Infamous Goddess Circles ‘Early70’s

I have definitely been part of my share of “Infamous Circles” so I will turn on the time machine to share space with you so to speak regarding a ritual referred to in Margot Adler’s Drawing Down the Moon.I forget now exactly what the chapter was called, but it was the first pages of a chapter about a circle in Staten Island NY,might have been called New Witches or Pagans.

Anyway it was a most steamy summer night and it was a Full Moon if memory serves so I decided that we should do a bathing ritual as the women’s home had a large beautiful old bathroom with aclaw-foot tub.

One by one ,crones first we each in turn got into the warm tub filled with flowers and aromatic oils to be adored and cleansed by our sisters. I was probably only 27 then or even younger. It was so beautiful. I remember my then lover Pandora playing her flute standing on the toilet seat, Kate Millet who was part of this first NYC Coven, The Amelia Earhart Coven,initiated the first dip into the lovely waters and marvelled on how exotic it all felt.

Makes me feel like finding a way to do this again. Each woman gets in the tub [one at a time] while at least 2 other nymphs cleanse her with loving touches, sponge,washcloth. flowers whatever and then she would be dried by other women waiting with big fluffy towels …doesn’t that sound just sooo ancient?

Margot Adler was sitting next to me on the floor in this Circle. As Anna brought in the most awesome mountain of ice cream and strawberries covered in home made whipped cream that I have ever seen, Margot leaned over and whispered in my ear, “this coven has the best food in the whole country” I hadn’t been all over the country at the time but I knew she was probably right [rite]

Those were some heady times but need not only be remembered ,they can live again and these sacred circles need to be re-vitalized. Since some of our Elders are passing, there is a new Dianic site coming up that Cerridwen has created so that the stories of those of us who were teaching and present in that Golden Age of Goddess worship will not just disappear with us.

Blessings
Flash Silvermoon