Prenatal Rhythm Workshop: MotherRhythms
Pregnancy is a time of change, celebration and profound bonding between mother and child.
Through this workshop, learn how to use rhythm to facilitate deeper bonding with your child in the womb, stimulate baby’s healthy interactivity and play, and promote relaxation of both mother and baby. Also builds community and support among mothers and serves as a safe place to express emotions and creativity. Course designed for pregnant mothers and can be modified for birth educators, doulas and midwives who wish to do rhythm work with their clients.
 Where: Private Residence, Santa Barbara, CA - Address Given Upon Registration
Date: July 11, 2009
Times: 11am - 1pm (Group Class); Set up time for individual instruction.
Cost: $20.00 per person for group class; $35 for individual instruction.
What to bring: pillow, blanket, journal, writing utencil, tape recorder (optional). Extra writing materials will be available. All drums provided. Drums will be available for purchase after the workshop.
To register, email or call Kris - kris@mythicrhythm.com , 805-624-4361
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Living in Bliss: Discovering Your Personal Mythology (Meets 3 Times)
An Online Workshop
Sunday, 8/9/09 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM PDT
Sunday, 8/16/09 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM PDT
Sunday , 8/23/09 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM PDT
Cost: $65
Register Online:
http://gaiafestival.wufoo.com/forms/living-in-bliss-discovering-your-personal-myth/
Course Description:
- Discover your personal mythology & re-create your life.
- Re-member the fragmented pieces of your early life, when you felt inspired and enlivened
- Experience a deeper connection to your soul purpose.
By studying and applying current developments in archetypal psychology and personal mythology we can begin to discern the deep archetypal patterns that drive our lives behind the scenes.
In this 3-part, online course we will:
- Deepen our awareness of our own archetypal tendencies.
- Connect with our hearts' desires through story and myth.
- Re-write our myth, our story, to help show us the path to where we want to go.
- Listen to others' stories and tell our own. Let's be inspired!
I will be your guide and witness through this process using writing exercises, meditation, mantras and breath work. Each person will get a chance to share a poem, story, song, music, collage, painting, basically any creative media they choose to share their personal mythology, during the last meeting of the course.
To get the most out of this course, please complete pre-course materials in the online library prior to our first meeting.
About the instructor: Kris Katsuko Oster is Ph.D. candidate at Pacifica Graduate Institute who is completing her dissertation, "The Heartbeat of the Mother: Ritual Drumming & Re-Birthing Images of the Feminine in Brazilian Candomble." Kris received her M.A. in Mythological Studies with an Emphasis in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in 200
As I opened up my computer to begin writing this letter to all of you, the time read 1:53 am - the numbers 1-5-3 being significant here.
Shannon Andersen, one of our Gaia Fest exhibitors this year, wrote a book entitled "The Magdalene Awakening" where she talks a lot about the numbers that constantly pop up in our lives to affirm we are on the right path - 444, 222, 111, and 153. I just finished reading her book early this morning and finally found the inspiration to write my wrap up for the festival.
"Mother Mysteries" was the theme of this year's festival, and I didn't realize at the time I conceived it how perfect the title was.
Ever since my first visit to Glastonbury in 2002 - where I met my spiritual soulmate and Gaia Fest partner Stephanie Hamberger - my life has followed a defining path and purpose, connecting with the Divine Feminine and realizing the strength and warrior qualities that are not only within men, but inherent in the Masculine energy of women. After all, the womb may be the receptacle for gestating a child, but it takes a lot of force to push that baby out. I have a very clear memory of how sore and tired my abdominal muscles felt after birthing Saraphina on August 7th - it felt like I had done 1,000 sit ups!
The first time I saw the Vesica Piscis was on the lid of the Chalice Well in Glastonbury and afterwards I have been drawn to that symbol like a fish to water (pun intended; Vesica Piscis means "vessel of the fish" ). For our wedding, Shaun and I planned to stand in the oval intersection between the two circles as we gave our vows. As it turned out, it wasn't too easy creating that symbol with flowers an hour before our wedding, so Shaun's cousin J.P. created a beautiful circle of flowers for us and our guests to stand inside during the ceremony instead.
Not all of our births are literal, and many of you have birthed books, films, works of art, and environmental projects, and know how hard it is to push out the final product after spending years as a womb holding and protecting the vulnerable piece of yourself that has been gestating within. Even more than last year when the first annual West Coast Gaia Festival took place, this second year has felt like a birthing of something new and special. It was the culmination of many years of reflection and inner work around my own wounded feminine voice that was seeking a group of like-minded souls to be in conversation with.
