Belladonna Sanctuary

How the Nineteenth-Century Spiritualist Movement Gave Voice to American Women - Nasty Women Writers How the Nineteenth-Century Spiritualist Movement in America paved the way for American women to own their power and their voices in public

In the Louvre Museum they call this powerful Goddess a “doll.” Dating 700 BCE, from Boeotian region of Greece, archaeologist Marija Gimbutas describes her her a bell, and “Artemis, the Mistress of Wildlife who contains her own life source.” (The Language of the Goddess.)
Gimbutas proposes the net motif located on her dress symbolizes the “water of life and life giving power of the Goddess, the net of the waters of life in her womb.”
The net could also be snakeskin, and a form of protection. Waterbirds are also present, coupled with symbols of activation and growth.
I personally love her boots. ❤❤🥰

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The Holiday That Welcomes Back the Sun With Pancakes and Coffee Around January 25, winter-bound villages in Iceland celebrate the return of the sunlight.

Come and join us on a magical Goddess Pilgrimage this year! We are going to Meteora, Greece and Sardinia

Maybe it’s just me—but as we approach the end of a really intense year, the days seem shorter, darker, and colder than usual.

The wheel of the year turns as it always does though, and the Winter Solstice approaches. The promise of Solstice is that the light always returns, even when it feels like the darkness will never end. The days will grow longer, the sun will grow stronger. When we embrace this knowing, we can be more present with the darkness, harnessing it as a tool of gestation and deep listening.

Remember: out of loss and grief come solace and compassion. Out of death and decay come fertility and new growth. When we enter fearlessly into the dark place of unknowing, amazing creativity can be born.

Across the world, people celebrate the Winter Solstice with ceremonies to lift hearts, cultivate reflection in the darkness, and welcome back the light- because we all need hope in the darkest of times. What kinds of traditions and rituals do you engage in these darkest days?

Diving deep into the darkness offers us a chance to do some deep personal reflection work: to let go of inner pain, regrets, mistakes, and blocks. I like this simple ritual to help you embrace the energies of Solstice at home:

✨ Stir some salt into a bowl of water. Sit with it, and let any painful or fearful feelings arise, and as they do, breathe them into the water, stirring counterclockwise. When you feel the wave of emotion has passed, sit for a moment and allow yourself to believe that change is possible.

✨ Imagine it as a spark of light, that begins to grow as you stir clockwise. You can sing or chant or breathe to raise the energy.

✨ When you feel the bowl is glowing, take a small sip and consciously take back the transformed energy. Look back at some of the situations that have been painful and imagine how you might do them differently, and how you can transform them next time.

If you are inspired by the possibility that this dark time offers, you're warmly invited to join me for a live virtual Solstice ritual on December 16th. Together we will weave a vision for the coming time of growth and renewal, and connect the strands of hope. Tickets are offered on a pay what you can/donation basis, and it will be recorded and emailed out afterwards for those who can't attend live.

Read more about my Winter Solstice ritual and register here: https://bit.ly/through-the-darkness-solstice-w-starhawk

The Fall 2022 issue of Feminist Studies in Religion is now live.

Volume 38 Number 2 “Where Have All the Young Girls Gone?” Discovering the Girls of the Bible through Childist Analysis of Exodus 2 and Mark 5–7

BEES, DREAMS & MEDICINE | collegeofthemelissae 2022 Series featuring forward-thinking leaders with creative solutions and dynamic experiences to support activated change and optimism: Activism, Integrated Psychedelia, Mythology, Eco-Feminism, Gaian Consciousness, Environmentalism, Sacred Healing, Revolutionary Beekeeping, Indigenous Cultures, Ap...

Free recording of Vicki Noble’s webinar!

A Free Webinar with Vicki Noble The relevance of remembering (and re-membering) another way of living with ancient values of peace, cooperation and care.

Goddess as Religion by Glenys Livingstone Ph.D. This essay is an edited excerpt from chapter 2 of the author’s book, PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion. Great Goddess of Laussel 20,000 BCE,Hallie Iglehart Austen, The He…

Psychologists Are Learning What Religion Has Known for Years Social scientists are researching what humans can do to improve their quality of life. Their findings echo what religious practices perfected centuries ago.

Salem's ‘Last Witch' Has Her Name Officially Cleared, 329 Years Later The last person whose conviction of witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials remained on the books had her name cleared Thursday when the Massachusetts Senate signed off on a measure first proposed by local middle school students. Elizabeth Johnson Jr. was convicted of witchcraft in 1693 in the now-infa...

