Category: Conferences & Symposia

Cristina Eisenberg

“Wilderness is one of our best defenses against climate change.”

Cristina Eisenberg is Chief Scientist for Earthwatch Institute, a Smithsonian Research Associate, and science consultant for many prestigious organizations in the US and Canada. Her research has investigated trophic cascades and the effects of predators on landscape health and biodiversity. She has emerged as a leading voice for wilderness and large predator conservation in North America.

Cristina is the author of The Wolf’s Tooth and The Carnivore Way: Coexisting with and Conserving America’s Predators. Matt Miller, reviewing The Carnivore Way for Cool Green Science, (June 12, 2014) says

“Eisenberg is the perfect scientist to write this book. She lives in a Montana cabin where she encounters the predators of which she writes: wolves, mountain lions, grizzly bears, lynx. . . .Her research and review of the literature leave her convinced that large predators are essential for landscape health, and vital for our own values of wildness and wonder.”

“In order to create change, you have to engage people, and you have to not just engage their minds. You have to engage their hearts, and that means telling our stories. . . . In terms of carnivore conservation, we need to build community. We need to have that solid science, and we need to find a way to share our story.”

Cristina Eisenberg’s special conference presentation is entitled “The Role of the Traditional Ecological Knowledge in an Era of Global Change.”   She will discuss the changes taking place from ecological, ethical, and feminine mythological perspectives, and how the values embodied by Traditional Ecological Knowledge across world cultures contain the elements essential for human survival and for the wellbeing of all life on Earth.

“Traditional Ecological Knowledge that taps into the divine feminine can teach us much in terms of how to live more rightly on this Earth, how to heal the damage we have done, and how to mitigate, adapt to, and slow the processes that threaten every living being today. ” 

Cristina Biaggi

The Great Goddess,  in whatever manifestation she was depicted,  was the supreme deity in the Paleolithic and Neolithic period throughout the world.  She has re-emerged in the 20th and 21st century as an apt symbol of woman’s growing consciousness and importance.  The need to make the Goddess accessible through art as an embodiment of “feminine sensibility” is becoming extremely important in this world of growing militarism.

Cristina Biaggi, artist, activist and scholar, has achieved international recognition as a sculptor of bronze and wood pieces. Using the theme of interconnection, she has also created large outdoor installations, and has explored collage in the two and three dimensional form. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States, Europe and Australia. She is a respected authority on the Great Goddess, Neolithic and Paleolithic prehistory, and the origin and impact of patriarchy on contemporary life.

“I create my sculptures inspired by these ideas.  Sculpture in the Western world has lost the mystical magical presence that it had during the Neolithic period when a temple or a sculpture was considered to be the body of the deity.  In creating my sculpture, I wish to bring back some of this magic and mystery.  I want to create a space that inspires mystery; that evokes the dark caves of the Goddess – places of rebirth and revitalized consciousness.”

“Cristina Biaggi’s work –seminal, gorgeous, provocative. No one like her!” Olympia Dukakis, Film and Stage Actor

 Cristina’s presentation “Matriarchy as Inspiration for Art”  is included in the Panel: Matriarchal Studies: Past Debates and Present Practices

We are delighted to be able to present  Mythica, an exhibition of new work by award winning photographer Lisa Levart, at our conference in April.

Since 2001, Lisa Levart has joined the rapidly growing Earth-centered, spirituality movement by traveling across America creating unique portraits of women. Her Goddess on Earth project draws deeply on ancient mythology to depict fiercely independent women and their personal experience of the divine feminine.

Lisa says,  “ I see the Divine in all the women I photograph, and I want to reflect that vision back to them.”

Ancient Techniques Reveal Goddesses on Earth.  In her new series, Mythica, Lisa connects the past and present in subject matter, style and technique, while furthering the themes of Goddess on Earth. Referencing vintage 19^th Century photographic processes and utilizing the 2000 year-old encaustic medium, the finished pieces illuminate feminist spiritualty and link old pre-patriarchal religions with women’s search for empowerment. Her subjects collaborate with the photographer, choosing what myth to portray and how to actualize its visual representation. Their evocative photographs are both an invitation to witness and engage with what is timeless and archetypal.

For over a decade Lisa has presented Goddesses on Earth, a community specific photographic project, at many venues including art galleries, shopping malls, schools, theaters and community centers. She is currently a finalist in the International Julia Margaret Cameron Awards For Women Photographers and was awarded The Rockland County Executive Award in the Visual Arts. Since 2011, Levart has been a featured blogger for the Huffington Post, where her blogs explore the intersection between art, the divine feminine, women’s empowerment and current events. Lisa lives and works in Nyack, New York.

WOMEN’S EVENING OF SACRED PRACTICES 

with Vicki Noble & Julie Felix on the Cape
Monday, April 4th, 6 – 10 pm Brewster, MA  Fee: $20  

These times we are in are very challenging, especially for those of us who have worked a lifetime for peace, justice, feminism, and environmental values. It often seems as if global capitalism is simply rolling over us, erasing all our hard work and good will. But that can’t actually be true and gathering together to do sacred, magical practices (as in ancient times) is an antidote for the ruthless and toxic adversary we face. Please, if you are in the area, join us for this women’s sacred evening in Brewster at Oestara house and come together with us in powerful, nourishing practices to rejuvenate our confidence and restore our world. Tell your friends!
Vicki Noble is a feminist healer, teacher, scholar and writer. She is the author of 8 books (translated into several languages), and co-creator of the Motherpeace Tarot. Her work over the past 30 years is unique and experiential. She teaches internationally and has adapted Tibetan Buddhist Dakini practices for women.
Julie Felix, California-born and British-based, has enjoyed a long and varied career as a t.v. host, popular folk-protest singer, and international performer. Discovering the Goddess and earth-based religion integrated her politics with her spirituality; she led Goddess tours for more than a decade.

