Amma Syncletica was part of a monastic tradition that was established primarily in the desert areas around Jerusalem and Alexandria. Desert Mothers were women, known as ammas or “spiritual mothers,” who lived as Christian ascetics in the fourth and fifth centuries CE. Ammas were women who had achieved a spiritual maturity and wisdom, actively developed during their withdrawal from mainstream society. These women gathered together in monastic communities, but there were also some who lived as hermits. For these early Christian women, one appeal of living in the desert was the freedom they could experience that was not available to...
Last updated August 13, 2024 In 2020, I wrote a blog post, Assumption of Hairy Mary, because I was interested in images of Mary Magdalene that I had come across, where she was shown clothed in nothing other than her long red hair. In some images, she is even depicted with a fur-like suit or hair that is growing directly out of her skin. I never suspected that I would revisit that blog post, but I became aware of this recently revealed woodcut image that appears to be a Hairy Mary Magdalene, shown at left, and I became intrigued. So,...
Last updated: August 25, 2024 Having this website allows me to respond to events and to share information I get when I research things that really interest and excite me. I was so excited to find out that the Sisters of Earth conference just coincidentally happened on the exact same week back in July 2022, when NASA released the first stunning images from the James Webb Space Telescope – really a kind of synchronicity to be honest. The Universe is astoundingly beautiful! It’s been over a year since the conference, so I thought I would just finish up this blog...
Since March is Women’s History Month, I thought I would write this blog post about some courageous women pilots who have been largely forgotten by time and are not widely recognized today. I am referring to the history of the First Lady Astronaut Trainees, more commonly known as the Mercury 13. This group of women were secretly evaluated to see if they might be suitable astronaut candidates for America’s first human spaceflight program in the early 1960s. The thirteen women pilots, eager to participate in the space race against the Soviet Union, were subjected to the same rigorous tests that...
Last updated: February 5, 2024 Josephine Bakhita (circa 1868-1947,) shown at left, was born into a relatively wealthy family in the village of Olgossa in the Darfur region, Sudan in central Africa. At around 7-9 years of age, she was kidnapped by Arab slave traders and was given the Arabic name bakhīta (بخيتة), which means “lucky” or “fortunate.” This was a fairly common name for slaves, and so Josephine Bakhita should not be confused with Sister Fortunata Quasce, the first Sudanese nun, also known as Bakhita Kwashe (1841-1899.) Apparently the image below and to the right is of Sister...
I am always so fascinated with learning about the origins of the customs we observe and holidays we celebrate and how they evolved and became secularized, especially as they were romanticized on a large scale in the US, during the 19th-century. You can find my blog post about Saint Valentine’s Day here. And a blog post with a bit of food history related to Halloween here. And another on the origins of the New Year’s Eve tune Auld Lang Syne. But today is the feast day of Saint Nicholas, and I am digging into the origin of our present day,...
I intended to post this way back in March, in observance of Women’s History Month this year, but obviously that did not happen – in the midst of moving and other entanglements, I definitely did not reach that goal. However, here is what I wanted to share with you. In this blog post, I highlight the dedication of women who supported the World War II (WW2) war efforts of the Allied Forces. Manufacturing jobs in many countries became available to women, as industries transitioned to war production. In September 2021, Andy and I were finally able to use the credit...
I recently learned that there once was an urban complex of Native Americans in the United States that dates back to the 9th century. I had heard of the Mayans, was somewhat familiar with the Aztec civilization that built pyramids in Mexico, and had even visited Teotihuacan when I was in high school. Over the years, I have visited Anasazi ruins and other Native American sites in the southwest U.S. And of course I learned about the decimation of the native tribes across the continent, due to diseases like smallpox, brought by the explorers and settlers. I am aware of...
Last updated: February 7, 2024 I’m always fascinated about how certain holidays come into being and what their roots are, before they end up being commercialized and trivialized into oblivion, a shadow of what was intended originally. So what’s up with Valentine’s Day? You might have an idea that it is associated with a Saint Valentine, and you would be right. The feast days of saints are often holy-days that are celebrated annually on the anniversaries of their deaths. So here’s how Saint Valentine’s life and martyrdom led us to associate it with romantic love and how it morphed so...
:: Guest blog post by Andy Hong :: Central Park may be the most beautiful city park in the world and is most certainly worth anyone’s time to visit. We would recommend getting a walking guide and spend a couple of hours walking through it. The park was revolutionary for its time (a park set aside for the enjoyment of the average citizen) along with Frederick Law Olmstead’s additional efforts repeated in Prospect Park in Brooklyn and the city parks in Buffalo. With its wonderful history, there are many things to see in Central Park – from the USS Maine...
