Goddess Path, Issue #007- Summertime
July 13, 2003

 

Summertime, and the Living is Easy (Or Oughta' Be)


This Issue:Table of Contents

1. Ups, Downs, & All Around
2. Beach Books: Our Summer Reading Suggestions
3. Keeping Our Focus: A Lesson from Artemis
4. Special Offers for Goddess Path Subscribers

It's official . . . the Goddess Shop and the Gallery of Goddess Art are open! You should have received a separate announcement by email -- but since I made a Big Oops! and provided you with a link that didn't work, here's a new one that's been thoroughly tested and proved to work:

Goddess Shop and the Gallery of Goddess Art

We've been going for full steam for a couple of months getting them launched, and undoubtedly we will spend the next couple of months finding all our mistakes! This was the last phase of the construction of the Goddess Gift site.

But, like this month's featured goddess, Atalanta, we persevere! We'll be:

  • adding new goddesses and features, but at a more leisurely pace

  • getting our "brother" site at men-myths-minds.com up & running, and

  • maintaining and improving the Goddess Gift site. As always, we'll welcome your ideas, feedback, and suggestions.

Speaking of Atalanta, we send a special "thanks for your patience" to those of you who've downloaded the free screensaver and are using it to pick up meditations and activities. Now that the shops are up, we'll get less sporadic about feeding you new content on a regular basis. 

For newcomers to our list of newsletter subscribers, here's a link so you can check out the free goddess screensaver (Windows):   Goddess Screensaver

On the subject of goddesses and meditations/affirmations -- have you visited  goddess.com.au yet?  We highly recommend their newsletter; featuring a different goddess and her meditations. It's brief and comes to you weekly. Subscribe by:
1) emailing: innergoddess-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
2) registering at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/innergoddess/join

Beach Books: Our Summer Reading Suggestions

All are related in some fashion to The Goddess, her mythology, history, or energy. Those marked with an asterisk* are written by members of our very own Goddess Path community. What talent we have here ! :-}

Check them all out here or at your local library.

cover The Mists of Avalon  by Marion Zimmer Bradley

A retelling of the Arthurian legends from the woman's point of view. Engrossing, deeply moving, and it features Rhiannon in her aspect as the high priestess, Viviane.  (And fair treatment for the "wicked" Morgana, who I feel has always gotten a "bad rap".) 3 months on the New York Times Bestseller List.
cover Woman Heal Thyself: An Ancient Healing System for Contemporary Women by Jeanne Elizabeth Blum*

A warm and informative blend of useful information about Eastern holistic medicine and its techniques that any woman can use to improve and maintain her health, including self-massage techniques that you can use to treat various "women's problems"  such as PMS, cramps, & hot flashes/"power surges". Though it's not about "the goddess" per se, you can see the influence of goddess energy throughout this guide to healing, written by a woman who is a healer herself.

cover A Goddess Is a Girl's Best Friend  by Laurie Sue Brockway*

Delightful, fun, and informative handbook on how to use the ancient wisdom of the goddesses to empower you. Introduces you to several goddesses, their myths, rituals, prayers, and exercises and highlights how they can help you meet the challenges of your modern life. (I keep a copy on the table where I take my work-breaks and find myself returning to it repeatedly.)
cover The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

Exciting and well researched thriller, set in contemporary times. A real page-turner, it also illuminates the history of the "disappearance" of the goddess as the patriarchy took control. The hero and heroine embark on an intriguing exploration of  the secret of the Holy Grail.

Still in our Beach Bag.
Look fascinating, but since we haven't read them yet so can't give a personal recommendation. (Hey, it's just mid-summer and we'll get around to it! In the meantime, I've just included parts of the editor/critic's blurbs.)
cover The Ultimate Guide to Goddess Empowerment
by Sophia * and Rebecca Sargent. 

For every dilemma, there is a goddess who has the power you seek. Sophia brings the power of the ancients to you in this fun guide designed to help you get what you want out of life. Sophia (professional psychic and spiritual teacher)describes each goddess in detail . . . including how she has been worshipped throughout history. Decide which goddess you need, then perform an invocation to summon her powers.
cover Lioness of the Sun by Lorraine Tartasky*.

Historical novel. With Egypt’s priests corrupted by power and wealth during the reign of Hatshepsut, the Female King, this novel tells the story of the goddess Sekhmet (The Powerful One, Lady of Flame), who sets out to right the inequity between the gods and men and to restore balance and harmony.

Keeping Our Focus: A Lesson of Artemis

I confess that I have a certain amount of ambivalence about the Goddess Shop.

Why was the Goddess Shop part of the vision for the Goddess Gift website?

"Stuff" can be a useful tool in personal growth and the development of "goddessness".  It can be endowed with goddess "spirit" and used, with conscious intent, to build a better life. On the coupon page, I'll give you one brief example from my experience.   Also . . .

It can (theoretically, at least) provide a mechanism for paying for the expenses of running the website -- and, who knows, someday it might even provide a little income for those who labor in the vineyards.

But here's the rub . . .  the Shop  is not central to our vision or the reason for having the website. We make room for the Shop, we enjoy it (and hope you do too), but our primary focus should remain on the goddess archetypes and nurturing the Goddess Growth of site visitors with the information we provide and with the Goddess Quiz/Report.

The Bottom Line: We don't want to be "just" a commercial venture, no matter how nifty a venture it might be.

So, I write this to pledge to you our intent to hold on to this philosophy, to let the Goddess Shop serve the "goddesses within" rather than the other way around.

You are hereby granted permission, and even encouragement, to call us to task should you feel that we you notice that we've begun to stray from this, our intended path.

That said, we ARE delighted with the way the shop turned out, had fun working on it, appreciated the positive response from those of you who wrote that you liked it, and have high hopes that it will add to your goddess experience!

Special Offers for Goddess Path Subscribers

Each month I'll give you links to any coupons, discounts, or special offers from our partners that you, our loyal readers, can use when you visit the Goddess Shop. So if you find something you want in the Goddess Shop, be sure to use this link to take advantage of time-limited specials.  

Here's a link to a webpage I've put up that contains the offers: 
Special Offers for Goddess Path Subscribers.  I will be adding new offers and coupons periodically as they become available, so you can save this link and come back to it anytime to check for new offers.

In Closing

Signs of Progress: Goddess Gift, now in its 7th month of operation, is not only among the top 100,000 sites on the internet, but is ranked 84,527th by Alexa!

Next Month's Newsletter: We hope to bring you a new goddess and her story as well as the interesting story of  "The 100th Monkey" and how the goddesses and this concept can enrich our world.  Stay tuned, and . . .

Walk in light,

Sharon
The Goddess Path                                                     To Goddess Gift Home