Goddess Conference 2008
....on the fringe

A wonderful cornucopia of events “on the fringe” of Goddess Conference 2008 to enrich your experience of the conference itself, or to enjoy any of these events as an inspiring Goddess experience in its own right.

This year there are eight superb day workshops and two sacred landscape walks, with well-known Goddess women from around the world – Alisha Dancing Tree from California, Anique Radiant Heart from Australia, Barbara Meiklejohn-Free from Britain, Isabella Verbruggen, Loes Moezelaar and Sandra Warmerdam from Holland, Isabelle Weber and Sheila Bright from Britain, Joanne Foucher from Germany, Ra-el Corsini from Mount Shasta, US international traveler Starhawk, and renowned herbalist Susun S. Weed from New York State.

Plus a fabulous From Diva to Devotion Concert with Anique Radiant Heart, the amazing Glastonbury Goddess Temple Lammas Ceremony and the sparkling “Highway of Diamonds” Tour Concert with Julie Felix and friends.

… on the fringe

Monday 28th July

WALKING THE TOR LABRYNTH Women Only
With Priestesses Isabelle Weber and Sheila Rose Bright
Walking in: Monday July 28th
Walking Out: Monday August 4th

Walking the ancient labyrinth which turns 7 times around Glastonbury Tor is probably the ideal way each year to prepare for the Goddess Conference (walking in) and to begin your homeward journey afterwards (walking out). Ground into yourself, the Goddess and Her sacred land in a circle of sisters in the largest 3-dimensional labyrinth known on Earth. This journey will transform your life, awakening you and revealing new parts of yourself.

It is really important if you undertake this journey that you walk BOTH ways - IN & OUT! The labyrinth works on many levels, taking you into another world, which can affect your life in many ways; walking out again completes the process.

Be prepared for uneven ground and challenging weather conditions. A water bottle is essential; a snack, a waterproof, good walking boots and a staff/walking stick are also highly recommended. Allow at least 6 hours to walk in & 5 hours to walk out. Time enters a different dimension as you walk the labyrinth: you are entering an inner world and everything else becomes less important.

Isabelle & Sheila are both Priestesses of Brighid. Sheila has been facilitating group rituals for over 20 years and she also loves to sing! Isabelle is a healer dedicated to the Goddess path and helping people to unlock and find themselves empowering them to making life changes. She loves to journey to other realms! See Isabelle’s website www.lotushealingcentre.co.uk

Venue: Meet at the White Spring (next to Chalice Well), Wellhouse Lane, Glastonbury
Time: 10.00 am
Fee: £40/$86/€58 include both journeys: In and Out

EARTH AS TEACHER, EARTH AS HEALER
with Starhawk

The Earth herself is our greatest teacher and healer, whether we want to heal and transform our personal hurts, or heal the huge wounds our society inflicts on the Earth and other human beings. The ancient Goddess traditions had no sacred texts or dogmas: instead, their mystics learned to read the book of nature. Understanding how the Earth's cycles work, how change occurs in nature, and how Mother Earth designs co-evolving, interdependent systems can help us be better designers of the changes we want to see in our own lives and the world. No matter what the outcome of current political debates, the work of healing will continue for our lifetimes, and our connection to Earth is our deepest source of hope, renewal, and strength. This workshop, drawing on Starhawk's latest book Earth Path, weaves together ritual, guided journeys, games, and stories to help us connect more deeply with the great transformative powers of nature, and to bring those creative energies fully alive in our lives, homes, and communities so that we can also bring healing, justice, and balance into the world.

Starhawk’s is one of the most respected voices in modern earth-based spirituality. She is well-known as a global justice activist and organizer, whose work and writings have inspired many to action. She is the author or coauthor of ten books, including The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess, long considered the essential text for the Neo-Pagan movement and Truth or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority, and Mystery. Her newest book is The Earth Path: Grounding Your Spirit in the Rhythms of Nature, which addresses the profound spiritual and conceptual disconnect at the root of our environmental destructiveness, and shows how we can re-root our spirits, our politics, and our day-to-day life in deep relationship with the Earth. For more info see www.starhawk.org.

