Here are abstracts of our wonderful panels and presentations. Thank you for bearing with us during a period of last-minute changes. Please understand that our Schedule is subject to change right up until the day of the conference.
2020 ASWM CONFERENCE ABSTRACTS
2020 ASWM CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
All times and locations subject to change as necessary.
FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2020
FRIDAY 8:30 WELCOME Tamaya Ballroom FGH
Welcome and Announcements
FRIDAY 9:00-10:30
Demeter Award Presentations, Tamaya Ballroom FGH
- Vicki Noble, Women’s Blood: the Sacred Waters of Life
FRIDAY 10:45-12:15 (SESSION 1)
Panel 1 Tamaya Ballroom FGH
Regenerating the “River Beneath the River”: Prophecy, Poetry, Dance, Biocultural Resurgence, and Kinarchy to Reanimate the Dark Living Earth
Moderator: Monica Mody
- Mandisa Amber Wood, Dancer as Oracle: Women’s Embodied Power to Heal and Disrupt the Present for an Equitable Future
- Marna Hauk, Scribing for the Future Beings: Creative Nurturing of Prophetic Priestesses and Regenerative Futures
- Molly Bigknife Antonio, Interweaving: Flowing Across, Through, and Around – Continuous Threads of the Past, the Present, and the Future in Navajo Weaving and Cosmology
Panel 2 Eagle B
Pre-Hispanic Voices of the Divine Feminine
Moderator: Cristina Rose Smith
- Carla Ionescu, The Serpent Mother: Reconsidering Medusa, through the Aztec myths of Cōātlīcue
- Anne Key & Veronica Iglesias, Tlazohteotl: Spirit of Divine Love
- Graciela Baez, The Feminine Principle in the Popol Vuh
Panel 3 Eagle A
Which Way Does the River Flow? Current Perspectives on Matriarchal Studies
Moderator: Letecia Layson
- Joan Cichon, Which Way the River Flows: Modern Matriarchal Studies, a New Light on an Old Debate
- Vicki Noble, A justification for using the word “matriarchy”
- Mariam Tazi-Preve, Being a Native from Tyrol: A Personal Story
- Andrea O’Reilly & Casey O’Reilly-Conlin, In Search of the Goddess: Creating a Feminist Motherline for Mother-Daughter Connection and Empowerment
Panel 4 Bear B
Water Ecology, Cathartic Art and Hope
Moderator: Simone Clunie
- Sarah Chandler, The Flow of Water: How ancient laws of ritual purity & laundry inform the revival of Jewish earth based spiritual practices
- Clare O’Hagan, Promoting engagement on actions to halt the destruction of our oceans: Using myth-making – Keto – Champion of the Sea as a model SKYPE
- Melissa Hill, On Being a Swan Woman: A Path to a Sustainable Culture
- Kathryn Henderson, Fire, Ice, and Melting: Ecological Art in Art from the Ashes Post-Fire Regenerative Art Initiative
Workshop 1 Bear A
The Venus of Laussel: Restoring Ancient Rituals with Belinda Gore
FRIDAY 12:30- 2:15
Luncheon and Keynote Address Tamaya Ballroom FGH
- 12:30-1:15 Networking Luncheon
- 1:15-2:00 Keynote Presentation
- Luci Tapahonso, The Sacred Begins at the Tip of My Tongue
FRIDAY 2:15-3:45 pm (SESSION 2)
Panel 5 – Tamaya Ballroom FGH
TBA
Presentation Eagle A
Prophetic Women with Max Dashu
Joint Presentation Bear B
The Civilization of the Vulva with Starr Goode and Cristina Biaggi
BREAK 15 Minutes
FRIDAY 4:00-5:15 pm (SESSION 3)
Panel 7 Tamaya Ballroom FGH
Animal Mysteries, Voices, and Wisdom
Moderator: TBA
- Tamara Walker, The Wisdom of Image: Following Vulture into the Imaginal Realm
- Miranda Shaw, Wild Felines and Divine Females as Guardians of Sacred Place
- Susan Moulton, Voices from the Past for the New Millenium:The Enduring Wisdom of Animals
Panel 8 Eagle B
Pilgrimage, Spirit, and the Wisdom of Place
Moderator: Mary Jo Neitz
- Kathy Stanley, Pilgrimages, Earth Energies and the Alchemy of Sacred Sites
- Megan Rose Woolover, Re-wilding the Witch’s Soul: Albion, Terra-psychology and the Epigenetic Memory of Place
- Jessica Spring Weappa, A/r/tographic Renderings of Co-becoming with Ancestral Landscapes
Presentation TBA Eagle A
Panel 9 Bear B
Place, Making, Activism and Women’s Art
Moderator: Simone Clunie
- Cheryl De Ciantis, Recovering the Embodied Mythos of the Makers
- Ann Maxwell, What We Make Is Where We Are
- Katie Hoffner, Using Visual Art Form To Explore HERstories
Roundtable 1 Bear A
Native American and Indigenous Women Speak
Moderators: Marna Hauk and Ann Filemyr
Please note that this is a conversation intended to promote understanding. The voices of Native American and Indigenous women are featured at this time. We welcome all to join us, but we will close the doors when the session begins, and latecomers will not be admitted.
