THE GODDESS RETURNS: The Jerusalem Post has a long article on the revival of goddess worship in modern Israel.

The feminine divine
By MEREDITH PRICE

The scent of sage fills the air as a light breeze blows through the leaves of nearby palm trees. Somewhere in the distance, a tractor is plowing a field. The chirp of an occasional bird breaks the calm hush for a moment. A bag of instruments is passed around, and a shrine with Neolithic goddess figurines, babushkas, photographs of goddess statues, and a ceramic plate painted with a spiral design is quietly constructed.

Thirteen Israeli men and women are seated in a circle around the artifacts. The earth below is the archeological site of a civilization over 8,000 years old. A few hundred meters away, one of the oldest known wells, now-covered, marks the spot where the people of the Yarmukian society once came to fill buckets of fresh water for pottery, drinking and bathing.

We are in Kibbutz Sha'ar Hagolan, south of Lake Kinneret, but the modern blessing ceremony some Israeli women have invented might have origins much older than was previously imagined.

They have chosen this place to conduct their ritual because of the goddess figurines recently found in this area. Iris Yotvat, one of the leaders of the goddess spirituality movement in Israel and a former movie star, leads the group in songs and prayers. As a chalice filled with water passes from hand to hand, each person places a few drops on their skin and thanks Mother Earth for her blessings. Some of the women remind everyone that we were not here first, and we will not be here last. A thin bundle of smoking sage, tightly bound with white string, is passed around for meditation and cleansing.

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