Monday, June 28, 2010

Buzz Coil: June '10

A look at some posts of interest from our blogroll and sometimes beyond:

Pagaian Cosmology: "Australia Speaks Goddess", Glenys Livingstone reports in her June 25 post on the news coverage of the first woman being sworn in as Australian prime minister by "a female governor-general," and the Sydney Morning Herald reporting that a remark made by the male loser of the election meant that "God was a goddess too."

Flashes of Insight: Flash Silvermoon, who lives in Florida, writes a post of righteous anger and healing, "Musical Pathways to Healing the Waters and Her Creatures: bp oil spill," on June 14, and a continuation of ideas for healing in her June 16 post, "Woodstock to the Gulf; Dolphins over the bp oil spill."

Z Budapest blog: In her June 8 post, Z writes about the gulf oil spill and the varying responsibilities of men and women in a poem called, "Requiem for the Ocean."

Amused Grace: Hera pops out of Thalia Took’s deck and the blogger gives us the real scoop (as opposed to the "classical" stuff) on this Greek Goddess in her June 7 "Goddess of the Week" post.

Glaux’s Nest: In her June 5 post, "Plynteria is here!" blogger Glaux explains the ancient Athenian festivals of Plynteria (sweeping) and Kallynteria (washing) in Athena’s Temple.

Transformational Art: Spurred by reading Carl Jung’s autobiography, David A. Will decided to experiment
with this type of inner dialogue by taking the rose theme I was painting and call upon the deity “The Rose Goddess”. I was intrigued by the idea of accessing inner wise deities that were here to assist me in co-creating my daily life. I meditated upon the Rose Goddess, asked questions and journeled responses.

In this June 26 post, "Jung & the Rose Goddess, Shamanism & Our Lady of the Golden Flower," Will tells how this meditation changed his life and shows the wonderful art that emerged, not only from the Rose Goddess but also from another deity who calls herself "Our Lady of the Golden Flower."

Hecate: In her June 17 post, "In Which Our Heroine Ponders A Corner Market," blogger Hecate reflects on the symbolism of several dreams in which she is often a lucid participant, and discusses her process for decoding them. In her June 21 post,"Blessing of the Sacred Day to You," she describes a beautiful Summer Solstice.

Pagan Godspell: Ruby Sara gives us a lovely Summer Solstice gift in an excerpt from her "The Morning House – A Liturgical Story," in her June 15 post, "Solstice and Story."
 
Shining Tribe: In her June 21 post, "Two Fun Writings About Death," Rachel Pollack posts about 2 pieces of hers recently published in Parabola and in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. The story in the latter is titled "Forever." Pollack tells us:

“Forever” tells the story of the Goddess of Death, known in the story as Our Lady of Forever, who loses a bet with her sisters, Ocean and Sky. The bet was to see who could predict what would happen in a year’s time to a particular mortal, whom Forever could choose. I won’t say what the predictions are, or just how Forever loses, but lose she does, and the penalty is to inhabit the body of a human woman for one day. The easiest thing in the world, Death thinks, until she actually enters the woman, who is having lunch with her boss in a coffee shop. Almost the moment that she slips inside, the Goddess forgets who she is. When she does regain knowledge of her true self it’s only to be forced to make a terrible choice.

Association for the Study of Women & Mythology: Patricia Monaghan, Ph. D. reviews "Pink Smoke Over the Vatican," a documentary by Jules Hart that was premiered at the first national ASWM conference in April.

Paulo Coehlo’s Blog: In his June 25 post, "The Gypsies and the Mother Goddess," Paulo Coelho tells about "gypsies from all over the world" ["gypsies" aka Rom] heading to Saint-Maries-de-la-Mer in southern France to pay homage to "Saint Sarah" [aka Sara la Kali] . Coelho says that in his mind, she is "one of the many manifestations of what they call the Mother Goddess."

Mary Magdalene Within: On June 23, Joan Norton ponders "The Kiss" (or kisses?) between Mary Magdalene and Jesus of Nazareth and writes "we have rightly taken that as one of the ways to know she is Bride."

Dirt Worship: Starhawk writes several posts about the US Social Forum she is attending in Detroit. The posts begin on June 22 with : "US Social Forum—We’re Here," on June 22 and continue for several days. The last I read before posting this was a June 26 post, "US Social Forum: A confession and a great day" about a party, workshops, and a ritual.

Did we miss an item you think is important? We’d like to know about it, so please leave it as a comment.