Venue: Given in July
Time: 10.00am – 4.00pm
Fee : £50/$108/€72

GREEN BLESSINGS, EARTH MAGIC, HERBAL MEDICINE
With Susun S. Weed

Join acclaimed teacher and herbalist Susun S. Weed for a day focused on your needs. We will choose from a basket brimming with possibilities: after our talking stick ceremony we may go on a weed walk, do an earth attunement meditation, learn how to talk with plants, discuss Wise Woman remedies for your specific problems – from menstruation to menopause, osteoporosis to orgasms, and – of course – tell stories and sing songs. Bring your curiosity and your sense of adventure.

Susun is the author of 4 highly acclaimed books on herbs and women’s health, including Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year, Healing Wise, New Menopausal Years and Breast Cancer? Breast Health! the Wise Woman Way. She is a member of the Sisterhood of Shields, a Peace Elder, and a high priestess of the goddess in the Dianic tradition. Susun lectures worldwide on women’s health and herbal medicine. From her home in New York State’s Catskill Mountains she directs the Wise Woman centre, is editor in chief for Ash tree Publishing, personally oversees the work of 800 correspondence students, and trains herbal and shamanic apprentices. Susun has lived the simple life for nearly 40 years as an herbalist, goatkeeper, homesteader, and an ardent feminist. She has been called a true radical – deeply rooted, a modern pioneer and one of the founding mothers of herbal medicine in the United States.

Venue: Given in July
Time : 10.00am-4.00pm
Fee : £50/$108/€72

Monday 28th July 8.00pm
FROM DIVA TO DEVOTION A one woman show
with Anique Radiant Heart

Tracing the Australian supersongstress’s evolution from jazz diva to Sacred Singer with beautiful songs, images and stories.

Venue: Glastonbury Assembly Rooms
Time : 8.00pm
Tickets : £12/$26/€17 (concs.£10/$22/€14) Also available from the Oracle Office, The Courtyard, 2-4 High Street,  Glastonbury.

Tuesday 29th July

Walk the Sacred Land of Avalon
with Joanne Foucher

The Lady of Avalon reveals Herself to us in the sacred landscape in and around Glastonbury: Wearyall Hill, Chalice Hill, the Tor, Windmill Hill, they all form the shape of a huge woman lying on the Earth. Walking Her body connects us deeply to Her. At the same time these landscape features also appear as a giant Swan flying in from the Northeast, with the Crone riding its back.
We dedicate a day to walking this sacred land, to connect to Nolava, the Lady of Avalon, through prayer, song and ceremony. We open ourselves to Her love and healing through Her sacred land.

Please bring a packed lunch and enough water to get you through the day. Remember to dress according to the weather. It may be very hot or it may be rainy and cold. Wear good shoes, the ground can get muddy, and a walking stick may be useful. Translation for German-speaking people.

Joanne Foucher is a Priestess of Avalon, a painter of Goddess artwork, a poet and a ceremonialist. She lives in Germany where she works as a community priestess, working with the Wheel of Avalon and with indigenous Goddesses. Her website is www.avalonpaintings.de.vu

Venue:  Meet  in the Courtyard, 2-4 High Street, Glastonbury
Time:  10.00 am
Fee: £35/$75/€50

A Choice of Six Fabulous Workshops……

GODDESS ALIVE : SACRED TANTRIC DANCE  Women only
with Alisha Dancing Tree

Awaken your Shakti and open your Self for the Goddess to move through you in Sacred Tantric Dance!  We will come together as sisters to honor and celebrate our Divine Feminine through ancient ritual, tantric practices, bellydance instruction, and tribal circle dancing.  Please wear clothing that accentuates your beauty and allows you to move freely.

