2017 Spring Conference in Pilgrim Park Illinois
As Above, So Below
Our Presenter was Molly Remer!
Molly has been “gathering the women” to circle, sing, celebrate, and share since 2008. She plans and facilitates women’s circles, seasonal retreats and rituals, mother-daughter circles, family ceremonies, and red tent circles in central Missouri.
She is an ordained priestess who holds MSW, M.Div, and D.Min degrees. She has worked with groups of women since 1996 and teaches college courses in group dynamics and human services. She began creating birth art during her first pregnancy in 2003 and has never stopped, though the medium in which she works has evolved with time, as well as its expression.
Molly is fiery, intense, and driven. Molly is the author of Womanrunes, Earthprayer, and The Red Tent Resource Kit, as well as three social service oriented booklets and a miscarriage memoir. She maintained her popular Talk Birth blog from 2007-2016 and writes about thealogy, nature, practical priestessing, and the goddess at Brigid’s Grove, her Woodspriestess blog, and SageWoman Magazine. She also writes for Feminism and Religion. Read more about Molly at www.brigidsgrove.com
Keynote: The Joy of Personal Ceremony - Molly Remer
If you have ever wondered how to carry the spirit, energy, vibrancy, and connection of a women's conference, ritual, or festival home with you and back into the mundane, this session will give you practical resources, experiences, tips, and ideas for bringing magic, ceremony, and ritual into your every day life. We will explore the benefits of ritual, the concept of everyday magic, and you will receive a "ritual recipe kit" for holding a personal ceremony of your own.
Molly’s workshop – Womanrunes and Calamoondalas will be offered after our lunch break. Everyone is welcome to participate in her workshop. Following Molly’s workshop we will offer 3 more workshops. Please select your first choice when you register.
Workshop for All
Womanrunes and Calamoondalas - Molly Remer
In this hands-on session, we will get to know Womanrunes, a female-identified divination symbol system for insight, understanding, and personal growth. Originally created by goddess spirituality foremother and wayshower, Shekhinah Mountainwater in 1988, and expanded by me in 2012, Womanrunes are intuitive, personal, practical, and powerful. We will explore many ideas for projects using Womanrunes, making our own sets of Womanrunes, using Womanrunes with a group, and how to create a Calamoondala for the year as well as how to use Womanrunes for layouts, daily guidance, and as a Moonwheel-keeping practice. You will receive a handout packet and mandala templates to use, experience, and explore.
Workshops to Choose From
Connecting with Our Ancestors – Jenny Ross
There are many ways to create connections with our ancestors. One way is by exploring our family histories and the things that would have been familiar to our grandparents or great grandparents. This year, I have combined my interest in food and my interest in family history into a cooking and writing project. My project is loosely based on a history project called The Historic Food Fortnightly that ran on the internet in 2015 and 2016. I am using cookbooks that were handed down from my Great Grandmother and her mother to me as the basis of this project. The books are falling apart and full of hand written notes about different recipes. In addition to the books, there are loose pages with more recipes that were stuck in the book for safekeeping. Every two weeks, I select a new recipe or recipes to try. It is an opportunity for me to sit down and visit with my Great Grandmother and her mother. I am sharing my kitchen experiments and writing about family history on my blog (www.whatjennymakes.net).
In this workshop I will share the objects and pictures that got me started on this project and we can discuss ways that you can create a similar ancestor project, whether you inherited a cookbook or not. I will also share my favorite recipes from the project. If you like, you can bring your own recipe collections to share. I will have information available on how to find a cookbook for your own project if you didn’t inherit one.
Reach Your Dreams by Making a Vision Board – Susan Solon
Have a hard time staying focused? Need help with clarity? A vision board is a fun tool to keep your mind on track when it comes to setting and reaching goals. You can use it to jog your memory, visualize, meditate, and stay centered. Start saving up images from magazines, photos, small printed trinkets (ex.: matchbook covers, bookmarks, etc.), poetry, quotations, and mantras that you may want to add to your board. Some magazines will be available, but the more your board reflects your unique style and approach, the more effective it will be!
Choral Arrangement of Blue Boat Home - Singing, Sailing, Soaring in our Blue Boat! – Janet Adams
Like to sing? Learn 3-part harmony to Blue Boat Home. Notice how the lyrics by Peter Mayer, truly encompass all the elements--Earth, Air, Fire and Water--as well as our theme--As Above, So Below. We'll learn, rehearse, then perform during open mic and/or closing ritual.
If you have your own copy of Singing the Journey (teal hymnal) please bring it.
