"I've been using and adapting the Michael Invocation for the
past fifteen years as a means of clearing people's energy, and the energy of
their homes and other buildings. The Invocation has changed over time, as the
situations people have found themselves in have become more difficult to
manage, or more complicated to understand. It has never failed to provide
relief on many levels."
A Conference I've attended and presented at several times in the past, one I very much have enjoyed and learned from! Wisdom Across the Ages ~ Celebrating the Centennial of Archaeomythologist Marija Gimbutas July 16-18
PROGRAM NEWS
We've added some great blog posts on our website. Joan Marler's remarks on her upcoming Symposium keynote "Remembering a Great Woman of Science", introducing the Symposium panelists and topics on “Voices from/for the Land: Wisdom of Place and Tradition”. Also, Miriam Robbins Dexter discusses her latest book and how she is honoring Marija Gimbutas in her current projects.
ABOUT OUR EVENT WEBSITE:
Our Symposium is hosted through a different event website. You can recognize it by the red and gray color scheme and the ASWM Bee logo in the upper left of the Menu. We want you to get the most out of your online experience. Please review these notes about the event website.
Notes for everyone: While the program sessions are only open to those who register, some features of the site are available to everyone. They are:
Gratitude and Tributes to Marija: This is an interactive page open to all of our members and friends, whether or not you have registered for the event. You may add words or videos to an archive of appreciations. If you met or knew Dr. Gimbutas, or you were influenced by her research, or you just want to express gratitude for her vision and persistence, your remarks will become part of the permanent record of this important centennial event.
On Demand Program: Here you will find samples of music and performances by featured speakers and others whose work is inspired by Marija Gimbutas. We'll share the link as soon as the page is available.
Online Art Exhibition: Watch for information about the opening of our international, juried art show through both the event site and our ASWM site. It is free and open to the public for 60 days as a companion to our event.
Notes for Those Who Register:
Talk to us - Live Chat: You can chat with the event team to answer questions about registration or logging in. This feature is Live between 9 and 5 Eastern Daylight Time, M-F. At other times you may leave an email and get a prompt response. The Chat button is on the bottom right of any page. Time Zones: When you are looking at the schedule for the Symposium, please note that the time indicated is reflected in YOUR local time zone (according to where your computer is located). Logging In: Once you have registered, you can Login to the site using your email. There is no password associated with your registration. Click "Login", enter your email address (be sure to use the one you registered with) and you're in! Watch at leisure: Don't miss a thing! All of our programs will be recorded, and will remain available (to all who are registered) for 12 months following the event. Test Drive the experience on Demo Days: To help you navigate the site and get the most out of the event, our Team is offering Demonstration Sessions on July 14 and 15. They will help you navigate the site and access all of our programming with ease so you don't miss a moment of content! Once you're registered, you'll get an email with all the details.
MEMBERS: be sure to register from the ASWM webpage to get the member-only discount: www.womenandmyth.org.
In Ursula Leguin's Earthsea Novels, the Summer Solstice is celebrated by dancing "the Long Dance" all night, to watch the sun rise in the morning. Something many do on this planet as well, and still. I have done so myself. I wish all the Blessings of the Day, and may we each find a way to "dance the Long Dance" together in body or in spirit this sacred and most primeval day. Here (again, and again) is the poem I share on such days, because the words and harp of the poet will always arise as I look out at the rising sun on the Solstice, the "World's Self Seen" in all of Her abundance, no matter where I am. "Every blue yonder Her brass harp rings" for those who can stop, who will listen to the deep throb of the Heartbeat, to the Harp strings sounding. "She will seal us with Her seed", the poet tells us, and this, strangely, is the taste of immortality I experience, each Solstice, when I stop to listen to the Song that Walks among us.
Every morning when I rise with the sun to water my garden, and especially this morning, I find myself talking to all the people that live there. The tall sunflowers, making seeds beloved by finches and sparrows. The desert tortoise who has decided to live here. My cats, and the green scarab beetles getting drunk on tree sap. The bees, having a drink at the bird bath, and the hummingbird. All the beings sensed and unseen, but friendly somehow too. As a child, the garden was full of "people" for me to visit, and now, an old woman, I seem to have returned again to that happy experience, unconcerned with what others think, and increasingly tired of all my human "identities" at last. So much is possible by just shifting the way we see things, from an "it" to a "you". When we "see with a Webbed Vision". The world becomes again conversant. I think (again) of a story by Ursula Leguin called "May's Lion" that speaks so eloquently to that power of naming. But let the rest of this post belong (again) to the Poet, Robin Williamson. And the Glory of the Summer Solstice!
Summer Solstice, Brushwood, 2008
Verses from Powis
I am a lover of the steady Earth
And of Her waters.
She says: “Let the light be brilliant,
for those who will cherish color.”
What if there be no Heaven?
