Sheela Na Gig - Goddess of Fertility

What are Sheela Na Gigs?

Flaunting females and masturbating males adorn our medieval churches. Why?

I confess that I'd love to see some of our current pop artists put their own spin on a painting of the Sheela-Na-Gigs.

Sheela Na Gigs are quasi-erotic stone carvings of a female figure usually found on Norman or to be more precise Romanesque churches. They consist of an old woman squatting and pulling apart her vulva, a fairly strange thing to find on a church wouldn't you say? The carvings are old and often do not seem to be part of the church but have been taken from a previous older, usually romanesque, building.

MORE» PJ Harvey had a song called Sheela Na Gig and Flickr has a group of Exhibitionist church carvings.

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S E P T E M B E R 2 3 | MABON

Mabon, (May-bon) is known as the Autumn Equinox, Harvest Home, Second Harvest, Sun Enters Libra, the Witches Thanksgiving and Siring Fate. The Goddess is entering into cronehood, and the dark of the year is beginning, so this is a time often associated with mysterious lore and wisdom.

The Wiccan calendar contains 13 full moons (Esbats) and 8 Sabbats, or days of power, making 21 Wiccan ritual occasions. The Esbats are for celebrating the Goddess. The Sabbats mark the sun's yearly cycle and tell the story of The Wheel of the Year. On this day, the length of night time is equal to the length of daytime.

Mabon is a celebration of life and death, and giving of life again, the cycle of the seasons. Mabon is a time to enjoy the fruits of a hard year's labor, to stock up for the long winter. No matter how you celebrate Mabon, or how it came about, or whatever it's true name may be, it is important to know that Mabon a time for giving thanks.

Read about the symbols, incense, food and more of Autumn Equinox (Mabon)
[Read More »] | graphic is from venusia

I wish for you a bountiful harvest, a heart full of gratitude and many warm blessings this upcoming Fall season.

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Reawakening Feminine Power

Once upon a time, in the sacred societies and temples of the ancient world, women were respected and revered as the living embodiment of their divine role model, the Great Goddess. Their bodies were seen as sacred alchemical vessels of creation and transformation, as radiant temples of Divinity. Deeply in tune with the inner world of spirit and the outer forces of nature, women were known as the "Keepers of the Sacred Mysteries."

Author: Sharron Rose

link

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Rock God and Country Elite?

"Raising Sand," a duet album by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant, is a collection of mostly sad songs.

The album is really a three-way collaboration by an improbable alliance: Mr. Plant, forever known as the lead singer of Led Zeppelin; Ms. Krauss, whose clear voice and deft fiddle style hail from Appalachia; and the producer and guitarist T Bone Burnett, the Texan who is best known for concocting haunted, pensively anachronistic Americana. The album is due October 23rd.

I've heard about this collaboration for awhile, but I still find it hard to wrap my head around it. Such an odd combination, but it's done regularly in the music business and now I can't wait to hear it. Living in Appalachia most of my life I know that Alison Krauss is one flatout singing goddess and one of the most respected talents around. A real singer's singer and as I said in the title, she's country elite. What do you think?

Gone, Gone, Gone mp3

By: Jon Pareles | Photo: Christopher Berkey for The New York Times

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AUTUMNAL EQUINOX

Sept. 23, 2007
5:51 A.M. EDT, SUNDAY

Mabon, or Autumnal Equinox, wil soon be celebrated. The Wiccan calendar contains 13 full moons (Esbats) and 8 Sabbats, or days of power, making 21 Wiccan ritual occasions. The Esbats are for celebrating the Goddess. The Sabbats mark the sun's yearly cycle and tell the story of The Wheel of the Year. On this day, the length of night time is equal to the length of daytime.


Blessed be this season of Mabon, time of the second harvest, the harvest of fruit and wine.
Tonight all things are in balance: Goddess and God, Life and Death, Light and Dark.
Tonight the darkness will conquer the light, leading us deeper into the waning year. [More...]