The festival was a gathering of Magdalenes - the strong, outspoken Feminine presence within all of us, men included. I felt more interconnections this year and Paula, a healer at the event and wonderful friend, said she felt it was more intimate than last year. The festival attendance was half the size, but quadruple the feeling of heart and soul connections that took place. Thank you Margaret for midwifing Her energy for all of us to rebirth within ourselves.
The story of the Magdalene resonates strongly for so many right now, that I can't imagine a more timely way of bringing her into our consciousness. With the elections coming up so soon on November 4th, the time has come to be outspoken; to speak up for the rights of all people in our nation, many of whom have been downtrodden and pushed to the margins of society. I keep hearing the phrase "Compassionate Warriors" in my mind and I think that may be part of the message garnered from our gathering on October 11th.
Karen Tate, thank you for always helping with promotion, planning, and being the first presenter to say "Yes!" to this event each year without hesitation. You are truly an embodied Goddess. I look forward to taking a pilgrimage with you next year...I have been getting a few signs to travel to Iona. Should we try to plan a trip?
This past Gaia Festival caught me a little off guard because it reawakened my hunger to explore and write about the mystical experiences that have been an important part of my life. And the part of my life I so quickly put aside to go out and make money...you know, the old 9 to 5 drag that can also be a blessing because it helps finance your dreams. One of my dreams has been bringing people like you together in community.
It is my hope that we continue our communal conversations and support each other in the diverse work that we are all engaged in, a most important work for this age: the rebirthing of Goddess and the Divine Feminine into world consciousness.
If you would like to see Gaia Festival photos, keep up with community events throughout the year, announce your events and post discussion topics please join our online Tribe:
I hope you will hope you will join us and keep the Gaia Festival community vital for years to come!
And remember to follow all the synchronicities that cross your path. You never know where they will lead you. They are mysterious blessings meant to illuminate your divine mission and bring you closer to your hearts' deepest longings.
Blissfully yours,
Kris
The following posting was sent to me by Tim Ward, author of the "Savage Breast:
One
Man's Search for the Goddess"
Enjoy!!
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Hi Friends, I thought this latest Goddess archaeological discovery would
intrigue you. The
link at bottom has photos.
Tim
Subject: [DiosasAncianos2012] Huastec "Mother Culture" & Lunar Calendar in
Southern Mexico
Monolith raises questions about ancient Mexican culture
Deep in the Huastec jungle (Mexico) the enormous carved stone
monolith stands, suspended over the pool of water where a team of
archaeologists discovered it. A powerful woman stands at the center
of the carving, flanked by two smaller decapitated women. A stream of
liquid flows from the headless women toward the woman in the center.
The women on each side are thought to represent priestesses, and the
liquid represents the life force, while the woman at the center
represents Mother Earth; so the priestesses seem to be nurturing the
Earth with their life force. The truth is, however, nobody knows for
sure what these stones mean. One thing is fairly certain - because of
the recurrence of the number 13, the monolith seems to be a lunar
calendar of some sort. That's why it set the archaeological world
abuzz with discussion when it was unveiled last November. It is
believed to have been created around 600 BCE - 2,000 years before
what was previously the oldest discovered calendar in the Americas,
the Aztec Calendar, which dates to 1400 CE.
"What this discovery did was to force us to stop, turn around
and dig deeper into the history of the Huastecan groups to
re-evaluate them," said Guillermo Ahuja, the lead archaeologist at
Tamtoc who discovered the stone tablet, or Monolith 32, as it's
called. The discovery was especially surprising given that the
Huastec people were thought to be a relatively recent culture. Now
archaeologists are wondering whether the Huastecs - or their
predecessors, the Proto-Huastecs - might have played a bigger role in
the development of Mesoamerica than previously thought. It has also
raised questions about whether the Olmecs might have had an influence
in the region, since there are cultural similarities, or whether
there might have been a third group of people, the so-called Mother
Culture, that dominated the area first.
What is known is that Tamtoc was inhabited by a sophisticated
people who enjoyed a high standard of living for the time, with one
of the most sophisticated hydraulic systems in Mesoamerica. It was
first excavated by a group of French archaeologists in the 1960s, but
their project was short-lived, and work did not begin on the site in
earnest until 2001. It's the only major Huastec archaeological site,
and like the Huastec people themselves, it is shrouded in mystery.
