This year we have a fantastic choice of events “on the fringe” of The Goddess Conference 2006. Enrich your experience of the conference itself, or enjoy any of these events and workshops as a joyful Goddess experience in its own right.
Walking The Labyrinth
With Brian Charles
Walking in: Sunday July 30th
Walking Out: Monday August 7th
When did human beings first walk the labyrinth? That we cannot say – yet we know its origins lie unimaginably far in our common past. To the Hopi, the labyrinth is a symbol of the Earth Goddess, and it has been found etched into rocks from Arizona to Australia. Here in Glastonbury, on the Tor is the largest three-dimensional labyrinth yet known. As a coiled serpent, it winds round the Tor seven times, turning back on itself as it does so. It is Arianrhod’s spiral castle, the place of rebirth and transformation.
Take hold of your magic. To walk the labyrinth is to take a journey to your innermost self.
On a practical note: be prepared for rough ground and challenging weather. A sturdy stick or staff can come into its own. A bottle of water also comes in very handy. The walk into the centre is likely to take 4-5 hours and the walk out 3-4 hours.
This is a rare opportunity to walk the Tor Labyrinth. It is really important that if you undertake the journey into the labyrinth you take part in BOTH journeys – IN and OUT!
Brian Charles is a Priest of Avalon and an active Goddess Conference ceremonialist. He is a member of the Goddess Temple and is co-trainer on the Priest/ess of Avalon training course. An experienced counsellor, he is skilled in facilitating transformational experiences.
Venue: Meet at the White Well, Wellhouse Lane, Glastonbury
Time: 10.00 am
Fee: £35/$65/€56 for both journeys: In and Out
Day Workshops - Monday 31st July
This year we offer you a cornucopia of six superb day workshops, with internationally famous ecofeminist & author Starhawk, the fabulous Australian Temple singer Anique Radiant Heart, and from New Zealand Visionary Artist Pamela Matthews. Plus dancing to the rhythms of Italian virtuoso Tambourine player Alessandra Belloni, learn from respected earth-based ceremonialist Annie Spencer, and create Land Art with artists Jan Pemberton & Diana Milstein.
Plus a Concert with international stars Julie Felix & Alessandra Belloni, and a Healing Performance bringing alive the Goddesses of Iceland.
Monday 31st July
Sacred Earth, Sacred Sites
A fantastic opportunity to spend a sacred day
With Starhawk
Whether we are looking to heal and transform our personal hurts or the huge wounds our society inflicts on the earth and other human beings, the earth herself is our greatest teacher and healer. Our connection to earth is our deepest source of hope, renewal, and strength. The ancient Goddess traditions had no sacred texts or dogmas: instead, their mystics learned to read the book of nature. Their insights are preserved in myth and legend, and their energies infuse those special places we call sacred sites.
This workshop weaves together ritual, guided journeys, games and stories with some of the principles and practices of permaculture design to help us open our awareness and connect more deeply with the great transformative powers of nature, and with the special energies of Glastonbury, ancient Avalon. 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 life and the world. It culminates with a meditative climb and ritual on Glastonbury Tor.
Starhawk is a lifelong activist in peace and global justice movements, a leader in the feminist and earth-based spirituality movements, author or coauthor of ten books, including The Spiral Dance, The Fifth Sacred Thing, Webs of Power : Notes from the Global Uprising, and her latest, The Earth Path.
Starhawk's website is www.starhawk.org, and more of her writings and
information on her activities can be found there.
SOLD OUT!
Monday 31st July
LISTEN TO THE SOUND OF WINGS
A Music, Dance and Healing Performance
Connecting with the forgotten Icelandic Goddesses from Fensalir.
With Unnur Larusdottir, Reyneir Katrinarson and Heather Wulfers
Unnur is a musician, composer and sorceress from Iceland, Reyneir is an Icelandic Shaman, healer massage therapist and artist and Heather is a dancer and artist from Chicago, USA.
Venue: The Assembly Rooms, High St, Glastonbury and on Glastonbury Tor.
Time : 8.00pm
Fee : £8/$15/€13
Lammas Ceremony
Celebrating the Great Mother
The Courtyard, Glastonbury Experience
Tuesday 1st August, 7.30pm prompt
Open to All - donations to the Goddess Temple are welcomed.
Day Workshops - Tuesday 1st August
Tuesday 1st August
RHYTHM IS THE CURE
Healing, Dance and Percussion Workshop
with Alessandra Belloni
This is a fantastic opportunity to dance with the exciting & dramatic Alessandra. The workshop features Southern Italian ritual folk dances used as music and dance therapy, combined with the unique style of frame drums and tambourines. Alessandra will teach the processional chant and dances performed in honour of the Black Madonna, and students will learn the ancient ritual dances of The Pizzica Tarantata, which originated as music therapy to cure the mythical bite of the tarantula spider. Its wild rhythms release stress and blockages of sexual and creative energy, as well as opening the heart and throat. Alessandra will also teach Ritmo E Danza Di San Rocco - the Spinning Dance, in which dancers spin, releasing their fears of death and of life.
Alessandra Belloni is a world famous virtuoso performer/musician. She is artist in residence at the Cathedral of St John the Divine in New York, and Director of the music, theatre and dance company, I Giullari Di Piazza. She has presented concerts and workshops internationally in Europe, Brazil and the USA and is a REMO Signature Series Artist with her own line of tambourines.
For the workshop Alessandra suggests dancers be barefoot and that women should preferably wear skirts, and if possible everyone should wear white clothes.
