| Inge at Asilomar Retreat |

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Celebrate “She Who Is” Encounter the Divine
Feminine with body, mind and spirit A Retreat for Women
2010 DATE TBA soon!
a Spiritual Retreat for
Women, on the grounds of Asilomar Conference Center, Pacific Grove. Sacred Re-imaging,
rituals and work(play)shops, sacred sounds, altar building, meditation with the Cosmic Mother, Christian Feminist stories,
beach walks, free time and relaxing with beauty that is around, among and within! MORE details forth
coming. Limited to 15 women. Retreat begins on Friday with registration 4 - 6 PM, dinner,
introduction and meditation at the water's edge. Program ends at noon on Sunday. Two
nights, six meals and program $250 per person. Join us: God/dess Around Us Language of the Goddess
– Pr. Boorn God/dess Within Us Connecting with God/dess – J. Dancer
God/dess Beyond Us Spirit Shrines – Linda Roberts
Also: Music with Jeannette Cool Julia Morgan tour with Inge Horton plus:
beach and beyond... and building a group altar
Retreat begins on Friday with registration 4 - 6 PM, dinner, introduction and meditation at the water's edge.
Program ends at noon on Sunday. for info and registration contact: sboorn@aol.com
Reflection on “Retreat with She Who Is” by
Jo Ann Heydron The new year starts for me in September.
I have been raising children for a quarter century, and not so long ago I became a student again and then a teacher myself.
Late summer has always brought new color and energy to my mind and heart, as well as the determination, not always
successful, to clear away fixed ideas and habits that no longer nourish me. This year, the Retreat
with She Who Is [sponsored by Ebenezer Lutheran Church, San Francisco on the grounds of Asilomar Conference Center, Monterey
] was a grace-filled way to begin afresh—with hands on experiences and fellowship, prayer and theological conversations
with Pastor Stacy Boorn, rest and ocean air. Pastor Stacy reminded us of some of
the discounted feminine images of God in the Old Testament—probably none of which were the products of female imaginations—and
invited us to form our own images in clay of Asherah, the mother goddess of the Canaanites familiar to early Jewish inhabitants
of Canaan. I am no artist. Warming and working the clay with my hands, I wondered whether
my goddess would look anything like the photograph of an Asherah figure Stacy provided as a possible starting point.
Almost immediately I forget all about the picture. I began to form, as well as I could, my own breasts
and hips, my own hair and face and arms and belly, my 52-year-old self, an Asherah with a sacred body just like mine.
I can't tell you how healing that was. The next project, led
by Kathryn Wagner, was to make a mandala, a circular, meditative image of the self. My own didn't turn
out very well. I wasn't able to draw symbols from my unconscious mind, or lay down color and other materials—paper,
paint, fabric, beach sand, feathers, sequins, tiny mirrors—in a way that deepened my understanding. But
others were, and in remarkable ways. I admired the beauty of their creations. That was
a kind of learning, too. Kara Benson led us in simple movement.
I was certain that this activity was going to be wasted on me. But Kara began with journaling and
meditation. Words I can deal with! One of the questions Kara asked was, what are your
dancing dreams? I have those all the time! I was able to write about, meditate on, and even move with a
vision of dancing with my father, 20 years dead now, and sick for most of my childhood—of dancing with my father when
he was healthy and whole. On the shore of Monterey Bay, on Saturday night and Sunday morning, all ten of us prayed
the Goddess rosary [some beaded their own Goddess Rosary that afternoon] beside a cross erected of driftwood and draped with
seaweed. Stacy called us to remember the sea as the primal water from which life emerged, to think of it as the amniotic fluid
of our mother's wombs. Beginnings are fuzzy things.
We don't always start with a clean slate. That cross—we didn't build it. Another
of the many Christian groups at the conference center must have, and some of us wondered whether they would be glad we were
using it. Not all Christians are as conscious as herchurch is of Jesus' message of radical love for all
people, of his determination to bring the marginalized of his own day back into the circle of compassion.
One of the great challenges in my life has been to take seriously Jesus' claim in Luke 4 that, not only had he come
to bring good news to the poor, release for the captives, sight for the blind, freedom for the oppressed and cancellation
of debts, but that all those revolutionary things were happening right then—and right now. The kingdom—the
kindom—of God/Goddess is already among us. In grace-filled moments like those at the Retreat with
She Who Is, that idea is easier for me to grasp. Its reality lies right in the palm of my hand.
********* Jo Ann Heydron is a Presbyterian who lives in Palo Alto. She worshipped at herchurch
[Ebenezer ELCA – San Francisco] this summer and hopes to do so again in the future.
| Preparing beach "altar" on Retreat with She Who Is |

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| Maggie honoring the Goddess at Zakros, Crete |
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| As she spreads her wings, bears them ... so is God |

