

Look at it from our perspective, us non-Muslims (we still make up the majority, ya know):

o WOMEN:  You really don't dangle enough carrots in front of women.  The best of you fail to welcome women into your houses of worship, and the worst of you beat the fair sex daily and perform surgery on them when they're infants, dumping them into lifetimes of pain.  Really.  This is way over the top.

o CONVERSION:  One of your main aims is to squeeze the rest of us into your mold -- and some of you are willing to do this by hook or by crook.  Please.  What makes you think the rest of us are going to stand still for this for long?

o BABIES, BABIES & MORE BABIES:  You are flooding the world with babies.  Your birthrate shoots out into the stratosphere.  This is crowding out the rest of us.  

o SLASH & BURN:   Like no other religion I've ever witnessed, your holy books pitch you toward violence.  This is neither good for you nor the rest of us.  You know what major world capital I'm thinking of.

You know, dearest Muslims, if your background is Middle Eastern you used to have some fairly fab Goddesses leading your pack back when.  Why not go look them up?  They might be willing to take hold of the reins again for you.

Peace,
Athena

shake, RATTLE and ROLL, PEOPLE

It's time for the non-Abrahamaic world to gang up on the Children of Abraham*.  

These kids have no right to take over and then destroy the planet, but that's what they're doing.  


It's time for someone to step up and unite us.  Someone to make us see that we have a common and deadly enemy.  

Someone to lead us in getting rid of this enemy -- an enemy that has been riding riot through the world like the deep black Devil on steroids.  

In the first and second millennia AD the Children of Abraham hacked apart the indigenous peoples of Europe.  In the second millennium they split and skewered the indigenous Americans, North Africans and Middle Easterners.  Near the end of the second millennium they began feasting like Bengal tigers on Asians.  

With a violent, conquering war deity dragging them around by their noses, why wouldn't the Children of Abraham become violent, conquering warriors?  Of course they would, have and are.  Duh!  

But they're also fellow human beings, so we need to love them.  They've been eaten alive by the cancer that is their creed, the rules of their cult.  They didn't ask to have this creed and cult dredged into their heads, shoved down their throats.  They are victims.  

So, chop chop, people.  

Who's going to step up and take charge?  We need goals, objectives and plans of action. Let's get moving. Time to shake, rattle and roll! 
___________________
* The "Children of Abraham" are those who worship the god of Abraham -- Christians, Muslims and Jews (many think he's three gods but he's actually just one).  

throwing TANTRUMS IN YAJ-LAND

So schizoid is the god of Abraham (or “YAJ”* as I like to call him) that he talks to himself all day long – and he’s not very nice to himself, either:

Allah to Jehovah: “You stink, you pile of dodo dung.”

Jehovah to Allah: “No, you stink, you tub of toe jam.”    

Allah to Jehovah:  “I didn’t wipe you out during the Crusades, but I’m sending you a million A-lover refugees as we speak,** to swamp you out -- you piece of _rse-wipe.”

Jehovah to Allah: “Oh yeah?  Why don’t your A-lovers in Qatar take in all your A-loving refugees, pile of duck doodoo?  Qatar’s the richest country on earth*** and they haven’t taken in one single A-lover refugee.”

Allah to Jehovah:  “Because A-lovers are too smart to take in extra mouths to feed, pile of ripe rhino droppings.” 

Jehovah to Allah: “Your *&^*(*)_% A-lovers breed like flies!”****

Allah to Jehovah:   (looking smug): “That’s right, buffalo breath!  And by 2060, they’ll outswamp your J-lovers for sure!  Put that in your big, fat cow-pie pipe and smoke it for a day or two!”

And so on.

Sigh. 

__________________

* "YAJ" is short for Yahweh/Allah/Jehovah, who, contrary to popular opinion is not three, but one and the same deity.

** In 2015, Germany alone expects to receive 800,000 refugees -- four times what it took in 2014.  Most will be Allah-lovers from Syria.  (From "Europe's Migrant Acceptance Rates," The Economist)

***ABC: “The Top 10 Richest Countries in the World.”  

****Pew Research Center: “Why Muslims Are the World’s Fastest Growing Religious Group.” 

MERRY solstice TO 1 & TO ALL!

A deep bow of appreciation to all who honored the Goddess this year by celebrating the Solstice at one of her holiest of holy ancient sites: Stonehenge.

According to an educated dude from the University of Sheffield, however, we should be celebrating at Stonehenge at Winter not Summer Solstice.  Archaeology Prof. Mike Parker Pearson says -- and it makes sense -- that December 21 was a scary time for Neolithic people.  They killed their animals then, and felt a strong need to gang together against the wintry winds soon to howl around and beat against their cabin doors.
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PHOTO: Rollo Maughfling, the Archdruid of Glastonbury and Stonehenge conducting a Solstice celebration service.   Thnx to Matt Cardy/Getty Images for this image.  

ATHANA dropped HER HAND...

Athana sighed. “I have a time machine, Russ. I’m what you call an ‘ancient’ Minoan.” 