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Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Guest Post: Report from Spiritual Politics Conference in Germany

by Max Dashu

The Spiritual Politics conference at Hambacher Castle, Neustadt, Germany on May 28-30, 2010, was put on by a group called Alma Mater. Here are some highlights from the conference:

Jean Kahui, a Maori goddess sculptor, talked about Taumata Atua, guardian of the sea and all its life. She showed her stone image: face tilted, round body, clawlike hands. Kahui talked about the tradition that Sea Woman and Earth Woman were at odds, both being lovers with Heaven Father. That's why sea strikes against earth. But she recasts them as lovers with each other. Another stone on Mount Taranaki held a prominent place in front of a marae (stone platform temple). She's an ancestor who brought the mountain to the people. Don't miss her gallery with fire-brandishing ceramic goddesses .

In her presentation, "The Living Goddess, My Departure into a New Time," theologian Krista Koepp-Blodeu spoke about leaving the church and the need to show our power. She had gone through the whole Christian education program to the doctoral level, and chucked it, like a latter-day Mary Daly. "I'm not willing to cooperate with patriarchy any longer by being invisible," she said.

Kurt Derungs spoke of a Swiss Alpen faery Matrisa who produces both rain and milk on a certain mountain. His study of Goddess in landscape led to a book on the folk goddess and apocryphal saint Verena (Der Kult der heiligen Verena, Solothurn: AT Verlag, 2007). It has wonderful pictures of the goddess showing her symbolism of pitcher and comb, and an amazing graphic mirroring a baroque German engraving of Isis shown with sistrum and pitcher, in exactly the same position. Also some photos of neolithic Swiss breastpots.Derungs talked about mountains named after Verena in Zurich and other places, including one named Verena's garden. There are erotic folksongs about her, one in which she has a half-snake body. (In the book he quotes older songs tying her to Tannhauser, that name her mountain as Vrenasberg instead of the literary Venusberg.) He also mentions a chapel on a hill with a pregnant Maria who has a window into her big belly. They hold a procession 15 km up the hill with a 10m tall red candle.He also talked about the Drei Schwestern (Three Sisters, a common Germanic group of folk goddesses-turned-saints) which is also a name for three mountains in Switzerland. He mentioned the Saligen in South Tyrol -- I have seen these faeries mentioned in witch trials and folklore -- and a strong belief in the souls of trees and mountains.

Annette Rath-Beckmann gave a talk on "The Holle-Cult on Hohen-Meissner," where there is a cave and a wooden statue of the goddess. She comes out of the the water and dries her hair in the spring wind, singing in vowels. She also has a red fire aspect. This speaker talked about an ancient prophecy of the Goddess returning "when silver birds fly and roofs touch the sky." I couldn't tell from the translation whether the inscription was in a museum in Bucharest or in France.

Filmmaker Uscha Madeisky, who has made movies on the Khasi in northeast India and other matriarchal societies, spoke on "The Sacred Couple: Sister and Brother." She pointed to the centrality of the brother-sister bond in these egalitarian cultures, in contrast to the husband-wife pair in patriarchies. She said that one of the worst symptoms of "patriarchosis" (what a great term) is the separation of male and female siblings. "You cannot put the man in the same place as the Mother." He always remains the mother's son, until his sister becomes a mother; then he becomes an uncle. Madeisky spoke about Samoa where a sister blesses her brother by giving him a specially woven cloth, to be a representative of the mother. In Palau, the brother-sister bond is even stronger than parent-child (because parenting is spread out across the kindred). In Makilam's scholarship on her Kabyle culture, where the key bond is "son and daughter of one mother," and they call each other "mother's child."

Kaarina Kailo, in "We Women and the Bear-Goddess" spoke of "ecomythologies" and the very widespread story of the Woman Who Married the Bear. She referred to the Greek myth of Callisto, as well as stories from the Armenians, Irish, Danish, Bosnian, Khanti (west Siberia), Ainu, Modoc (California) and Haida. (She mentions Helga Reischl's study on this.) The woman is abducted, bears 1 or 2 sons, and then her father and brothers kill one or more bears. Later a bear is resurrected. She commented on a prevalent abduction/rape theme, the killing of bears, and atonement rituals that follow. Her book has 50 pictures of women and bears. She relates the *fer- / *ver- root as a source for the word bear, both the animal and also the act of bearing children (bairns in Scottish). It also relates to words such as fertile, ferocious (from ferrum, iron) and beran, exalted. She also draws in berg and burgher.Kailo showed fabulous images of the Permian bronzes from the 7th to 8th CE: woman as tree, as a three-layered universe, with animals at her side, ancestors above, bear at feet. Sometimes she gives birth to animals. Some figures are actually bear-women, with claws, fierce face. She said that shamans are both/and, not either/or: male and female, human and animal. And that the bear is connected with snakes, bees, regeneration, and even the ale-goddess.She takes the old Finnish goddess Louhi as a bear goddess, but says she's later described as "the harlot of the North". Her demonization in the Kalevala continues in present-day stories of the "witch of the North," who causes pollution and terrible machines. Remember Luonatar, usually described as Daughter of Nature? Turns out that Luonto means creation, and in fact she acts as a creator, in conjunction with the duck, its eggs, and the waters. Other Finnish goddesses, Hongatar, Mielikki, Louhi, Kave (who i seem to remember is a sauna-crone), Helka, all combine rebirth, caves, ancestors, and realm of the dead. Becoming like Bear is to enter the safety of a womb-like cave, to attune to the Eternal Mothers, and receive nourishment from the placenta of the Great Void. This contrasts with the Freudian myth of a primal horde where totemic killing must be atoned for by elaborate rituals, with all-male rites at the center.

