“The seasons and all their changes are in me.”
–Henry David Thoreau

We hope you will join the temple, in community, to honor the seasons, the Earth, and our own personal growth for our 2007 Ritual Sabbats. This years theme is "Reclaiming the Earth."

Our multi-cultural Earth celebrations are held at the Neighborhood Unitarian Church in Pasadena and are open to families and community. Our Sabbats are multi-media ritual theater combining mythology, music, visual art, dance, liturgy, spoken word, and participatory theater which fuses drum and dance with personal enactment to re-connect us to the seasons and the Earth.

March 24, 2007 Spring Equinox
June 23, 2007 Summer Solstice
September 15, 2007 Autumn Equinox
November 3, 2007 Hallow’s Eve/Day of the Dead

Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church
301 N. Orange Grove Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91103
818-771-5778
Website: www.TempleoftheGoddess.org/Events

SAVE THE DATES!!

Birds know how to lift their wings,
to fold their feet
to fly

across the air
to other lands
fighting the windy sky.

Birds know how to leave the cold.

One day, so will I.

–Myra Cohn Livingston

RENO, Nev. -- The widow of a soldier killed in Afghanistan saw a Wiccan symbol placed on a memorial plaque for her husband Saturday, after fighting the federal government for more than a year over the emblem.

Roberta Stewart, widow of Sgt. Patrick Stewart, and Wiccan leaders said it was the first government- issued memorial plaque with a Wiccan pentacle, a five-pointed star enclosed in a circle.

More than 50 friends and family dedicated the plaque at Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley, Nev., about 45 miles east of Reno. Con't. . .

Associated Press, Monday, December 4, 2006

Snow Family Finger Puppets

This adorable snow family will give your kids hours of puppet time fun! All you need are some inexpensive knit gloves and a few simple supplies to put together this cute project.

Ages 6 and up
This project is rated AVERAGE to do. Cont. . .

Temple of the Goddess would like to spotlight Lianna Nakashima, one of our own.

Lianna is 10 years old. There’s nothing remarkable about that. Except. . .she happens to be the youngest facilitator at Temple of the Goddess. She’s been helping, both behind the scenes, and as a Temple musician for two years. Let me acquaint you with her.

She was born in China and adopted by Les Nakashima, of Japanese descent and Anne Gauldin, a not so typical American woman. Lianna is all that we think of when imagining a beautiful, smart, capable American young girl. More . . .

Dreaming and Inspiration with the Sleeping Goddess of Malta
by Rev. Karen Tate

The tiny Maltese islands, located just south of Sicily, are home to the oldest megalithic freestanding stone structures that exist on Earth today. These intriguing structures, many of which resemble the shape of a woman’s body, predate the Egyptian pyramids and Stonehenge. One famous artifact found in these ancient sacred sites, the Sleeping Lady, is thought to be representative of the Goddess religion practiced on the islands. Discovered in the underground, labyrinth-like structure called the Hypogeum, the Sleeping Lady is as much of an enigma as the location in which she was found.

Because of amateur and shoddy archaeological practices being employed at the time the Sleeping Lady was found, definitive scientific evidence is lacking about the exact nature and purpose of both The Sleeping Lady and the Hypogeum, but many theories abound. Having visited several of these woman-shaped temples, as well as the underground Hypogeum, I can personally attest to the sacred energetic that still exists among the ancient stone structures which seem to activate an intuitive remembering. This is particularly true within the womb-like Hypogeum, built in the fourth millennia and composed of three underground stories. One is flooded with emotions being within this incredible holy site, particularly when the ethereal echoes of sound begins to reverberate within the space. While some believe the Hypogeum was used as a tomb or to practice the chthonic mysteries of Goddess, the suggestion of the pose of the Sleeping Lady leads many to believe this was a sacred place used for the ancient healing art of dream incubation. This was an early healing modality where the divine would intercede and lend guidance or inspiration while the subject was asleep. Cont. . .

Author, Sacred Places of Goddess: 108 Destinations
www.karentate.com

Temple of the Goddess wishes to acknowledge, honor, and welcome those who have joined, tithed, or donated to the temple this month. You keep the temple doors open for all of us.

Realm of Air
Debbie Zipp -- In Honor of Tony Pope (see photo)

Realm of Fire
Kamala

Realm of Earth
J. Tatum
J. Clark

Realm of Spirit
Dawn Bodnar Sutton

Click here for information on becoming a member of TOG. Temple of the Goddess has a variety of ways that you can participate fiscally in our vision. To learn more about making a tax-deductible donation to the temple, go to Gifting Opportunities.

by Jeanne Leiter Clark

“On no subject are our ideas more warped and pitiable than on death. Instead of the friendly union of life and death so apparent in Nature, we are taught that death is an accident, a deplorable punishment for the oldest sin, the archenemy of life. But let children walk with Nature, let them see the beautiful blendings and communions of death and life, their joyous inseparable unity, as taught in woods and meadows, plains and mountains and streams of our blessed star, and they will learn that death is stingless indeed, and as beautiful as life, and that the grave has no victory, for it never fights. All is divine harmony.”
-- John Muir from A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf

All responsible citizens recycle. We cash in aluminum cans and plastic bottles at the recycle plant. We give our cans, paper, and not just newspapers, but magazines, gift wrapping paper, and cardboard boxes from cereals, butter, and crackers, to our cities where they recycle it all. Some of us recycle our food scraps with a compost bin. There is one final, ultimate recycle that all of us can do. More . . .

There are many reasons to Gift or donate to a nonprofit, none more important than an affinity with its vision and mission. If you feel an affinity with the vision of Temple of the Goddess, we invite you to join us and support our mission by making a tax- deductible contribution.

Temple of the Goddess’ retelling of this 16th century Japanese fable has many meanings. It is a lesson in community, that when we join together with a smile and our magical stones, we can create amazing outcomes. It’s about individuals combining their resources in order to create something good for all. It is about reciprocity, the belief that what you give will eventually come back to you in like fashion. It is a story of abundance–when you offer what you think may be meager, there will still be plenty.

Stone Soup: A Japanese Parable about Gifting

Once upon a time a tattered traveler came to a small village and asked for something to eat. “No, we have barely enough for ourselves,” said the wary villagers as they started shutting the door. “Then could you spare some water for my pot,” he said with a twinkle in his eye. Producing some ordinary rocks from his pocket, “These magical stones would make a delicious Stone Soup.”

“Stone soup!” the villagers cried, thinking the stranger quite mad. “Who ever heard of stone soup?” Still they gave him water hoping to get the crazy man away from their village. Cont. . .

Your tax-deductible contributions as well as donations of time, energy, and creativity are gratefully accepted and deeply valued. To find out more click here.

Sacred Sensual Moving Meditation for women
SHAMANIC TANTRIC DANCE
~ In a sacred circle of sisters,
come home to your authentic self~

INTRODUCTORY CLASSES AND SERIES OF FIVE
with ... Kamala ... No Dance Experience Necessary

For Registration and Information Call (310) 455-3876 or
email -- Kamala@terrakino.net