“Shapeshifting Lands of Lāhainā, Maui: Mo’o and Moku’ula”

with Mahealani Ahia

RESCHEDULED

Thursday,  November 30, 2023 at 3 PM Eastern Time  

REGISTER HERE

We are pleased to be able to offer this Salon again following technical failures during the original event.

Following the devastating fires on August 8, 2023, in Lāhainā, Maui, there has been a call for a restoration of the sacred lands of Mokuʻula, once the seat of Hawaiian government and home to the great akua moʻo (reptilian water deity) Kihawahine. In this kairotic moment, my dissertation research entitled “Shapeshifting Hawaiian Biography: The Life and Afterlives of Kihawahine” intends to share a longer and richer story than tourist and colonial myths have perpetuated of this famous site. My project is an Indigenous Hawaiian biography centering Kihawahine —daughter of 16th century Maui high chief Piʻilani— who was ritually deified into a guardian akua moʻo and later elevated to island-wide worship under Kamehameha. Shapeshifting moʻo are kiaʻi wai, the most revered and feared water protectors. The study of Kihawahine’s life, afterlife, and multiple body forms—giant lizard, white dog, spider—invites deep examination of Hawaiian history, religion, politics, culture, art, and language.

By historicizing various re-tellings and interpretations of her story across time and region, I map the meanings and intentions behind keeping her image alive for each successive generation. The story of Kihawahine is found in many sources including Hawaiian-language newspapers, missionary journals, ship logs, archaeological reports, oli (chant) and hula (dance). Her kiʻi (ritually carved wooden image) is currently sailing around the world aboard the Hōkūleʻa voyaging canoe. Unfortunately, another kiʻi sits behind glass in the Berlin Ethnological Museum. By sharing these stories, Kānaka ʻŌiwi hope our voices will aid in the repatriation of our ancestral kiʻi, restoration of sacred Mokuʻula, and return of our life-giving waters.

Māhealani Ahia is a Los Angeles-born Kanaka ʻŌiwi artist, scholar, activist, songcatcher and storykeeper with lineal ties to Lāhainā, Maui. With a background in theatre arts, writing and performance from U.C. Berkeley and U.C. Irvine, Māhea is committed to creating artistic and academic projects that empower Indigenous feminist decolonial research. Her Master’s Degree in Mythology and Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute focused on cultural trauma and the power of stories and chanting to heal. As a PhD candidate in English (Hawaiian Literature) and a graduate certificate student in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, her dissertation research “Shapeshifting Hawaiian Biography: The Life and Afterlives of Kihawahine” inundates biography’s genre boundaries as it theorizes feminist power and leadership within the moʻo (reptilian water deity) clan. Māhea teaches courses like Indigenous Feminisms, Island Feminisms, Creative Writing for Healing. She serves as editor for Hawaiʻi Review and ʻŌiwi: A Native Hawaiian Journal and is co-organizer of the Mauna Kea Syllabus Project.

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Save the date for this upcoming ASWM Salon:

January 11, 2024  NOON Eastern Time

“Matriarchal Societies of the Past and the Rise of Patriarchy”

with Dr. heide Goettner-Abendroth

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

“The Legacy and Art of Lydia Ruyle“

with Katie Hoffner

Thursday,  November 16, 2023 at 3 PM Eastern Time  

REGISTER HERE

Lydia Ruyle was an internationally recognized artist, scholar and author researching the Divine Feminine.  Her most well-known body of work were her monumental series of goddess icon banners, or as she affectionately called them the “girls.”  She started birthing and creating them when she was 60 years old – and worked on them right up until her death at 80, in February 2016.  Creating the Goddess banners became her mission; she was devoted to telling a new story, “a new HERstory in a visual way with representations of the Divine Feminine from across the globe.” There are now over 300 banners in the collection, and they have literally flown all over the world from Machu Picchu to Ephesus to Tibet to her hometown in Greeley, Colorado.  

Lydia was an artist scholar emeritus of the Visual Arts Faculty of the University of Northern Colorado, where the Lydia Ruyle Room for Women Artists was dedicated in 2010. In April of 2013, the University presented her with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

One of ASWM’s founding advisors, Lydia led workshops and panels on a wide variety of goddesses, and consulted generously with Sid and Pat  during ASWM’s creation and growth. From the time of our earliest events, Lydia brought her banners to set the tone for conferences.  ASWM’s Brigit Award for Excellence in the Arts, given to Lydia in 2013, summarized her work this way:

“Few artists can claim to have profoundly expanded and improved contemporary images of women. Lydia Ruyle is beloved around the globe for her stunning presentation of multicultural goddesses and symbols of divinity. This award recognizes not only this great body of work but also Lydia’s dedication to scholarship in researching these diverse, inspiring images.”