Gudrun Nositschka spoke on "Drei Heilege Frauen: the threefold Matronae as Symbol of the Cyclic." A matronae stone was found under a collapsed church altar in the Eiffel region of the upper Rhone valley: a demonstration of how the old religion was swallowed and literally covered over by the new. At another site, men plowing found a stone, then uncovered 36 stones set in a circle. The archaeologists spontaneously called them The Mothers. They expected a male god in the center, but instead found 3 x 3 matrons. The stones were full of symbols, arranged in a summer solstice configuration. The pattern of the matronae stones is two older women, one young with long hair in middle, depicting a geneology of women. Where Nositschka comes from, the Matronae are called the Jött (Göttin or goddess in the local dialect). They all wear lunar crescents. She thinks they represent sun, moon, earth. Tree of Life and other scenes on side of the three women; two little pears, two pomegranates, the former interpreted as symbol of uterus, and the pine cone, as everlasting life. Koln Rheinische Museum has many matronae stones, and so does a museum at Bonn.

Sirilya-Dorothee von Gagern spoke on "The Legacy of a Woman from the Mesolithic: Ancestor Caves in the Ile-de-France." These caves south of Paris have petroglyphs going back about 8,000 years. She calls it a faery landscape with birches and dragon-shaped stones, with more than 2000 caves used from mesolithic to Celtic times. Their engraved lines, grids, circles, and vulvas were preserved because they were hidden, covered by thorny bushes. Mari König spent her life researching these caves, 1899-1998. There are also woman-shaped hollows on floors (and, as I saw it, one ancestor face exactly parallel to that of the female statute-menhir used as the conference logo, the Dame de St-Sernin: the same dot-eyes, nose-line, and multiple necklaces.)

We also heard from herbalist and healer Gertrude Ernst-Wernecke, who seemed to me a living avatar of Frau Holle, kind and soulful. Her extemporaneous talk, "Plant Grandmothers, Echoes of the Goddess" was vibrant and dynamic. She talked about the virtues of Nettle and Juniper Berry, which she recommended taking one berry a day, but not more, to vitalize the body.

Gudrun Frank-Wissmann presented her film-in-progress with commentary, "The Kunama of Eritrea: the Ancestors Speak." She has stunning footage of women's trance rituals near the Ethiopian border. Souls go to a mythical country, Arka. The Andina (trance-priestesses) dance for dead at burial in communal graves, using the same song as for the grain harvest. They belong to a matrilineal priestess lineage. In their society, lands are communal, and so if a husband leaves there are no severe consequences. Nevertheless, women are tempted to marry patriarchal men from the wealthier highlands.She said that the ritual has remained unchanged for 2000 years: ancestors call women called by making them faint at graves. They dance with sword and spear (considered symbols of power) to greet ancestors, to the east and and to the west. (The weapons are considered symbols of power, defensive only, and are related to the Meroitic queens of Sudan.) During initiation, the woman falls to the ground, and her hair must touch the spear to connect with the ancestral spirits. The Andina take a different name, Lugus, when in ecstasy. They put on a beautiful, hornlike crown of fat, over an unnamed sacred substance, and wear it during the weeks of the annual rite.The women evidence entranced speech and gestures, often asking for chewing tobacco, and perform other acts of the spirits. Andina should not be open to all spirits. They call names of the ancestors; a woman touching her hair means she's getting in contact with them. Forbidden to use water the next morning, the young Andina clean with sesame and chew it. Several weeks of ritual, walking over the land, many miles in special shoes used only for this occasion. Women not always comfortable as they anticipate what ancestor will come. Walking through villages they're given coffee, tea, sesame. Greeting an older Andina, they kiss her, and also grab her vulva. At end of the ritual period, the women dance for hours. They sacrifice a chicken, whose blood they drink, then roast and eat with sesame and honey, no other spices. After this finale, the Andina spirits return to their world. A reversed ritual of entranced women takes place over the sword and spear. They symbolically die and are carried back to the village by men, and are said to be able to jump over the huts in their potentized state. One spirit of a very old Andina initially refused to leave a young woman's body. The initiates stay together on a mat for one night in this return passage. They awaken in a deep trance, with no memory of the past weeks. Their skin is cut with little stones and herbs and ashes rubbed in, to make a sign for Andinas to recognize each other. The ritual is repeated every year when the sun and moon appear together on the horizon.