‘Goddesses, I yield to you!’ Marina Warner on the volcanic power of witches, she-devils and divinities The writer has always resisted deity worship but she found her senses sparking at the British Museum’s gripping show about female superbeings – one wearing a necklace of severed heads

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A 21st Century Wheel of the Year: Regeneration at Beltane – The Druids Garden updated on April 23, 2022May 1, 2022Beltane Change Druid druidry in the anthropocene Forests Growth Living in Harmony Permaculture permaculture principles Planning Primer on Druidry Regeneration Respecting Earth wildlife A 21st Century Wheel of the Year: Regeneration at Beltane Dana 2 Comments on A....

Covered In Wrinkles and Unapologetically Old, Baba Yaga Is The Bad-Ass Slavic Witch You Need To Know About Baba yaga a magical spirit and role model who teaches you how to be wrinkled and badass at the same time.

National memorial dedicated to those accused of witchcraft in Scotland at St Ninians, Fife. STV news coverage of proposed national memorial dedicated to those accused of witchcraft in Scotland at St Ninians, Fife.

A 21st Century Wheel of the Year: Resilience at the Spring Equinox One of the most resilient and enduring plants in the world at present is the Japanese Knotweed. Japanese Knotweed is also the number one maligned plant in the world, as it is able to adapt to a va…

Catalonia to pardon up to 1,000 people accused of witchcraft Hundreds of people, mostly women, condemned during witch-hunts that persisted well into 18th century

‘The world is a lesser place today without her.’ Acclaimed author bell hooks dies at 69. Obituary: bell hooks, a Hopkinsville native who went on to an international career as an author, critic, feminist and public intellectual, died on Dec. 15 at her home in Berea. She was 69.

Archaeologists stunned by worship of female god in Petra 'long before Islam' ARCHAEOLOGISTS were stunned by evidence for the worship of female deities in the ancient city of Petra, long before the introduction of Islam.

From Boudicca to modern Britain: the dream of island utopias, ruled by women Once the British Isles were seen as a stronghold of female leadership. Patriarchal culture pushed these stories to the geographical margins – yet they live on, a force too potent to ignore

Decay Is Food

One of the great lessons of both earth-based science and spirituality is that there is no such thing as waste. Waste is food. All fertility arises from death. There is no life without death, and death feeds new life.

Life and death, decay and regeneration, are part of the same cycle. We cannot have life without death, fertility without rot. But death need not be feared or viewed with horror. It is part of the cycle- a transformation, not an end.

One of the simplest ways we can serve this cycle is by making compost from our organic food wastes. I have always considered compost to be sacred.

-An excerpt from my book "The Earth Path: Grounding Your Spirit in the Rhythms of Nature."

St Brigid’s Day a bank holiday from next year Arise Saint Brigid and take your place among the bank holidays of the Irish calendar. The abbess of Kildare is to be honoured by the addition of a new annual pu

Preston university professor calls for women to be pardoned 400 years after they were executed for Witchcraft Professor Robert Poole Pic: John Rollason A Preston university professor is calling on the Government to request a Monarch's pardon for the 10 women convict

The veils are thinning between the worlds as we approach Samhain—Halloween—the Witches’ New Year is almost here! Time to go inward and deep, as the divides between the world of form and the world of spirit dissolve, and our Beloved Dead are close by.

Come celebrate this sacred holiday with me tomorrow, 10/28, in my Magical Activism Ancestor Magic ritual. Together we will journey in trance across the Sunless Sea to connect with the spirits of those who have passed over before us. We’ll have an opportunity to finish unfinished business, ask for guidance and support, and make new commitments for the coming year. Together we’ll work magic in that place beyond time, where we can stir the cauldron of possibility.

It's your last chance to register for this online ritual series which started in January and runs through November. Your donation of any amount (even $1) will get you access to the Samhain ritual plus all 10 past session recordings, and our final live session in November.

More Info & Registration for Magical Activism Here ▷▷▷ https://bit.ly/magical-activism-2021-with-starhawk

May your Samhain season be filled with reflection, insight, and celebration of those who have crossed the threshold between the worlds. What is remembered, lives!

Sámi people ask Danish queen to return sacred witchcraft trial drum Norwegian indigenous minority seek permanent ownership of artefact seized after 17th-century trial

See the Salem witch trials from a new perspective at PEM’s fall exhibit

This feminist witch introduced California to Goddess worship Z Budapest helped bring Goddess religion to the U.S. in the ’70s, and was arrested for reading tarot. Now she lives in a retirement community.

The Equinoxes as Story of Redemption: Sacred Balance of Maternal Creativity a slightly edited essay by the author Glenys Livingstone from March 2013, published originally at Return to Mago  Each year in March and September, the Autumn and Spring Equinoxes occur at the…

Remembering Carol Christ – and going forward in her footsteps by Laura Shannon When I was 17, I left the US to live and study in Europe for a year, with Womanspirit Rising crammed into my backpack. This book, edited by Carol P. Christ and Judith Plaskow, gave me the solid gro…