BitchBuzz: Keeping Your Heart Light

Yes, in contrast with my earlier rant, here's something more uplifting (maybe I've been taken over by the spirit of Robert Mitchum), AKA my latest column from BitchBuzz. Yes, vagaries of the holiday schedules have given you a kind of "blue moon" from me (I'm mooning you?!). I tried to keep it from getting too maudlin:

It's a time of manifold anxieties: the end of the year, the end of a decade—and not just any decade, but the first of a new millennium.

For most feeling human beings, it's a time of wistfully reviewing the past and assessing successes and failures. In a year plagued by economic downturn and unemployment, there may well a great number of you who see your year as a dark column in your personal ledger.

If we look around us, the news doesn't seem to be all that good either: war, starvation, terrorism, murder, politicians. Around the world an inordinate amount of poverty and suffering lies on the shoulders of women and children. We have so polluted the planet that the very water than rains down upon us may be poisoning us in return...

But then it gets cheerier! See for yourself at BBHQ.

Happy Hogmanay, Happy New Year!

Publication: Talking to Goddess

My sonnet for the goddess Kali makes another appearance, this time in a collection gathered by D'vorah Grenn of The Lilith Institute, called Talking to Goddess. The book is available in both print and digital formats, so you can decide which you need. I seem to recall that this came about in conjunction with the Women and the Divine Conference I attended in Liverpool a few years back, but I may be misremembering. I am still very proud of this poem, since 1) I seldom write poetry and 2) it captures this complex deity in all her awesome power and stature.

I've been so crazy busy for all of October and September, I still feel as if I am simply trying to catch up and draw breath. So many more things going on this month, that chimera of a respite may prove to be no more than a dream.

Who rules? Perilous Cheryl rules!

Why would anyone else even try? Oh yeah, because it's fun! See fabulous photos of Cheryl's prize-winning costume (and The joey zone's too) at her MySpace page.

Which Goddess are You?

Take the quiz here. Perhaps not too surprisingly, I am:



Athena's brilliance of reason was said to be as penetrating as her clear gray eyes. One of the most powerful of the gods and goddesses, her artistry in all crafts, especially weaving and pottery, was unrivaled. Goddesses with similar attributes include Sarasvati, Sophia and Brigit.

Well, I don't know about pottery! But I can weave words.

This is a lovely image from Kris Waldherr's tarot deck which you can see online.