One of the best presentations of the conference was a visual talk on "The Ur-Symbol Labyrinth: Mother Earth and Her Child in Her Womb" by Li Shalima Abbasi. I missed much of the content since the translator wasn't at hand, but the animated visuals really grabbed me. She outlined the growth of a labyrinth by showing a mother and daughter walking the pattern. She demonstrated the reduplication of patterns within a labyrinth, calling these Mother-Daughter, and referenced the Hopi naming of the classic cross-based labyrinth as Tapuat, Mother-Child. Most amazing of all, she went over the construction of Greek key patterns and then taking a conical section of them, expanded this out in opposite directions so that they curved around and formed a labyrinth. I can't really describe the impact of this, you would have to see it to believe it.


All of these talks were available for sale on CDs at the conference, and it looks as if they are available at this site: A full list of presentations (I don't have notes on all) is here. Also, pictures here and here.

In addition there were musicians, performers, rituals, and outside on the hillside, drummers and dancers were doing their thing. The opening ritual was great (that's the first picture linked above, looking toward the plains from the Palatine hills, where the castle stood). I was also impressed by the German artists' work in the art and books tents, especially the deeply dyed wool sculptures which ranged from little molded paleolithic goddesses to egg-shaped pillows with labyrinths and other symbols.

The Bolivian ambassador to Germany attended, and gave a short speech about protecting Mother Earth, holding up a handful of coca leaves. I also spoke with Azad Süsem, a man i had seen carrying around a baby during the conference. He told me about his Kurdish village of Dersim, where the Sun dances from village to village, and two sayings: "You love life; life is love" and "If you don't respect life, you don't respect anything." He said that about 300 years ago, Black Fatma (Kara-Fatma) defended her village, apparently by leading in battle: "I give life to save my village, and bring death to save the land." Also, "All the villagers are my children." I happened to mention to him the Old Woman of Herat, and he said that the Kurds knew her story. Not only that, they sing it as healing charm while rubbing the patient's body.
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From Medusa: Max Dashu is founder of the Suppressed Histories Archives , now also on the web. Among the many treasures you will find there is her new Women's Power DVD. Also check out her posters, events listings (which we try to keep up with in our Events Coils), and articles. She will giving an online course, "Woman Shaman," beginning July 7. Registration is ongoing.

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"Cakes for the Queen of Heaven" Given Online

For the first time (as far as I know) the UUWR course by Shirley Ranck, "Cakes for the Queen of Heaven," will be given online. Beginning July 15, Kris Katsuka Oster will present an online version of the updated the course. The class, via a free screen share program, will meet online every Thursday afternoon for an hour and 45 minutes, July 15 - August 12, 2010 at 3 p.m. PT. Participants are welcome to take all 5 sessions of Part 1, "In Ancient Times," or just attend classes whose themes interest them. Each class will begin with an invocation to the Goddess and include lecture and discussion time. Oster plans to add meditation, chant and writing exercises where appropriate. For full information on the classes and how to register, go here. Because these urls are so long, we've used "tinyurls." If you get lost in cyberspace, go to Oster's home page at mythicrhythm.com/mambo

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Sunday, June 20, 2010

(M)OTHERWORLD Conference Videos Online

All the presentations given at the (M)otherworld is Possible Conference in Toronto last October 23-25 are now on video posted to the conference website where they can be viewed FREE. The conference was sponsored by the Association for Research on Mothering (ARM), the International Academy Hagia, the Gift Economy Network International, and Feminists for a Gift Economy.