“Athana …,” said Russ gently, leaning toward her, pity in his eyes, exactly as if she were a child to be taken home and rocked. Emily glared at the ground, arms still folded, then looked up at Athana sideways, her hazel eyes narrowed.

Athana dropped her hand under the table. After flipping a small bronze switch on the inside of her left boot near the heel, she stood quickly, grabbed Russ’s left upper arm and Emily’s right, at the same time drawing a picture in her head of where she wanted to go. Here, Antigone’s Café – but eleven hours into the future. 

In that instant, the sun popped into nothingness, into a black hole. Nothing was but the blackness; it swirled all around them. Russ felt he’d lost consciousness, but not awareness, and wondered if he were losing his mind. 

~ Excerpt from *Minoan Time Traveler: The Land That Worshiped Women*, Book 1. ORDER IT NOW on Amazon.com, now for only $.99.  

WACKY WHACKO speaking

It’s dingly-darn embarrassing being forced to admit that dudes like Jim Bob Duggar are allowed to paddle their canoes down the rivers of my very own country. 

Sigh.

If you haven’t heard of this poor piece of Christian-flesh, go here (but before you do, snap your nose shut with a clothespin or  two to staunch the stench). 

In a world spinning around Goddess, this kind of dude would never see the light of day.  From birth he’d be trained to worship women, not bat them around like pieces of trash. 

YAJ*, YAJ, YAJ.  People are so getting wise to you.  Isn’t it time you just slipped away, back into the crazy, burning brains of the ancient dead dudes who made you up in the first place? 

________________

*”YAJ” is short for Yahweh/Allah/Jehovah, the god of Abraham.  Although most people think he’s three gods, he’s really only one (damaged, deranged, and psycho, poor thing). 

WHAT WOULD A GODDESS COUNTRY Look Like?

Richard asked three dynamite questions: "What would a Goddess country be like? What do you think the laws and the culture of a modern nation that modeled itself after the Goddess would be like? How do you think it would be perceived by the wider world?"

Fab questions, Richard. First let me say I'm not absolutely certain that a Goddess country could survive alone in today's world. That's why I've always stressed that the world needs to move together toward understanding and diluting what I call "starvation culture"* (which affects most of the world today, mostly through starvation-god religions such as the Abrahamaic religions and Hinduism but also through the older, outlawed starvation-god religions in places like China and Russia).

At the same time we're bashing the toxic old starvation gods, we must begin bringing back the old Guiding Goddess** ways of life. What would a Goddess country look like in the world today?

Social Equality. First, there'd be no social inequality. Everyone would be considered as equally valuable as the next person. Just as a healthy mother sees all her kids as equally lovable and valuable, so the people in a Goddess country would see everyone -- despite anyone's IQ, abilities, age, looks, skin color, or what have you.

Financial equality. Second, there'd be no poor people. Everyone would be rich. The Goddess-centered Minoans and Indus Valley people were some of the wealthiest in the world -- but everyone in these civilizations was equally wealthy. For example, in the large Indus Valley cities of 4000 years ago, everyone had the same high-quality stuff -- including indoor bathrooms. Indoor bathrooms for everyone was never again to happen until the 20th century -- when most in the West at least gave up their outhouses and turned to indoor plumbing.

Playful, creative, sensual. Third, compared to the people in most countries today, everyone in a Goddess country would be extremely playful, creative and sensual. There'd be a premium placed on one's abilities in these areas, so instead of considering them sinful or a waste of time, everyone would be totally lauded and praised for how well and often they showed playfulness, creativity and sensuality.

Economics. Fourth, I think a Goddess country would operate on the basis of a gift economy. The person most highly honored would be the person who could give away the most. For a great look at a modern-day gift economy, read Leaving Mother Lake, about the Goddess-centered (until recently at least) Moso of the Chinese-Tibetan borderland. The big problem in any economic system is how do you urge people to produce when we'd all rather sit back with our feet propped up sipping fine wine. In a gift economy, everyone works hard to produce so they can give the most away, and thereby win the praise of all their countrypeople.

Risk-Taking. Fifth, I think the people in a Goddess country would place an extremely high premium on risk-taking, pioneering, knowledge seeking, curiosity of all kinds, and adventure seeking. The Minoans had their bull-leaping and their wide-ranging mariners. Likewise the Indus Valley people had wide-ranging, curious, adventure-seeking mariners. Moso men go on long, adventurous trading journeys.

Government & Politics. The interesting thing about both the Goddess-centered Minoans and Indus Valley peoples was that we can't see any signs of their leaders. The Egyptian pharaohs (who lived at the same time) plastered pictures of themselves everywhere. But not the leaders of the Minoans and the Indus Valley. I wonder if the Minoans and the IVC weren't governed by councils with rotating, elected "moderators" to "lead" each council? In a society in which everyone is equal, why would a council moderator be any more "important" than anyone else? I'm envisioning the kind of direct democracy the North American Iroquois Indians had.

