Tuesday after work Ginnie from church took Emma and I to Silver Spring for a meeting of WATER – the Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Religion. They were featuring a guest speaker from Ireland, Mary Condren, Director of The Institute for Feminism and Religion in Ireland, Teacher at Trinity College, Dublin (Centre for Gender and Women’s Studies), and author of The Serpent And The Goddess: Women, Religion And Power In Celtic Ireland. She was a marvelous speaker who described her book as the story of the rise of patriarchal ideas in Ireland. She spoke of the early legends and myths of Bridget and talked about the changed perspective – from the idea of celebrating life to a celebration of the dead (from wombs to tombs). She used the term colonized a different way – a combination of conquered and co-opted. She was a fascinating speaker and I only wish I had known more of her before I heard her speak, tho her book has been reprinted and is available through Amazon. I’m hesitant to write more as any reduction of her words takes from the richness of tradition and ritual.

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For more information, please see Papers by Mary Condren and http://www.tallgirlshorts.net/marymary/marycondren.html