Category: Salon News

ASWM-sponsored Scholar Salons, featuring online discussion with prominent scholars

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Announcing Scholar Salon 31: Register for October 7

“The Sacred Sites of Cornwall”

with Cheryl Straffon

Thursday,  October 7, 2021 at 12 NOON Eastern Daylight Time 

REGISTER HERE

The Boleigh fogou in Cornwall

Cornwall lies in the far south-west of Britain, originally a Celtic country (like Wales, Ireland and Brittany) with its own history, traditions and language. It still has probably the largest concentration of prehistoric sites in western Europe, and unlocking the key to these tells a story of the time when the Neolithic and Bronze Age people lived in harmony with the Earth Mother, and respected and loved a Goddess of the Land. In Cheryl’s book, ‘Pagan Cornwall: Land of the Goddess’ she discovered a continuity of Goddess-tradition in remote Cornwall from ancient times right up to the present day, using evidence from archaeological research, folklore and legend, and rural tradition and custom. 

“My previous partner and I were both interested in embodiment, which was an ancient Cretan technique in which a priestess would embody the Goddess. We both started to create ritual around that idea. We devised the Celtic Goddess wheel of the year, and it felt natural to go to places in the land where you could celebrate.  We would use Carn Euny for the Samhain ritual, which  was a time in Celtic myth when the Otherworld was very close.  At the winter solstice we have used a local fogou down here in Boscaswell. After sleeping the dreamless sleep we go down in the darkness to call back the Goddess of light out of the fogou, who will return with the first light.”

Cheryl Straffon

Cheryl Straffon spent the first 19 years of her life in Cornwall (UK), and then went to London and Cambridge Universities, where she studied English and Comparative Religion. Since 1986 she has returned to Cornwall, where she has researched, written and published a number of books about the sacred sites of Cornwall, and the prehistory and history of British and international Goddess cultures. These works include Daughters of the Earth: Goddess wisdom for a modern age, Pagan Cornwall: Land of the Goddess, Megalithic Mysteries of Cornwall, and Fentynyow Kernow: In Search of Cornwall’s Holy Wells.  She produced and edited the Goddess Alive! Journal and for over 25 years she has also produced and edited the Cornish Earth Mysteries magazine Meyn Mamvro.

Save the dates for upcoming ASWM Salons:

October 21 at 3pm Eastern Daylight Time
“Sacred Instructions”
Sherri Mitchell

November 11 at NOON Eastern Standard Time
“The Old European Roots of Women’s Circle Dance”
Laura Shannon

January 13 2022 at NOON Eastern Daylight Time
“Dreaming the Presence: Exploring the Sacred Feminine in Dreams”
Jill Hammer

January 27 2022 at 3pm Eastern Daylight Time
“Onsite research: Listening to the Land”
Elizabeth Cunningham

Benefit of Membership - ASWM

The Salon recording will also be available to members after the event. 

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Announcing Scholar Salon 30: Register for September 23

“Yarb Women: the Traditional Female Healers of Appalachia”

with H. Byron Ballard

Thursday,  September 23, 2021 at 3 pm Eastern Daylight Time 

REGISTER HERE

 

The Appalachian Mountains

The land of misty coves that comprises the southern highlands of Appalachia is one of the most diverse bioregions in the world. One of the cultures that stubbornly clings to its old ways is the tradition of the cove doctor, the yarb (“herb”) woman. These women ran their subsistence farms and took care of the medical needs of their immediate communities. Their work included midwifery, fertility, tending the dying and dressing the bodies of the dead. Their tools were simple and their skills much sought after.

The materials of the yarb woman included the plants that were cultivated in the garden and those that were wildcrafted. These were gathered according to the signs of the Moon and preserved through drying, tinctures, poultices and salves. There was also a tradition of incantations brought from the British Isles and employed against many common ailments.

The folkways of the region have traditionally been in the firm, experienced hands of generations of strong women and that remains to this day. The work of yarb women continues and flourishes in the Internet age where students come from far afield to learn these old ways, ways passed down through families whose ancestors have walked the hills for many generations.

Byron Ballard with Monkey Boy

H. Byron Ballard is a WNC native, teacher and writer. Her essays feature in several anthologies, and she writes a regular column on Crone-life for SageWoman Magazine. Her books include “Staubs and Ditchwater,” “Asfidity and Mad-Stones,” “Embracing Willendorf,“ “Earth Works,” and “Roots, Branches and Spirits.” She has presented at festivals and conferences including Sacred Space, Southeast Wise Woman Herbal Conference, Glastonbury Goddess Festival, ASWM, Appalachian Studies Association and Scottish Pagan Federation Conference. She is one of the founders and serves as senior priestess at Mother Grove Goddess Temple in Asheville, NC. She can be reached at My Village Witch.

Save the dates for upcoming ASWM Salons:

October 7 at NOON Eastern Daylight Time
“Sacred Sites of Cornwall”
Cheryl Straffon

October 21 at 3pm Eastern Daylight Time
“Sacred Instructions”
Sherri Mitchell

November 11 at NOON Eastern Standard Time
“The Old European Roots of Women’s Circle Dance”
Laura Shannon

January 13 2022 at NOON Eastern Daylight Time
“Dreaming the Presence: Exploring the Sacred Feminine in Dreams”
Rabbi Jill Hammer

Benefit of Membership - ASWM

The Salon recording will also be available to members after the event. 