The intricate carvings the Huastecs left on the stones leave
clues to a culture in which women clearly played a strong role as
governors, priestesses and warriors. The monolith was discovered in a
graveyard surrounded by the remains of 84 women - 90 percent of all
the remains discovered there. Ahuja has pieced together a story that
might explain why. The monolith seems to have been toppled from its
original location, broken into pieces and covered with mud. Ahuja
estimates the time period at about the same time that several coastal
cities were flooded, probably by a tsunami-type surge, around 300
BCE. Ahuja believes the sacred tablet was impossible to resurrect,
and the people decided to let it lie and create a sacred site where
it was buried. The most honored and sacred members of that society
were permitted to be buried there. Women became goddesses when they
gave birth, and those who died in childbirth were deified, and so
they were allowed to be buried along with the Great Mother.
An important item backing this theory was another find: a
headless woman's naked figure, carved of limestone and polished to a
high sheen. The figure, found in a pool that once stood at the feet
of the monolith, was believed to be an offering to the gods. The
raised dots on her arms and legs correspond with the number of days
in the lunar calendar, according to archaeologist Ricardo Muñoz,
while the width of her hips and the fullness of her breasts indicate
a woman at the height of her fertility.
With only six years of excavation and analysis behind them,
there are many secrets yet to be unearthed, and Ahuja and his team
are enormously excited at the possibilities - discoveries that might
contradict much of what historians think they already know about
ancient Mexican history.
Source: My San Antonio (11 October 2007)
http://tinyurl.com/35bdsl
For photos see:
http://redicecreations.com/article.php?id=2035
Greetings,
Join Joan and the organizers of Gaia Fest West tomorrow night, Wednesday, October 17th from 7-8:30pm (PST) for a call-in teleconference.
Joan is a Jungian psychotherapist, channeler and author. She holds a Magdalene Circle every month and opens sacred space to allow for the wisdom of the Magdalene to come through for healing and blessings for the community.
More About Joan Norton
Joan Norton has been a Jungian psychotherapist for 30 years in Los Angeles. She developed communication with expanded states of consciousness after the death of her 16 year old daughter in 1986, reaching to the after-death world as any mother would. While writing for the metaphysics magazine, Sedona Journal of Emergence, Joan had a "breaththrough of consciousness" experience of Mary Magdalene. Her book, The Mary Magdalene Within is a word for word account of the story Mary gave her about she and Jesus and the work they did together.
Teleconference Information:
Conference Dial-in Number: (712) 451-6000
Access Code: 896461#
When prompted enter the access code that has been assigned, followed by the # key. Once connected to the conference, you will be able to talk and have access to the touch tone commands listed below.
Participant Feature Keys:
Press 3 to exit the call
Press 4 for conference instructions
Press 6 to Mute/Unmute
TRIBAL AND HERBAL MEDICINE USES
For hundreds of years, indigenous peoples in Brazil and Paraguay have used the leaves of stevia as a sweetener. The Guarani Indians of Paraguay call it kaa jheé and have used it to sweeten their yerba mate tea for centuries. They have also used stevia to sweeten other teas and foods and have used it medicinally as a cardiotonic, for obesity, hypertension, and heartburn, and to help lower uric acid levels.
In addition to being a sweetener, stevia is considered (in Brazilian herbal medicine) to be hypoglycemic, hypotensive, diuretic, cardiotonic, and tonic. The leaf is used for diabetes, obesity, cavities, hypertension, fatigue, depression, sweet cravings, and infections. The leaf is employed in traditional medical systems in Paraguay for the same purposes as in Brazil.
Europeans first learned about stevia in the sixteenth century, when conquistadores sent word to Spain that the natives of South America were using the plant to sweeten herbal tea. Since then stevia has been used widely throughout Europe and Asia. In the United States, herbalists use the leaf for diabetes, high blood pressure, infections, and as a sweetening agent. In Japan and Brazil, stevia is approved as a food additive and sugar substitute.
Stevia's effects and uses as a heart tonic to normalize blood pressure levels, to regulate heartbeat, and for other cardiopulmonary indications first were reported in rat studies (in 1978). Following these studies, a crude extract of stevia demonstrated hypotensive activity in a 1996 clinical study with rats, showing that ". . . at dosages higher than used for sweetening purposes, [stevia extract] is a vasodilator agent in normo- and hypertensive animals." In humans, a hot water extract of the leaf has been shown to lower both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Several earlier studies on both stevia extracts, as well as its isolated glycosides, demonstrated this hypotensive action (as well as a diuretic action). In hypertensive rats the leaf extract increased renal plasma flow, urinary flow, sodium excretion and filtration rate. In addition to its studied hypotensive effects, a Brazilian research group demonstrated that water extracts of stevia leaves had a hypoglycemic effect and increased glucose tolerance in humans, reporting that it "significantly decreased plasma glucose levels during the test and after overnight fasting in all volunteers." In another human study, blood sugar was reduced by 35% 6-8 hours after oral ingestion of a hot water extract of the leaf.