Contact: Lorah Yaccarino
845-532-1539
www.lorahyaccarino.com
www.OestaraHouse.com

Note:  This is not an ASWM event but a post-conference workshop by two of our featured speakers.

Jelka Vince Pallua, Ph.D., senior scientific advisor, is an ethnologist and cultural anthropologist who for twenty years taught at the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Philosophical faculty, University of Zagreb, Croatia. She continues to teach at the same Department on the Ph.D. level after having moved to the Institute of Social Sciences in Zagreb. She has published around fifty papers in Croatian and international journals and publications and delivered presentations at twenty two international and thirteen Croatian scientific conferences

Last year her book The Enigma of Sworn Virgins – An Ethnological and Cultural Anthropological Study was published addressing questions connected with mythological issues as well. The dedication of the book  “To all the ‘invisible women’ in history” sums up the motivation for her continuing work on women’s issues, more precisely on the topic of women in traditional culture. Guided by the same interest, she has started to publish articles about women figures in Slavic mythology.

Dr. Vince Pallua’s presentation for the ASWM Conference is The Slavic Baba as an Aquatic Deity

This contribution builds upon my previous research on monolithic Babas (baba in some Slavic languages meaning ugly old woman) published in 1996, 2004 and 2013. During fieldwork in Croatia, I discovered that water/humidity is the most important element, omnipresent with all the snotty and slimy rocks Babas (which are always situated by the wells, streams, lakes etc.). The Baba is the female cultic substrate of fertility and well-being. . . Both Mokoš and the Baba stand close to water, an element so much needed for fruitfulness of the agrarian cosmic cycle. By the sacral interpretation of the landscape, as well as by etymological interpretation of the word baba, I place it as a “mythologem” within the pre-indoeuropean mythical structure.

 

Jennifer Smith

Jennifer Smith, MA, has worked for over 20 years in the US and Europe in the area of work psychology. She has conducted post-graduate research into women and work-life balance, consulted with organizations to develop their employees and cultures, and taught Leadership and Organizational Behavior to MBA students.

She has dedicated her career to helping individuals and organizations to transform and achieve their potential, in particular, helping women to find their purpose and follow their calling.

Jennifer is passionate about working with organizations and institutions that seek pioneering ways to retain and develop their women. Despite well-intentioned organizational and governmental policies, the gender and wage gaps are still unacceptable. The difficulty is that many of these policies are designed from the same patriarchal perspective that created the problem in the first place, thus a paradigm shift in the understanding of women and work is required.

Jennifer is current pursuing an MA/PhD in Depth Psychology: Jungian and Archetypal Studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute to unearth ancient feminine wisdom to help to heal these problems. She is doing this through researching archetypes and the Greek myths including the Eleusinian mysteries, as well as, engaging in active imagination with the wisdom of the soul of place, Terrapsychology.

Jennifer is the mother of two, a painter, poet, Reiki Master, and writer.

Jennifer’s conference presentation is :“Finding the Feminine at MIT: The Great Mother Goddess under the Dome.”

Heather Kohser

  I am a Pediatric Nurse by night, and a nature nerd writer by day. My presentation, for the 2016  ASWM conference, Heroic Hummingbirds, is based on the book I am currently writing, A Passion for Pollinators. (working title) I am co-founder of The Women With Weeds Project, educating, and promoting “weed-roots” actions to increase habitat for the pollinators that feed us.  As a Goddess woman, and mystic poet, I seek to connect humans with the Divine, through the wonders of all Her creation. I choose to live close to nature, listening to the messages of even the tiniest creatures, trees, plants, rocks and water. I serve as their devoted scribe. I am called to share my passions through written and spoken word, illuminating the stories of our ancestors, and the great diversity of life.  I seek to inspire women today to become environmental heroines, in the epic story of our declining planet.   

Heather’s presentation is Heroic Hummingbirds

“These revered pollinators, native only to the Americas, illumined ancient stories of creation, rebirth, hero’s quests, and communication with the Divine. . .  Hummingbirds have the smallest bodies, but also the largest brains of any bird. It is their incredible ability to hover, that has allowed them to fill a special niche, co-evolving with 8000 species of plants. We will dip our beaks in the nectar of sacred ecology, and discover quick actions we can all take to save the world’s pollinators. Perhaps we are being called, by the perseverance of these fiercely intelligent creatures, to be environmental heroines in the epic story of a declining planet.”

Toni Truesdale

Artist, muralist and illustrator Toni Truesdale celebrates women, the natural environment, and the diversity of the world’s cultures. She is currently working on a series called the “Culture of Women” that depicts commonalities and everyday life of women. She has exhibited in over 30 exhibits, painted many murals and is widely published; she is also an educator of many years working with Native American and African-American populations. She has over 300 images of women many in cards and prints.

History and mythology need to include the unrestricted stories of all women “I develop imagery that shows the natural beauty, spirituality and intelligence in all aspects of the life of sisters, mothers, daughters, aunts, grandmothers in a multicultural world by honoring our commonality through time.

Toni’s conference presentation is Sanctuary: Feminine Centered Dwellings as Areas of Sacred Protection:  “Historically, the homes of women are spiritual places of prayer, safety and sustenance. The female centered house, with the kitchen as the apex of feminine activity, has always held sacred symbology. The hearth, fire, food, and alters are metaphoric examples of the importance of that women have put into their daily life sustaining routines.”