Alisha has been studying various forms of dance since her girlhood and has come home to the artform of Middle Eastern dance over the past nine years.  She has lived the past decade in ritual, performance, and women's studies ~ devoting herself to embodying and anchoring the Divine Feminine here on Mother Earth. She is Bellydance instructor at The Flying Lotus Movement Center, Mount Shasta, California.

Venue:  Given in July
Time:  10.00am – 4.00pm
Fee : £40/$86/€58

SINGING THE CHAKRAS - MEETING THE GODDESS
With Anique Radiant Heart

A one-day experiential workshop linking Goddess energies (feminine archetypes) with the seven major chakra systems in the body, through song, chant, breath and movement. The process teaches us how to shift energy in the body by combining a deep understanding of how each chakra impacts on our daily existence, how to access the energy stored within this energy centre, how to bring Light into the chakras and the brain, and then how to integrate a simple daily practice to keep the body’s chakra system – energy centres – unblocked and functioning well. With PowerPoint presentation.

You do not have to be a singer to attend this workshop – you just need to want a healthy body and a joyous outlook on life.

Anique is an Australian Crone Priestess of the Goddess and Singer of the Sacred Songs Of the Temple.  For over 20 years and more, she has dedicated her life and her talents to assisting women and girls to awaken the great Feminine Divine within them.  Gifted with a miraculous voice and the ability to open women’s hearts with her singing, she has facilitated women’s mystery workshops/events, celebrating the Goddess through ritual and song around the world. Website www.herwill.net

Venue:  Given in July
Time:  10.00am – 4.00pm
Fee : £40/$86/€58

AWAKENING THE WILD MAIDEN
with Barbara Meiklejohn-Free

Discover and release your wild inner maiden as you join Barbara Meiklejohn-Free for a day of ecstatic trance using drums, dance and chants. Discover the fire within as you awaken your kundalini and invoke the wild maiden energy. Drums will be provided, however, please feel free to bring your own if you prefer.

Barbara is a High Priestess, Shamanic Seer, Author of "The Heart of all Knowing" and singer with the Daughters of Gaia. She travels the country and world sharing her wisdom with her gift of second sight and her transformational workshops.

Venue: Given in July
Time : 10.00am-4.00pm
Fee : £40/$86/€58

SACRED DRUMMING WORKHOP
with Isabella Verbruggen and Loes Moezelaar

The source of sacred drumming lies in the rhythm traditions of the ancient Goddess cultures in the Mediterranean  world. The pulse of our mother’s blood was our first continuous experience as we quickened in the womb and sacred drumming is an echo of the human pulse. The beat of the priestesses’ frame drums articulates the process of creation, bonding the individual with the rhythms of the community, the environment and the cosmos. In  this workshop we will first sing the rhythm patterns, then we play the rhythms on the hand drum, with bare hands. The uniqueness of this tradition is that as we play the drum, we move in the rhythm of a walking beat, for at least twenty minutes. So we experience this sacred technology of synchronising mind and body.  Frame drums will be available, but bring your own too.  Isabella is accompanied by Loes.

Isabella is a priestess, ceremonialist, frame-drummer, mother, and co-teacher of a priestess-training in Holland. She initiates sacred drumming in the old priestess tradition and gives drumming workshops on several hand drums like the tar, daf, bendir, egyptian riq, and tambourines.

Loes is a priestess, herbal medicine woman, healer, frame drummer, mother and co-teacher of the same
priestess training. She  prepares herbal products, such as oils, ointments, goddess-oils, cosmetics, bath-salts and incense on a natural base. In  cultivating, caring and preparing the herbs she makes use of  their medical and magical qualities continuing the tradition of priestesses and magicians of antiquity. Her products will be available at the conference.

Venue:  Given in July
Time:  10.00am – 4.00pm
Fee : £40/$86/€58

MAGICKAL MAIDEN MOVEMENT: THERAPEUTIC DANCE AND RITES OF PASSAGE FOR TEENS
with Ra-el Corsini

In a safe, non-judgmental environment, increase your self-esteem and explore your thriving power  through co-creativity, connection, and clear communication. This event will culminate with a short ritual dance and theatrical performance during the Goddess Conference.