In other research, stevia has demonstrated antimicrobial, antibacterial, antiviral, and antiyeast activity. A water extract was shown to help prevent dental cavities by inhibiting the bacteria Streptococcus mutansthat stimulates plaque formation. Additionally, a U.S. patent was filed in 1993 on a extract of stevia that claimed it to have vasodilatory activity and deemed it effective for various skin diseases (acne, heat rash, pruritis) and diseases caused by blood circulation insufficiency.
Kris Oster interviews author, lecturer and Goddess advocate Karen Tate about the current face of Goddess spirituality, her favorite pilgrimage sites and how the media is helping to bring Goddess into mainstream public awareness.
You can either watch it on the web or if you have iTunes installed
on your computer, it will play in there and on your iPod.
Watch on the Web:
http://www.soul-pilgrim.com/podcasts/GaiaPodcast/Podcasts_Presented_by_Soul_Pilgrim_Sacred_Travel/Podcasts_Presented_by_Soul_Pilgrim_Sacred_Travel.html
Watch in iTunes or your iPod:
feed://www.soul-pilgrim.com/podcasts/GaiaPodcast/Podcasts_Presented_by_Soul_Pilgrim_Sacred_Travel/rss.xml
Add your feedback for Karen and/or Kris on this blog -- comment away!
My poppa released his first album with his new band CTA - California Transit Authority.
I'm really proud of him, it's an awesome CD.
Check it out on his website www.ctatheband.com - you can also download it from iTunes.
Hi - I wanted to formally announce that Shaun and I bought a Honda Civic Hybrid! Yes, I said goodbye to my darling gas guzzling Chrysler Pacifica!
It's about time, no?
So, in that spirit here's the announcement for Leonardo DiCaprio's new documentary "The 11th Hour."
Please go and support this great film.
For more information go to www.bioneers.org/11thHour
Thank you for your commitment to promoting a sustainable future.
Blessings,
Kris
Leonardo DiCaprio's new documentary The 11th Hour opens in New York City and Los Angeles this Friday, August 17th. This film features many Bioneers conference speakers including founder Kenny Ausubel and explores how people have impacted the earth's ecosystems and what we can do to change our course. Check out the PSA on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/11thhouraction
In order for The 11th Hour to be the catalyst for action, please pack the theaters! Attend tomorrow's premiere with your friends, family, and colleagues - everyone you know. To learn about the thirty-plus Bioneers in the film, go to: http://www.bioneers.org/node/2109
Film times and locations for the premiere include:
New York City
Landmark Sunshine Cinema Lincoln Plaza Cinemas
11:45am, 1:45, 3:45, 5:45, 8:00, 10:05, 11:30 12:10, 2:00, 4:00, 6:25, 8:30, 10:30
East Houston Street, New York, NY, 10002 30 Lincoln Plaza, New York, NY 10023
For Tickets call (212)777FILM 687New York 212-757-2280
https://www.movietickets.com
Los Angeles
Landmark Cinemas Pacific Theatres
12:10pm, 2:30pm, 5:00pm, 7:30pm, 10:00pm 11:00am, 2:10pm, 4:50pm, 7:30pm, 10:20pm
10850 W Pico Blvd 6360 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90064 Hollywood, CA 90028
(310) 281-8233 (323) 464-4226
For tickets go to https://www.movietickets.com www.movietickets.com
This is the first interview I conducted with Julio Braga, who is both scholar and priest, and I'm now publishing it here for those folks who have contacted me with interest in Candomble. This is not a good English translation and I will continue to improve it.
TRANCRIPTION OF THE FIRST INTERVIEW WITH THE PROFESSOR
AND “PAI-DE-SANTO” AND ANTHROPOLOGIST JÚLIO BRAGA.
(VERSION FROM PORTUGUESE INTO ENGLISH, TRANS. MARCELO NAVARRO)
TRANCRIPTION OF THE FIRST INTERVIEW WITH THE PROFESSOR
AND “PAI-DE-SANTO” DOCTOR JÚLIO BRAGA.
(VERSION FROM PORTUGUESE INTO ENGLISH)
Int: “what have brought you into the Candomblé and how were your first steps on it ?”
JB: “it was always hard for me to explain how was my beginning in Candomblé, because these things happen so independently of your wish that, in a way, when you stop to realize it, you’re already in it. In fact, I lived in a poor neighborhood of Salvador, where Candomblé is a normal component of the local religious day-by-day life. It guided me to attend to a few Candomblé groups, especially one of them, where I got in touch with its rituals, songs, rhythm, etc, and also being there for the typical meals, eating with them.”
