Author: WomenandMyth

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2025 Conference Session: Sister Speak: A Sacred Conversation among Women of Color

Saturday, March 29, 2025, Westward Look Inn, Tucson AZ

Sister Speak: A Sacred Conversation among Women of Color

facilitated by Luisah Teish and Leilani Birely

Flow by Monica Stewart

We are honored that our conference keynoters, Yeye Luisah Teish and Kahuna Leilani Birely,  will guide this special session. The intention is to facilitate an authentic conversation among women of color, in which white women are invited to actively listen and learn: “There will be a circle within a circle with the women of color being the primary center circle; we will be discussing issues of importance to us. White women are invited to listen in on the conversation and to respectfully submit questions at the end of the presentation by women of color.”

We ask that women arrive on time and plan to stay for the whole session. Once the conversatioin begins, the door will close and latecomers will not be admitted, to honor the sacred space and create a time for deep speaking and listening.

Yeye Luisah Teish

Chief Iyanifa Fajembola Fatunmise also known as Yeye Luisah Teish is a writer, performance artist and Yoruba priestess. An American author of African and African-diaspora spiritual cultures, also is an affluent ritualist, keynote speaker, and spiritual advisor on a global scale. Primarily known for Jambalaya: The Natural Woman’s Book of Personal Charms and Practical Rituals, a women’s spirituality classic that has been translated into German, Spanish, and Dutch. She has co-authored has co-authored On Holy Ground: Commitment and Devotion to Sacred Lands with Leilani Birely. She has contributed to 40 anthologies, and her essays, artwork and poetry appear in such publications as Essence, Ms, and Coreopsis: Journal of Myth and Theater. As an Oshun priestess (Yoruba Goddess of Love and Sensuality), Yeye continues to officiate over spiritual retreats, rituals, and workshops that span over forty years since her introduction into the Ifa spiritual practice.  Teish has said, “My tradition is very celebratory – there’s always music, dance, song, and food in our services – as well as a sense of reverence for the children. It’s joyful as well as meditative.”

Kahuna Leilani Birely

Leilani Birely is a Native Hawaiian Kahuna and Dianic High Priestess who brings ancient Hawaiian healing and Goddess wisdom to the community. Kahuna Leilani brings forth teachings of the Aloha Spirit through Hula, Ceremony, Performance, Writing and Ritual. She is the founder/ritual director of Daughters of the Goddess Women’s Temple in the San Francisco Bay Area an international community of women dedicated to She of 10,000 names and Multicultural Women’s Mysteries. She has her Master’s in Women’s Spirituality from New College of San Francisco.  She has lectured at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, Dominican University and the California Institute of Integral Studies. Leilani has co-authored the book, On Holy Ground: Commitment and Devotion to Sacred Lands with Luisah Teish. She is included in anthologies Shades of Faith: Minority Voices in Paganism and Stepping into Ourselves: An Anthology of Writings on Priestesses.

Read all about the ASWM Conference and register  here.

 

 

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2025 Conference Roundtable: More Than Just “Likes”–How Women Can Build Real Community in the Digital Era

Saturday, March 29, 2025, Westward Look Inn, Tucson AZ

Spiral by Helen Klebesadel

Roundtable: More Than Just “Likes”–How Women Can Build Real Community in the Digital Era

with Heather Taylor, Caryn McGrandle, Rebekkah Dreskin,  Carla Ionescu, Annalisa Derr, and others

We live in an age of digital scholarship, teaching, collaboration, and social relationships. Some of us have embraced the digital era completely, and have developed wonderful skills for using multiple media to present their work. Others of us are interested in using digital media but are not comfortable with this new age, believing that we lack necessary skills.

So now it’s time to learn from one another. If you want to learn more about how to use podcasts, blogs, Zoom, and social media, here is your chance to meet with a lot of skilled women who can answer questions. If you are already presenting your work in a digital way, this session is an opportunity to share resources and learn from one another.

We now know that oxytocin, the bonding hormone, can be increased over a Zoom call as well as in person. Of course women need face-to-face interactions to fully be in relationship. But it’s possible to build and nurture our communities in these magical digital realms as well.