Mystic Journeys
333 Merrimon Ave
Asheville, NC
828-253-4272 Sunday, September 23, 2007, 7:00 PM. Equinox Rite with Byron Ballard

Event Details: "Modron's Children: a Celebration of the Second Harvest"

Modern Pagan practice in the West often honours the Autumnal Equinox as the second of three harvest festivals. Come learn the lore of Mabon and dance the Harvest Ring! This will be a joyous rite as we bid farewell to Summer's bounty and prepare ourselves for the time of introspection that leads us to the final harvest at Samhain. We will begin promptly at 7, so please arrive in time to get ready. Ritual dress is always a beautiful addition to any rite but not required. A love offering will be collected for use of the space.

RSVP for Mabon Ritual | Co-sponsored by CERES

Blessed Mabon

----------------
Now playing: The Fiery Furnaces - Ex-Guru
via FoxyTunes

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please accept my apologies

QUECHUP SCAM

Someone recently asked me to join Quechup, an online community last week and I obliged. I usually do. (that invite turned out to be spam, too)

Tonight this online outfit starts emailing everyone in my email address book. Everyone. And I certainly didn't authorize it.

So please accept my apologies for the hassling email if you happened to receive one. Or god/goddess forbid a hassling cellphone call. That's how I realized what was going on when I got an email on my cell phone from this community.

NOW I see that everyone else is having the same problem. Word to the wise: avoid it like the fucking plague. Bastards. Can you imagine some bullshit email intrusion ripping through your email addresses? All those employers, relatives, friends, corporations, newsletters, ISPs, hosts, etc. Damn.

I cannot delete and/or respond to these return emails fast enough.

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White Knuckle Express

This is the time of year that we recovering drug and alcohol addicts will white knuckle it, hoping to sail on through the holiday stress and parties without slipping. The time of year we must steer our car away from the liquor store. This time of year it's best to keep my blinders on when I see old playmates around town; step up the pace, and hit the breeze. Drinking and drugs were used so often to deal with my normal daytoday that it's so automatic to go there. After all this time and even in my dreams.

Sometimes I find that a warm geez or an iced anything with lime still wakes me with a smile and glow. And just when I start looking for old phone numbers and feel I might be the only junkie who feels this way, someone will confide their similar urges to me.

It always helps to know I'm not alone and together we'll get through another day, without singing any tired old platitudes; without any generic stepping going on. Strong in our weakness. Life, although not nearly as lively as before, really is good.

At the end of the day I can dust off the day's demons before turning in. Tick off the times I maintained direction, overcame weakness, kept it between the ditches. And with God/Goddess willing, I'll rise to battle another day.

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AUTUMNAL EQUINOX

Sept. 23, 2006, 12:03 A.M. EDT

Mabon, or Autumnal Equinox is being celebrated soon. The Wiccan calendar contains 13 full moons (Esbats) and 8 Sabbats, or days of power, making 21 Wiccan ritual occasions. The Esbats are for celebrating the Goddess. The Sabbats mark the sun's yearly cycle and tell the story of The Wheel of the Year. On this day, the length of night time is equal to the length of daytime.

The full moon associated with the fall equinox is known as the Wine Moon.

THE RITUALS
This is the second harvest Sabbat. The Goddess is entering into cronehood, and the dark of the year is beginning, so this is a time often associated with mysterious lore and wisdom. The altar and circle should be decorated with autumn leaves, gourds, berries, pine and cypress cones, acorns, oak sprigs and other fruits of the season. [More...]

Blessed be this season of Mabon, time of the second harvest, the harvest of fruit and wine.
Tonight all things are in balance: Goddess and God, Life and Death, Light and Dark.
Tonight the darkness will conquer the light, leading us deeper into the waning year. [More...]

** World Unity Celebrations and Global Sunrise Meditations - Wake up and tune in as We Unify the World as One with Our Love this Equinox! link

Either through your religious affiliation or just as a member of the human race, I'd like to hear what you do to celebrate this event.

Blessed Mabon

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From the INBOX

GreyLodge Podcasting Company is pleased to announce our new alliance with the incredible avant-garde resource UbuWeb.

