Goddesses Make History/HerStory
October, 2003

1. What did you do to celebrate Women's History Month?
2. Hecate, Samhain, and All-Souls Day
3. Advice from a Goddess of Humor
4. Goddesses Gathered: Read All About It!

Women's History Month has come and gone, but . . .

I spent much of the month researching vario us topics of interest, so this issue is devoted to sharing some of my findings with you. So enjoy . . .

Hecate, Samhain, and All-Souls Day

What do the goddess Hecate, the pagan Celtic Harvest Festival called Samhain, and the Christian holy day "All-Souls Day (also called All-Saints Day) all have in common?  You guessed it . . . they all contribute to the customs of the upcoming holiday of Halloween!

Unlikely bedfellows, perhaps, but history is often full of surprizes. You can use this link to read the fascinating story of the History of Halloween at the Goddess Gift website.

Conjure up an image of the goddess Hecate. What picture leaps to mind? Most of us probably envision an old, gnarly witch toiling away over a cauldron, covered with warts and surrounded by bats, and toads, and eyes of newts!   A far cry from the "real" greek goddess. Take time before Halloween to meet the authentic version and spend a few moments contemplating what it is inside us that made her so frightening.

Read the story of the Greek goddess Hecate .

Let's Wear Purple Hats! : Advice from a Goddess of Humor

In honor of women's history month and in memory of Erma Bombeck who lost her fight with cancer.  Pass this on to five women that you care about. If you don't know five women to pass this on to, one will do just fine.
 

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER - by Erma Bombeck  (written after she found out she was dying from cancer).

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the 'good' living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have sat on the lawn with my grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn't show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now go get washed up for dinner." There would have been more "I love you's." More "I'm sorry's."

But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute...look at it and really see it ... live it and never give it back. Stop sweating the small stuff.

Don't worry about who doesn't like you, who has more, or who's doing what.

Instead, let's cherish the relationships we have with those who do love us.

Let's think about what God HAS blessed us with. And what we are doing each day to promote ourselves mentally, physically, emotionally.  I hope you all have a blessed day.

Beautiful Women's Month

Age 3: She looks at herself and sees a Queen.

Age 8: She looks at herself and sees Cinderella.

Age 15: She looks at herself and sees an Ugly Sister (Mum I can't go to school looking like this!)

Age 20: She looks at herself and sees "too fat/too thin, too short/too tall, too straight/too curly"- but decides she's going out anyway.

Age 30: She looks at herself and sees "too fat/too thin, too short/too tall, too straight/too curly" - but decides she doesn't have time to fix it, so she's going out anyway.

Age 40: She looks at herself and sees "clean" and goes out anyway.

Age 50: She looks at herself and sees "I am" and goes wherever she wants to go.

Age 60: She looks at herself and reminds herself of all the people who can't even see themselves in the mirror anymore. Goes out and conquers the world.

Age 70: She looks at herself & sees wisdom, laughter and ability, goes out and enjoys life.

Age 80: Doesn't bother to look. Just puts on a purple hat and goes out to have fun with the world.
 

You might want to send this on to all the women you are grateful to have as friends. If you do, something good will happen: you will boost another woman's spirit!

Goddesses Gathering

Many thanks to those of you who sent in ideas and stories about your goddess gatherings. What a creative bunch you are!

It was a delight to publish the history of your "events" and to see the many ways that you've honored "the Goddess" and celebrated the friendship of women. We will be happy to add additional stories in the future, so feel free to write us about them.

For a delightful look at the many and varied ways that some of you have gotten together to celebrate the goddess within, check out our newest webpage: Goddesses Gathering.

Highlights From Our Progress Report:

Here's a link for those of you who like to read our monthly progress report in full: http://www.goddessgift.com/blog.htm

And no, we didn't make it to our goal of becoming one of the top 75,000 websites (as measured by Alexa's traffic ranking). As a matter of fact, we backslid and are now at 94,508. Will keep trying! The good news from Alexa is that the number of page views has risen dramatically...the average number of pages a visitor views is 25.8!

Work on  Men, Myths, Minds (our brother site) is progressing. Have just about finished all the content, then need to create the pages, and then...Voila! Hopefully will launch in mid-October.

Thanks for your constant support and enthusiasm. It keeps our spirits high.

Celebrate the goddess spirit this Halloween, embrace the things that go bump in the night,  and . . .
Walk in light,

Sharon
The Goddess Path