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Monday
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Monday
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Workshop
the phrase "not just god in a skirt" keeps coming to me --> part of why The Goddess and not just Goddess?
--> "Goddess" w/o "the" doesn't make enough difference in my head and in my thinking
women's community; women coming together
women's community that includes feminist men
--> the E of that community feels explicitly like the Goddess to me
Meeting for Worship
from songs my workshop participants who arrived early yesterday were singing while waiting:
i sat under an old oak tree
and asked the Goddess to carry me
She wrapped me up in ancient green
ancient green
all my fears
all my fears
all my fears
river gonna wash away
...which i learned from becky birtha during the first-ever singing the Goddess workshop i did, at qlc '98.
the river is flowing
flowing and growing
the river (she is) flowing
down to the sea
Mother, carry me
your child i will always be
Mother, carry me
down to the sea*
...which i know is in julie's book, b/c i learned it when a bunch of us got together and sang... a bunch of songs from sfe for julie...
* (c) Diana Hildebrand-Hull, "The River Is Flowing."
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Tuesday
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Meeting for Worship
step by step, the longest march
can be won, can be won
many stones to form an arch
singly none, singly none
and by union what we will
shall be accomplished still
drops of water turn a mill
singly none, singly none
"God is not moderate"
you shall indeed go out with joy
and be led forth in peace
you shall indeed go out with joy
and be led forth in peace
before you, mountains and hills
shall break into cries of joy
and all the trees of the wild shall clap
clap their hands*
*(c) music, Nancy Schimmel; words, Isaiah 55:12
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Wednesday
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Meeting for Worship
thought train: teach magic. time spent this week talking about the Goddess and magic.
the question about magic really is, what spiritual practices in your life are transformative? (rather than, what spiritual practices in your life are magical?)
[when talking about magic:] what spiritual practices in your life are transformative? when in your life have you experienced transformation and change?
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Thursday
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Workshop
social and sacred ritual as an E-saving device
--> don't have to decide together each time how to shake hands, etc.
[thoughts/notes from what folks are sharing, for our work tomorrow:]
new beginnings
community
direct experience
transformation
teaching magic
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[Bonnie Tinker died Thursday afternoon, and my emotional, mental, and spiritual state was such that I did not take any more notes Thursday or Friday. I am grateful that I was with Friends, in a community with no laity, while we ministered to and supported each other. I also had amazing and wonderful support from the members of my workshop, the other Healing Center co-Coordinators, and the Compassionate Listening team.]--------------------------------
Sigh - wish I had been there. I was in a FGC workshop focused on feminist spirituality some years ago that was a bit tired and a bit timid. This sounds very rich. I like the spareness of your notes, as so much more is hinted at.
ReplyDeleteHi, Mary Ellen,
ReplyDeleteThanks.
My notes are just some of the notes from my experience... they're not my complete notes from the workshop, and they're definitely not my notes as the facilitator of the workshop. :)
You can get a sense of what I had planned from the description: The Goddess Is Alive & Magic Is Afoot.
But even so, that's a shadow, an incomplete reflection of what I'd planned and of what happened.
If I can, what with the move and all, I'd like to write a blog post about the workshop itself.
Were you able to come when Gathering was in River Falls? And does Bowling Green, OH, seem more do-able for you?