5:30-7:00 pm Open for Dinner
5:30-7:00 pm
Special Event: Shechinah Banquet Location TBA
FRIDAY 7:30 pm Tamaya Ballroom FGH
A Mythological Concert with Wendy Rule
We welcome internationally acclaimed singer/songwriter Wendy Rule. Wendy’s exciting new project “Persephone” is a beautifully evocative retelling of the Ancient Greek myth of the Goddess Persephone’s descent into the Underworld and the ensuing grief of her mother Demeter, the Goddess of the Grain. “Hearing Wendy perform live is an incredible experience that can easily be described as atmospheric, bewitching, and Otherworldly.”–Kelden Mercury
SATURDAY MARCH 14, 2020
SATURDAY 8:45 Main Ballroom
Announcements
SATURDAY 9:00-10:30 (SESSION 4)
Panel 10 Tamaya Ballroom FGH
Courage and Integrity: Reinterpreting Stories of Biblical Women/Heroines
Moderator: Sarah Chandler
- Judith Wouk, What Would Miriam Do?
- Hannah Irish, A Midrashic Look at Queen Michal: The Tragic Lover-Hero of the Davidic Narrative
- Stephanie Zajchowski, Apocalyptic Gender Coding: The Influence of the Myth of the Whore of Babylon on Gender in the United States
Panel 11 Eagle B
Weaving Vision, Connection, and Memory
Moderator: Ann Filemyr
- Monica Mody, A Speculative Manifesto for the Visionary/Poet
- Ceardai Demelza, The Story of the Goddess Dandelion: First of the Weed Women
- Susan Chaney, Conscious Awakening: Particles in the Cosmos
- Moderator: Ann Filemyr
Roundtable 2 Eagle A
Gathering at the Well: a call and response to the writings of Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum, great grandmother~ feminist cultural historian ~outlier~ storyteller~ peaceful revolutionary
Moderator: Mary Beth Moser
with Diya Dannu, Sandy Miranda, Mary Saracino, Annette Williams, Laura Zegel
Presentation Bear B
Earth, Mythos, and Migration in Women’s Films
Moderator: Heather Artemis
- Emily Packer As Sweet
- Tova Beck Friedman, Women’s Mythologies; Is mythology relevant today? SKYPE
- other filmmaker TBA
Workshop 3 Bear A
The figure of the “Curandera”, in Mexican, New Mexican and Chicana Cultures with Veronica Iglesias
BREAK 15 Minutes
SATURDAY 10:45-12:15 (SESSION 5)
Panel 12 Tamaya Ballroom FGH
Ancient and Contemporary Madres, Diosas, and Curanderas
Moderator: Graciela Baez
- Cristina Rose Smith, Semillas de las Abuelas: Teaching to Reclaim Our Stories, Our Homes, Ourselves
- Amanda Nube, La Mujer, La Madre, La Luna (The Woman, The Mother, The Moon)
- Tate, Carolyn, Monumental Lakes of Stone: The Olmec Goddess of Midwifery and Fishing
Panel 13 Eagle B
Water Is Our Ancestor
Moderator: Kathryn Henderson
- Rebecca Vincent, The Reenchantment of Nature: Myth and the Environmental Crisis
- Dan Gurska, Deluge Myths to Live By?
