Category: Conferences & Symposia

The arts of ritual are as old as humanity, and still have a profound impact on those who witness them.  We’re proud to include in our conference a ritual in progress, Voices of the Mothers, created by Macha NightMare and employing sacred goddess masks especially created for this event by  Lauren Raine.  (See below!)

At the conference you will have a chance to experience portions of this powerful ritual, which combines elements of rhythm, movement, and chant with scientific knowledge.  You will also be able to go behind the scenes to learn about the process or creating of a large public ritual that brings ancient goddesses into the present day.

We are fortunate to be able to offer excellent keynote presenters at the 2012 Conference!  Watch for updates in the coming days.

Judy Grahn is an internationally known poet, writer, and social theorist.  Her work underpins several movements, including Gay, Lesbian, and Queer; Feminist/Woman-Centered; and Women’s Spirituality, but it has spread far beyond any of these.  She currently serves as Associate Core Faculty for the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto, California, in their Women’s Spirituality Master’s Program.

Her presentation is titled:  Goddess Is Alive! But How Do We Know…?

We have gathered the images and myths, the rock art and the archeological speculations, the myriad clues in ancient literature and contemporary ritual. Practitioners from living traditions have surfaced to teach and demonstrate. Many if not most of us have felt the presence of a living goddess energy at some time in our lives, and maybe we have students who hunger for this or have experienced “something” from a different dimension. How do we track these occasions, how do we teach methods for recording and analyzing rare happenings, how do we know, “this time it’s real—?”   And just what is “real”? Some thoughts on Organic Inquiry methods, art-based research, teaching divination as a method of gathering data. 

To learn more about Judy’s work, see her web site.

Charlene Spretnak, Judy Grahn, Ana Castillo, Max Dashu, Miriam Robbins Dexter, Heide Goettner-Abendroth, Ava Park, Luisah Teish, Jean Shinoda Bolen, Macha NightMare, Amejo Amyot, Lauren Raine, Patricia Monaghan, Cristina Biaggi, Sudie Rakusin, Vicki Noble, Lydia Ruyle, Arisika Razak, Mara Keller, Joan Marler, Jennifer Berezan, Annie Finch, Grrrl Brigade!*

What do these great women and girls have in common?  They are some of the speakers and presenters at the ASWM National Conference!

 Panel topics include:  Place Wisdom, Womanism, Cultural Appropriation, Archaeomythology, Matriarchal Studies, Women in Publishing, Visionary Films, Ritual Creation,  Restorative Feminism. 

Conference also features Film Series, Workshops, Networking Luncheon, and Marketplace.

Registration is now open—early bird fees are $190 for members, $235 for nonmembers until April 17, 2012.

Join and register at this Conference Link!

*Note:  Presenters may be subject to change as life intervenes.

CREATING THE CHALICE:  

Imagination and Integrity in Goddess Studies

The Association for the Study of Women

and Mythology

Biennial National Conference

Holiday Inn, Fisherman’s Wharf

San Francisco May 11-12, 2012.

Advancing our scholarship involves the evolution and refinement of our methods.  Suggested topics for this exciting conference will include, but are not limited to, the following lines of inquiry:

• What are new paths for the field of Women’s Spirituality and Goddess Studies?  How creative can we be?  Are we inventing, reconstructing, or using creative license to reawaken and bring the past into the present?  How do we evaluate this work?  How can we use this creative work together with more “traditional’ approaches to advance our scholarship?
• What are new models and methods for our scholarly inquiry?  Can we develop and advance our scholarship with methods such as Organic or Heuristic inquiry?  What is Spiritual Autobiography, and how can this be useful?  Sacred geography?  What else?  How shall our new methods be evaluated?  What are our criteria for solid scholarship using these new models?
• What are the complexities around issues of Cultural Appropriation?  How do we understand and address the tensions around rootedness and local culture on the one hand, and issues of lineage and history on the other?  Are there new models of scholarship that honor history and culture while simultaneously enriching our scholarship?

Our goal is to include academic presenters from many disciplines and backgrounds, as well as creative artists and practitioners who engage mythic themes in a scholarly manner in their work.  Experiential workshops and a film series are also offered.  Presenters must become members of ASWM prior to conference.

About the chalice:  see Susan’s work at www.SweetwaterPottery.biz

Registration is now open for our 2012 National Conference, “Creating the Chalice:  Imagination and Integrity in Goddess Studies.”  (See the registration page to register and, if you like, become a member.)

The conference takes place May 11-12, at the Holiday Inn Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco.  We have a block of rooms reserved at a group rate; see link to Holiday Inn FW.

We are excited to present a rich and varied program this year.  Some of our panel topics include:

• Archaeomythology
• Cultural Appropriation
• Mother-Daughter Mythology
• Place Wisdom
• Young Adult Fiction
• Methodologies
• Womanism, Goddess Studies, and Women’s Spirituality
• Visual Arts
• Matriarchal Studies
• Poetry
• Women in Publishing

Our keynote speakers are Miriam Robbins Dexter, Judy Grahn, and Ana Castillo.  There will also be a special presentation by our 2012 Demeter Award winner, Charlene Spretnak.  We will also have as a special panelist Dr. Heide Goertner-Abendroth, founder of Modern Matriarchal Studies. And we will present the winners of the Kore Award for Best Dissertation in Women and Mythology, and the Sarasvati Awards for Best Published Fiction and Non-fiction Books.

As in our past conference and symposia, we will feature selected films that are relevant to issues in women’s experiences, feminisms, and mythology.    We will also include workshops that permit the integration of body-mind wisdom.

We will again feature a lively networking luncheon, with opportunities to meet other participants to discuss such topics as academic careers, ritual, issues for graduate students, and the performing and visual arts.  We will have a Book Fair and Marketplace for arts and crafts.

Friday evening’s entertainment is coordinated by faculty members from the California Institute of Integral Studies and the Institute for Transpersonal Psychology.

Remember that the Matriarchal Studies Day takes place in the same location, on May 10—the day before our conference begins!  We hope that you will be able to attend both events for a long weekend of stimulating and inspiring presentations.

Keep checking back–in a few weeks we will announce the schedule.

About the chalice:  see Susan’s work at www.SweetwaterPottery.biz