Feminist spirituality is a class of religious beliefs in which certain feminist ideas play an important role. In the latter part of the 20th Century, feminism was influential in the rise of Neopaganism in the United States, and particularly the Dianic tradition. Some feminists find the worship of an all-loving goddess, rather than a god, to be consonant with their views. The collective set of ...

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Joss Whedon, Joss Whedon - Television work, Joss Whedon - Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon - Angel, Joss Whedon - Firefly, Joss Whedon - Movies, Joss Whedon - Comic books, Joss Whedon - Common themes and motifs in Whedon's writing, Joss Whedon - Feminism, Joss Whedon - Dialogue, Joss Whedon - Death, Joss Whedon - Spiritual and philosophical beliefs, Joss Whedon - Quotes

Read more here: » Joss Whedon: Encyclopedia II - Joss Whedon - Common themes and motifs in Whedon's writing

After moving to Los Angeles, Whedon secured his first writing job on the television series Roseanne. Whedon has been described as the world's first third-generation TV writer. He is the son of Tom Whedon, a successful screenwriter for The Electric Company in the 1970s and The Golden Girls in the 1980s, and the grandson of John Whedon, a writer for The Donna Reed Show in the 1950s. Joss W ...

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Joss Whedon, Joss Whedon - Television work, Joss Whedon - Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon - Angel, Joss Whedon - Firefly, Joss Whedon - Movies, Joss Whedon - Comic books, Joss Whedon - Common themes and motifs in Whedon's writing, Joss Whedon - Feminism, Joss Whedon - Dialogue, Joss Whedon - Death, Joss Whedon - Spiritual and philosophical beliefs, Joss Whedon - Quotes

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Recently, at a theological meeting in Rome, scholars had a heated debate on the subject of the ethnicity and nationality of Jesus. One by one they offered their evidence:

Read more here: » Spiritual Jokes: Spiritual Jokes - Jesus was...

Today is International Women's Day. Around the world, in conferences and debates, ways to 'improve' women's lot and empower them will be discussed. They will remain a view from the outside unless we find a way to tune in to the spirit of the eternal feminine, and rediscover the creatrix that lies reduced to a vestigial place in our psyche after centuries of neglect. Today would be a good day to begin a renewal of this ancient relationship with our innate, instinctual, feminine self.

(See also: Aghora, Faith and Belief, Spiritual Guidance, God and Religion, Peace on Earth, Peace of Mind, Love and Happiness, Life and Beyond, Body Mind and Soul)

Read more here: » Aghora: Unleash Your Energy - Run With The Wolves  

Baha'i Perspective On Gender Divide

Nearly 121 million children around the world receive little or no schooling, and the majority of these children are girls. Why is the gender divide so deep? What is holding us back from pursuing a policy of enlightened self-interest?

The Baha'i international community has long recognised the importance of educating girls because as future mothers, they would be better equipped to encourage Generation X - of either gender - to go to school. Nearly 90 years ago, Abdu'l-Baha said: "The education of women is of greater importance than the education of men, for they are the mothers of the race, and mothers play an important role in rearing children. So, they must be capably trained in order to educate both sons and daughters".

Read more here: » Women Rights: Baha'i Perspective On Gender Divide

God as Mother: Celebration of the Mother Principle

Durga Puja is to Bengal what Ganesh Chaturthi is to Maharashtra - an occasion to celebrate, worship, bond together, to get festive, to exhibit one's artistic abilities, and all in the name of the Divine Mother.

Relating to God as Mother forges a personalised relationship, strengthening the bond between bhakta and bhagvan, as between a child and mother. Celebrated as Navratri in other parts of India, these nine nights are devoted to the worship of the Divine Mother - some do it through dancing the Garba or Dandiya Raas as in Gujarat, and some do it through austerities and fasting.

