The Cauldron: A Pagan Forum

I guess I have been feeling a bit lonely lately. I am fine with being a solitary witch as I don't really have a choice with the lack of any Dianic group anywhere near me lol. But I always had some really great online groups to be a part of. Lately every group has went poof and my search for new ones has come up empty.

So I just thought I would see if there are any other Dianic/Goddess Worshipers on this forum?

Any Dianic/Goddess books you are reading or recommend? I really love Ariadne's Thread: A Workbook of Goddess Magic by Shekhinah Mountainwater. It is my favorite.
Currently I am reading Women's Rites, Women's Mysteries: Intuitive Ritual Creation by Ruth Barret.

Any Dianic/Goddess books you are reading or recommend?

One of my favourite books is Patricia Monaghan's The Goddess Path: Myths, Invocations, and Rituals Here's a link to the book on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Goddess-Path-Invocations-Rituals/dp/1567184677/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1333859196&sr=8-2

I still read it even though I don't consider myself a Goddessian anymore. I love her adaptations of traditional prayers/hymns to each goddess. She's a great storyteller, IMO, and I also like how in her chapter on Oshun, she mentions that many of her worshipers came to the Americas as slaves, and basically admonishes the reader to check their privilege when looking to work with her, which is not something I've seen many other books do. Many books just seem to assume "Oh, all goddesses are one goddess! I can ignore colonialism and racism now!" It annoys me so much when such subjects are treated so flippantly!

I wouldn't say it's a perfect book, but it's definitely one of my favourites.

Me!

I don't use Dianic to describe myself, though.   As I don't have a relationship with Diana, I feel it would be strange to use that particular designation.  I do, however, like the term Goddessian.  It's more descriptive for my path.

Well you don't need to strictly honor Diana to be Dianic. The path is more just named in Her honor really. I work with many different Goddesses but am dedicated to Persephone myself.

That book by Brandy Williams looks really interesting, I added it to my wish list and her other book too. It is very unique as you usually see ceremonial magic as more male dominated and so I am very interested in reading that.

Also, the concept of the MMC doesn't resonate with me. I see Goddess as the Matrix, sort of like the energy that flows through and binds everything, but I also feel that individual gods and goddess are their own beings.

I really enjoyed Shekhinah Mountainwaters approach to MMC as actually bright maiden, mother, dark maiden, crone. But I don't strictly work within that concept and work with many different Goddesses. I actually LOVE how you described it- "I see Goddess as the Matrix, sort of like the energy that flows through and binds everything" that is how I would describe it too perfectly. Not the second part though for me lol.

One of my favourite books is Patricia Monaghan's The Goddess Path: Myths, Invocations, and Rituals Here's a link to the book on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Goddess-Path-Invocations-Rituals/dp/1567184677/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1333859196&sr=8-2

That book is already on my wish list I was thinking of picking it up next. I have heard nothing but good things about it. Thanks. And while I am of the mind that there is just the Goddess and then different aspects of Her, I still think each aspect is unique as well and should have that respect and be able to learn all you can about it. So I really love that.

Hey, I'm glad to see another goddess worshipper around here! I call myself Dianic, because that's what I so used to, and I am comfortable calling myself that. Although, I worship goddess universally. The Dianic/goddess books I totally recommend is Starhawk's The Spiral Dance. Yeah, it's a bit uber feministic at times, but it has some really good information in it.

I love Starhawk. She has a way of writing that is just very beautiful. One of my favorite Goddess quotes comes from her:

"People often ask me if I believe in the Goddess. I reply "Do you believe in rocks?" It is extremely difficult for most Westerners to grasp the concept of a manifest deity. The phrase "believe in" itself implies that we cannot know the Goddess, that She is somehow intangible, incomprehensible. But we do not believe in rocks -- we may see them, touch them, dig them out of our gardens or stop small children from throwing them at each other. We know them; we connect with them. In the Craft [Wicca, a neo-pagan religion], we do not believe in the Goddess -- we connect with Her; through the moon, the stars, the ocean, the earth, the trees, the animals, through other human beings, through ourselves. She is here. She is within us all."

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It's from Spiral Dance the 20th anniversary edition, page 24...
The Goddess continually offers me challenges, but knowing that she is within me as around me, I find that strength to meet them, to transform fear into power from within, to create my place in which I can grow, struggle, and change, to mourn my losses and celebrate my advances, to generate the acts of love and pleasure that are her rituals. For she is not sleeping, she has risen up and is reaching out her hands to me. When I reach for her, she reveals herself to me in the stones and soil beneath my feet, in the whitewater rapids and limpid pools of my imagination, in tears and laughter, ecstasy and sorrow, common courage and common struggle, wind and fire. Once I allowed myself to look into her open eyes, I can never loose sight of her again. For she faces me in the mirror, and her steps echo each time I place foot to ground. Try to leap away, and she will pull me back. I cannot fall away from her—there is nowhere she is not.

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