Venue: Given in July
Time: 10.00am – 4.00pm
Fee: £35/$65/€56
Tuesday 1st August
SINGING THE CHAKRAS – FINDING THE GODDESS
With Anique Radiant Heart
Crone Priestess of the Goddess
Singer of the Sacred Songs of the Temple
At the 2004 Goddess Conference, Australian singer/songwriter Anique Radiant Heart led Conference participants through a small taste of her Singing the Chakras process, for which she received a standing ovation. This experiential workshop links Goddess energies (feminine archetypes) through song, chant, breath and movement, to the seven major chakra systems in the body. Anique will introduce us to the Goddess who rules each chakra. 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”, and then how to integrate a simple daily practice to keep the body’s chakra system – energy centres – unblocked and functioning well.
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.
You will receive a full set of notes with the workshop, so you can focus on enjoying your time with Anique.
Anique Radiant Heart is a dynamic and captivating teacher, whose love of singing and the Goddess infuse her work with power, authenticity and warmth. She has facilitated women’s mystery events, celebrating the Goddess through ritual and song in the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. She is a keen scholar, author, singer/songwriter, artist and political activist. See www.herwill.net
Venue: Given in July
Time: 10.00am – 4.00pm
Fee: £35/$65/€56
Tuesday 1st August
THE CRACK BETWEEN THE WORLDS : Women Holding Life and Death?
With Annie Spencer
The Great Mother holds both life and death in her hands. This, many of us still remember. Women, made as we are in her image, are given this great gift when we reach puberty - the gift of life and death. Not so many remember or feel the true weight and honour of this gift.
In our culture, young women hold all of life and old women carry death. This creates an imbalance in both. In this workshop, we will look at where and when this tear occurred and explore ways to mend it. We will wrestle across the age divide to claim back the power that is ours. We will offer ourselves to the Goddess as Mother and ask her to rebirth us as whole and holy beings.
This workshop provides a great opportunity to spend time with one of Britain’s leading presenters on world-wide indigenous spiritual traditions.
Annie Spencer is a ceremonialist and workshop leader with an Oxford MA and a diploma in Humanistic Psychology. She has been running groups and trainings for over 20 years including the groundbreaking Women's Mysteries courses. Annie has worked with many teachers from earth-based spiritual traditions around the world including Native American Metis elder Hyemeyohsts Storm, Lorraine Mafi Williams the Native Australian elder. She has undertaken ceremony at Macchu Picchu; sat in sweat lodge in North America with elders from the Mi'kmaq and the Ho Chunk nations. She is currently interested in Guatemalan teachings. She co-founded the Shamanka School of Shamanic Studies for Women, and now the Hartwell Association and Library. See www.hartwell.eu.com
Venue: Given in July
Time: 10.00am – 4.00pm
Fee: £35/$65/€56 Women Only
Tuesday 1st August
EYES TO SEE – An Experiential Art Workshop
With Pamela Matthews
A Celebrated Visionary Artist from New Zealand
Break through to the creative Goddess within yourself!
A day of fun, beginning with an audio-visual of Pamela's Goddess quest through her art, and culminating in your own inspired expression of Goddess energy which you will be guided by Pamela to manifest on canvas.
Suitable for everyone - all materials supplied, just come with an open heart and eyes to see.
Pamela Matthews found her first visit to Glastonbury in 1984 life-changing as many do. A heart-felt prayer to "know the Mother" inspired a quest which ultimately led to the "Goddesses of the New Light" cards, designed to facilitate daily access to the Goddess energy. She also paints Angels, Archangels, Unicorns, Mermaids, Crystals and other Spiritual Icons. Pamela's visionary surrealist paintings were initially shown in Academy and solo exhibitions around her native New Zealand and now worldwide. She continues to evolve her own style, working in acrylics with an over-glazing technique. She has recently created an Aura Soma Tarot pack. Reproductions of her original paintings are available and will be on sale at the Conference. Her website is www.pamelamatthews.com
Venue: Given in July
Time: 10.00am – 4.00pm
Fee: £35/$65/€56
Tuesday 1st August
LAND ART – MANDALA MAKING DAY in BUSHEY COMBE
with Jan Pemberton & Diana Milstein
A Plant Mandala is a beautiful and powerful meditational sculpture made in the landscape with sacred intent and a deep respect for Mother Earth. This day will be an outside experience - working together in harmony with nature and tuning into the earth energies, we will bless the circle, gather plant materials, and work together to create a Goddess Mandala in Bushey Combe, by kind permission of the owner Anand Weightman.
Jan Pemberton has been a practising artist for over 20 years, inspired by the themes of the Earth, the Goddess and Spirit. During the past 8 years she has developed the practice of making Plant Mandalas, working gently within the natural environment and using the materials available in the landscape. She has been commissioned to create Mandalas for the Healing Fields, Glastonbury Festival, the Bristol Schumacher Lectures and various other public events.
Diana Milstein is an active contributor artistically to the conference, exhibiting and working in collaboration with Freddie Foosiya Miller in past years. Di has 30 years experience as an art therapist, painter and printmaker and has worked extensively with people of all ages and abilities. She is the creator of the infamous Miss Smith character, an archetypal older feminine figure who many relate to and love.
As this is an outdoor workshop you will need to wear appropriate clothing for the weather.
Venue: Bushey Combe, meet at the field gate from Dod Lane at 10.00am
Time: 10.00am – 4.00pm
Fee: £35/$65/€56
General Information For All Fringe Workshops