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Whedon has written or co-written several movies including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Toy Story, Alien: Resurrection and Titan A.E.. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Toy Story's screenplay. He also wrote uncredited drafts or re-writes of Speed, Waterworld, Twister and X-Men, although, with the exception of Speed, little of Whedon's work remained in the final drafts of any of these screenplays. In interviews, Whedon has disowned some of these films. He has sai ...

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Joss Whedon, Joss Whedon - Television work, Joss Whedon - Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon - Angel, Joss Whedon - Firefly, Joss Whedon - Movies, Joss Whedon - Comic books, Joss Whedon - Common themes and motifs in Whedon's writing, Joss Whedon - Feminism, Joss Whedon - Dialogue, Joss Whedon - Death, Joss Whedon - Spiritual and philosophical beliefs, Joss Whedon - Quotes

Read more here: » Joss Whedon: Encyclopedia II - Joss Whedon - Movies

Whedon, a lifelong comic book fan, is the author of the Dark Horse Comics miniseries Fray which takes place in the far future of the Buffyverse. Although the miniseries took literally years to finish, it was a great success. Whedon has mentioned returning to Fray at some point when there is time in his busy schedule. Like many other authors from the Buffy TV show, he also contributed to the show's comic book version: He wrote the main storyline of the five issue mini series Tales of the Vampires and three stories in the anthology Tales of the Slayers, including ...

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Joss Whedon, Joss Whedon - Television work, Joss Whedon - Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Joss Whedon - Angel, Joss Whedon - Firefly, Joss Whedon - Movies, Joss Whedon - Comic books, Joss Whedon - Common themes and motifs in Whedon's writing, Joss Whedon - Feminism, Joss Whedon - Dialogue, Joss Whedon - Death, Joss Whedon - Spiritual and philosophical beliefs, Joss Whedon - Quotes

Read more here: » Joss Whedon: Encyclopedia II - Joss Whedon - Comic books

Many feminists and pro-feminists believe that it is inappropriate for men to call themselves "feminists". This argument takes a variety of forms, including the following: Feminism is a movement and a body of ideas developed by, for and about women. Men can never fully know what it is like to be a woman. By calling themselves feminists, men run the quot;, spiritual and "mythopoetic" men, and "men's rights" and "fathers' rights" men. There is also internal disagreement within this "movement", for example with pro-feminist me-wing and socialist ...

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Pro-feminism, Pro-feminism - Core beliefs, Pro-feminism - Development, Pro-feminism - Pro-feminism compared to feminism, Pro-feminism - Homosexuality, Pro-feminism - Bibliography

Read more here: » Pro-feminism: Encyclopedia II - Pro-feminism - Pro-feminism compared to feminism

Tahirih Thealogy The basic Definition of TheAlogy as opposed to Theology means viewing the world incorporating the Female lens which to a great extent in the past has been omitted in Theology. Tahirih TheAlogy is religion beyond religion, politics beyond politics, and spiritual feminism beyond feminism in that it recognizes the Cosmic Christ Spirit in every individual and sets out the pattern of balance for the Sixth Cycle of h ...

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Thealogy, Thealogy - First uses, Thealogy - First? usages, Thealogy - Second? usage, Thealogy - Bonewits again, Thealogy - Growing usage by Carol Christ and Ursula King, Thealogy - Further expansion of thealogy by Starr* Saffa, Thealogy - Definition by Charlotte Caron, Thealogy - Melissa Raphael's view, Thealogy - Three interpretations of thealogy, Thealogy - Thealogy as Goddess spirituality, Thealogy - Broad interpretation of thealogy Caron, Thealogy - A challenge to androcentrism, Thealogy - Linguistic twiddling

Read more here: » Thealogy: Encyclopedia II - Thealogy - Further expansion of thealogy by Starr* Saffa

George Gilder, libertarian, right-wing, American philosopher, futurologist, and author. "Bearing a secret sword of goodness and truth, Opus Dei is the most important spiritual movement of our time." Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, author of Feminism is Not the Story of My Life: "Amidst the cynicism and materialism of our time, it is impossible not to be heartened by Opus Dei's dedication to cultivating the potential spiritual a ...

