SageWoman #47 (reprint)
Solitary Spirituality II

SageWoman #47 - Solitary Spirituality II

"SageWoman exists because I need to know that there is someone out there who shares our feelings, our needs and our dreams. SageWoman has always been about sharing our stories, because a story shared is a story made real, a story brought to life by our connection with each other."

Solitary spirituality can be challenging, isolating, and strange. How can we learn to work alone? In this issue, we share our tales of exploring our spirituality on our own. Most of SageWoman's readers practice alone — whether by chance or by choice — so this has long been one of our best-selling issues.

We begin with "Finding the Gold Within," Meg Beeler's journey to understanding personal shamanism in her natural, local ecosystem, as well as how, and when, to share her wisdom with others. Sue Spirit takes a (literal) vision journey to an remote Great Lakes island in "Backcountry Permit," while Tammy Kelly discovers an unexpected sense of community with the Goddess after all her family is asleep in "None of Us is Alone."

The theme of being at one with nature, though perhaps isolated from human community, is once again featured in "Living Quietly with the Goddess" by Betula, and Leona Reber's "Coloring Outside the Lines," while ways of creating community alone with movement enlightens "Meditation in Motion" by Belinda G. Ashley and Gail Wood weaves these disparate threads together in "Make Your Own Religion: Designing the Solitary Craft."

Novelist and Priestess Diana Paxson reveals the many names of the solitary goddess -- The Witch in the Woods, the Soul of Nature, the Spirit Mistress -- in myth, lore and fairy tales across many cultures in her article "The Goddess Who Walks by Herself: Finding the Wildness Within." Our columnists add their voices as well; DeAnna Alba (editor and publisher of Solitary magazine) enthuses about the glories of solitary work whle Carol Christ conversely analyzes its shortcomings. Susun Weed describes her early journey in her herbal practice; and Joanna Powell Colbert expounds on the benefits of keeping a personal spiritual journal.

We close with Waverly Fitzgerald's lessons from the Wheel of the Year, specifically the cycles and holy days of Autumn Equinox and Samhain. Many autumnal rituals, a full scale working for Inanna and "A Ritual for Letting Go" are all featured in "A Circle is Cast." Plus reviews, a riveting (and controversial) set of letters from readers in "The Rattle" and the luscious, woman-affirming artwork for which SageWoman is known.

96 pages, originally published in Autumn of 1999.