The Embodied Goddess, our first East Coast Regional Symposium, took place on March 12-13, 2011 in Philadelphia.More than 50 scholars attended the event.
The first-ever Brigit Award for Excellence in the Arts was given to Layne Redmond. Her presentation was a highlight of the evening performances.Click here for more information on Layne Redmond.
Miranda Shaw, Ph.D., of the University of Richmond opened the Symposium on Saturday afternoon with a keynote speech on “Living Goddesses: Embodying the Divine in Buddhist Nepal.” Dr. Shaw is the author of Buddhist Goddesses of India and Passionate Enlightenment: Women in Tantric Buddhism.
Saturday evening featured performances by vocal group SheWho as well as conference participants Shelley Graff, Serpentessa, and Tova Beck-Friedman. Sunday morning starts with a networking breakfast, and the program concludes before lunch.
Program
Through talk, film, visual art, dance, song, poetry, and more, goddesses as diverse as Demeter, Ogbuide and inspired the gathering.
Topics ranged from river deities in African spirituality to embodiments of the female divine in Judaism; from primordial figures to goddess images in contemporary art; descent myths to encounters with serprents; and ancient earth goddess in art to embodied spiritual empowerment.
Experiential workshops included “Wild Earth Shebrew (chants),” “Belly on Earth, Snake on Skin,” “Evoking and Re-membering the Ancient Earth Goddess” (a clay workshop), and “Singing in Sacred Circle.”