Heather A. Taylor is the Co-Founder of the International Society of Mythology. She is also producer/director of the award-winning documentary Breaking Through the Clouds: The First Women’s National Air Derby. Heather has a PhD in Mythology and a Masters in Producing Film. Heather has a special interest in helping people find their passion (genius) which is often done with the aid of an animal, real and mythic.

Rebekkah Dreskin has been a full-time freelance graphic and website designer since 2013, when she launched her company, Blame it on Rebekkah Designs. The majority of her clients are publishers and/or independent authors. Rebekkah is also a musician, song-writer, wife, mother, jewelry designer, and “weird crafter.” In the interest of full disclosure: We are delighted that Rebekkah is ASWM’s very own web priestess and Digital Amazon!

Carla Ionescu. Founder of the Artemis Mapping Project, Dr. Carla Ionescu is an ancient historian specializing in Artemis and her impact on both ancient and modern cultures. Her research spans mythology, ecology, and the sacred feminine, bringing ancient wisdom into dialogue with contemporary environmental and cultural conversations.

Annalisa Derr, PhD, earned her doctorate in Mythological Studies with Emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute and holds a BA in Theater with specialized training in masked and physical performance. Her forthcoming book, under contract with Inner Traditions, aims to help liberate women from internalized sexism and menstrual shame and (re)awaken them to their Sacred Feminine Power.

Caryn MacGrandle is the creator behind the Divine Feminine App: an online community since 2016 that has been connecting women (all genders) in Circles, events and resources. Caryn has participated in numerous online and location events such as the World Parliament of Religions in September of 2021 in which she presented a workshop on Embodying the Goddess: Creating Rituals with Mind, Body and Soul.  Each and every day, Caryn (aka Karen Moon) works tirelessly towards her belief that the most important area to first find equality and balance is the divinity found within yourself.

 

 

Read all about the ASWM Conference and register  here.

 

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2025 Conference Panel: Dancing the Spiral: Cosmology, Spirits of Place and the Mystery of the Cauldron

Saturday, March 29, 2025, Westward Look Inn, Tucson AZ


Dancing the Spiral: Cosmology, Spirits of Place and the Mystery of the Cauldron

 Glenys Livingstone, Lauren Raine, Desiree Mwalimu-Banks ,Kristinha  Reva

  • The Cauldron, the Womb, and the Waters: The Welsh Witch Ceridwen and the Journey of Ecological Individuation, Kristinha Reva
  • Sonic Transmissions and Water Ecologies: A Voyage Into the Water Mandala, Desiree Mwalimu-Banks
  • Embodying the Triple Spiral: a Relational Practice with Place, Glenys Livingstone
  • Numina: Spirits of Place, Pilgrimage, and Myth, Lauren Raine

Glenys Livingstone Ph.D. (Social Ecology) is the author of PaGaian Cosmology: Re-inventing Earth-based Goddess Religion. She was born and lives in Australia, where she has facilitated Seasonal ceremony. Glenys teaches an online course celebrating the Wheel of the Year for both hemispheres. Her book A Poiesis of the Creative Cosmos: Celebrating Her within PaGaian Sacred Ceremony documents the synthesis of her work over the past decades.

Desiree Mwalimu-Banks is a Zambian-born, East Coast-raised interdisciplinary artist, educator, mother, and priestess of Auset. Her work explores somatic relationships between indigenous identity, water ecologies, and apiary culture within the framework of the sacred feminine and the African diaspora. She creates sound and video installations which reimagine the frequencies and landscapes of the archetypal feminine and its relationship to self-actualization.

Lauren Raine MFA, is an artist and Community Arts facilitator as well as a poet. She is known for her “Masks of the Goddess” Collection of over 50 masks that travelled throughout the U.S. with different communities for over 25 years. In 2013 she collaborated with playwright Ann Waters to create masks for the play “Numina: The Awakening” performed in Willits, California. In 2018 after attending the Gatekeeper Conference “Dreaming the Land: Working with the Consciousness of Nature” in the U.K. she was inspired to write about her experiences.

Kristinha Maria Reva, MA, is a PhD candidate in the Mythological Studies program at Pacifica Graduate Institute. She enjoys sharing storytelling, ritual, and expressive arts processes with an ecological focus. She has told stories for the Storytellers of San Diego, San Francisco Free Folk Festival, and Visions Art Museum. Her written work has been published in Unbroken, Dark Matter and the Mythological Studies Journal. She currently lives in Encinitas, CA.

