Yes, There are Goddesses in the Bible – Part 2

  As I wrote in my last blog post, there are female deities and goddesses sprinkled all throughout the bible. They just aren’t obviously in plain sight. One example is the Goddess and Her association with birds. Many ancient creation myths have stories about life emerging from a cosmic egg …

What the Mystics Say

When Rachel Pollack wrote the foreword to my book, When Moses Was a Shaman, she wrote a haunting line. She was discussing the importance of asking questions as a life practice. She wrote, “Perhaps Questions are the ultimate Homeland for all of us.” Respecting the power of the question, this …

The Serpent and the Seed

I was so inspired by Judith Shaw’s blog post, “The Serpent and the Goddess” (Feb 26th) that I began to dust off my old notes on serpent imagery. I was reminded a concept that kept jumping out at me. In discussing the Kabbalah, Rabbi David A Cooper, writes that mystics …

A Definition of a Shaman

  “The world is full of magic things patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”  WB Yeats I have a new definition of a shaman.  It is someone who reminds us that the world is full of magic and then guides us to develop our senses so that we …

Facing Life, Part 1

I remember the first time I killed a living animal for food. I was a college student. I was traveling with other students on a month-long backpacking trip along the Sea of Cortez in Baja, Mexico. It was a very long time ago, yet the experience was so impactful that …

The Mystery of the Serpent

The serpent in the Bible is a symbol of multi-layered mystery.  The serpent is often saddled with the responsibility for Adam and Eve leaving the garden.  According to the Bible, the serpent tempted Eve and it was therefore its “fault” that Adam and Eve ate the fruit which caused their …

Eve is the Hero of the Garden of Eden, part 2

The serpent in the Bible is treated as Eve’s partner in crime, a malevolent seducer who is responsible for humankind’s expulsion from paradise. But did you know there are serpents who figure positively in the Bible? There are serpent priests, a feathered serpent and a healing serpent. Check out this …