Presenters discussed a wide variety of topics related to mother-right societies, past and present, and economic, social, and political problems that can be traced to the religious dogma that underpins non-mother-right (aka patriarchal) societies. The presenters (followed by the countries where they live, in some cases preceded by their indigenous cultures), in order of appearance, are: Agnes Williams (Seneca-NY, US), Andrea O’Reilly (Canada), Genevieve Vaughn (US & Italy), Wahu Kaara (Kenya), Heide Goettner-Abendroth (Germany), Barbara Mann (Seneca-Ohio, US) Debbie Winegarten (US), Nané Jordan (US), Bernadette Muthien (South Africa), Mechthild Hart (US & Germany), Erella Shadmi (Israel), Malika Grasshoff (Berber, Kabyle), Gudrun Frank Wissman (Germany), Letecia Layon (US), Miriam Irene Tazi-Prere (Austria), Marguerite Rigoglioso (US), Kalli Rose Halverson (US), Nadine McNeil (Jamaica), Mary Louise Stone, (US), Pilwha Chang (Korea), Vicki Noble (US), Marina Meneses (Mexico), Valentina Pakyntein (Khasi, India), Lydia Ruyle (US), and Sobonfu Somé (Burkina Faso).

Following the individual presentations are videos of 2 Q & A sessions, a panel discussion of the "Political Significance of the Gift Paradigm for Feminist Transformation" with Angela Dolmetsch (Columbia), Linda Christiansen Ruffman (Canada), Kaarina Kailo (Finland), and Angela Miles (Canada), and a closing panel discussion on the conference title topic that includes all participants.

So far I’ve watched/listened to the invocation given by Agnes Williams, (who also gives another presentation later on), Vicki Noble’s presentation with a great deal of material on biology that may be new to many, and Lydia Ruyle’s presentation, which included a wonderful slide show about her Goddess icon banners which fly at many conferences and other events and museums. And yes, I will certainly go back to view more. The video and sound quality is excellent. Thanks to the sponsors of this conference for making this material available.

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Monday, June 14, 2010

Events Coil: June 18 - August 1

As far as we know, all events we list are open functions; but some may be limited to women or to adults and some may require that you notify them that you plan to attend. Please check the websites for group policies. If no country is given, the event is in the USA. All times are local. Events lasting more than 1 day are bolded. When listing events for the same date, we have tried to list those that occur first, taking into account time zone differences. If there is a difference between our listings and the listings on the web page linked to, assume their web page is correct, as it may have changed since we listed from it. Ongoing events are listed after the dated events. The next Events Coil is planned for mid-July and will include events listed here that haven't yet happened, plus new events through late August. If you have an event you want listed, please leave info as a comment. See the end of this Coil for what info we need for listings.

Now - Aug. 15, "The Lost World Of Old Europe," (same exhibition as previously at NYU), Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University, Oxford ENGLAND

June 18, 7 p.m. Winter Solstice/Yule, PaGaian Moon Court, Blue Mountains, NSW, AUSTRALIA

June 18, 2:30 p.m. Moontide Mysteries: Women's Empowerment Workshop; 7 p.m. Ancient Roots of Modern Goddess Spirituality, Glastonbury Goddess Temple, Glastonbury ENGLAND

June 19, time tba, Summer Solstice, London Reclaiming, North London ENGLAND

June 19, Noon -5 p.m. Nefertiti's Tea Jubilee (Open House), Temple of Isis, Isis Oasis Sanctuary, Geyersville CA

June 19, 7 p.m. Summer Solstice, Circle of Aradia, Sherman Oaks CA

June 19, 7 p.m. Summer Solstice Ritual, Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

June 20-27, Pagan Spirit Gathering with Thorn Coyle, Jason Pitzl-Waters, Selena Fox & others, sponsored by Circle Sanctuary, held at Camp Zoe, MO

June 20, doors open 12.00 uur, ceremony 14.00 uur, Zomer Zonnewende, Nederlandse Godinnen Tempel, Hillgom NEDERLAND

June 20, gather 11:30 a.m., ritual Noon, Summer Solstice/Litha, Connect DC, Washington DC

June 20, 12:30 p.m. Summer Solstice, Temple of the Sacred Arts, Germantown MD

June 20, 11 a.m. Goddess Service honoring Athena, Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

June 20, 7:30 p.m. Summer Solstice Ceremony, Glastonbury Goddess Temple, Glastonbury ENGLAND

June 20, gather 1:30 p.m., ritual 2 p.m. Solstice, North Bay Reclaiming,
Sebastopol CA

June 20, 8 p.m. Midsummer Sabbat, WCC Toronto Temple, Toronto CANADA

June 20, 7 p.m.
Litha ritual, Temple of Goddess Spirituality Dedicated to Sekhmet, Indian Springs NV

June 21, time tba,
Celebrate Summer Solstice & Vesta, Daughters of the Goddess, San Francisco CA

June 21, gather 7:30 p.m., ritual 8 p.m.,
Litha with bonfire; SF Reclaiming, San Francisco CA

June 22, time tba,
New Moon on the Mountain, Montreal Reclaiming, Montreal CANADA

