EDITORIAL Rachel Horne Once upon a time in 5th century Pagan Britain, when the winter was spent huddled together to avoid freezing to death, the arrival of spring was a pretty big deal. So when spring finally arrived the people celebrated the renewal of life on Earth through a festival dedicated to the goddess Eostre. The people danced through the streets in her honour. They painted eggs in dedication to her, and in her name they praised the arrival of spring. Eostre is the long forgotten deity of our more contemporary chocolate munching Easter. Goddesses have existed in all cultures throughout history, even if they’ve lost their meaning in today’s society. For this spring issue of Doncopolitan we’re celebrating our favourite heavenly sisters, who tirelessly work their magic to bring new life and creativity into the world. We’ve even discovered that Twitter has found a new contemporary name for these divine creatures, the #GirlBoss. Maybe they don’t parade through the streets with flowers and white gowns like extras in The Wicker Man, but they’re all around you, working their magic. International Women’s Day and Mother’s Day have given us a good opportunity to celebrate these ladies, but we suspect they might shy away from their goddesslike status, unlike Domina Berchta, the Bavarian goddess of life, who is featured on the cover of this magazine. It was far easier to detect a goddess back in Berchta’s day. Carrying a spindle that represented birth, life and regeneration, and with a large deer’s horn adorning her head, you couldn’t really miss her. The trouble is these days you might not even know the true achievements of the #DonnyGirlBoss, so we knew we had to create this issue to celebrate them and their less imposing, more everyday magic. Take Doris Noble, a 90-year-old lady who struggled to make ends meet ‘between the wars’ - that other ‘austerity era’ which we would do well to take lessons from, not least the lesson to stand up for what you believe in. In order to help feed her family she reared pigs on an allotment in
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Denaby Main and ended up feeding half of the village when food was short due to rationing during WW2. There’s even a remnant of Doris left on the allotment - her old pig sty, which she built with her own hands, is still standing. Like Doris before them, our Donny #GirlBosses are striving to make a difference in their own communities. So in this edition of the Doncopolitan we celebrate the work of a bunch of amazing women, women like Louise Harrison, Fiona Cahill, Mandy Keating, Katy Carr and the super-talented Katie Newsam. Our cover artist is Christiane Pedros, a UK-based photographer, artist and entrepreneur from Bavaria. Her highly staged photographic pieces depict the aforementioned Germanic goddess Domina Bertchta, a descendent sister of our own Eostur. Her identity has been distorted, defiled and corrupted with the passing of time. As you will see in the pages of this magazine, Bertcha is depicted in two distinctly opposite ways, transformed from the goddess of light to the witch queen, her spindle replaced by a whip. The story of Berchta runs parallel to women’s demonisation throughout history. Artist and Montreal resident Mélodie Perrault kindly offers us some of her poetic drawings. Surreal and otherworldly her work fits our theme perfectly. Find her online here: melodieperrault .ca This issue is dedicated to all those who struggle for the rights of women, past, present and future, to the mothers who are always there for every fearful cry or want or need. It’s for the women out there caring for elderly parents and working hard to earn a crust. Divine goddesses, earthly mothers, soul sisters and #GirlBosses, this issue is for you.
ABOUT This magazine aims to provide an independent voice for Doncaster. We will big up anything which has the potential to add to Doncaster’s metropolitan appeal and strengthen the local economy - or as we call it, the Donconomy. We’ll celebrate Doncaster’s culture, arts, style, music, people, fashion, lifestyle, architecture and even, its coal-black underbelly. To remain as independent as possible this magazine is completely self-funded, relying on advertising and generous donations to stay afloat. If you would like to advertise with us, or if you’d like to support our endeavours through subscriptions or donations please call us on: +44 (0) 7846 439982 If you’re a local artist, musician, writer, photographer, fashionista, socialite or social commentator, and have something to contribute to this magazine, please get in touch. Online: www.doncopolitan.com doncopolitan@gmail.com Write to us: Doncopolitan Magazine c/o Church View Centre Church View Doncaster DN1 1AF Social Media: Twitter: @doncopolitanMag #DoncopolitanMag Instagram: @Doncopolitan #Doncogram Facebook: facebook.com/doncopolitan YouTube: youtube.com/user/Doncopolitan