Last updated: March 15, 2024 August 26, 2020 was Women’s Equality Day, a celebration of the centennial anniversary of the 1920 ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution that guarantees that, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” This is part four of a four-part series, describing the many years of exhaustive effort channelled by American women into the suffrage movement that ultimately secured voting rights for women nationally. In November 1917, there was a referendum held to...
Last updated: March 15, 2024 August 26, 2020 was Women’s Equality Day, a celebration of the centennial anniversary of the 1920 ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution that guarantees that, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” This is part 3 of a four-part series, describing the many years of exhaustive effort channelled by American women into the suffrage movement that ultimately secured voting rights for women nationally. The beginnings of the National Woman’s Party (NWP) can...
Last updated: March 15, 2024 August 26, 2020 was Women’s Equality Day, a celebration of the centennial anniversary of the 1920 ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution that guarantees that, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” This is part two of a four-part series, describing the many years of exhaustive effort channelled by American women into the suffrage movement that ultimately secured voting rights for women nationally. Going into the turn of the twentieth century, American...
Last updated: March 15, 2024 August 26, 2020 was Women’s Equality Day, a celebration of the centennial anniversary of the 1920 ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution that guarantees that, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.” This is part one of a four-part series, describing the many years of exhaustive effort channelled by American women into the suffrage movement that ultimately secured voting rights for women nationally. It is widely agreed that the milestone that best...
Last updated: August 15, 2023 In September 2020, I enrolled in a virtual class – a series of Zoom meetings to discuss the possibilities for gesturing towards de-colonial futures, and when I wrote this, I had just attended the first 2-hour segment. There were 5 additional meetings over the course of the next year – one every two months – in conjunction with a group called Sisters of Earth Emerging. My first “assignment” was to discover more about the indigenous people who once lived where I currently reside. As a kid, I lived in Ohio, California, and finally Texas. Because...
Last updated: August 10, 2023 American author and pioneering aviator, Anne Spencer Morrow Lindbergh (1906-2001) was born in Englewood, New Jersey. Her father, Dwight Morrow, served in public office as US Ambassador to Mexico and later as a US Senator. Anne’s mother, Elizabeth Reeve Cutter Morrow, was active in promoting education for women and served as acting president at Smith College (her alma mater) in 1939-1940. Anne also attended Smith College, graduating in 1928 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. During her college years, Anne met aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh, and they were married at her parents’ home on May...
Last updated: August 10, 2023 Every year on New Year’s Eve, most Americans (at least those of us who don’t go to sleep early) sing Auld Lang Syne just after the champagne is popped and the clock strikes midnight. But – go ahead and fess up, do you actually know all the words? Like most everyone, I didn’t, so I decided to find out and let you know too, so that you can impress your sweetie on NYE…. I also checked up on the history of this tune – since the new year is almost upon us and mostly because...
Last updated: September 2, 2023 Advent is one of my favorite times of year, and it is the beginning of the church liturgical calendar. There is something about the idea of waiting in that sacred, pregnant pause of Advent that helps keep me in balance, during one of the busiest times of year. I love turning out all the lights except for those on my Christmas tree, lighting the advent wreath, and reading the O Antiphons every night before Christmas, beginning on December 17. If you are like me and have been running around like crazy trying to get everything...
Sally Ride (1951-2012) became the first American woman in space when she flew as a mission specialist on STS-7 in 1983. She flew a second mission on the Space Shuttle Challenger on STS-41G in 1984. Ride also participated on the boards of both the Challenger and Columbia investigations. Throughout her life, she was a shining beacon of accomplishment and possibility to little girls everywhere. Sally Ride grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from Stanford University in 1973 with bachelor’s degrees in both Physics and English. She continued her studies in Physics, and graduated from Stanford with a PhD in...
Mathilda Taylor Beasley educated slaves prior to the Civil War, although it was not legal to do at the time. She also became a Franciscan nun who founded the first religious community for African-American women in Georgia and she opened an orphanage in Savannah in the late nineteenth century. She was named a Georgia Woman of Achievement in 2004 by Georgia Women of Achievement, a private, non-profit organization headquartered in Atlanta. In 2005, Mathilda Beasley was also named as a Georgia Heritage Celebration Honoree by the Georgia Historical Society. This photograph demonstrates some of the difficulties involved in doing...
Many religious traditions include beads as a part of their prayers and rituals because they help keep track, in an automatic way, of how many repetitions of prayers have been said. Islamic prayer beads, called misbaha, tasbih, or sibha, usually have 99 beads, corresponding to the number of Names of God in Arabic with 2 smaller beads in between each set of 33. The prayers recited include the Subhan Allah (Glory be to God,) the Al-hamdu lilah (Praise be to God) and the Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest.) Members of the Sikh faith use 108 mala beads when reciting...