June 23, sign-up begins for online course,
Woman Shaman with Max Dashu, WORLD WIDE WEB

June 24-27, Nederlandse Godinnenconferentie 2010, with special workshop preceding on June 23 with Debbie Beekwieder; workshops, ceremonies, and a Goddess Ball, Nederlandse Goddinnen Tempel, Hillgom NEDERLAND

June 26-27,
Summer Solstice/Full Moon with Descent of Inanna theater piece and priestess conclave, Maetreum of Cybele, Palenville NY

June 26, 3 p.m.
Celebrating the Goddess: The Glistening, Nottingham Goddess Meetup Group, Nottingham ENGLAND

June 26, 7 p.m.
Full Moon Circle, Circle Santuary Nature Preserve, near Barneveld WI

June 26, time tba,
"Cakes..." Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

June 27, 11 a.m.
Goddess Service honoring Pomona, Goddess Temple of Orange County,
Irvine CA

July 3, 5 p.m. Goddess Meetup, Matreum of Cybele, Palenville NY

July 1-4, National Womens Music Festival, besides the great music there will be a number of workshops of interest to Goddessians and other spiritual feminists, including those with Allessandra Belloni, Sid Reger, Jade River, and Lean Shenandoah; festival held inside this year in Middleton WI

July 4-17, 20th Anniversary Tour,
"On the Trail of the Mother Goddess in Anatolia," with Lydia Ruyle and Resit Ergener, multiple cities in TURKEY

July 4, 11 a.m. Goddess Service honoring Lady Liberty, Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

July 6, 7:30 p.m.
Circle of Craft, with Lady Deberah, Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

July 7, 8 p.m.
Full Moon Drum Circle, Montral Reclaiming, Montreal CANADA

July 10, time tba,
"Cakes..." course, Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

July 11, 11 a.m.
Goddess Service honoring Oonagh, with Lyena Strelkoff, Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

July 11, time tba,
New Moon Celebration, Maetreum of Cybele, Palenville NY

July 13, time tba,
Celebrate Cerridwen, Daughters of the Goddess, San Francisco CA

July 15, 3 p.m. PT, "Cakes for the Queen of Heaven, Class 1, "The Sacred Female, WWW INTERNET

July 18, 11 a.m.
Goddess Service honoring Hathor, with Valerie Eagleheart and Drum Community, Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

July 22, 3 p.m. PT, Cakes..., Class 2: "In the Name of the Mother and Daughter," WWW INTERNET

July 24, Noon, Temple decorating for Lammas; time tba,
"Cakes..." course, Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

July 24, 7:30 p.m.
"A Miracle Play" about Mary Magdalene by Margaret Starbird, Interfaith Community, Seattle WA

July 25, 10:30 a.m.,
Miriam of Magdala Sunday Celebration, Church of Gnosis, Mountain View CA

July 25, 11 a.m.
Goddess Service honoring Gaia, Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

July 25, time tba,
Full Moon Celebration, Maetreum of Cybele, Palenville NY

July 26, 7 p.m.
Full Moon Drumming , Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

July 27, 7 p.m.
Full Moon Circle, Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve, near Barneveld WI

July 28-Aug. 1, Glastonbury Goddess Conference 2010, Glastonbury ENGLAND

July 30-Aug. 1,
Green Spirit Festival (a Celtic Lughnassadh), Circle Sanctuary Nature Preserve, near Barneveld WI

July 31, time tba,
Lammas ritual, London Reclaiming, North London ENGLAND


July 31, 1 p.m., Lammas ritual, Golden Gate Park, SF Reclaiming, San Francisco CA

July 31, 7 p.m. First Harvest: Lammas, Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

July 31, 7 p.m. Lammas, Circle of Aradia, Sherman Oaks CA

Aug. 1, doors open 12.00 uur, ceremony at 14.00 uur; Lammas, Nederlandse Godinnen Tempel, Hillgom NEDERLAND


Aug 1, 1 p.m. Lammas Ritual, Moonfire, Arlington VA

Aug 1, 8 p.m. Lunasa Sabbat, WCC Toronto Temple, Toronto CANADA

Aug. 1, 7:30 p.m. Lammas Ceremony, Glastonbury Goddess Temple, Glastonbury ENGLAND

Aug. 1, 11 a.m. Goddess Service honoring Ceres, Goddess Temple of Orange County, Irvine CA

Ongoing

Australia

Perth (White Gum Valley): Mondays, 17:30,
Chalice Ceremony, Daughters of Ishtar.

Belgium
Gent
,
most days 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Goddess Temple open for personal prayers.