Law enforcement. In a mature Goddess country, there'd be no such thing as a police force. The archaeologist Jane McIntosh says that the up to 80,000-large Indus Valley Civilization cities had no police forces. Apparently there was no need for them.

Laws. I'm not sure a Goddess country would have "laws" as we know them. "Laws" are needed only when cultural morays no longer work. Laws were probably invented by the state (starvation culture).

War. If you don't even have a need for a police force, you're certainly not going to need armies (unless there are still starvation-culture countries left on the planet -- which we all need to work to get rid of ASAP). There's absolutely no indication whatsoever that the quarter-of-a-million-square-mile Indus Valley Civ. had armies or made war anywhere at any time (See Jane McIntosh's A Peaceful Realm).

__________
*For an explanation of Starvation Culture, plug the term into this blog's search box below.

**A "Guiding Goddess" is a goddess who births everyone and everything in the universe; who has no violence-prone, warlike god hanging over her right shoulder; and who isn't abused in any way by any possible gods in Her pantheon. The Moso, Basques and Hopi are three modern societies who, until recently anyway, had such Goddesses. I believe that many societies in the Neolithic and early Bronze Ages revolved around Guiding Goddesses. For more on this, see Studebaker's Switching to Goddess: Humanity's Ticket to the Future.  
____________
Thnx go to Dirk Borchers for the foto of the Moso girl above (Dirk gave me permission to use this photo in Switching to Goddess, and hopefully he won't mind if I use it here too)

[NOTE: this is a repost from Feb. 10, 2009]

MIND blown, BRAINS melted

Poor Mr. YAJ*.  He has a fairly wicked case of schizoid schizophrenia.... 

[For the artwork, we thank BornAgainPagan.] 

__________________
* Mr. YAJ is Yahweh/Allah/Jehovah.  Most think he is three separate deities, but he's really only one and the same dude: the god of Abraham, born 6000 years ago out of the sizzling hot brains of desert people gone mad from starvation.

THE LAND THAT worshiped WOMEN

THE LAND THAT WORSHIPED WOMEN: Minoan Time Traveler (Book One) 

PROLOGUE

"Lying at the joining point of three colossal continents – Asia, Africa and Europe – the tiny island of Crete is often labeled the Cradle of European Civilization.  The Cretan Minoans, arguably the architects of Europe's first civilization, were cut down in their prime in 1450 BC by Mycenaean invaders – but if they hadn’t been, some say that by the time of Christ they'd have landed a man on the moon.  After their technological skills, the Minoans are best known for their bare-breasted women and their bull leaping — a sport so dangerous modern bull fighters say it can't even be done.

"From the air, Crete looks like a man floating lazily on his back in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.  Today on Crete, East rubs shoulders with West on a daily basis. Round-domed Muslim mosques mix with Greek Orthodox churches, and markets mimic Turkish bazaars. Medieval streets shrouded in shade wind through towns like loose ribbons, and the oldest streets are so narrow a person can stand in their middles and almost touch the the sides of the buildings teetering at their edges.  Outside its cities, Crete is a rugged, barren mountain chain snaking across the spine of the island, honeycombed with caves and wild, cavernous gorges.  Sharp-eyed tourists might catch a glimpse of the rare Cretan wildcat, or the shy Kri Kri, the Cretan wild mountain goat. 

"From 1450 BC on, when the Mycenaeans crushed the Minoans, Crete has been a land of resistance fighters.  Its traditional male dress, therefore, should come as no surprise: black bloomers, black military boots, and daggers stashed in zounari — crimson waist sashes twenty-six feet in length. The black symbolizes Cretan respect for those who died trying to defend the island against 3000 years of conquering Mycenaeans, Dorians, Romans, Byzantines, Venetians, Turks, and, finally, in World War One, Germans. 

****** 

Order *Minoan Time Traveler* now,  for only $.99!  

In the UK, order it HERE.  In Deutschland, go HERE.  In France, go HERE.  In Brazil, go HERE.
In China, Japan, Italy, Spain, Australia, Holland, India, Mexico, Reino Unido go to your Amazon.com store.  

THE CAT HAS jumped THE BAG

The secret cat has jumped the bag, now. 

At last my story will be told. 

It is a story piled high with danger, intrigue, evil, love, mystery and magic. 

It is the story of a woman who tries to rescue the 21st century.   

It is the story of a woman who also tries to rescue an ancient matriarchal civilization fighting for its life.  My civilization.  

Children, I am that woman.  I am a Minoan time traveler. 

Yours forever,
Athana



Order Athana's two books at your country's Amazon.com store.  The second book in the series is called Love Inside the Ruins.  

THE secret LIFE OF ATHANA

Dear children, I have never been entirely up front with you about who I am, or where I come from. 

Through the years, some of you might have wondered – Who is Athana? How does she spend her days?  Where?  With whom? 

Now my time is up. 

I can contain my secret no longer. 

Come June, my story will come to light in a series of books called The Land That Loved Women. 

Stay tuned for updates.