- Idoia Arana-Beobide, Lamiak: The matriarchal meaning of water in Basque cosmology and mythology
Presentation Eagle A
Feed the Green: Feminist Voices for the Earth, film & discussion with Jane Caputi vi Skype
Moderator: Sarah Chandler
Panel 14 Bear B
Enchantment, Domestic Realms, Body Wisdom
Moderator: Laura Zegel
- Rebecca Farrar, Lilith: Individuation of Feral Feminism & Wild Witches Myth as female empowerment; comparing models of individuation
- Casey O’Reilly-Conlin, “Calamities in the Kitchen and Indiscretions in the Bedroom”: Witches, Wives, and Oeconomy in Early Modern England
- Claire Savage, Lay Your Burden Down: Baubo Jests to Ease Demeter’s Despair
Workshop 4 Bear A
Mandorla: Birthing Possibilities in Our Times with Janet Marinelli and Carol Geisler
SATURDAY 12:30- 2:15
Luncheon, Awards, and Keynote Address Tamaya Ballroom FGH
12:30-1:15 Luncheon and Awards
1:15-2:00 Keynote Presentation
Annette Williams, Viewing the Yoruba Àjẹ́ through Oral History, Myth, and Ritual
SATURDAY 2:15-3:45 (SESSION 6)
Set-up and Marketplace Salon E
Panel 15 Tamaya Ballroom FGH
Healing from Historic Trauma: The Freedom Lodge Master Class
Moderator: Marna Hauk
Dr. Ruby Gibson, Laura Fragua-Cota, and other special guests
Panel 16 Eagle B
Methods for Exploration of Women and Culture
Moderator: Mary Jo Neitz
- Shelly Nixon, A narrative-organic inquiry into the stories of women who joined a goddess temple
- Alaya Dannu, Deepening and Expanding the Research and Scholarship of Ancestral Dreaming
- Margaret Mendenhall, “The Perfect Mate”: Integration of the Animus into the Psyche or a Patriarchal Ideal of Femininity?
Presentation TBA Eagle A
Workshop 5 Bear B
Tracking the Moon and Decoding Ancient Ceremonial Landscapes with Melody Lee & Cathy Taylor
Presentation Bear A
The Seventh Fire Prophecy, Sacred Water & Agreements of the Herb-Gatherer with Ann Filemyr
BREAK 15 Minutes
SATURDAY 4:00-5:15 (SESSION 7)
Marketplace Salon E
Poster Panel 17 At Marketplace– Salon E
Moderator: Marna Hauk
- Kathryn Henderson, Ix Chel, Maya Goddess of Water, the Moon, Weaving, Healing, and Birth
- Pamela Brochhausen The Sun Goddess
- Jane Caputi and Simone Clunie, “And Venus is Their Name”
- Jennifer Colby, San Juan Bautista, CA: Reclaiming “Truth in History” through the Arts
- Alaya Dannu, Matricentric Womanist Theology: Charting a Path of Scholarship within the fields of Women’s Spirituality and Goddess Studies
- Jeannette Kiel, Going Deeper: Women’s Spirituality in a Community College Introductory Women and Gender Studies Course
- Kat Williams, New Myths for the New Paradigm: Ochumaré Takes on the Black Snake
Panel 18 Eagle B
Reclaiming Resilient Women of Kurdish, Celtic, and Blackfeet Cultures
Moderator: Monica Mody
- Dilsa Deniz, Resistance in Defeat: The Myth of Shaymaran
- Celia Xavier, Pitamakin or “Running Eagle”
- Loleta Collins, Out of the Shadows: The interrelation of female prophecy and war in Celtic culture
Panel 19 Eagle A
Rewilding/Reclaiming through Story and Practice
Moderator: Denise Mitten
- Rain Hastings, Cultural Transformation through Riparian Restoration
- Natascha Ewert, The Medicine of Storytelling: Using Myths and Sacred Tales about Women and Goddesses as a Rite of Passage for Girls and Young Women in 2020
- Elisabeth Sikie, Daily Witchery – A Joyful Practice of Reclaiming Ancestral Traditions that Nurture Harmonious Communion with Elements of Nature
Panel 20 Bear B
In Dialogue with the Hellenic Heritage
Moderator: Laura Zegel
- Jaffa Frank, Loving Medusa, Redeeming Athena
- Linda Marshall,The Possibilities of Healing: Re-Examining Athena
- Lisa Ransom-Lubarr, Women, Snakes, Water and Healing in the Cult of Asklepios and Aegean Bronze Age Continuities
Workshop 6 Bear A
Sound Mnemonics: Remembering through Sound with Lyndsey McAdams
SATURDAY 6:00-7:00
Reception Salon E
SATURDAY 7:00-9:00 PM
Evening Plenary Session Tamaya Ballroom FGH
Herstory: The Visionary Life of Lydia Ruyle and the Banners of the Divine Feminine. introduced by filmmaker Isadora Leidenfrost
“Herstory: The Visionary Life of Lydia Ruyle and the Banners of the Divine Feminine,” is a new 1-hour documentary film by Dr. Isadora Leidenfrost that shows the colorful and heartwarming story of Lydia Ruyle, a scholar, author, professor, political activist, matriarch, and iconic artist. Jean Shinoda Bolen, MD, says: “The documentary, “Herstory” is a powerful movie that is beautifully filmed! I am delighted to show it to my circles of women worldwide.”