Int: “what was that neighborhood ?”
JB: “Largo do Tanque, here in Salvador. Right after, I passed the vestibular for Philosophy, and at that same time – in 60´s – I started working at the African-Asian Studies Center as research assistant. The research that was going on that time was a survey scanning the city in order to make a complete list of all the Candomblé “houses” here in Salvador. It was the first survey ever accomplished with an ethnographic guideline. And, then, as a research assistant I was in charge of making interviews with “mães” e “pais-de-santo”, collecting their names, addresses, marital state, their links to the religion, exactly this same question you’re now asking me, how have they started in Candomblé I kept working on this research for more three years, from a certain moment no longer as a simple assistant, but dealing with the theoretical issues involved in it, which led me more and more to a more deep and formal relation with Candomblé In 196”, I was granted to an academic scholarship to live in Africa, in Senegal-Dakar intially. Six month later, I met Pierre Verger, who said to me it was more recommendable for my studies to move to the now named Popular Republic of Benin (a nation which previously existed with the name of Gaumé). Indeed, it is that area where are set together the elements more similar to those ones responsible for the formation of African-Brazilian religiosity. That is the area where came form the Africans who reinvented their original religions into the Candomblé practices after they arrived in Brazil. In “Saqueté” – same city where Verger mostly used to live – I had my religious initiation and commitment with “Yansan”, when I then received my religious name and identity. At that same time I was initiated in other cult – “Babaêku” – a cult to the ancestors. And it all happened to me without having to stop to think rationally about what was going on nor with much of a rational reflection. So, I was then initiated to be an “Eséorixá” (Sun of Orixá – “filho de Santo”) for the Candomblé and also to be an “Ojé” for that ancestors cult. Still, at that moment, I took the commitment with the “orixás” religion that, eventually, I would take even more responsibilities regards it. So, this bigger responsibility came to be 14 or 15 years ago, when I established my “Terreiro” and became a “pai-de-santo” (Babalôrixá).
Int.: “She (Kristine) gets interested in knowing what is the name of your “Terreiro” and if your “Terreiro” was sort of a heritage or transmission from your mother or another “pai-de-santo” to you”
JB: “My “Terreiro” calls “Axéloya”, which means The Yansan´s house. When I got back to Brazil, to my surprise, it happened that I went through another initiation, a supplementary one, because I consider the one I experienced in Africa the really first one. And for this second initiation I had to submit myself to a 16 days of reclusion in a little room named “camarinha” – an usual initiation procedure in Candomblé -, after which I got a religious position called “Oiê” at one of a couple “Terreiros” under the command of “mãe Estela”. This way, to a certain degree, I became linked to the same Mãe Estela Candomblé´s Branch.”
Int: “How has your experience as an academic professor been affecting your thoughts and feelings about Candomblé ?”
JB: “Yes, I think that´s a really big issue and also complicate, this dichotomy. First, i´ll have to expand the content of that answering so that I can respond you something more precise. It was exactly to explain it that I’ve written the book “Oritamejí: o antropólogo na encruzilhada”, which is precisely one effort to explain how to conciliate the scientificity and rationalism of the university and the religious personal experience. At first, I should say that the academy is indeed not much scientific before religion, describing religion and religious phenomenon on its arbitrary words, approaching them with a few misunderstandings. And how can possibly someone like me, who is an Anthropologist considebrly concerned about the rational procedures, be at the same time a “Babalorixá” who lives all surrounded by a “magic” field, with a mystic attitude ? I think that the difficulty in understanding it is not within me, but at the other anthropologists´ eyes. I myself don’t experience any embarrassing feeling about that, because, when I am at a desk table writing a book, an essay, etc, I am simply and only an anthropologist, waring the proper academic tools I have learned for such tasks. I apply the necessary scientifical methodology to come up with my reflections and write on the related subjects. When it’s the time to be a “Pai-de-Santo”, I am no longer the anthropologist, I set upon me the religious-magic mechanisms, reconciliating me therefore with my religion community, and then exerting and performing my religious role as a minister, which is, I should say, much more pleasant than being an anthropologist (smiling). So, there are no obstacles in existential terms. There could be some embarrassing aspect when it comes to “methodology” application, since it may be put under judgment if, somehow, once studying the African-Brazilian religion I can keep my mind clear of my mystical commitments and so exert my performance as an anthropologist. By the other hand some can ask me if, as a “pai-de-santo”, I am not subjected to the anthropologist point-of-view in my religious performance, leading me to therefore interpret these mystic and religious elements under the Anthropology or Social-anthropology perspective. It’s a phenomenological issue hard to avoid, because, however much rationalist I intend to be, and say that I try to split my Anthropologist side apart from the Canbomblé´s Minister one, I cannot help saying that these things are hard to be separated. I think that I avoid this symbiosis by setting a mind-trick, a huge intellectual effort towards to focusing as if I am a hundred per cent Anthropologist when I am being one, and as if I am a hundred per cent “Pai-de-Santo” as I am being one. Along the years, this mental dichotomy became easier. There’s certain confusion around this matter, there are people who think that I try to get advantage of being a Candomblé minister to obtain, as an Anthropologist, very specific information about the religion that I could never access if I were only a Professor. But it’s not simple like that, I think that I would be a better Anthropologist if I never had been a “Pai-de-Santo”. Because, once I enter that religious space as an Anthropologist, I got aware of all the taboos, secrets and all the other sort of difficulties, which puts my mind in a frame the same way it does to any other Anthropologist.
