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G.A.I.A. Inc. reserves the right to alter details of the Conference programme where necessary to give participants the best experience possible, and where circumstances arise which are beyond our control.
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Saturday 11th October 2008 |
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8.00 am |
Registration desks opens
All Women are asked to participate in the creating and decoration of the Earth Alchemy Web
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9.00 am |
In SILENCE we begin to enter the Sacred Cauldron
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9.30 am |
Open Ceremony
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10.30 am |
Morning Tea |
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11.00 am |
Chris Sitka has been researching, writing about and presenting workshops, slide shows and talks on the Ancient European Goddess Cultures since the early 1990s. She enjoys demonstrating that traditions from her own European ancestry are based on authentic archaeological evidence of long lived sacred practices. An aim of her work is to inspire women with a new understanding and appreciation of our matriarchal past, and to form a new vision of a sustainable future imbued with spiritual integrity. She has also worked closely with Aboriginal women Elders from the Western Desert and participated, by invitation, in many women's traditional ceremonies with them. She has shared with them archeaological images and stories from her own Ancient Goddess tradition. They immediately recognised her Culture as one of great spiritual power, and saw inspiring parallels to their own. In her work she examines these sometimes startling parallels and the difficult conundrums between these two spiritual traditions. She likes to raise questions about how to respectfully acknowledge and work with the land and seasons of where we are in Australia, and to how develop a deeper relationship to the landscape within which we live, whilst taking care not to colonise Aboriginal places and practices?
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12.30 pm |
Lunch
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1.30 pm |
Concurrent Workshops: These are one and a quarter hour ONLY finished by 3pm
From STARDUST TO EARTHDUST – an alchemical journey….
Through a shamanic drum regression, imagination, visualisation and meditation you can reclaim your birthright and your divinity.
Journeying from the stars we land and visit the earth. We bring with us our innocence, unique gifts, our Light, love and our joy. Along the way from there to here some of us experience pain, are hurt and sometimes wounded, adding shadows and depth to the picture. Some say this earthly life is a school of hard knocks where we may lose our innocence, our trust and the recognition of our divinity. The truth is there in an opportunity for enlightenment in each moment. On this journey you can: · redefine who you are and why you are here · experience the transitional phases of your life in a different way · revisit the journey of your life… and reweave the tapestry of your story.
PaGaian Cosmology: a Practice of Earth Alchemy
The religious ritual practice of the seasonal wheel of the year – all eight Seasonal Moments, may be a way of connecting/aligning yourself with the magic of Earth and the Cosmos, a way of coming Home to the Creativity that is your birthrite … actually who you are. It is a form of “geo-therapy”, a method of healing, a recipe for refining your gold.
Diana Seekers & Marnie Dean “Inanna’s Earth Alchemical Journey”
“At Spring Equinox the Maiden Goddess returns from seeking wisdom in the Underworld dark, to the light of day and begins her new journey in the outer world. In this workshop we will follow the journeys of Inanna and Persephone to meet the Crone and seek Her wisdom. Our own journey will take us to the safety of Her Earth womb for the alchemical transformation of inner reflection. We will then return to the light of the outer world and explore Her wisdom through vision and creativity. Come join with your sisters in this Journey to the Centre of the Earth….”
Mikailah Gooda PLEASE NOTE this WORKSHOP is now FULL Lilith & the Black Moon
Experience the flight of Lilith, the ‘screech owl’ and wind-spirit of the dark night. Discover her alchemical transformation by acknowledging the shadow of the Dark Goddess. Lilith is the wild, free, instinctive and passionate woman! Astrologically this is connected to the ‘Black Moon’, a powerful energy point within our natal charts. It represents the distortion of feminine healing & wisdom throughout the ages, our pain, explosive anger, fury, suffering, rejection, exile and denied sexual power. The Black Moon’s secret reveals Lilith’s gift of truth, by ruthlessly cutting away what is no longer needed in our lives … to delve into the darkness to resurrect the healing and liberate the potency of our true magical selves. [No prior knowledge of astrology is necessary for this workshop] |
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3.00 pm |
Afternoon Tea |
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3.30 pm |
Priestessing the Earth - Lucy Cavendish
Gaia is our Goddess, and we are all her priestesses. At present she shakes, and trembles, and cries out for our help… never has she been so tired, and never have we been more needed… We are currently returning to our roles as earthkeepers, as the planet, our Mother Goddess transforms and changes…But how can we put this holy task into meaningful daily action? What does the earth our mother require of us now, and how can we better listen to her Voice, spoken as it is by nature, the animals, and the liminal realms? In this inspiring and empowering talk, Lucy will explore answers to those heartfelt questions… For, if we hear Gaia's call and answer her, we will be a part of the great healing and luminous transformation of our Mother the earth… Together we shall discover ways to return our relationship with her to one of mutual respect, reverence and honour, and the alchemical impact a healed relationship with our Mother can have on our lives, and on our children's lives. In truth, healthier bodies, minds, spirits and relationships with all women and men are the beautiful consequences when we return deeply to our roles as Priestesses of GAIA….
