Reconciling with the Great Mother
The Neighbourhood UU Congregation presented this service on May 14, 2023, coincidentally the day Rev. Ranck passed away.
How might your life – and world -- have been different if the Divine had been predominantly imagined as female? Participants of the small group "Cakes for the Queen of Heaven" share some of its learnings with the community through stories, song and dance.
In Praise of Cakes
UUWF The Communicator June, 2006 | Vol 24, Issue 2
As part of the preparations for presentation of our Ministry to Women Award to Rev. Shirley Ranck, UUWF has invited members to write brief messages to her about what Cakes for the Queen of Heaven has meant to them. We are compiling these in a commemorative album we will present to Shirley at the award reception.
If you would like to become part of this effort, please write or type your message on a greeting card (or a sheet of paper no larger than 5½ x 8½) and send it to: UUWF Cakes Project, 25 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108. Messages received too late to be included in the album presented to Shirley at GA will become part of Volume II and sent to her during the summer.
The following are excerpts from some of the messages we have received so far:
How Cakes Came to Be
(reprint from UU Women's Federation newsletter May 2006)
By Rev. Marti Keller, Decatur, GA
As a parish minister for several congregations and a chaplain for the annual UU Womenspirit gatherings at The Mountain in Highland, NC, I can personally testify to the continued impact of Cakes for the Queen of Heaven, the groundbreaking, adult religious education curriculum. Whenever candles (and chalices) are lit in our worship, chairs drawn up in a semi-circle instead of in rows; whenever directions are called, or the female names for divinity are invoked, the influence of Cakes, originally published in 1986, is still powerful.
Written by Rev. Shirley Ranck, this ten-session seminar in feminist theology was originally a boxed set of lessons plans, a collection of readings, songs and other resources, and film strips with illustrations of ancient goddesses. The creation of the program, a specific project on women’s religious history, was one of several actions taken to implement the resolution on Women and Religion, adopted by the 1977 UUA General Assembly.
Cakes in Columbia MO
On Sunday, August 12, 2012, participants in the "Cakes for the Queen of Heaven" class had a celebration in conjunction with the final session of the class. Yes, they had cakes and mud pies, they studied the ancient goddesses, and they had fun.
The class met every Sunday from from June 3 through August 12 from noon to 2 p.m. in the Centering Room downstairs. It was designed for women interested in discovering their spiritual roots while enjoying the fellowship of other women. Following are the topics and facilitators:
Date - Session Name - Facilitator
June 3 - The Sacred Female - Melissa Bedford
June 10 - The First Turning: The Shift from Goddess to God - Cande Iveson
June 17 - Woman Power - Fran Reynolds
June 24 - In the Name of the Mother and Daughter - Joy Amuedo and Mary Denson
July 1 - Reclaiming Women’s Heritage of Peace - Janet Groat
July 8 - The Hebrew Goddess - Qhyrrae Michaelieu
July 15 - Sarah the Priestess - Christy Hutton
July 22 - The Apostle Mary - Melissa Bedford
July 29 - The Virgin Mary - Cindy Giesing
August 5 - Witchcraft - Lisa King
August 12 - Future Fantasies - Fran Reynolds
SisterCircle at UU Congregation of Monmouth County, NJ
Our group, SisterCircle, at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Monmouth County, NJ (UUCMC) offered Cakes Part I in May and June of 2009. SisterCircle is a group that formed in 1993 when some of our members completed the first Cakes curriculum. We have been meeting once a week since December, 1993. We celebrate the 8 holidays of the Wheel of the Year with rituals to which the women of the congregation (and sometimes, men) are invited, as well as others. Our rituals are generally held at our Meeting House. We also have done many lay-led services, the most recent of which was entitled "A God Who Looks Like Me: Feminist Theaology" on September 6, 2009. We have also led several book discussions and shown several films, including "The Goddess Remembered" Trilogy, Meinrad Craighead's new film biography, Marija Giumbutas biography, Signs Out of Time, and a film encouraging young women who are interested in political careers entitled "What's Your Point, Honey?".
Our presentation of Cakes, Part I, was team taught. Two SisterCircle members taught each of the five sessions.
Thanks for inviting comments.
Rebecca Scarborough
Cakes II "cookbook" in Springfield, IL
One of the women - Mary - in my Cakes II sessions gave us all a delightful surprise on our last evening together.
She made a copy of the On The Threshold Goddess image.
She bought several small - 4 X 6 - plastic photo albums.
She put the Goddess image in the front cover sleeve.
The second set of sleeves has the title - Cakes for the Queen of Heaven
Then she put in several family recipes - all renamed
Queen of Trifles and Enormity
Queen of Autumn Pumpkin Cake
Queen of Fruit Medley
Queen of Texas Cake
Queen of Citrus Cake
Mary's Bread - (she meant Mary the Apostle or Mary the mother of Jesus)
At the end she included a description of one of her family traditions as well as an invitation to join:
The Howl At the Moon Society
Welcomes
____________________________ (fill in your name)
As a cherished Mooniac
In honor of Grandma Marge and
All other kindred spirits who feel the strength and beauty of the Moon,
You are entitled and encouraged to howl, long and loudly,
Each full moon night.
When you do, know that you are connected
To the past and to the future,
And to people who love you and think of you
When the Moon is full.
More Goddesses
Women of Berrien UU Fellowship in St. Joseph, Michigan did a Cakes intensive -- 5 classes in 5 nights, with the direction of DRE Teresa LaPlante. On the fifth evening we dressed in Goddess garb. Here's Teresa as Spring Maiden with flower headdress made from tissue paper. She also made the Easter dragon recipe. We decided that for the egg to be really red, raw beets were probably needed instead of cooked ones. Every session began with a chalice lighting. This one is from the last evening. Teresa brought in some extra video presentations about women's experiences. including one based on Yoko Ono's WOMAN POWER.
