Inspired by the blockbuster The Odyssey, this episode and next are about Mermaids and Sirens, including touching on men's fear of women's sexuality, herstorical and contemporary meanings of Mermaids and mermaids associated with Goddesses.

Please do check out my new book coming out, Divine Femining: Deity, Archetype and Ideal which can be pre-ordered here:  https://www.karentate.net/post/pagan-portals-the-divine-feminine-deity-archetype-and-ideal  

For more on the Divine Feminine - go to my website:  www.karentate.net

Hello Friends, please join us this Saturday, August 1 for our online Goddess Day sponsored by herchurch.org in SFO. Starting at 10:30am PST - 11:30 with Divine Feminine Service with lovely chants, sacred message and songs. Return just before 1PM for Pastor Stacy Boorn's Welcome for the afternoon activities which include a short video reel, my talk about the Divine Feminine: Deity, Archetype and Ideal. Afterward at 2pm there's an easy collage art project to get you in that zen headspace, followed at 3PM by a Fireside Chat between Pastor Stacy and Karen Tate (yours truly) and we'll end the day with closing chants and prayers. At the end of  today's episode I share info with you about the Divine Feminine APP which you'll want to know about - it's a hub of Goddess or Divine Feminine Activity in your neighborhood and around the world - a testament to the rise of the Divine Feminine. Look below for links to everything - and all times listed are PACIFIC TIME.  Follow these links which take you to the zoom link or zoom meeting ID

Herchurch -- https://www.herchurch.org/events
Karen Tate -- https://www.karentate.net/post/upcoming-events-online-and-in-person
Divine Feminine App -- https://thedivinefeminineapp.com/

Taking a look at what contemporary and ancient writers said about the Amazons and their lifestyles. Did they really live in female only societies? Were they hetero, bi-sexual or lesbian? Taking a look at Xena, Gabrielle and Wonder Woman and asking if men have a problem understanding fluid female emotions. Can we normalize gender fluidity? Does society, religion and culture groom us to be hetero when that might not be our authentic bent? By bringing history, mythology and fluidity of the ancient world to light, we see how much more rigid contemporary society is today as the ancient world didn't even have words for lesbian, gay or homosexuality.  Check out my website www.karentate.net and please pick up a copy of my book Divine Feminine: Deity, Archetype and Ideal.  https://www.karentate.net/post/pagan-portals-the-divine-feminine-deity-archetype-and-ideal

This episode inspired by Dr. Carla Ionescu from The Goddess Project youtube channel.  Thank you Dr. Carla for your magnificent scholarship!  https://www.youtube.com/@goddessproject

Today I summarize a Substack article I mention in the episode about how 40-60% of Puritan women kidnapped by Native American tribes actually preferred living with the progressive thinking tribes to their Puritan husbands and did not want to return to their Puritan culture - including lesbian women who were not abominations in Native American culture. Learn more about the false captivity narratives started by Puritan ministers that sanitized what we learned about the expansion of the US settlers westward and misinformed us about what was really playing out in people's lives. John Wayne movies were a total lie in many cases.  Please check out my website at www.karentate.net where you'll find lots of interesting and free stuff.  And please order my new book, Divine Feminine: Deity, Archetype and Ideal from my website here - https://www.karentate.net/post/pagan-portals-the-divine-feminine-deity-archetype-and-ideal

People in the ancient world were a lot more accepting of the spectrum or fluidity of gender from androgynous divinities to lesbian or gay gods and goddesses. In fact, in Greece, there wasn't even a word for lesbian, gay or homosexual. Today I'll chat about this and share the names and descriptions of several of the ancient lesbian goddesses, some of which are contemporary icons for lesbian women today.  

And I'd also like to invite you to visit my website, www.karentate.net where you'll find lots of free stuff, links to my newsletter Toolbox for Transformation and "all things Goddess" - while you're there take advantage of the ease in which you can sign up for my newsletter from the pop up window.

Please do consider pre-ordering my new book, Divine Feminine: Deity, Archetype and Ideal.  It would mean the world to me to have your support.  The books are only $12.95 and would make great holiday gifts.  Here's the link - https://www.karentate.net/post/pagan-portals-the-divine-feminine-deity-archetype-and-ideal

In a rare guest interview, I speak to Gary Mazeffa, of Q2 Films, who has written and produced an upcoming film about the Divine Feminine for our world. Learn about it here first as Asherah: A Love Odyssey makes the festival circuit, including the Cannes Film Festival. Gary and I discuss his inspiration for the film, how he sees the Divine Feminine as "completion" and the conversation he hopes the film inspires.  As my long-time audience might know, I've been waiting for such a film, introducing the Divine Feminine to the world, and we might soon have the opportunity to see it on the big screen.  Please check out my website at www.karentate.net and please order my new book, Divine Feminine: Deity, Archetype and Ideal by clicking here -- https://www.karentate.net/post/pagan-portals-the-divine-feminine-deity-archetype-and-ideal   

And for more on Q2Films and the Ashera film, click here:  https://q2films.com/category/odyssey-journal/

Its important to know symbols and their origins. Symbols have power in the collective consciousness. They're not accidents. Ancient people, unable to read and write, communicated complex ideas using symbols of which the sacred pubic triangle is one. The triangles were on statues, in caves and temples to signify the genitals and life giving female body. Red ochre represented the sacred blood. Tune in to hear more and discover more about Goddess and the Divine Feminine via Karen's books, website and newsletter. Go to www.karentate.net for free information.  To pre-order Karen's new book, Divine Feminine: Deity, Archetype and Ideal go here:  https://www.karentate.net/post/pagan-portals-the-divine-feminine-deity-archetype-and-ideal

The ancient female carvings called Sheela Na Gigs or Sheelas are enigmatic indeed. Theories are they're protection or fertility symbols, that their magic helps women in childbirth or if you're within a building on which a Sheela is carved, you are considered within the protective embrace of the Goddess. This and other aspects of the Sheelas are discussed in this short series about women reclaiming their agency via the power of female genitalia and sacred life giving. Check out my Sacred Places of Goddess book herehttps://www.karentate.net/post/sacred-places-of-goddess  for more information about Sheelas and other sacred places of Goddess around the world or to drive your own domestic or international sacred tour.

We continue to delve into what's been lost in society as women are denied their power and agency. This episode discusses the origin of the "C-word", holy yonis, the 2005 study of the clitoris, Satan's teat and how Gen Z refers to cuntipotence.  Check out my website and the free stuff there at www.karentate.com and pre-order my newest book, Divine Feminine: Deity, Archetype and Ideal at https://www.karentate.net/post/pagan-portals-the-divine-feminine-deity-archetype-and-ideal

"Stop swallowing glass and calling your bleeding mouth grace" was the profoud statement in our Storytelling with Goddess circle this month. We discuss how patriarchy has robbed women of this emotion, telling her that her anger was hysteria, bitterness, irrationality. Many became terrified to be called a feminist, bitch, c*nt or other demonized word which reflected our boundaries, our consent was probably being violated. We shouldered the shame instead of the abuser. For more, give this episode a listen or go to my website for the article at www.karentate.net. Please also order my newest book in pre-order now from Amazon or Simon and Schuster titled Divine Feminine: Deity, Archetype and Ideal.
Here are the links:  Book - https://www.karentate.net/post/pagan-portals-the-divine-feminine-deity-archetype-and-ideal   Article - https://www.karentate.net/post/do-you-swallow-glass-call-it-grace-reclaiming-healthy-female-anger-for-your-emotional-toolkit   Website - https://www.karentate.net/
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