The mystical and religious Candomblé world has elements that can be approached and interpreted by Anthropology, but this same world contains a great number of elements and situations which cannot be explained under the spot of Anthropology. These aspects found their explanation in a knowledge whose source is sometimes diffuse, came from Africa, and don’t mach an explanation with an Anthropological nor rational basis.
On general, it did not provide me much of any advantage in being a Candomblé Minister Anthropologist nor in being an Anthropologist Minister of Candomblé. Surely, it grants me to have, as an Anthropologist, a more rich speech when speaking about Candomblé…. I think that I might know some five hundred Candomblé songs, whereas other Anthropologist probably wouldn’t know that. But to put down most of that religious information on a paper it’s a very delicate issue, mainly when you have the sense of religious Ethics. For example, when I was researching for my doctor ship dissertation – which was about the “shell reading” – I opted to take a time off from my religious activities, I researched at other places out off my “Terreiro”.
Int: “I have an interest on contemporary Candomblé and how Candomblé has been changing along the years. Since I have many questions about it, I would like to know if any of your books tells about it.”
JB: “This one (he points out to one of his books with him) tells a bit on what I understand as changes and tradition. This is a constant question that I keep making to myself. It is even good that Candomblé is changing, going counter to what most people in our religion community think and want. The social-historical environment has been changing as a whole, and Candomblé will only be able to attend the contemporary demands of its members if it adjusts itself to our new political-social-economic context. But this updating should not change its essential substance but only the way it is performed. I like to use the skeleton as a metaphor: the skeleton is the essence, is the traditions of Candomblé, and the clothes this skeleton changes from time to time is the form it displays itself in a certain period to be more adjustable to this or that time. That is, the skeleton (the traditions and essence) remains always the same, what changes is its displaying forms. This guarantees the Candomblé´s survival. If it is no longer connected to the contemporary needs and demands of local people, it will be left behind just as a folkloric decorative object, losing its importance as a real religion. Behind all that changing trends there’s a strong ethnic-cultural sense of identity, kept by the most of its members, which prevents that Candomblé form a more meaningful change, refraining that process. Candomblé is like a big column that sustains the African-Brazilian people cultural and ethnical identity. In this sense, it’s more than simply a religion…. It’s a panel of memories from an ancient past, contributing to form an ethnical behave.
[At this point, Pai Julio let me know we were running out of time because he was late for his next appointment. I asked if I could squeeze one last question in]
Int: "Why is it that women in Candomblé do not play drums during ritual?"
JB: [Marcelo did not translate his answer at that moment which was very fast. As we left the interview, I asked Marcelo what Julio told us and Marcelo told me that it is because women menstruate. I later listened back to the recording and verified this fact.]
[Julio invited us both to a ritual at his terreiro Axe L'Oya and mentioned that he would have his secretary give Marcelo the directions. ]
Interesting sidenote:
Marcelo told me that Julio invited me to be initiated in his terreiro in the family of Iemanja. I was taken aback by this and worried about Julio's motives because certainly it was too soon to talk about initiation into the religion! Upon going to the ritual 2 weeks later I realized Marcelo mistranslated what he said because the initiation ceremony was for an initiate of Iemanja.
[After this we all stood up and Pai Julio stepped around his desk to give me a warm hug]
Save the Date
Please mark May 16-18, 2008 on your calendars for next year's
Gaia Festival & Retreat
May 16th - Evening Music & Dance Performances (TBD)
May 17-18th - Retreat & Festival
Temescal Gateway Park, Pacific Palisades, CA
Registration begins January 2008
I have approached a few people to act as main presenters for Gaia Festival 2008 and am waiting to hear back. I will send out another email to announce the exciting news. I expect to hear back by August.