2nd Amazonian Shamanism Conference in Peru in June. A gathering of scientists and healers. Link

The Madness of George W. Bush: A Reflection of our Collective Psychosis by Paul Levy is now available for purchase online. Link

Ovi Magazine - 'Promises' is the theme of Ovi 14 and has all the usual cartoons, illustrations, poems, fiction and radio shows, along with a few extra Ovi peculiarities.

Alternative Press Review - Your Guide Beyond the Mainstream - www.altpr.org. In my opinion the absolute best snapshot into the daily news.

Tons of good links in the Gaia Media Newsletter.

* The Church of Reality is a religion based on the practice of Realism, believing in everything that is real. Their motto is, "If it's real, we believe in it."

* Adventurer and writer Kira Salak reports about her ayuahuasca experiences for National Geographic. Read her story and see a short video clip.

* Starhawk and Donna Read, the makers of the film Signs of the Times, about the life and work of Marija Gimbutas, have organized a series of Goddess Salons.

* The German group LightRiders are working hard on a 2 to 3 hour DVD project "The Spirit of Basel", featuring the Saturday night concert with "Akasha Project", "Stars Sounds Orchestra", and "Guru Guru", including short excerpts from the major spoken presentations. Have a first glimpse with their Teaser.

* The Vernal Equinox 2006 issue of The Entheogen Review contains "Reflections on Basel" by Jon Hanna and João Serro, but also an article entitled "Halperngate" by Jon Hanna.

* Surrealartforum is the largest Surreal, Fantastic, Psychedelic & Visionary Artist Links Gallery on the Internet. An incredible collection.

And more...

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principia discordia
(or "How I Found Goddess And What I Did To Her When I Found Her")

Mixing found objects and stolen headlines, fine art drawings and photographs, police tape and musical scores, Principia Discordia is a limited series of 100 collages by Paul Watson.

Very ambitious project of collages and currently working on #44.

Link

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Webtrail - Prince, Absinthe, Vagina, Turfing, Rollins

Earthrites: Turfing is a newtome website I spent far too much time reading yesterday. But I'll hurry back for more. Lotsa good reading and a radio that may also be good, if I could get it to work. May be a problem on my end.

Steven Stapleton has designed the labels for a bottle of Absinthe manufactured by Absinthevertrieb . There is a limited edition of 100 in a specially designed box. Included in this box is a limited edition CD entitled Natal Moonies with the tracks Rock 'n' Roll Station (Lost Bottle Mix) by Andrew Liles and Scapegoat (Something nasty in the woodshed) by the Broken Penis Orchestra.
view absinthe jpg - (via durtro)

I'm not usually a big fan of the musician Prince, but his SNL appearance last night was pretty damn good. His first song ("Fury"?) was a great rock track that accentuated his guitar skills, but the 2nd one (Beautiful, Loved & Blessed) blew like a category 5. He's forgiven for stealing a few moves from Hendrix. Prince "Fury" Video which I searched out and found on a Prince fansite.

There's a blog called All About My Vagina featuring what else-- all things vagina. I found it on Every Woman Is A Goddess posted by Olivia, one of the bright & sassy women from all over the world who post on the group Every Woman Is A Goddess website.

"There are so many hammocks to catch you if you fall, so many laws to keep you from experience. All these cities I have been in the last few weeks make me fully understand the cozy, stifling state in which most people pass through life. I don't want to pass through life like a smooth plane ride. All you do is get to breathe and copulate and finally die. I don't want to go with the smooth skin and the calm brow. I hope I end up a blithering idiot cursing the sun - hallucinating, screaming, and giving obscene and inane lectures on street corners and public parks. People will walk by and say, "Look at that drooling idiot. What a basket case." I will turn and say to them "It is you who are the basket case. For every moment you hated your job, cursed your wife and sold yourself to a dream that you didn't even conceive. For the times your soul screamed yes and you said no. For all of that. For your self-torture, I see the glowing eyes of the sun! The air talks to me! I am at all times!"

And maybe, the passers by will drop a coin into my cup."

-Henry Rollins (via Dr Duke)

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Art, Myth, and Spirit
Phoenix & Arabeth have been creating fantastic and mystical works since 1973. These striking images glow with a reverence for the earth, an awareness of the god/goddess within every individual, and the natural magic of the complete human: body, mind and soul.