This celebratory Salon answers the question so many people are asking: Where are Lydia’s “girls” now?

Katie Hoffner, Lydia’s niece and journey-mate, is the guardian of her Aunt Lydia’s collection of goddess banners. Katie  is a community leader and social change maker focused on protecting the environment and improving the lives of women. Katie will share stories of the travels of the banners, with a special focus on how relevant and important elevating the sacred feminine is today.  Katie will take us through a short odyssey of the places Lydia’s banners have appeared since her beloved YaYa “changed addresses,” and will give us a glimpse into future plans for “the girls” and the preservation of Lydia’s legacy. And she leaves us with Lydia’s observation about beloved family: “I consider my title, Aunt Lydia, a noble one.  If you believe you choose your parents when you are born into this world, then I must also believe you choose your aunts too.” 

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Save the date for this special upcoming ASWM Salon:

November 30, 2023 at 3:00 PM

“Shapeshifting Lands of Lāhainā, Maui: Mo’o and Moku’ula”

with Mahealani Ahia

This Salon presentation replaces the originally scheduled event that had technical issues.

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Following a holiday break, Salons will  resume next year:

January 11, 2024 

“Matriarchal Societies of the Past and the Rise of Patriarchy”

with Heide Goettner-Abendroth

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

“Shâmaran: The Mother Earth Goddess in the Hearts and Mountains of Kurds”

with Dilşa Deniz

Thursday,  November 2, 2023 at 3 PM Eastern Time  

REGISTER HERE

Shâmaran is an important figure in  mythology and folklore of cultures of the Middle East, including Kurdish, Turkish, and Armenian. She is portrayed as a dual-headed creature with heads of a woman and a serpent, with a crown on each head.  A version of her story appears as The Queen of the Serpents in the Thousand and One Nights.  This Salon presents Dr. Deniz’ research into the ancient roots of Kurdish myth:

“This study and presentation delve deeply into a significant facet of Kurdish culture: a myth featuring a unique image, part snake and part woman, which has left an indelible mark on Kurdish heritage. After five years of extensive research, it is clear that this entity represents one of the earliest depictions of the Mother Earth Goddess, a highly revered deity whose worship extended across a wide geographical expanse.”

 “In this context, my research reveals the enduring traces of her legacy, encompassing myths and cultural practices that have persisted over time within Kurdish communities. This work stands as one of the pioneering studies of its kind, providing comprehensive documentation of the Mother Earth Goddess faith within an existing culture.

“I contend that the myth supplies us with important information on the missing part of the unwritten history of Goddess worship, which is still being fervently recorded through the circulation of this myth and the image. Thus, the myth of Shaymaran can therefore be considered as a counter-philosophical narrative to post-colonial monotheistic history and philosophy, the one forged by the oppressed.”

Dr. Dilşa Deniz, a Kurdish anthropologist and visiting scholar at Harvard University Divinity School, was dismissed from her position in Turkey in 2016 for signing a peace petition. She has been a prominent activist in the women’s movement and co-founded the first two Kurdish feminist magazines in Turkey.Her research primarily focuses on gender, culture, politics, and religion within Kurdish Alevi communities, exploring topics such as sacred geography, Alevi myths, and eco-spirituality. She also investigates environmental challenges and racism faced by Kurds and Kurdish Alevis, particularly in Dersim, a significant Alevi center. Her monograph is a pioneering study of Kurdish Alevism. Her research also delves into the impact of internal colonization policies and advocates for decolonization within Kurdish Alevism. Hence, she strongly opposes the classification of Alevism as a mere sect of Islam and instead views it as an independent Iranian/Arianic religion.

With a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology, Dilşa has authored numerous articles, book chapters, and books; her book on Shâmaran is forthcoming.

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Save the date for this upcoming ASWM Salon:

Thursday November 16 at 3 PM Eastern Time

“The Legacy and Art of Lydia Ruyle”  

with Katie Hoffner

Following a break, Salons will  begin again on January 11, 2024.

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