Gaia Festival West Coast is now accepting proposals for community-based workshops until August 20, 2007.
We are offering the Workshop Presenter Pass as a "Work Exchange" for full attendance to the festival for $110.
If your workshop is chosen, you will be required to exchange up to 2 hours of time (teaching or otherwise presenting) for the Workshop Presenter Pass. The rest of the weekend is yours to do with as you please. You must also provide your own materials for attendee use at your workshop.
If you have a workshop idea, please send me:
* Name of workshop
* Additional costs that will be paid by attendees (materials fee, etc)
* Brief description (100 words or less if possible)
* Your brief bio and any links if you have them
* A digital photo (attached to this email)
Also, we’re looking for healers- to work for a Healers Pass. Its the same idea as the Presenters Pass, volunteering 2 hours of their time giving mini-healing sessions in the Healers Area. The price of the healer's pass is $110.
This year we will be assembling board members from the Gaia Festival community to vote on which workshops will be included in 2008's festival and to assist with planning.
There is also a tentative plan to include a concert and performance the evening of May 16th. If you are interested in performing please send a tape or video of yourself and a description of your performance.
Gaia Festival Community Calendar
July 2007
07/11/07
Frame Drum Workshop with Miranda Rondeau
8:pm-9:30pm $20
for women & men
Learn to play on of the oldest instruments in the world. It was used for rites of passage, celebration, creating sacred space and communal bonding.
Prema Darshan Yoga (home studio)
Termino Ave/2nd St
Long Beach,CA 90803
contact: mirandasmuse@yahoo.com
http:myspace.com/mirandarondeau
(562)925-0457
07/13/07
Divine Union of Body and Soul with Aparecida & Christo Pellani
Live Music and Ecstatic Dance Celebration
9 pm
$15 at door
Get lucky on Friday the 13
Dance with your Beloved partner within to the amazing soundscapes of Christo Pellani
Sacred Belly Dance performance and guided movement meditation by Aparecida
Come ready to dance, sweat, pray, and feel the sensuous union of your own divine body and soul
Earth and Sky Lodge
5521 S. Grosvenor Blvd.
LA, CA 90066
Aparecida
bodyprayer@gmail.com
www.bodyprayer.blogspot.com
323-868-7491
Christo
christodrums@soundformation.com
www.soundformation.com
310-578-5174
7/21/07
Karen Tate Presents
A Lecture and Slide Presentation
Pagan Paris & Sacred Feminine at the Louvre Museum
Magdalene Cultural Center - No. Hollywood
A Mid-Summer’s Magickal Eve
A night of soaring, transcendent music, song, storytelling in a magical garden setting. Vendors, artist displays, healing body work, tarot, food and other magical offerings.
6:30-10:00 pm
$15 advance, $20 at door
Advance tickets available throught www.TheRAY.org
Heaven on Earth Foundation - Home Campus
13907 Chandler Drive (at Ranchito Drive)
Sherman Oaks
Spiritwind Productions is a collaborative production co-op
Mary Ellen Edwards, LCSW and The RAY
(818) 726-8609, Windjam989@aol.com, www.TheRAY.org
http://www.maryellenedwards.com/
7/22/07
Isis Birthday Salon and Feast - organized by Karen Tate
Marakesh Restaurant
Studio City, CA
http://www.marrakeshrestaurant.com/client/marrakesh/homepage.htm
Here is the menu - Look at the Fassi Dinner
http://www.marrakeshrestaurant.com/client/marrakesh/studiocity-menu.htm
$35 will cover the cost of gratuity and the meal, except for drinks that are not included with the meal.
Please pre-pay for the birthday by 7/15.
Make the check payable to,
Karen Tate, and mail it to:
Karen Tate
2554 Lincoln Boulevard
Box 678
Venice, CA 90291
310/450-6661
August 2007
8/18/07
Resonant Voice of the Frame Drum
Performance Presentation & Introductory Workshop
with Miranda Rondeau & guests
3pm-5pm
$20($15 early registration by 8/14)
REMO Recreational Music Center
7308 Coldwater Canyon Blvd
North Hollywood,Ca. 91605
818/982-0461
The frame drum is one of the oldest instruments in the world. It was used for rites of passage, celebration, creating sacred space and communal bonding.
For more Info. contact mirandasmuse@yahoo.com 562/925-0454
8/31/07-9/3/07
Stephanie Hamberger of Gaia Festival and Soul Pilgrim presents, The Enchanted Mountain Goddess Conference
Website- www.enchantedgoddesscon.com
Camp Allegany, Town of Red House, NY
Community-built workshops & ritual amongst the Enchanted Mountains of Allegany State Park.
