Director's Message
As the sun heightens and the summer heat intensifies bringing growth and the inevitable discomfort that accompanies growth, many wonderful events are on the horizon. This weekend is a benefit concert by Faith Rivera in support of our new home, the Church of Truth in Pasadena. Faith is an Emmy award winning singer and will, no doubt, present a wonderful evening of music.
Save the date for our June 29th Summer Solstice Ritual Celebration. We will explore the wonderful masculine energy of Pan, protector of the Earth and Nature.
In August, revered teacher, author, and feminist leader Vicki Noble will be in Los Angeles with a workshop for women and a community healing ritual. What a great opportunity to learn from a truly wise woman.
Find out more about these wonderful events below and be sure to read a reprinted article from Scientific American called Why Rituals Work. I look forward to seeing you at one, or more, of these wonderful events.
Much Love and Many Blessings, Rev. Xia
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Temple of the Goddess Announcements
MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD! - Goddess Choir: If you'd like to be a part of the ever-growing Temple of the Goddess Choir, please contact us at choir@templeofthegoddess.org
COMMUNITY EVENTS: Additional information about Community Events is available at the Temple of the Goddess website. If you would like to post an event with Temple of the Goddess, please let us know by submitting the date and pertinent information to: events@TempleoftheGoddess.org.
JOIN OUR ONLINE COMMUNITY! Keep up to date with what's happening at the Temple. Get to know us better while you enjoy daily words of inspiration, interesting and helpful articles as well as the latest Pagan news. All you have to do is "Like" us on Facebook and/or follow us on Twitter under @TO_Goddess. See you there!
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Fundraising Benefit Concert 
Featuring Faith Rivera
Hawaii-born Singer, Songwriter & an Emmy-winner for Outstanding Original Song on NBC's Passions. She is most known for her high-energy performances & hip-shakin' music for all ages & faiths. Performing with the Ben Dowling Band
and special performance by Gary Mortimer.
Saturday, June 1st, 7 PM
Church of Truth, Center for Awakening Consciousness
690 East Orange Grove Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91104
Tickets available in the church office $25 each. $20 students and seniors.
Or go on-line to http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/387410
Enjoy an evening of great music and support this wonderful community.
Benefit concert to raise money to keep us cool this summer, ie. Air Conditioning,
Check out Faith at www.faithrivera.com
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 New Beginnings 2008 by Unknown Legend
I see the field where life does grow
in patches green from down below
where now we walk thru seeds once sown
a time of new beginning
We look not back from whence we came
or where we go it's all the same
where life's within a picture frame
in times of new beginning
Hold not for what tomorrow brings
to change your life, so many things
the bell once tolled, no longer rings
for a time of new beginning
Give not to sadness, enjoy the smiles
In fields, once yielded to the plow
come lay with me for just a while
This time of new beginning
So look now deep into my eyes
enjoy this time for how it flies
of gentle moans and tender sighs
for us and new beginnings
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 Why Rituals Work
By Francesca Gino and Michael I. Norton
Scientific American, May 14, 2013
There are real benefits to rituals, religious or otherwise . . . Despite the absence of a direct causal connection between the ritual and the desired outcome, performing rituals with the intention of producing a certain result appears to be sufficient for that result to come true. While some rituals are unlikely to be effective - knocking on wood will not bring rain - many everyday rituals make a lot of sense and are surprisingly effective.
Think about the last time you were about to interview for a job, speak in front of an audience, or go on a first date. To quell your nerves, chances are you spent time preparing - reading up on the company, reviewing your slides, practicing your charming patter. People facing situations that induce anxiety typically take comfort in engaging in preparatory activities, inducing a feeling of being back in control and reducing uncertainty. Continued . . . |
 
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Who Speaks For Nature? Coming Summer Solstice 2013.
 In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the god Pan was the personification of the male aspect embodying nature. He was protector of nature, both plant and animal, and worshiped as the god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, nature of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music, and companion of the nymphs.
Pan . . . the ultimate Bad Boy . . .