Site features artwork, tattoos, henna, and body art from Iraq and the Middle East, a book on Tribal Bible, henna and tattoo galleries - all by Phoenix and Arabeth.
Link

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Autumnal Equinox

September 22 @ 22:22.

Mabon, or Autumnal Equinox is being celebrated soon. The Wiccan calendar contains 13 full moons (Esbats) and 8 Sabbats, or days of power, making 21 Wiccan ritual occasions. The Esbats are for celebrating the Goddess. The Sabbats mark the sun's yearly cycle and tell the story of The Wheel of the Year. On this day, the length of night time is equal to the length of daytime.

Mabon is a bittersweet time when the abundant Earth is pouring forth Her harvest and yet Summer has faded into Autumn and signs of the dying year are all around us. Night and day are once more in equilibrium, but now light gives way to the ascendancy of darkness, and the coming of Winter. We are entering a time of stillness and reflection. This is the time to take stock of our lives, and give thanks for all things ... for all experiences, the joyful and the challenging, teach and enrich us. This honoring of all facets of our lives prepares us for Samhain when we will release those aspects of our lives which no longer serve us.

THE RITUALS
This is the second harvest Sabbat. The Goddess is entering into cronehood, and the dark of the year is beginning, so this is a time often associated with mysterious lore and wisdom. The altar and circle should be decorated with autumn leaves, gourds, berries, pine and cypress cones, acorns, oak sprigs and other fruits of the season. [More...]

Blessed be this season of Mabon, time of the second harvest, the harvest of fruit and wine.
Tonight all things are in balance: Goddess and God, Life and Death, Light and Dark.
Tonight the darkness will conquer the light, leading us deeper into the waning year. [More...]

Either through your religious affiliation or just as a member of the human race, do you do anything to celebrate this day? I am looking for ideas.

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If you have ever wondered to yourself, "Gee, my life would be perfect if ONLY I had a crocheted vulva?" -- and who hasn't -- then this is the place for you.

That's right. I said CROCHETED VULVA! I do believe they're having a grand opening.

Edited: And check out the Velvet Vulva HandBag from Art Goddess

(Please someone help me. I need a day off.)

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Don't miss the Mowendi Art Gallery. Nice clean graphics with fun back.

Entheogenesisis 2: From Darkness Back To Light is a conference scheduled for May 21-23, 2005, in Vancouver, BC. Great roster and excellent topics. Appropriate venue. Featuring 3 days of lectures & slide presentations, Psychedelic art on display, and one evening gathering with Guest DJ’s, a live acid jazz band, a chill room with special film screenings, treats, prizes & more.

The Goddess Ungirdled: Encounters with the Sacred Feminine
--by Lisa Sarasohn (cross posted to Every Woman Is A Goddess; From Susun Weed's April eZine - [Link])

{Local}
Asheville Freecycle group on Yahoo! that's very busy. We discussed Freecycle here last year. Check a search engine to see if your area has one that you can use.

Today's Quote
As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of being.
- Carl Jung

np: Jefferson Airplane - Wooden Ships

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ADP - Bob Dylan has given the go-ahead for a big-screen movie about his life. Director Todd Haynes is searching for a black woman to play Dylan -- she will be one of seven different actors who will portray the musician during different eras of his career. Todd Haynes, the Oscar-nominated director, confirmed last week that he is searching for a woman who can do justice to the short white Jewish singer’s 'inner blackness', although the producers aren't convinced. Costing £30m, the film is due for release next year under the title, I’m Not There: Suppositions on a Film Concerning Dylan. [more...] (ADP-Another Dylan Post)

Get a reading from The Goddess Tarot Oracle to find what your goddess has in store for you. (via: etherealgirl)

{BlogNod}
Lauren's Feministe is a very smart and witty interactive blog. There's Open Blogging where anyone can post. Like Open Mic Night, but for blogging. And also the Random 10 on Fridays for listing random songs that are currently playing on your ipod or music device. Good content with an intelligent voice should keep you busy reading for a long time.

