News & Articles – Page 43

About ASWM

Who We Are

The Association for the Study of Women and Mythology (ASWM) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit with a mission of supporting scholarly and creative endeavors in topics of the sacred feminine, women and mythology. Founded in 2007, ASWM is led by a volunteer Board of Directors and Advisory Board and is supported entirely by dues, donations and conference fees.

We believe that we all have much to say to one another, and that sharing ideas and resources strengthens the work we do. We value diversity in scholarship and community.

What We Do

ASWM holds biennial conferences in the U.S., and at times holds off-year symposia. We publish volumes of conference proceedings, and are in the stages of curating an online library of member-only resources, including research, bibliography, dissertations, artworks, reviews and abstracts.

We began as a handful of scholars and artists, many from the Midwest, who first met ad-hoc in 2002 to discuss our work in mythology and goddess studies. The group grew over time and after a few years we concluded that the best way to advance such scholarship was to form our own organization.

Our members are people who:

- conduct research
- create artworks or music
- teach at the university level
- teach at K-12 levels
- make documentaries
- mentor students
- write (scholarship, plays, poetry, fiction, autobiography)
- perform & create performances
- pursue graduate studies
- publish
- translate primary sources
- lead rituals and religious services
- teach classes & workshops
- lead tours to sacred sites
- conduct/interpret archaeological studies
- develop education resources
- interpret contemporary literature and artwork

How To Get Involved

We welcome you to support the work we do through volunteering, donating, or becoming a member today. Membership is open to anyone over the age of 18.

August 25, 2009January 9, 2024

Review: Textbook on Women and Goddesses

Women and Goddesses in Myth and Sacred Text: An Anthology, Tamara Agha-Jaffar, editor. New York: Pearson Longman, 2005.

Reviewed by Johanna H. Stuckey, Ph.D., York University, Toronto, Canada

A-Jafar.book — Women and Goddesses in Myth and Sacred Text

When I was teaching Goddess courses in the 1970s to 1990s, I would have been really grateful to have had access to this textbook. It does what few other such books do: it provides key selections in translation from religious and mythical material pertaining to the goddess/woman being studied. Thus, students can dip into, among others, such works as the Babylonian creation story, the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, the Qur’an, and the Ramayana.

The goddesses and sacred women Agha-Jaffar treats are as follows: Isis, Inanna, Tiamat, Demeter and Persephone, Circe, Medea, Sita, Kali, Amaterasu, Kuan Yin, Lilith, Eve, Virgin Mary, Hawwa, Maryam, Oshun, White Buffalo Woman, and Corn Mother. If I had been picking the ones to include, I probably would have left out two of the sacred women (Circe and Medea) and added the Canaanite/Israelite Asherah and another Greek or Asian goddess or both. However, Agha-Jaffar’s choices reflect the course she was teaching and for which she devised this textbook.

Continue reading “Review: Textbook on Women and Goddesses”

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Who Are We?

Donna Read and ASWM Vice President Dawn Work-Makinne, 2016 Conference

We began as a handful of scholars and artists, many from the Midwest, who first met in 2002 to discuss our work in mythology and goddess studies. The group grew over time and after a few years we concluded that the best way to advance such scholarship was to form our own organization.

From the start we wanted to create a circle within which women and men with a scholarly passion for sacred myths about women meet—regardless of their “day jobs” or geographic locations. The response to our conferences and symposia has been gratifying; we have found scholars around the world who share the need for community and support.

At present, the kinds of women (and some brave men!) who have joined ASWM include those who:

- conduct research
- create artworks or music
- teach goddess studies
- make documentaries
- mentor students
- write (plays, poetry, fiction, autobiography)
- perform & create performances
- pursue graduate studies
- publish
- translate primary sources
- lead rituals and religious services
- teach classes & workshops
- lead tours to sacred sites
- conduct/interpret archaeological studies
- develop education resources
- interpret contemporary literature and artwork

And this is only the beginning. In ASWM, goddess scholars and teachers interact with artists, writers, ritualists—people on all creative paths—to bring myths and images to life for modern women. We believe that we all have much to say to one another, and that sharing ideas and resources strengthens the work we do.

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Join or renew your membership today!

Kathy Jones Receives 2018 Award from ASWM Board

October 28, 2008January 9, 2024

The Bee Goddess and ASWM

This gold plaque from Rhodes (7th Century BCE) portrays a powerful goddess of the natural world. Myths and reality converge in the mysteries of bees. The facts of their life cycles and behaviors provide the basis for stories of communication, prophecy, healing, and rebirth. The founders of ASWM have chosen this image to represent the rich harvest to be gathered when scholars collaborate and communicate to promote understanding of women’s ancient myths. The Bronze Age bee goddess also reminds us of our essential connection with the stories of all creatures, and our need to ensure their continued survival.