Pan could not be tamed or brought under control so the growing church re-made him in their image of evil and he became the mythic Christian Devil or Satan.
Join us for Summer Solstice as we reclaim this powerful male archetype that our world so desperately needs at this time. We will honor Pan in his wild form. By reclaiming the masculine wild in service to nature and community, we give a voice back to both men and women. 
Please mark your calender for June 29th Summer Solstice and join Temple of the Goddess, and The Mythic Players, for an evening of art and ritual theatre for our summer celebration and re-claiming the wild, protective male aspect of nature personified by Pan.
Together let's find our voices as we mythically re-claim Pan and we all speak for the Earth and Nature. At this pivotal time in our ecological destruction, our voices are needed.
Images
Top Left: Pan by Marisa Lopez
Bottom Right: Pan by Gustave Moreau, 1894
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 As the Wheel of Life spins, the seasons bear witness to the covenant of the Goddess, Her promise of life and the never-ending cycle of birth, death, and renewal. To each of us in times of both joy and sorrow She sweetly whispers, "Be not afraid of my cycles and embrace the changing nature of all things, the permanence within the impermanence. The seasons bear witness to this promise I manifested for you. For surely, the darkness and death of winter is followed by the light and renewal of spring."  Melton Haslett Clark by Jeanne Leiter Clark My husband Mel had a good life. He lived for over 73 years. I met him when he was 27 and I was going to college in Kansas City, Missouri. In my off hours after school, homework, and a part-time job, I attended a Dojo taking Judo classes. Mel was working full-time, attending college in Kansas City, Kansas and taking Karate classes at the same Dojo.
If it hadn't been for that Dojo . . .
He was raised by his grandmother and grandfather on a farm where his grandfather broke horses, had a garden, and raised chickens, but still, was a city kid. He lived for a few years in Portland, Oregon, but spent most of his growing years in Lawrence, Turner, and Kansas City, Kansas with his half-sister Joyce (deceased). He is survived by a half-brother and a half-sister in the North West.
At Turner Junior High School he was a member of the Dramatics Class and took part in several plays, including Stage Door and Ten Little Indians.
Because the draft was in effect in 1958, Mel volunteered for the Army a month after he graduated from high school. Luckily for him this was a period of Peace. After Korea, and before the U.S. sent large number of troops to Viet Nam. He shipped out from New Jersey and spent his required time in Vicenza, Italy. He liked to tell how he managed to nab a job in the Captain's office. When he arrived in Italy, the camp was covered with cold, white snow. As soon as the bus stopped, a soldier stuck his head in the door. "Can anybody on the bus type?" It only took an instant for Mel to figure out that the typewriter would be inside and a lot of other camp chores would be outside. His was the only hand held high. More . . .
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SAVE THE DATE: 2013 Temple of the Goddess Ritual Sabbats
"The seasons and all their changes are in me." -Henry David Thoreau
Our multi-cultural Earth celebrations are open to families and community. Our Sabbats are multi-media ritual theater combining mythology, music, visual art, dance, liturgy, spoken word, and participatory theater which fuses drum and dance with personal enactment to re-connect us to the seasons and the Earth.
Summer Solstice, June 29
Autumn Equinox, September 21
Hallows Eve, November 2
A Center for Awakening Consciousness, Church of Truth
690 E. Orange Grove Blvd.
Pasadena, CA 91104
We hope you will join the temple, in community, to honor the seasons, the Earth, and our own personal growth for our 2013 Ritual Sabbats. |
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Learning How to Live
by Jeanne Leiter Clark
While I thought that I was learning how to live, I have been learning how to die. -- Leonardo da Vinci
Before you accept the notion of death, you must first embrace life.
Dr. Pio Vucetich Nunez del Prado, Peruvian Psychotherapist & Shaman
 Many cultures outside of Western societies understand and honor death. We in the West figure if we ignore it, it won't be a problem. We don't talk about it. In church our ministers talk about Heaven and Hell, but not about that moment of entrance. Our newspapers only deal with "If it bleeds, it leads." Magazines such as Time publish articles about the high cost of dying-Medicare and/or hospitals. Parents protect their children by telling them that Grandma went to sleep, or went on a trip. In my experience, grave site raw dirt is covered with artificial turf and the coffin descends into the hole only after everyone has left. However, I have been told that in Jewish culture there is no artificial turf and each person present is given a shovel which they use to put the final note onto the deceased's song.