Canada
Hamilton: Saturdays, 4 p.m.
Open Classes ; gather 7 p.m. Open Circles , Hamilton Temple, Wiccan Church of Canada.

Great Britain
Glastonbury: Priestess/Priest of Avalon Training Program, both in Glastonbury (Avalon) and by correspondence, Glastonbury Goddess Temple.
Glastonbury: Most days except Mondays, Noon-4 p.m. Temple Open for personal prayers; Tuesdays, 6:30 p.m. Belly Dancing
; Thursdays, 7 p.m. Temple Ritual Dance Class, Glastonbury Goddess Temple.

Sweden
Soderhamn, Gudinne Temple Open weekdays Noon
-6 p.m. Mondays, 7-9 p.m., meditation prayer, conversation.

USA
Arlington VA: 3rd Sunday of month, time tba, ritual Moonfire.
Berkeley CA: last Sunday of month, 6:45 p.m., East Bay Goddess Rosary, University Lutheran Chapel.
Canton CT: Sundays, 10:30 a.m. Services, Women's Temple: In Her Name

Charleston SC: 1st Tuesday of month, Women's Circle with Carolyn Rivers, The Sophia Institute
Geyersville CA:
Sunday Services 2-4 p.m.
Temple of Isis
Grants Pass OR: Monday Services; doors open 6 p.m. for silent meditation; service starts 6:30 p.m. and includes teachings, candle-lighting, drumming & singing, Southern Oregon Temple of the Goddess. Houston TX: Sundays, 10 a.m. Magdalene Community, Rothko Chapel; 1st &3rd Fridays at Noon, Group studying Gospel of Mary, Brigid's Place, Christ Church Cathedral.
Irvine CA: Sunday Services, 1st Service at 9:30 a.m. until July 5, then 10 a.m. inward, meditative; 2nd service at 11 a.m., dancing, drumming, singing; see dates for guest speakers.
Friday services, gather 6 p.m., service 6:30 p.m. "All Souls in Reverence." Goddess Temple of Orange County
Minneapolis, MN: Monthly Womens Spirituality Group, True Colors Bookstore.
Palenville NY: Saturdays, 5 p.m. training sessions; Sundays 4-6 p.m, open classes, 7 p.m. Pagan Circles,Matreum of Cybele.
San Francisco CA
: Wednesdays,
Christian Goddess Rosary, Ebenezer Lutheran Church; 1st Fridays, evenings at various locations, Woman's Spirituality group.
San Francisco CA: New Moon and Full Moon observances,
Maa Batakali Cultural Mission.
St. Sandy UT: second Saturday of each month, 4:30 p.m., Isis Devotionals, Iseum of Muth/Lyceum of Auset and Heru em Aakhuti
Washington DC: 2nd Sunday of month; gather Noon, ritual 12:15 p.m., National Arboretum, Becoming DC.
West Concord MA:
1st Monday, 7-9 p.m.
Women's Circles; other ongoing groups include Demeter & Persephone's Circle for mothers and daughters; Council of Mother Bears; Menopause As Spiritual Journey; Menarche, for mothers and Daughter, at Women's Well.

World Wide Web
Online, various times, Woman Shaman, course with Max Dashu.
Online, Wednesdays, 6 p.m. PT
"Voices of the Sacred Feminine" interviews with well-known Goddessians and Pagans, hosted by Karen Tate, Blog Talk Radio.

Online, Sundays, 11 a.m. PT, "Creatrix Media Live" roundtable discussions include guests and phone-in audience participation, co-hosted by Jayne DeMent and Anniitra Ravenmoon, Blog Talk Radio.

We'll be happy to add your Goddess and spiritual feminist events (and those you know about that are open to the public) no matter where in the world they are. Leave a comment giving: Name of event, sponsoring organization (if any), town, date, time (if known), and, required: url of website where person can get more info (no pdf pages, no password-protected pages). (Do NOT give street addresses, phone numbers or email addresses. People should go to the website to get that info.) We plan to publish an Events Coil every month.

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Friday, June 11, 2010

Goddess Pages: Summer Issue

Cover art, "Free" by Gaia Orion, and a new masthead greet the reader of the summer issue of Goddess Pages . In her introductory note, "She changes everything She touches," joint editor Geraldine Charles comments on the material in this issue, including that for the first time, Goddess Pages is publishing a serialized novel.

In addition to the first installment of that novel, Loving Brynhild by Clarise Samuels, which contains Preface and Chapter 1: The Exile, here are the other articles, poems, and reviews in the summer issue of Goddess Pages that can be read free online:

"Festival of Demeter the Bountiful," by Elizabeth Kaufman, who writes that each year on August 1 she begins a series of harvest rituals and they’re not just about harvesting food. She then shares one of them.