Read all about the ASWM Conference and register  here.

 

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2025 Conference Workshop: Deep Learning: Art as Medium for Interspecies Listening

Saturday, March 29, 2025, Westward Look Inn, Tucson AZ

Deep Learning: Art as Medium for Interspecies Listening

with Lori Wells

Art by Lori Wells

My artwork explores the question, “how can I tell a story that re-connects humans and nature, especially for those of us who have forgotten or forsaken our heritage as guardians of the Earth?”I began my exploration through a daily practice of painting tiny votive offerings to nature. One other-than-human a day. Sitting with the painting, I then asked for guidance on how to tell a story of how our human lives could be informed by their knowledge and innate ways of being. As I researched the other-than-humans I painted, I learned their challenges and mourned their deaths. Consciously, I lived and breathed with them, not turning away from the pain, remembering every day that I am them and they are me.
One day, I awoke with a new question, “How could I possibly tell a story that reconnects humans and nature if I leave the humans out?” Sacred women then appeared. Shortly thereafter, an image leapt out of my imagination and asked to be cut out of paper. She insisted on jumping off the page, thus becoming a sort of bas relief or a dimensional cut paper illustration. Lovingly I began embellishing my creations with embroidery and beads. Creating art is a sacred gift, meant for the community. In this presentation, I will share the images and wisdom that the sacred women and other holy beings of the world have gifted me.

Lori Wells is an artist/writer/dancer with deep roots in nature spirituality, dreamwork and ancestral healing practices. Her work lies at the intersection of ecology and spirituality, it swims in the waters of the numinous imagination, nourished by the magic of biology and myth, and reaches back in time to sit at the fires of the ancestors.

Read all about the ASWM Conference and register  here.

 

 

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2025 Conference Panel: Stories from Ethno-autobiographical Engagement with the Land

Saturday, March 29, 2025, Westward Look Inn, Tucson AZ

Baboquivari Peak and Kitt Peak Observatory, Arizona

Stories from Ethnoautobiographical Engagement with the Land

with Michelle Boyle, Kimberly Davis, Dawn Johnson Harvey and Allison Smith

  • Spirit in Stones, Michelle Boyle
  • A Druidic Account of the Healing Earth, Dawn Johnson Harvey
  • Black Women Remember: The Reemergence of the Primordial Mothers for Personal, Political, and Planetary Healing, Kimberly Davis
  • Myth & Migration: Sicilian Folktales Take Root in New Ecologies, Allison Smith

Michelle Boyle, MA, recently returned from a year doing fieldwork as a guest researcher at the University of Torino, Italy. She is currently completing her doctorate, on ancestral healing and intergenerational trauma, in East West Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Michelle is a mother, grandmother, counselor, and healer, and lives with her youngest child and four-footed family on Caddo and Wichita territory in north Texas.

Dr. Kimberly J. Davis is a spiritual scholar, author, teacher, life coach, and intuitive healer. She is the founder of Journey to Wholeness Center and Journey Healing Institute. Kimberly holds a PhD in Philosophy and Religion with a concentration in Women’s Spirituality from the California Institute of Integral Studies and an MBA in Finance from DePaul University. Her scholarship centers the lived experiences of African American women as they navigate and heal the soul-wounding effects of historical trauma through embodied spiritualities.

Dawn Johnson Harvey, MS, LMHC is a PhD student in East-West Ecopsychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She also holds a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and provides trauma-informed narrative therapy. Her dissertation explores the decolonization of the self in the community through Ethnoautobiography, a process of critical self-inquiry to unlearn Whiteness and reawaken ancestral ties with the integral earth community.

Dr. Ying Xu earned a BA and MA in English in China and a Ph.D. in English from UNM, specializing in nineteenth-century American literature and Asian American literature. A contributor to OUPblog and Oxford Bibliographies, her latest work was featured in MLA’s special collection on Teaching. She translated Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony, published in 2023, and is currently translating Joy Harjo’s Crazy Brave, set for release in 2025.

Read all about the ASWM Conference and register  here.