$75 per person- includes 3 nights dormitory-style lodging and breakfast each morning, tea & snacks
Workshops include:
Huichol Shamanic Journey & Fire Ceremony of Release with HPS Donata Ahern M.S.W., C.H.T.
Sunset Yoga & Storytelling at Thunder Rocks
Connecting to the Rythm of the Goddess, a Drumming Workshop with Rev. Rebekah Benner
Shamanic Healing Waterfall Journey with HPS Donata Ahern, M.S.W., C.H.T.
Herb Walk, Wildcrafting and Making a Walking Amulet
TO REGISTER: http://soulpilgrim.wufoo.com/forms/enchanted-mountain-conference-registration/
September 2007
09/09/07-10/14/07
Work Study at Esalen Institute
Maria Lucia Bittencourt Sauer & Aparecida Sauer
A month with sisters Maria Lucia & Aparecida Sauer is for those who would like to release the burdens of the past and open up to more joy, compassion, and love in their lives. The program includes: ecstatic dance for grounding, centering, releasing, opening psychic abilities for healing, and the embodiment of our own divinity; rituals to focus on and manifest our deepest desires; and touch with the loving energy that can heal and uplift. The program offers Spiritual Massage, Brazilian shamanic practices, the ancient art of belly dance, teachings on the Divine Feminine, sacred art, and ecstatic poetry.
contact:
Aparecida
bodyprayer@gmail.com
www.bodyprayer.blogspot.com
323-868-7491
9/24/07-10/19/07
West African Roots Presents:
Dance, Drum & Yoga Retreat
Join us in beautiful, sunny Senegal to experience a holistic, culturally rich and spiritually enlightening workshop. Participate in shamanic drum, dance, yoga & ritual with Senegal’s elite instructors, directed by Master Drummer, Dancer & Yogi Ken Doumbia and Naomi Doumbia, Ph.D.
* African Drum & Dance classes teach jembé, jun-jun and sabar styles.
* Bihar Yoga classes include pranayamas & asanas with live African drumming.
* African shamanic healing & divination workshops.
* Cultural Activities and Festivities, including story telling, rituals, guest artists and visits to artists’ families’ home fill the evenings and weekends of the workshop.
* Workshop space is located on beachfront property just outside of Dakar, with double-occupancy rooms. Three meals a day are provided.
* The total cost for drum, dance and yoga classes, room, board and ground transportation for four weeks is $3,000. Airfare is separate. Group discounts are available.
For More Information: africanyogi@hotmail.com
December 2007
12/02/07-12/07/07
Spiritual Massage: Lightbody Infusion at Esalen Institute
Maria Lucia Bittencourt Sauer & Aparecida Sauer
Spiritual Massage is a hands-on healing practice that works directly on the energy body, balancing the chakras, cleansing old thought forms, and gently facilitating release of emotional, physical, and spiritual blockages, allowing for infusion by the Lightbody.
Maria Lucia and Aparecida come from a Brazilian family with a multigenerational tradition in shamanic ways and mediumship. In 1979 Maria Lucia came to Esalen and was sponsored by Esalen cofounder Dick Price while she learned Spiritual Massage from Brazilian healer Luiz Gasparetto.
This work is accessible to anyone—nurses, bodyworkers, businessmen, therapists, and all those interested in working with energy and people's bodies.
contact:
Aparecida
bodyprayer@gmail.com
www.bodyprayer.blogspot.com
323-868-7491
General Announcements
Stephanie Hamberger of Gaia Festival & Soul Pilgrim is organizing a sacred pilgrimage to Glastonbury, Cornwall and Dartmoor, England in September 2008. See the Soul Pilgrim website for details: www.soul-pilgrim.com.
Karen Tate is organizing a sacred pilgrimage to Paris in May 2008 and another to Turkey in October 2008. For more information, contact Karen Tate at karentate108@ca.rr.com
Reginah E. Perlmutter LCSW, ACSW is a psychotherapist, healer, feng shui
master, psychic, hypnotherapist, sacred dance teacher, as well as an animal
communicator. Please go to www.lightonlove.com/healing/ for more
information.
Reginah provides sage and flower remedies from a sacred mountain in
Mexico available for purchase through the mail. Please see above website for
more details.
Reginah also provides services as an Animal Communicator/Healer available to do house/pet sitting. Excellent references. Will give your pet soo much love. Reginah E. Perlmutter LCSW - (818) 609-0532
on Podcast - Gaia Fest West '07 Series - Karen Tate