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“The Human/Animal Connection and Sacred Stories”

3:30-5:00 EDT Saturday, July 17, 2021

 Moderator: Dr. Susan Moulton

• “Expanding the Archaeomythological Discourse: The Paleolithic Human-Animal Connection,” Dr. Susan Moulton
• “Baba’s Bilka or the Supernatural Fairy Pig/Sow–Fables, Tales of Animal Bridegrooms (The Beauty and Beast Archetype) and Animal Wives, and the Interpretations Thereof,” Suzana Marjanić
• “The Bee Goddess and the Sacred Drum,” Krista Holland
• “Manifesting the Spirit of the Animal in Basque Mythology,” Idoia Arana-Beobide

Marija Gimbutas’ discoveries provided rich evidence of the central roles that wild and domestic animals played in the symbolism and art of Old Europe. In this panel we explore the human-animal connection from the Paleolithic period, review tales of the animal bride in European myth, and introduce Basque myths of animals and shape-shifting deities.

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 works with rescued animals, particularly American mustangs, and conducting research and writes on human-animal communication and relationships. 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.

Suzana Marjanić is on the staff at the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Research in Zagreb, where she realises her interests in the theories of ritual and myth, critical animal studies and the performance studies. Her published books include “The Topoi of Performance Art: A Local Perspective” (2017).

Krista Holland is a yogini, frame drummer, multifaceted teacher, independent researcher, and polymath. Krista’s work and teaching draw from her in-depth practice and studies in Hatha yoga, Tantrik philosophy, Sacred Drumming, permaculture, comprehensive research into the frame drum, and goddess-worshipping civilizations of Old Europe. Her multidisciplinary career synthesis is brought together in her body of work called Mel Temenos and the Sacred Drumming Academy, where she teaches a mandala of mystical and practical arts.

Idoia Arana-Beobide is a Euskalduna (Basque speaker) born in Zumaia (Euskadi), raised with both deep Basque traditional values and a liberal worldview with the inner knowledge on Basque ancient belief systems. Idoia holds a Diploma in Museum Studies, a B.A. in Mediaeval Studies, a M.A. in Religion Studies, and she is currently working on her PhD in Basque Matricultural Spiritual Tradition.

To give attendees plenty of time to view the program, all sessions will remain available, to those who register, for twelve months following the event.

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2021 Online Symposium Keynote:

REMEMBERING A GREAT WOMAN OF SCIENCE: THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF ARCHAEOMYTHOLOGIST MARIJA GIMBUTAS

presented by Joan Marler

Friday July 16, 2021, 12:30 Eastern Daylight Time

Marija Gimbutas was born in 1921 in Vilnius, the ancient capital of Lithuania, into a family of physicians, scholars, folklorists, and historians. This richly illustrated presentation introduces her unique cultural background, her interdisciplinary classical education, and her pioneering scholarship. During her years as a Research Fellow at Harvard (1950-1963) and throughout her tenure as Professor of European archaeology at the University of California, Los Angeles (1963-1989), she produced twenty books and more than two hundred scholarly articles on European prehistory. Her study of thousands of Neolithic figurines throughout Europe, and her detailed investigation of hundreds of female sculptures in their ritual contexts from her major excavations in southeastern Europe inspired her to write extensively about the bountiful outpouring of female imagery produced by the earliest agrarian societies of Europe.

In order to adequately study the beliefs, rituals, symbolism and social structure of these Old European cultures she formulated archaeomythology to extend the interpretative boundaries of archaeology.  Her investigations uncovered abundant evidence of domestic rituals, the central role of women in society, and the widely distributed use of signs and symbols that she considered to be a “sacred script.” Her Kurgan theory identified the infiltration of patriarchal pastoralists from the Pontic-Caspian steppe that disrupted three thousand years of sustainable development of the mature, matristric, peaceful, egalitarian societies of Old Europe. Her work stimulated enormous appreciation throughout the world while initiating a firestorm of controversy.  After all, her work challenged a constellation of basic assumptions that make up the Western patriarchal worldview.

Joan Marler is the Executive Director of the Institute of Archaeomythology, an international organization promoting archaeomythological scholarship. She is the author (with Harald Haarmann) of Introducing the Mythological Crescent (2008), and is the editor of The Civilization of the Goddess by Marija Gimbutas (1991), From the Realm of the Ancestors: An Anthology in Honor of Marija Gimbutas (1997), The Journal of Archaeomythology (2005-present), The Danube Script (2008), and other publications. Joan lectures internationally on the life and work of Marija Gimbutas and is the author of forty published articles, including a biographical article about Marija Gimbutas in Harvard’s Notable American Women: A Biographical Dictionary (2004).

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To give you plenty of time to view the program at leisure, all sessions will remain available, to those who register, for twelve months following the event.

“Voices from/for the Land: Wisdom of Place and Tradition”

Symposium Panel: 1:45-3:15 EDT Saturday, July 17, 2021

Moderator: Letecia Layson

• “Sacred Instructions,” Sherri Mitchell – Weh’na Ha’mu Kwasset
• “Old European Goddess Symbols and Myths in Ireland’s Ancient Landscapes,” Geraldine Moane
• “The Peak Sanctuaries of Bronze Age Crete: An Archaeomythological Perspective,” Joan Cichon
• “The Symbolism of Old Europe in the Standing Stones of Callanish,” Melody Lee

Marija Gimbutas proposed that Neolithic societies of Old Europe revered the earth and nature, and existed in harmony with the lands where they lived. In this panel we will discuss contemporary Indigenous perspectives that hold the land sacred, explore the importance of mountaintop sanctuaries in Bronze Age Crete, and compare Gimbutas’ findings in Old Europe with the sacred landscapes and myths of Ireland and the Scottish island of Callanish.

Sherri Mitchell -Weh’na Ha’mu Kwasset was born and raised on the Penobscot Indian reservation. She received her Juris Doctorate and a certificate in Indigenous People’s Law and Policy from the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law. Sherri is the author of the award-winning book Sacred Instructions; Indigenous Wisdom for Living Spirit-Based Change.

Ger Moane is Professor Emerita in the School of Psychology at University College Dublin and has numerous publications and awards in the areas of gender, feminism and colonialism. She met Marija Gimbutas during her visit to Ireland, and has since undertaken extensive research on her work, presenting on the links between Gimbutas’ concepts and ancient Irish sites.

Dr. Joan Cichon holds a PhD in Women’s Spirituality from the California Institute of Integral Studies. Her forthcoming book is entitled Matriarchy in Bronze Age Crete: A Perspective from Archaeomythology and Modern Matriarchal Studies.

Melody Lee is an adjunct professor of world literature, storyteller, and writer. She is co-author of the book, Becoming Women of Wisdom: Marking the Passage into the Crone Years, to guide women in the process of using circles and ceremony to claim their power as older women.

Letecia Layson is a Filipina, Feminist, Futurist, Priestess of Morphogenesis (Form Coming Into Being), High Priestess of Diana; Priestess Hierophant in FOI/TOI-LA. Letecia is one of the founding Mothers of the Center for Babaylan Studies; a member of International Feminists for Gift Economy; and an organizer of the Modern Matriarchal Studies Network.

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To give you plenty of time to view the program at leisure, all sessions will remain available, to those who register, for twelve months following the event.