I have been trying to understand death ever since, when I was thirteen, my brother died in an automobile accident at the youthful age of nineteen. My parents didn't ignore the subject of death, but my father had to go back to work, my mother had a nervous breakdown which required my sixteen-year-old sister to manage the house. There was no one to 'teach' me about death, to support me as I tried to handle my grief.
How can anyone 'learn' about death? The Los Angeles Times published an interesting article in a recent paper (15 April 2013). The article began on the top half of the front page. Some editor wisely thought it was important. It was entitled, "Death Café: passing thoughts". It seems that a year and a half ago a certain Jon Underwood thought it might be a good idea to sit around his London, England basement, sip tea, eat biscuits (cookies), and talk about death. Betsy Trapasso, living in the wild zone of Los Angeles decided to hostess one herself. She claims, "It's not a support group. It's not a grief group. My whole thing is to get people talking about it so they're not afraid when the time comes." What a novel idea-talking about an invisible topic! Continued . . . |
DONOR ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Temple of the Goddess wishes to acknowledge, honor, and welcome those who have joined, tithed, or donated to the temple this month. You keep the temple doors open for all of us.
 Realm of Air
Carol Burton
Realm of FireRuth Ann Anderson
Realm of Water
Kamala
Realm of Earth
Click here for information on becoming a member of TOG. Temple of the Goddess has a variety of ways that you can participate fiscally in our vision. To learn more about making a tax-deductible donation to the temple, go to Gifting Opportunities.
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You are sitting around a fire after a hard day of work. The air cools and the sun sets, the frogs and crickets begin singing as the sky darkens. Suddenly the person you have been eagerly awaiting leaps to the center of the circle. You have heard the story a hundred times, but the antics of the animals and the wisdom in the story never fail to give you pleasure. As she weaves her tale, the knowledge that every thing is alive, carrying its own power and wisdom, soothes your soul.
Let us join together, in this virtual circle, and share these Animal Tales. Let us once again feel how the stories connect us to the natural world and remind us that we are all part of a vast Circle of Life. Listen now as the Shaman whispers tales of animal power and wisdom in your ear.
Tonight it is another Coyote tale. This one is from the Jicarilla Apache Nation. Their land is located in the mountains and rugged mesas of northern New Mexico. Coyotes are teachers, teaching by example with laughter and folly. According to Coyote nothing is sacred and all things are sacred. He also reminds us to pay attention and think hard about what you do!
How Coyote Obtains Fire
When the people came up onto earth, Coyote was the very last one of the animals to emerge. When this world was made the trees wouldn't burn. The people were living without fire. Coyote was running all over. No one knew where he would be the next day. He was running from place to place. One time he found a place with great rock cliffs all around. In the bottom was a hollow place. A great spruce tree was standing there. The people who lived there were the fireflies. They came up in the cliffs by means of rock steps, so that no one could see their footprints and know the way to enter. The stones were laid one ahead of the other, so that the people, when they came out, could step on these rocks. Coyote saw some little children playing at the side of the cliff. He asked them, "Where is the entrance to this place?" The children paid no attention to him, however. He thought and thought, "What will these children like?" He picked some cedar berries and made beads out of these. He colored the beads four different colors: the first black, the second blue, the third yellow, and the fourth all colors. He went back to the children with four beaded strings. He started to speak to them, but they paid no attention to him. They acted as if they didn't understand what Coyote was talking about. He was trying to make a game for the children so that he could draw them to him. He wanted them to talk to him and laugh at him, too. Continued . . . Retrieved from http://www.indigenouspeople.net/coyote.htm 5/15/13 Here's a website that gives you a good look at Coyote Medicine: http://www.pathtoharmony.com/coyotemedicine.htm |
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