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Opus Dei and Catholic Church leaders, Opus Dei and Catholic Church leaders - Popes, Opus Dei and Catholic Church leaders - Cardinals and bishops, Opus Dei and Catholic Church leaders - Centennial 2002, Opus Dei and Catholic Church leaders - Leaders of Catholic organizations, Opus Dei and Catholic Church leaders - Others, Opus Dei and Catholic Church leaders - Non-Catholics

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The term "nondual" is a literal translation of the Sanskrit term advaita. In the context of postmodern feminism and Tibetan Buddhism, Anne Carolyn Klein (1995, p.151), defines "dualism" as "an opposition that presumes a differance or tension that goes beyond taking account of qualities unique to logically related categories, for example, subject and object, sacred and profane, or enlightened or unenlightened." She defines cognitive, ontological, and evolutionary nondualism. Simultaneous perception of self and other or joining o ...

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Nondualism, Nondualism - Terminology, Nondualism - Nondual realization, Nondualism - Nondual religious and spiritual traditions, Nondualism - Zen, Nondualism - Buddhism, Nondualism - Dzogchen, Nondualism - Advaita, Nondualism - Taoism, Nondualism - Sufism, Nondualism - Individuals subscribing to a non-dual view of reality, Nondualism - Ancient Western philosophers, Nondualism - Medieval Western philosphers, Nondualism - Modern Western philosophers, Nondualism - Asian philosophers and spiritual leaders, Nondualism - Authors, Nondualism - Musicians, Nondualism - Source

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Inclusive spirituality in the West initially gained ground in 19th century, when North American first-wave feminists such as Matilda Joslyn Gage introduced the idea of female Deity, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton published The Women's Bible. Their contemporary, the Swiss Joseph Jakob Bachofen, increased the attention given in Europe to prehistoric matriarchal Goddess cultures. However this information lay dormant in the North America and much of Europe until second-wave feminism. In addition to Bachofen, second-wave feminists who became interested in the history of religion also referred to the work of H ...

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Goddess movement, Goddess movement - Terminology, Goddess movement - Background, Goddess movement - Use of Mythological Materials, Goddess movement - Wicca or Wicce, Goddess movement - Thealogy, Goddess movement - One or Many?, Goddess movement - Within or Without?, Goddess movement - Ethics, Goddess movement - Prehistoric Cultures, Goddess movement - Earth As Goddess

Read more here: » Goddess movement: Encyclopedia II - Goddess movement - Background

Aditi (Sanskrit) (from a not + diti bound from the verbal root da to bind)

Unbounded, free; as a noun, infinite and shoreless expanse. In the Vedas, Aditi is devamatri (mother of the gods) as from and in her cosmic matrix all the heavenly bodies were born. As the celestial virgin and mother of every existing form and being, the synthesis of all things, she is highest akasa. Aditi is identified in the Rig-Veda with Vach (mystic speech) and also with the mulaprakriti of the Vedanta. As the womb of space, she is a feminized form of Brahma. The line in the Rig-Veda: "Daksha sprang from Aditi and Aditi from Daksha" has reference to "the eternal cyclic re-birth of the same divine Essence" (SD 2:247n). In one of its most mystic aspects Aditi is divine wisdom.

Aditi has correspondences in many ancient religions: the highest Sephirah in the Zohar; the Gnostic Sophia-Achamoth; Rhea, mother of the Greek Olympians; Bythos or the great Deep; Amba; Surarani; Chaos; Waters of Space; Primordial Light; and the source of the Egyptian seven heavens. Sometimes she is linked with the Greek Gaia, goddess of earth, to denote dual nature or the mother of both the spiritual and physical: Aditi, cosmic expanse or space being the mother of all things; and Gaia, mother of earth and, on the larger scale, of all objective nature (cf SD 2:65, 269).

(See also: Aditi, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Sex As applied to the organism as a whole, the differentiation of the reproductive function and the character of being male and female.