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Announcing Scholar Salon 29: Register for Sept 9

“Taino Goddesses of the Caribbean”

with Marianela Medrano

Thursday, September 9, 2021 at 3 pm Eastern Daylight Time 

REGISTER HERE

Atabey, principio femenino del mundo

This salon will focus on the Taino cosmogony and the salient impact of the Goddess as embodied by five deities: The Great Mother Atabey, Guabancex, Mama Jicotea, or Caguama, Itiba Cahubaba, and Guabonito. The divine feminine had a significant role in forming the sense of self of our indigenous and contemporary people of the Caribbean. We’ll discuss why it is essential to move from the fragmentation brought by colonization and return to the wholeness of our ancestral lineage. We’ll focus on the difference between collective and individualistic mindset and the impact of each on the growth and development of people.

Marianela Medrano

Marianela Medrano was born and raised in the Dominican Republic and has lived in Connecticut since 1990. A poet and a writer of nonfiction and fiction, she holds a Ph.D. in psychology. Her first two collections of poems were published in the Dominican Republic. Her poetry has been recognized for its capacity to build daring images redefining womanhood. She has published six poetry books, a children’s story, and numerous essays. Marianela  lectures throughout the world on spirituality and the divine feminine among the Taino
people of the Caribbean.

Marianela’s work is featured in “An Exaltation of Goddesses,” a poetry performance created for ASWM’s 2021 online Symposium, “Wisdom Across the Ages,” by the Poetry Witch Community.  Her 2015 TED Talk, “A Ciguapa Speaks:  On How I Came to Value Wholeness,” was presented at St. Ursuline College.

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Save the dates for upcoming ASWM Salons:

September 23, 2021 at 3pm Eastern Daylight Time
” Yarb Women: Traditional Female Healers of Appalachia”
Byron Ballard

October 7 at NOON Eastern Daylight Time
“Sacred Sites of Cornwall”
Cheryl Straffon

October 21 at 3pm Eastern Daylight Time
“Sacred Instructions”
Sherri Mitchell

November 11 at NOON Eastern Standard Time
“The Old European Roots of Women’s Circle Dance”
Laura Shannon

Benefit of Membership - ASWM

The Salon recording will also be available to members after the event. 

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Announcing Scholar Salon 28: Register for May 19

“Marija Gimbutas and Women’s Empowerment: Wisdom from Women’s Lodge and The Women’s Well“

Apara Borrowes, Anne Yeomans and Joan Marler

Wednesday, May 19, 2021 at 3 pm Eastern Daylight Time 

REGISTER HERE

 

 

Altar from Anne Yeomans’ workshop in St. Petersburg Russia

A hundred women awaited Marija Gimbutas at a mountain lodge nestled in forest. Banners painted with Old European images from Gimbutas’ books decorated the entrance. Autumn scents of fallen leaves, damp earth, and pine surrounded women as they spilled out of the doorway, singing, drumming, trilling, when Gimbutas arrived at this “Women and the Goddess” retreat in Massachusetts. Continue reading “Announcing Scholar Salon 28: Register for May 19”

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Announcing Scholar Salon 27: Register for May 5

Learning from the “Wild”

with Dr. Susan Moulton

Wednesday, May 5, 2021 at 3 pm Eastern Daylight Time 

REGISTER HERE

horses, Chauvet Cave

There is a far-reaching integrity, authenticity and intelligence in things that are free to self-organize, adapting to change in Nature, a phenomenon that we call being “wild.” The complexity and immeasurable quality of “wildness” is perceived by most Eurocentric people as a mystery, uncontrollable and beyond our ability to comprehend. Typically, wild animals have been considered by Europeans as “beasts” to be feared, hunted, conquered, or tamed solely for the purpose of human utility.

This talk proposes that the earliest humans learned their social organization from the animals and other sentient life they observed in Nature, in a process that considers all parts of the whole as sacred, organized around what Marija Gimbutas described as a cyclical, Mother-centered principle of life-death-regeneration. The oldest visual messages left by some of the first humans are found in Palaeolithic caves in Southern Europe, dating to as far back as 38,000 B.C.E. Using what we might consider current Indigenous understanding and animal behavior, we can decode these vibrant ancient messages through a “language of animacy” which requires that we focus on deeper levels of sensory perception and knowing that is universal.

Susan Moulton with two of her teachers

Susan Moulton Currently retired from teaching at Sonoma State University in California,  Susan now devotes her time to managing her small farm in rural Sonoma County where she has worked for 50 years with rescued animals, particularly American mustangs, and conducting research and writing on human-animal communication and relationships. She developed and taught courses ranging from the Palaeolithic to Post Modern and In the 1970s she developed the first inclusive American Art Course in the California State University system, where she included contributions of First Nation Peoples before the arrival of European colonizers, with artistic and cultural contributions from African American, Asian American and Hispanic American artists through the present time. In collaboration with Joan Marler, she helped develop the International Institute of Archaeomythology, which focuses on the fields of study created and advanced by Marija Gimbutas. For over a half century she has functioned as “caretaker” of the farm she views as a sanctuary, not just for wild and abused animals, but also for rare conifers, many of which were started by internationally known agronomist Luther Burbank. A tireless organizer, educator, and working artist, Susan is currently working on a book that explores the impact of animal behavior on the earliest human communities.

Save these dates for upcoming ASWM Events:

May 19 at 3pm Eastern Time
Encounters with Marija: Wisdom from Women’s Lodge and The Women’s Well
Apara Borrowes & Anne Yeomans

July 16-18 2021
ASWM Symposium Wisdom across the Ages: A Celebration of the Centennial of Marija Gimbutas 
Registration to open May 1, 2021

Note: Because of our work on the July Symposium, we will not offer Salons again until September.

Benefit of Membership - ASWM

The Salon recording will also be available to members after the event.