Asheville Full Moon Gatherings - Our next event will be Friday, March 25th to celebrate the Full Moon in Libra and the Sun in Aries.

Today's Quote
Dance, when you’re broken open.
Dance, if you’ve torn the bandage off.
Dance, in the middle of fighting.
Dance in your blood.
Dance, when you are perfectly free.
~Rumi

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ASHEVILLE - Several hundred opponents of the war in Iraq gathered peacefully at City-County Plaza on Sunday afternoon for a Global Day of Action commemorating the second anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Baghdad.

Carrying placards, banners and posters with slogans such as "Bush Lied - Thousands Died," and "Are We Safer Yet?," the peace activists listened to poets, singers and speakers call for a withdrawal of troops and an end to the war. Some of my friends travelled to Fayetteville, home of Ft Bragg, for the protests this weekend. Looks like Asheville had a decent turnout, but I wasn't able to get away. [more...]

Find Your Goddess
Rainwalker Studio is a site with beautiful handmade Goddess Masks that have been used for theatre, ritual, and by groups of women for personal growth. Find the goddess and personality you're most compatible with. Aphrodite, Isis, Persephone, Lilith, Spiderwoman... (via: every woman is a goddess, via: gaiagal)

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V for Vendetta is now underway. . .
BERLIN, GERMANY, March 4, 2005 – The Wachowski Brothers and Joel Silver, the creators and producer of the revolutionary, $1.6 billion-grossing Matrix trilogy, have launched production on the action thriller V For Vendetta, starring Natalie Portman (Star Wars: Episodes I-III, Closer, Garden State), James Purefoy (Vanity Fair, Resident Evil) and Stephen Rea (Interview with the Vampire, The Crying Game) in Berlin, Germany. Filming began March 7, 2005. [via: chromewaves]

* "Veal Pen". The new "it" phrase. Kill it Strike it from your vocabulary before it multiplies. It's tomorrow's language equivilent of the Macarena and must join the ranks of "outisde the box" and "that said". So many intelligent writers. So little originality.

* International Women's Day is being celebrated globally. Did you celebrate youself today?

* What makes you feel sensual? Take the quiz on Every Woman Is A Goddess.

* Music for you website at Music Video Codes. Slap on your pop-up blocker and go! MusicVideoCodes.com is the largest Music Video Code provider on the Internet today. We provide two types of codes for each video. The code just below the video is intended to be used on any website, blog, or profile that allows embed HTML tags.

* Coming Soon - Mazal Tov Cocktail - An encyclopedia of jewish Radical Culture.

May inspiration fill your heart and hands, run down your legs and cause spontaneous dancing.

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The Here & There/ADD Post

Rumsfeld's Being Served. All counsel are representing the plaintiffs on a pro bono basis. [details...]

Republicans Defend Gay Man, Pigs Fly
One more story the rabid right wishes would fade away. I'll just file it away in beside my Bill O'Reilly's Loofa-gate folder. Snap out of it. We're not letting it go that easily. Jon Stewart show to parody Gannon/Guckert on Thursday. (via maru)

Hunter's Last Hours via: jay's bird on the moon, who just completed a cleansing 80+ hour fast. Well done! I could never last that long.

Esoteric paths, divination, ceremonial magick and more at Esoterism

Easy Bake Coven - A Review by Me
My computer's fucked up again; trippy music, Blogger sucks, I'm cold, funky-ass art, Repubs are evil, Ommmm,
Wash, Rinse, Repeat. How would you describe your website in 25 words or less?

{Welcome to the Blogosphere}
Interview with some pagans on the new Vox Box.
(seen @ wildhunt)

A beautiful spirit is permeating throughout Every Woman is a Goddess; another new collaborative website on the blog block via ollapodrida.

Better wrap up this keypounding sonata and get busy...

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:: Susun Weed's Herbal eZine February Issue is online and features, Your Intutive Dreams (Sherry Healy), The Goddess Speaks (Christine Thomas ), Be Your Own Herbal Expert (Susun Weed), Wise Woman Wisdom (Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls), and more. Her website is jammed full of everything you ever needed to know about herbs. Well, almost.

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