You may notice a few changes to our front page. For instance the lists of new members and members currently online have disappeared. This is do to some server side issues with our ISP. We'll be back to our usual front page as soon as we can.

Bitch Ph.d. and Ampersand have great posts up discussing how the so-called "pro-life" advocates are really all about punishing women for having sex.

Ampersand has a great chart demonstrating the "pro-life" hypocrisy. And Bitch links to a New York Times piece that shows that "not one 'pro-life' organization is also pro-birth control. Not one."

Because the 17th is St. Patrick's day...

Art and text by Thalia Took:
used with her gracious permisson

"Feed your fires!"

Bride (or Brigid) is a beloved goddess of the Celts known by many names, Bride being the Scots Gaelic variant. Her names mean "the Exalted One". She tends the triple fires of smithcraft (physical fire), healing (the fire of life within), and poetry (the fire of the spirit). In balance to this She also presides over many healing springs. Cattle are sacred to Her, green is Her color, and, perhaps one of the reasons She is so beloved (especially in Ireland)--She is said to have invented beer! Her feast day of February 1st is called Imbolc (the Christian Candlemas), when the predictions for the coming spring's weather were made, a remnant of which is seen in the modern Groundhog Day. She is daughter to the Dagda, and invented the first keening when her son Rúadán was killed.

As some of you know, I have been in the process of moving since last July. That s when I put my house in Maine on the market and began to pack. I spent 6 months worrying about whether the house would ever sell, spending money I didn t have to make the house more appealing to prospective buyers, and sorting through all of my stuff, deciding what to keep and what to let go of (literally and metaphorically).

Then one day in early January, I was elated to receive and accept an offer on my house. The joy lasted about 24 hours. Then panic set in. I realized for all the work I had done, I still had so much to do. And more worries. What would the home inspection show? What if the buyer s couldn t get financing? What if something goes wrong at the last minute at closing?

Art and text by Thalia Took:
used with her gracious permisson

"I will guide and protect you on your difficult journeys."

Maman Brijit is a Vodou lwa or spirit who is the protectress of cemeteries. She is one of the family of the Gede or Guede, the Vodou death spirits whose numbers include Bawon Samdi, Bawon Gede, and Gede Nimbo or Nibo, guardian of children. The Gede, especially Bawon Samdi, Her husband, are tricksters who are known for mocking authority and making fun of society. They have terribly bad manners and very dirty minds.

A woman I know was recently diagnosed with an STD, Human Papilloma Virus to be exact. Not that unusual I know. But here's the thing. She's in her late 70s and hasn't been sexually active in over 35 years. It seems that her abusive ex-husband gave her the disease sometime prior to the early 1970s. It lay dormant in her system for all that time, until last year, when she received radiation treatment for breast cancer. The radiation apparently compromised her immune system, and the long dormant HPV took advantage. Her ex-husband died about 6 years ago. But he's managed to reach out from the grave to abuse her yet again.