"The Goddesses of Time" by Sue Oakley, starts with this: "The beauty of nature is in the circles She creates." Oakley goes on to look at the personalities of a variety of goddesses.

"Granny Burton and the Feather Cloak," is written by someone identifying herself only as "Granny Burton" because, she says, she fears that if she revealed her true identity she’d be deluged with fan mail. In this article, Granny gives instructions for making a swan feather cloak, sometimes using feathers from other birds as well.

"Weed Walk with Susun Weed" gives us extensive information about herbal uses of Shepherds’ Purse, Cleavers, Chickweed, Dandelion, Dock, Groundsel, Ragwort, Mallows, Plaintain, St. Joan’s/John’s wort, Self Heal, and Yarrow.

"When Darkness was the Light: the Transmission of Women’s Power and the Demonizing of the Night" by Lauren Kaye Clark shows how the equation of night with evil and the need for "enlightenment" is related to the "suppression of ancient female knowledge, wisdom, and spirituality...."

"The Women Who Remember" by Zoe d’Ay relates that after a Glastonbury Goddess Conference honoring The Maiden, d'Ay felt something stirring in her. She works through that something in this article, first by re-membering and through poetry that includes references to many fairy tales, then by listening to the whispering of crones, and finally with a tribute to "the women who remember."

Poetry in this issue includes: "Conscious Vapor" by Elan Justice, "Fare Trade" by Penn Kemp; "Litha—the Midsummer Sabbat" and "The Goddess and the Mirror" by Maria Duncalf-Barber; and "She knows She is meant" by Meggie Hiley.

Mary Frankland reviews Serene Connelley’s book, Seven Sacred Sites; Miriam Raven reviews Jim Malachi’s book In All Ways; and Helen Carmichael reviews a poetry reading in "Serendipity and sound forms."

The journal also has "premium content" for which you must pay and login to read in the entirety. (After a year, premium articles are available free in the journal’s online archives). This issue’s premium content articles are: "Brigantia’s Land: Sacred Sites in the North of Ireland," by Mary Frankland; "Creating in Mnemosyne’s Circle of memory" by Carolyn Lee Boyd; and "Ride the Storm and Dance with the Crone—the messages of menopause," by Rachel Mayett.

Goddess Pages also publishes a print edition in the UK, which can be ordered world-wide.

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Tuesday, June 08, 2010

15th Glastonbury Goddess Conference

The 15th Glastonbury Goddess Conference is being held in Glastonbury, England, this July 28-August 1, with fringe events beginning July 25. This year's conference honors the Goddesses of Love. Among the many many presenters expected are Jane Meredith, Joanne Foucher, Rose Flint, Alessandra Belloni, Jacqui Woodward-Smith, Kellianna, Miriam Wallraven, Natasha Wardle, Peter Wood, Trevor Nuthall, Katrina Soetens, Marguerite Rigoglioso, and Lady Olivia Durden Robertson. The many conference events include workshops, music, song, dance, art, a Red Fruit and Chocolate Feast, and an Aug. 1 morning procession through the streets of Glastonbury.

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Saturday, June 05, 2010

First Goddess Conference in Madrid

The first Goddess Conference in Madrid, Spain is planned for this September 24-27. Apparently inspired by the Glastonbury Goddess Temple and Conferences, Avalon priestesses, and Reclaiming, the group of priestesses and priests presenting the conference describe it as a "union of two traditions--Avalon and Celtic-Reclaiming." In a email in English sent to groups for wide circulation, they continue:
We feel that the moment has come to reclaim the Goddess in Spain publically, and so we got together as the weavers of the Spanish Goddess Conference. We are pioneers venturing into the unknown, discovering treasures of this land: its sacred places, the names of the ancient Goddesses honored in Hispania, traces of Her worship in old traditions. Little by little we start to know that Madrid is a whole Goddess city; that our ancestral Goddesses are eager to be found; to wake up to life again.

The program planned so far includes on September 24, a ceremony honoring Tanit, and a concert by Anique Radiant Heart. On September 25, the program includes a ceremony honoring Eguzki, a ceremony honoring Noctiluca, an additional group ceremony, and various workshops. On September 26, the program includes a ceremony honoring Ama Lur, various workshops, a group ceremony, and a procession with Goddess banners.

The group ceremonies will be led by priestesses and priests from both Spain and Avalon (Glastonbury, England).

Among those invited to present are Kathy Jones of England, Starhawk and Vicki Noble of the United States, and Anique Radiant Heart of Australia.

The Conference website is presently in Spanish only, but an English version is planned. The Conference languages will be Spanish and English.

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