| Here
is the archived salon instructions page for July 2006, the sixth
month:
Goddess Salon - July 2006: Ralph
Metzner
July’s
featured guest is Ralph Metzner, author, alchemist and mythologist
extraordinaire. Appropriately, as I write this introduction, I’ve
just spent the day on a long walk through the beautiful Swabische
Alb in southern Germany, where my partner David and I are relaxing
for a couple of days before leading a workshop together. It was
Ralph’s work in The Well of Remembrance, this month’s
suggested reading, that introduced me to some of the richness
of the ancient Goddess traditions of the Germanic and Scandinavian
peoples. Of all ancestral legacies, this one has perhaps been
most suppressed, repressed, and warped into strange and sadistic
forms by the Nazis. Over many years of working in Germany, I’ve
learned how hard it is for German women—and men—to
set aside the distortions of the Nazi era and delve for some of
the underlying truths that are much, much older.
RITUAL:
Donate Pahnke, one of the women who founded Reclaiming’s
German Witch Camp introduced me to the tradition of the vuelva
or seeress. In ancient times, these women would wander from farm
to farm. If you wanted the seeress to prophecy for your family,
you’d invite her in, feed her a good dinner—a very
crucial part of the ritual!—and put her to sleep in a comfortable
bed. (This is a shamanic tradition that speaks to me!) In the
morning, all the women of the farmstead would gather, burn sacred
herbs, and sing the vuelva into trance. She would send her spirit
out to the stars, and return with very practical information:
“Hans should marry Hulda before the new moon” or “Plow
the lower field thoroughly, early.”
So, for this week’s ritual, I leave the dinner and the burning
of sacred herbs to your discretion. What I suggest is—pick
a song or a chant that you know and love. Sit in a circle, comfortably,
and sing. Sing until you get bored—then sing some more.
You can change chants—and drumming helps. Put a few empty
chairs or pillows in the center. When a person feels moved to
do so, come into the center, hold a question in your mind, and
ask for guidance. When you’ve had enough, step back out
and hold energy for others. After everyone has had the opportunity
to step in, let the circle come to silence, and thank the ancestors
and the Goddess for the prophecies you’ve received. (Not
everyone will necessarily come into the center—you can experience
this very powerfully staying in the circle throughout.)
QUESTIONS:
1. Are levels of culture the same as levels of technology? If
not, how do we define ‘culture’?
2. Lovelock and the Gaia theorists have said that the earth functions
like a living organism in many ways, but they hesitate to attribute
consciousness or purpose. What does Ralph say about this—and
what do you think?
3. Ralph talks about the reversal of the symbolic meanings of
black and white. According to Marija, in Old Europe, white was
the color of death and black was the color of life. Think of some
of the common usages for these terms: “black magic”,
“white light”, etc. Play with reversing them—what
do you notice? How does it feel? What changes?
4. Ralph speaks of animism as recognizing the spiritual intelligence
in other life forms. Starhawk’s friend and colleague Matthew
Fox, the theologian and maverick priest, used to say his dog was
his spiritual teacher. Have you ever had the experience of receiving
a teaching, a communication, a moment of deep help or comfort,
from some other life
RECIPE:
I believe Ralph is coming up with his own recipe, but what I know
from my sojourns in Germany is the importance of cream. Every
afternoon at the
German Witchcamp they would serve coffee and cake with a huge
bowl of whipped cream. So—bake or acquire your favorite
cake. To whip cream, chill the cream, chill the bowl, put your
mixer or whip or bring out the whisk and beat away. Add just a
little sugar—two to three tablespoons per cup—to help
stiffen it, dedicate the calories, the fat and the cholesterol
to the Goddess, and enjoy!
PS. Besides the German Witch Camp, now called Feencamp, there’s
a European Witch Camp, the Lorelei Camp, plus many others in the
US and Canada. For a complete listing, see www.witchcamp.org.
-- Starhawk
RALPH'S RECIPES (note -- a couple portion amounts
are missing. We'll be correcting these ASAP, but you may be able
to figure it out anyway)
GRANDMA GRACE'S PEACH PIE
This pie was a childhood favorite of mine, baked often by my Grandma
Grace Coleman.
6-8 peaches, peeled and sliced into
1 large unbaked pie shell
2 round Tbsp. cornstarch
3/4 cup half & half milk
3/4 c. sugar (or more, to taste)
1 tsp. vanilla
Dissolve cornstarch in milk. Add sugar and vanilla. Mix and pour
over peaches. Bake at400 degrees until crust is light brown, about
12-15 minutes. Then reduce heat to 325. Cover with a large lid
and cook until cream doesn’t shake, about 60-70 minutes.
CURRIED ZUCCHINI
This recipe turns ordinary zucchini into a marvelous, exotic dish.
This recipe is from Isabel Allende’s Aphrodite: A Memoir
of the Senses.
4 medium zucchinis
1 Tbsp. Oil
1 onion, grated
1 carrot, grated
2 Tbsp. grated coconut
1 tsp. curry powder
4 dates, cut in strips
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup cream
Cut the zucchinis in half lengthwise. Warm the oil and rapidly
saute’ the zucchinis on both sides. Remove from the skillet.
In the same oil, saute’ the onion, carrot, coconut, curry
powder, and dates for 5 minutes. Add the coconut milk and cook
over low heat for 10 minutes. Place the zucchinis in the sauce
and cook for 10 minutes more. Turn off the heat; add cream, and
serve.
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