This session will feature a deep meditation taking you into the womb of the mother, Gaia |
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4.30 pm
4.45 pm 5.15pm 5.30 pm |
Anique Radiant Heart ITS ALL ABOUT INTENTION - Anique Radiant Heart www.invokingthegoddess.com
thea Gaia - reading of poetry Julie Walton Close for the day |
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7.00 pm |
Saturday Night Back into the Cauldron dressed in ceremonial garments
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7.30pm
To
9.30pm |
ANIQUE RADIANT HEART - RITUAL "Returning… Returning… Returning… To the Mother of Us All"
A Journey Along the Serpentine Path of the Labyrinth, to the Heart of the Mother |
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8.00 am |
Sunday 12th October
**Please note that the RUTH Shepherd WORKSHOP is FULL unless you now have your own Frame Drum - i.e. Medicine Drum, Bodhran, (not Djembe, or any other style of drum-very important! )
Registration desk opens |
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8.45 am |
Re-enter the Cauldron in SILENCE Daughters of GAIA [ Yia Alias & Eileen Kaufman] to dance |
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9.15 am |
Honouring the Women who have stepped the path before us ….. |
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9.30 am |
Bilawara Lee -
Love Magic: Larrakia women’s wisdoms, ritual and ceremonies. |
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10.30 am |
Morning tea |
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11.00 am |
"LILOBAO" and "EARTH SONG", home of the Serpentine Dancers and sacred voice expression, pay homage to the Ancestors, Elders and Ancients of all Earth Cultures and Country for keeping these Sacred Tools Alive. Drum, Song and Dance binds a Community together. |
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12pm |
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12.30 pm |
Lunch |
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1.30 pm |
Concurrent Workshops: These are one and a quarter hour ONLY finished by 3pm
Quilting as Goddess Craft
Quilting is right up there with knitting as an expression of women’s creative, transformative, comforting and blessing powers. See and feel quilts at a “Show and Tell” with Sydney-based quilter and poet Eileen Haley (including some of her own “EarthWomen” series) and explore the magic of this traditional craft.
Returning to Reverence of the Sacred Source
Many people consider women's genitalia to be unmentionable. In one study, only 7% of respondents considered the vagina a body part that is freely mentionable (Allan & Burridge, 1991). A more recent survey found that 53% of women "felt some discomfort using the word vagina" (Bulletin, 1994, p. 10). Despite public debate and discussion about sex and sexuality, the vagina remains a taboo or private topic (Braun, 1999). This lack of comfort with the most essentially feminine part of ourselves is not our natural state. It has been imposed by the culture of our age. But while we experience any difficulty thinking about, talking about, ‘owning’ or experiencing the miracle of our genitals and reproductive cycles, what effects must that have on our health and happiness and on our overall attitudes to being a woman? ‘Returning to Reverence’ is an experiential mini-workshop in which each woman will have the opportunity to explore and to renew her relationship with her vulva and vagina. We will use art, voice dialogue, vulva puppets and group process, to become aware of and to begin to heal any disempowering attitudes to our most glorious and sacred feminine parts. (NB No nudity is involved in this process). Ruth Shepherd *PLEASE NOTE that this WORKSHOP is now FULL The Goddess Drums: Women Reclaim the Power of Drumming.
Ruth Shepherd - The Goddess Drums: Women Reclaim the Power of Drumming
Awaken your deep intuitive knowing about the healing and transformative power of vibrational drumming by participating in the Womyn’s Frame Drum Circle. The Frame drum is traditionally a Womyn’s drum, and we will explore its herstory, sacred creation, cultural significance, and diversity. Feel vibration and entrainment when playing the deer skin medicine drums with a soft beater; fingerplay goatskin frame drums in the Priestess tradition. Explore the magical sounds of Harmonic Whirlies, Tibetan Bells, Singing Bowls, Rainsticks and River Drums. If you have a heartbeat, you can drum…so let’s play! (Please note that this workshop is limited to 20 women.)
Biodynamic Dance. Healing GAIA. Healing Ourselves.
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3.00 pm |
Afternoon Tea |
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3.30 pm |
Activating the Power of Primal Woman
Access your raw potent feminine power & liberate your wild self in this shamanic 90 minute workshop designed to raise your Kundalini (life force) & clear emotional, mental, physical & energetic blocks in the base chakra, enabling you to connect more deeply & strongly to the Earth Mother. Participants are asked to wear earthy coloured, layered clothes they can move in which expose their bellies for body painting. BYO bottle of water.
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4.30 pm
5.00 pm
6.15
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Closing Ceremony & Giveaway gift CONFERENCE finishes 6pm
Break down
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