Organisms reproduce their kind in various ways: fission, gemmation, parthenogenesis, hermaphrodite reproduction, and sexual reproduction. In the course of evolution, organisms pass from one method to another; the passage from the hermaphrodite method to the one in which the sexes are in separate individuals took place in the animals in the third root-race of this round on this globe, and shortly afterwards in humanity (SD 2:184), the latter then being in the fifth subrace of the third root-race.

The process of separation did not occur suddenly, but slowly. This is often called the Fall, and is so in one sense, since it is a descent from spirit toward matter, and was an initiation of the beasts. "THEY (the animals) BEGAN TO BREED. The TWOFOLD MAN (then) SEPARATED ALSO. HE (man) SAID: "LET US AS THEY: LET US UNITE AND MAKE CREATURES.' THEY DID" (ibid.). But from another viewpoint, it was simply a following of the natural course of unfolding progress in evolution. The separation is symbolized by a circle with a vertical diameter.

The hermaphroditic state is repeated in the developing embryo where the organs of both sexes arise from the same germinal layer of cells, and the differentiation does not occur until near the middle of the viable period of fetal life. Today, the orderly unfolding of embryonic cells into a human form is due to following the invisible model which, in keeping with the imbodying ego's karma, is directed by creative spiritual entities and forces.

"Before man could become male and female physically, his prototype, the creating Elohim, had to arrange his Form on this sexual plane astrally. That is to say, the atoms and the organic forces, descending into the plane of the given differentiation, had to be marshaled in the order intended by Nature, so as to be ever carrying out, in an immaculate way, that law which the Kabala calls the balance, through which everything that exists does so as male and female in its final perfection, in this present stage of materiality. Chochmah, Wisdom, the Male Sephiroth, had to diffuse itself in, and through, Binah, intelligent Nature, or Understanding" (SD 2:84). After the separation, the third eye began to disappear, and death as we now understand it was not known until then.

Thus the primeval polarity of all things differentiated on the material plane -- including sexual humanity -- was of immaculate origin and purpose. This sublime ancient teaching has been degraded generally in theological interpretations of cosmic sex symbols in crude physiological terms, such as the substitution of a Jehovistic god of generation for an ineffable, unknown deity.

The originating causes of sex are not rooted in the higher principles or elements of the human composite constitution. It is the effect of former thought-deposits, of emotional and mental tendencies and biases given way to in preceding lives on earth. "The predominating and it may perhaps truly be said that the main cause of sex-change in incarnation is strong attraction to the opposite sex during the few -- or in rare cases it may be a fairly large number -- preceding lives on earth. This attraction, which is the instrumental cause of the tendencies and biases spoken of, arising out of thought and emotional energy, feminizes the life-atoms, or masculinizes them, as the individual case may be, and the natural consequence is incarnation in a body of the sex to which attraction leads" (ET 666). Thus a reincarnating ego may have several incarnations in bodies of one sex, and then incarnate in bodies of the opposite sex for a number of times in succeeding incarnations. How many times, therefore, a reincarnating ego may imbody in a male or a female body is not subject to any arbitrary rule but depends solely upon the karmic impulse laid aside in the treasury of psychomental experiences.

Though the distinction of sex is biologically regarded as a profound and nearly universal attribute of organized beings, yet knowledge of composite human nature shows that it does not reach into the roots of the human constitution. Its causes go no deeper than the lower part of the human ego or soul, the psychophysiological nature. It is an evolutionary condition or cycle of the reincarnating ego's development in this present stage of materiality. Therefore, it is a transitory event in its bipolar earthly experience. As sex has been nature's plan for the race for some 18 million years, it will continue to be the natural plan for some ages to come. Some ages hence, sex differentiation will have given way to the activities of impersonal, spiritual creative energies.

