Category: 2020 Conference

The ASWM 2020 Conference held at Santa Ana Pueblo, near Albuquerque, New Mexico

Posted on

2020 Conference: Inspiring Film about Visionary Artist Lydia Ruyle

“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. 

At age 60, Lydia  began creating her Goddess Banners, which are visionary images of the Sacred Feminine drawn from all cultures. The collection grew from 18 banners to  over 300, which she used to inspire, empower, teach, and share their herstories all over the world. 

The film also documents the incredible story of how her worldwide community came together when she was terminally ill, with less than 2 weeks notice, to celebrate her, say goodbye, and then to honor the passing of a matriarch.

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.”

See the film trailer here.

The much anticipated “Herstory” movie, featuring many ASWM scholars and leaders of women’s spirituality,  was released worldwide in August 2019. It is  a poignant tribute to Lydia’s life and work. Since its premiere, the film has screened in 59 countries. For more information: https://www.theherstorymovie.com/

The film will be shown Saturday evening at to close our conference on an inspiring note. Lydia was an important member of the ASWM advisory board, guiding us through hard times after the loss of co-founder Patricia Monaghan. With Sid Reger, she also established the Modern Matriarchal Studies Day which is held following our conference.

Here is Dr. Isadora presenting the film, wearing Lydia’s wreath and her smile.

Posted on

Join Us for a Goddess Banquet during the 2020 Conference

 

Join four Hebrew Priestesses–Amanda Nube, Judith Maeryam Wouk, Sheva Melmed, and Sarah Chandler–for a vegetarian dinner & ritual to celebrate the opening of the Jewish sabbath with poetry, prayer, and song. This special event takes place on Friday, March 13, over the dinner hour at ASWM’s 2020 conference. The language of the ritual plays with gender of God/Goddess both in Hebrew and English. It also includes some earth-based imagery. Participants will have the option to interact with natural objects on a small altar at the center of our table/altar, as well as the option for contemplative time. For more information and to RSVP, contact Sarah Chandler.  All are welcome.

The cost is $75 per person. A limited number of subsidized scholarships are available. Please contact Sarah to inquire.  It is required that all participants register and pay in advance, as the meal will be catered. To register, send $75 via PayPal from the ASWM Donation page, with “FRIDIN” in the “use my donation for” section.  Reservations are required and will be accepted until March 9th, which is the hotel’s catering deadline.

Remember to use the Donation page and write FRIDIN in the memo!

Posted on

2020 Conference Presentation by Judy Grahn: “Living in a Sentient World”

 

Judy is unable to attend the conference. We are hoping to Skype in her presentation. Please check the updated conference schedule.

“For forty years I’ve been thinking and writing about the intense psychic connections we can experience with creatures, including insects, that live around us, incorporating them in my poetry and my novel, Mundane’s World, as well as in stories.  This paper will discuss how to recognize and induce these connections of inter-species consciousness (shared sacred space), how to record and believe the experiences, and then how to write them.  My goal is to share these accounts with more skeptical humans in order to reduce both cynicism and romanticism, to strengthen bonds between people and creature life, to encourage recognition of shared minds, and to amplify the value we place on beings who share space with us. I’ll illustrate the topic with selections from my current work in progress.”

Judy Grahn is internationally known as a poet, author and cultural theorist. She has published fourteen books, with two more forthcoming. Judy holds a Ph.D. in Integral Studies from the California Institute of Integral Studies, where she often teaches. She is retired co-director and core faculty of the Women’s Spirituality MA program at New College of California, and the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology and Sofia University.

Posted on

2020 Conference: Vicki Noble, “Women’s Blood: the Sacred Waters of Life”

“It cannot be an accident that the first act of so many women in the Goddess movement was to reclaim and resacralize the menstrual cycle. In fact, menstruation may be a root cause for the so-called “leap” into the human species—one of the breakaway events that allowed human evolution to take place, distinguishing us from all other primates.

I hope to show that it was this lunar menstrual cycle that gave rise to the first collective human rituals and community celebrations, as well as whole systems of ancient mathematics and scientific understandings that led to the building of stone circles, medicine wheels, and eventually the temples and churches of the modern era.”

 

 

Vicki Noble is a feminist artist, healer, writer, and wisdom teacher, co-creator of Motherpeace and author of numerous books including Motherpeace: A Way to the Goddess, Shakti Woman: Feeling Our Fire, Healing Our World, and The Double Goddess: Women Sharing Power. For decades she has traveled and taught internationally; her books are translated and published in various languages. Retired from teaching, Vicki facilitates private intensive tutorials and master classes for students and individual clients who come from around the world to study Motherpeace Tarot, learn Tibetan Buddhist Dakini practices especially adapted for them, or to simply deepen their understanding of ancient civilizations of the Goddess in prehistory and contemporary matriarchal cultures.

https://www.vickinoble.com

 

 

Posted on

2020 Keynote Speaker Annette Williams: The Feminine Power of àjẹ́

 

Among the West African Yoruba, àjẹ́ is the power of the feminine, of female divinity and women, and àjẹ́ is the women themselves who wield this power.  Women who are àjẹ́ have held power in religious, political, judicial, and economic domains, and àjẹ́ have also been branded as witches, feared, and persecuted. Oral history, myth, and ritual assist in understanding the roles and functions of the Yoruba àjẹ́ as well as reactions to their power from pre-colonial to contemporary times. Through appreciating àjẹ́ we reclaim the timeless female power of transformation.


Annette Williams is chair and core faculty in the Women’s Spirituality program at the California Institute of Integral Studies.  She holds a doctorate in Philosophy and Religion with specialization in Women’s Spirituality.  Her dissertation, Our Mysterious Mothers: The Primordial Feminine Power of Àjẹ́ in the Cosmology, Mythology, and Historical Reality of the West African Yoruba, was a recipient of the 2016 ASWM Kore Award for best dissertation in women and mythology. Her research interests have centered on soul healing from sexual trauma, and the theme of women’s spiritual power and agency within the Yorùbá Ifá tradition, with specific reference to the feminine authority of àjẹ́. 

 

Register for the 2020 event!