Be sure to arrive with comfortable clothing for class and gorgeous Goddess garb for the performance.

Ra-el  is Creatrix of The Flying Lotus, a Community Activation Center in Mt. Shasta, California. She assists personal growth, healing and soul actualization through a nurturing venue of classes, workshops, and performances designed to birth your authentic self. She has taught Dance for 13 years. As Priestess of the AvaSha Clan, Mother, Author, Midwife Assistant and Director of Ritual Dance and Theatre, Ra-el's main passion is creating, educating and activating Teens.

Ra-el will be joined by AvaSha Clan members and Priestess JoAnna Welfley, Creatrix and holder of Ceremonial Rites of Passage and Ritual Prayformances. See www.theflyinglotus.com, www.avashaclan.org

Venue:  Given in July
Time:  10.00am – 4.00pm
Fee : £30/$65/€43

CREATE YOUR OWN MAGICAL ROD WITH YOUR TOTEM ANIMALS
with Sandra Warmerdam

Find your own totem animal for the Goddess Conference and make your own magical Rod of Power out the material of Her Body. Using soapstone, a very soft warm stone, you will create a wondrous Rod on which you can carve your signs of strength, your totem animals and symbols. At the end of the workshop there will be a short ceremony to empower your rod with Her energies so that you can use it during the Conference and after, to find and keep your own inner strength.
By the end of the day everyone will have a complete rod. Materials and tools are included.

Sandra is a Priestess of Avalon and the wonderful founder of the Dutch Goddess Temple and Dutch Goddess Conference. She teaches the art of life with the Goddess and Her wheel in Holland. She creates beautiful statues out of stone for temple and home, by becoming one with the stone, the body of the Goddess.

Venue:  Given in July
Time:  10.00am – 4.00pm
Fee : £40/$86/€58

General Information For All Fringe Workshops

1. All workshops begin at 10.00am (arrive at 9.45am for a prompt start) and end between 4.00-4.30pm. 
2. Please wear comfortable clothes and bring a packed lunch to share.
3. As confirmation of your booking you will receive a Fringe Day Workshop Ticket.  It is essential that you bring this to the workshop as evidence of your booking. 
4. Prior to your workshop you will receive a map of Glastonbury showing locations of all the workshops
5. On the mornings of Monday 28th and Tuesday 29th  July if you cannot find your location, please come to the Town Hall where someone will be available from 9.30am – 10.30am to assist you.

Tuesday 29th July 7.30pm prompt
LAMMAS CEREMONY celebrating the Abundance of the Great Mother

Glastonbury Goddess Temple
The Courtyard, Glastonbury Experience
Open to All.  Donations to the Goddess Temple are welcomed.

Monday 4th August 8.00pm
JULIE FELIX
“HIGHWAY OF DIAMONDS TOUR” CONCERT
With friends including Lydia Lite & Oshia Drury.

The Highway of Diamonds is Julie Felix’s year long celebratory tour in her 70th year. Taking the title from a song by Bob Dylan, her early singing buddy, Julie epitomizes the true professional and ever young singing star. A wonderfully inspiring concert for everyone.

Venue: Glastonbury Assembly Rooms
Performance begins 8.00pm
Tickets £15/$32/€22 (concs. £13/$28/€19) available from The Oracle Office, The Courtyard, 2-4 High Street, Glastonbury.

Booking Fringe Events

To make a reservation for an event or workshop, please complete the Conference Registration form and send a cheque made payable to The Goddess Conference, at 2-4 High Street, Glastonbury, Somerset BA6 9DU or pay on the website by Paypal. Please state clearly which event you are booking for. You can buy concert tickets in person from The Oracle Office, The Courtyard, 2-4 High Street, Glastonbury.

For further information about any of these events or the full Goddess Conference 2008, July 28th – August 4th, telephone 01458 831518 or contact us via this website.