She says: “Touch my Breasts - the fields are golden.”
Open to my words You that divide it and multiply it Hear my sounds
Ancient associates and fellow wanderers You that move the heart in fur and scale I join with you
You that sing bright and subtle Making shapes that my throat cannot tell
You that harden the horn And make quick the eye
You that run the fast fox and the zigzag fly You sizeless makers of the mole And of the whale: aid me and I will aid you
You that lift the blossom and the green branch You who make symmetries more true Who dance in slower time
Who watch the patterns
You rough coated Who eat water
Who stretch deep and high With your green blood My red blood
let it be mingled
Aid me and I will aid you
I call upon you
You who are unconfined Who have no shape Who are not seen
But only in your action I will call upon you
You who have no depth But choose direction
Who bring what is willed That you blow love upon the summers of my loved ones That you blow summers upon those loves of my love Aid me and I will aid you
I make a pact with you
You who are the liquid Of the waters And the spark of the flame:
I call upon you
You who make fertile the soft earth And guard the growth of the growing things I make peace with you
You who are the blueness of the blue sky And the wrath of the storm I take the cup with you
Earth shakers
And with you the sharp and the hollow hills I make reverence to you
Round wakefulness
We call the Earth
I make wide eyes to you
You who are awake
Every created thing both solid and sleepy Or airy light, I weave colors 'round you
You who will come with me I will consider it Beauty
After 10 years,, I recently blocked off my AIRBNB listings, at least for a while. I find that it's time for a break, and that I desire to be alone for awhile, not in service to the needs or presences of other people. I have much to be grateful to AIRBNB for, I've met all kinds of people over the years, and it has enlarged me a great deal learning from them all. I've had a lot of fun building a kind of "enclave" on my property, with 4 tiny houses or casitas now, in addition to the main house with it's 4 bedrooms. I still have dreams of having more than transitory travelers here, of having perhaps someday a real community of kindred souls, but that has not happened yet. But now I need some alone time to condense myself in my own space, so I will "retire" from "running an inn" for a while, with gratitude for all it has given me. Here is a poem by Rumi that came to mind as I think on all the people over the years I've hosted. Sometimes I think about how I have, however transitory, made a space for others.....and when I feel disappointed or tired, I try to remember that you never now what kind of haven one might have provided, what effect, is any, your presence, garden or art or stories or books lying around that you haven't read in years............might have. And, of course, the other way as well, the lessons that each encounter can potentially provide.
The Guest-House
This being human is a guest-house. Every morning a new arrival. A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor. Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they're a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight. The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.
I'm at a funky hot spring I sometimes go to when I need to, and this morning I saw a beautiful snake curled up by my campsite. Determining that it was not a rattle snake, I watched it unwind, flash its forked tongue at me a few times, and then spiral away slowly into the bushes. I felt quite graced by that presence! Which may or may not have anything to do with finding another "book that never happened" in my Blog, and wanting to share it again, as well as to remind myself to not let it just vanish. It was a proposal for a book arts residency that I didn't get. I really should see about just finishing the book myself somehow........................
Nov. 17, 2017
This is the time of year I go through the tedious process of applying for things, which I try not to be disappointed by when the rejections roll in. I figure it's kind of like "artist Bingo".......sometimes you win. And I've "won" a few times in the past, and been fortunate to have some great residencies and even a few awards and fellowships. So this was an application to make an artist's book in the spring at the Women's Studio Center in New York. Usually I tear my hair out when I make these applications, but this was fun!
A book would consist of no more than 20 pages all silk screened and hand bound, so the pages would really be part of a "bound theme show" in a way. I returned to my many years of devotion to the Legend of the Spider Womanin coming up with these prototypes for pages. With so much competition, I seriously doubt I'll be considered, but, the ideas were fun to make and who knows, maybe they could become a book anyway. I shall never tire of images that speak to me of the meaning of "A Webbed Vision".
I'm pleased to be able to offer 2 residential workshops in the Fall at last! In this4Day Mask Arts Intensive for Women we will draw on our mythic imaginations and the many faces of the Divine Feminineas we learn to make durable, professional theatrical masks. Is there a Goddess you wish to celebrate through the magic of the mask? And would you like to explore the use of sacred masksin storytelling, community arts, and ritual theatre? Open the conversation in this intensive workshop which includes housing if desired. Workshop is limited to 5 participants. We begin Thursday morning at 9:00 am and end Sunday afternoon at 5:00 pm. You take home the means to continue the work.
Housingis provided Wednesday nights through Monday mornings (5 nights). We are an AIRBNB Super Host"Enclave"and accommodations are comfortable and private. A $100.00 non-refundable deposit is required, and payment can be made through Paypal or by check. For further information or to reserve, please contact Lauren Raine at laurenraine9@gmail.com or call (520) 609-4904.