(See also: Sex, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Feminism is a diverse collection of social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies, largely motivated by or concerning the experiences of women, especially in terms of their social, political, and economic situation. As a social movement, feminism largely focuses on limiting or eradicating gender inequality and promoting women's rights, interests, and issues in society. Within academia, some feminists focus on documenting gender inequalities that oppress women and on changes in the social position and representati ...

Including:

Feminism - Origins Feminism - Feminism in many forms
Feminism - Subtypes of feminism
Feminism - Relationship to other movements Feminism - Effects of feminism in the West
Feminism - Effects on civil rights Feminism - Effect on language Feminism - Effect on heterosexual relationships Feminism - Effect on religion Feminism - Effect on moral education
Feminism - Effects of feminism in the East Feminism - Worldwide statistics Feminism - Perspective: the nature of the modern movement Feminism - Contemporary criticisms of feminism Feminism - Famous feminists Feminism - Books

Read more here: » Feminism: Encyclopedia - Feminism

Some feminists would argue that there is still much to be done on these fronts, while others would disagree and claim that the battle has basically been won. Feminism - Effects on civil rights. Feminism has effected many changes in Western society, including women's suffrage; broad employment for women at more equitable wages; the right to initiate divorce proceedings and the introduction of "no fault" divorce; the right to keep children from their fathers, the right to obtain contraception and safe aborti ...

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Feminism, Feminism - Origins, Feminism - Feminism in many forms, Feminism - Subtypes of feminism, Feminism - Relationship to other movements, Feminism - Effects of feminism in the West, Feminism - Effects on civil rights, Feminism - Effect on language, Feminism - Effect on heterosexual relationships, Feminism - Effect on religion, Feminism - Effect on moral education, Feminism - Effects of feminism in the East, Feminism - Worldwide statistics, Feminism - Perspective: the nature of the modern movement, Feminism - Contemporary criticisms of feminism, Feminism - Famous feminists, Feminism - Books

Read more here: » Feminism: Encyclopedia II - Feminism - Effects of feminism in the West

Feminism as a philosophy and movement in the modern sense may be usefully dated to The Enlightenment with such thinkers as Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and the Marquis de Condorcet championing women's education. The first scientific society for women was founded in Middelburg, a city in the south of the Dutch republic, in 1785. Journals for women which focused on issues like science became popular during this period as well. Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) is one of the first works that c ...

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Feminism, Feminism - Origins, Feminism - Feminism in many forms, Feminism - Subtypes of feminism, Feminism - Relationship to other movements, Feminism - Effects of feminism in the West, Feminism - Effects on civil rights, Feminism - Effect on language, Feminism - Effect on heterosexual relationships, Feminism - Effect on religion, Feminism - Effect on moral education, Feminism - Effects of feminism in the East, Feminism - Worldwide statistics, Feminism - Perspective: the nature of the modern movement, Feminism - Contemporary criticisms of feminism, Feminism - Famous feminists, Feminism - Books

Read more here: » Feminism: Encyclopedia II - Feminism - Origins

Feminism, in some forms and to varying degrees, has become generally accepted in Western society. However, the attention it has attracted, due to the social changes it has effected, has resulted in many dissenting voices. Criticism has come from within the movement, from non-feminists, from masculists, from social conservatives, and from scientists. Postcolonial feminists criticise Western forms of feminism, notably radical feminism and its most basic assumption, universalization of female experience. They argue that this assumption i ...

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Feminism, Feminism - Origins, Feminism - Feminism in many forms, Feminism - Subtypes of feminism, Feminism - Relationship to other movements, Feminism - Effects of feminism in the West, Feminism - Effects on civil rights, Feminism - Effect on language, Feminism - Effect on heterosexual relationships, Feminism - Effect on religion, Feminism - Effect on moral education, Feminism - Effects of feminism in the East, Feminism - Worldwide statistics, Feminism - Perspective: the nature of the modern movement, Feminism - Contemporary criticisms of feminism, Feminism - Famous feminists, Feminism - Books

Read more here: » Feminism: Encyclopedia II - Feminism - Contemporary criticisms of feminism