Last updated: August 5, 2024 Happy July 22 – Feast Day of Mary Magdalene! Unfortunately, the timing was bad this year for hosting the MM feast day ritual at my house. I am heading off to Santa Fe soon for a long weekend with my family to celebrate my sister Lori’s fiftieth birthday. So this feast day I just thought I would offer a few comments regarding some resources related to MM that you may be interested in. Andy and I recently returned from a trip to Spain, and the last place we visited before coming home was the Prado...
Earth Day was established in 1970 by Gaylord Nelson, US Senator from Wisconsin, who conceived the idea to hold a nationwide teach-in, in order to call attention to the need for environmental protection. This was partly in response to the massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California that occurred in January 1969. Also in 1969, the Cuyahoga River in north-eastern Ohio that feeds into Lake Erie became famous for being so grossly contaminated that it “caught fire.” At that time in history, cars used leaded gasoline, industrial air pollution regulations had not yet been legislated, and the ocean shorelines, lakes,...
Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672,) born in Northampton, England to Thomas Dudley and Dorothy Yorka, was arguably the first writer in colonial America to be published. Anne wrote from the perspective of a Puritan woman who was both educated and devoted to seeking meaning within her religious heritage. In addition to her many household responsibilities, she wrote poetry, much of it focused on the details of a seventeenth century American woman’s life, her struggles in the new land, and her Puritan faith. As a child in England, Anne was very well educated. She received tutoring in history, natural science, literature, and several...
The celebration of the World Day of Prayer (WDP) originated in the 19th century, as women from the US and Canada began developing various means to support the participation of women in missionary activities, both at home and worldwide. As early as 1861, women began founding women’s boards to encourage the engagement of women in prayer and leadership within their mission organizations. Presbyterian women in the US, led by Mary Ellen Fairchild James in Brooklyn, called for a day of prayer in 1887, and a Baptist day of prayer for foreign missions was initiated in 1891. A committee of delegates...
I’m a few days late, but I wanted to share with you a piece of what I have learned this year about the origin of Halloween and the tradition of something called soul cakes. Soul cakes, sometimes referred to as souls, are the precursor to Halloween trick or treating that dates to medieval England and Ireland. On All Hallows Eve , All Saint’s Day or All Soul’s Day, soul cakes were set out with glasses of wine as an offering for the dead. Then children and the poor, would go “souling” door-to-door, singing and asking for soul cakes in return...
In 1971, Congress designated August 26 as Women’s Equality Day to commemorate the anniversary of the signature of the 19th amendment to the constitution in 1920. This is a photo of Pennsylvania Governor William Sproul ratifying the constitutional amendment to guarantee suffrage for all women who are citizens of the United States. The Women’s Suffrage Movement stretched from the first Women’s Convention that was held at Seneca Falls NY in 1848 to the final ratification of the amendment in 1920. This effort took a whole 72 years of protests and marches and letter writing and picketing and cajoling and rallies...
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1648-1695) is regarded as one of the most prominent authors of Spanish literature and the foremost Baroque poet in seventeenth-century colonial Mexico (New Spain.) She was born in San Miguel Nepantla, the illegitimate daughter of Spanish Captain Pedro Manuel de Asbaje and a criolla (mixed race) woman, Isabel Ramírez. She learned to read at a young age, devouring her maternal grandfather’s books and showing signs of being an exceptionally intelligent child. At the age of 12, Sor Juana was sent to Mexico City, where she became a lady-in-waiting at the court of the Viceroy...
Harriet Powers (1837-1911) was a creative African-American quilting genius! She used her quilts to re-tell familiar Bible stories in a unique and fascinating way. At least two of these story quilts have survived and are on display in American museums. Harriet Powers was born into slavery in rural Clarke County, Georgia, where she lived on a plantation owned by John and Nancy Lester. Details regarding her childhood and life as a young adult are lacking. However, we know that in 1855, she married Armstead Powers, who described himself as a “farmhand” in the census of 1870 and that she raised at...
The first National Women’s Day observance was organized by the Socialist Party of America, and was held on February 28, 1909 in New York. The original purpose was to serve as a remembrance of the strike of the International Ladies Garment Worker’s Union that occurred in 1908. As assemblies of women worldwide picked up on the idea, the earliest gatherings on International Women’s Day were mostly organized and supported by the socialist and communist movements. In August 1910, an International Women’s Conference was established as an event that preceded the general meeting of the Second Socialist International Conference in Copenhagen,...