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| photo by Pastor Stacy (on Deut, 32:11) |
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Inclusive Hymns for Liberating Christians [ to purchase book contact
Jann Aldredge-Clanton or Eakin Press (1-800-880-8642) ] The wide variety of biblical divine names and images in Inclusive Hymns for Liberating Christians will contribute to belief in the sacredness of all people
and all creation. Peace and justice flow from this belief. These hymns draw from the prophetic, liberating tradition
in Scripture. Biblical themes, phrases, and images form the foundation for all the hymns. Predominant themes of
the hymns are peace, justice, resurrection, abundant life, liberation, new creation, and partnership in relationships.
This collection includes hymns that celebrate the seasons of the church year and other special occasions. Balancing feminine and masculine divine names, Inclusive
Hymns for Liberating Christians will lead to deeper understanding and experience of the Creator of all.
Some of the hymns resurrect feminine divine images, like Wisdom and Ruah,
that have long been buried in Scripture and Christian tradition. Bringing feminine sacred names into worship encourages
the revaluing of the feminine so that the Gospel values of liberation and equality are realized. Inclusive Hymns for Liberating Christians also supports the sacred
value of people of color by changing the traditional negative symbolism of darkness. These hymns symbolize darkness
as creative bounty and beauty. Inclusive Hymns for Liberating
Christians will help churches and individuals in their journey toward freedom from racism, sexism, and other injustices.
For many of these hymns Jann Aldredge-Clanton draws from the rich tradition of hymn tunes, giving new expression
to familiar music. This hymn collection also includes original tunes and arrangements by composer Larry E. Schultz.
This new, vibrant music enhances the meaning of the texts. CD: Selections from Inclusive Hymns for Liberating Christians Jann Aldredge-Clanton & Larry E. Schultz
Performed by the Congregation, Choirs, & Orchestra of Pullen Memorial Baptist Church, Raleigh, North Carolina
The hymns recorded
on this CD are selected from Inclusive Hymns for Liberating Christians. These hymns inspire justice and peacemaking.
They empower women, men, and children of all races to become all they are created to be in the divine image. The wide
variety of biblical divine names and images in these hymns will contribute to belief in the sacredness of all people and all
creation. Peace and justice flow from this belief. These hymns draw from the prophetic, liberating tradition in
Scripture. Predominant themes of the hymns are peace, justice, resurrection, abundant life, liberation, new creation,
and partnership in relationships.
For many of these hymns Jann draws from the rich tradition of hymn tunes,
giving new expression to familiar music. Some of her lyrics are set to original tunes and arrangements by Larry.
This new, vibrant music enhances the meaning of the texts. Also included on this CD are hymns with texts by Larry.
CD: $15.00 , Hymnal:
$21.95, CD & Hymnal Package: $25.00
To Order: Email: aldredge-clanton@sbcglobal.net
Give mailing address, and specify order/s. CD/s, Hymnal/s, and/or CD & Hymnal Package/s will be sent to you with an invoice.
FRIDAY NIGHT
GROUP FOR WOMEN:
Each first Friday of the month for women who want to explore the feminine face of God/dess and Spirituality.
We want to converse and meditate and share in fellowship together in such a way that our womanhood is affirmed.
We create a safe and sacred space where we can speak freely, think creatively, ask questions, and open our hearts and
minds to new possibilities. WHAT: Discussion, A Potluck Meal and a Devotion. WHERE:
(church), WHEN: First Fridaysat 7 PM.
Know Me
by Lana Dalberg You, my daughter are my incarnation. Your hands do my work in the world. They honor me, the Spirit of all things. My daughter, know me in yourself, and I will live through you and nourish those for whom you care.
I will feed them with my vitality, my strength and my compassion. I will love through you:your smile, your helping hand,your discipline and self control. I will live through your laughter, and your art,your stooping down and lifting up as you gather all things to Me, for I am the source of life and abundance and
joy.
Know me,
your Mother
Goddess as the Spirit of the one true God who lives within you.
Mother’s Day 2006 (Lana is a member of our faith community. We encourage people to express their faith and spiritual journey
through writing, the arts, music, service, acts of justice and community building.)
Recommended Books:
In Whose Image, God and Gender by Jan Aldredge-Clanton Crossroad Publishing Company
Rebirth of the Goddess by Carol P. Christ Routledge
The Creation of Patriarchy by Gerda Lerner Oxford University Press
Sexism and God-Talk Toward a Feminist theology Rosemary Radford Ruether Beacon Press
Goddesses and the Divine Feminine Rosemary Radford Ruether University of California Press
Church in the Round Feminist Interpretation
of the Church
Letty M. Russell Westminister/John
Knox Press
In Search of the Christ-Sophia An
Inclusive Christology
for Liberating Christians
Jann Aldredge-Clanton
Eakin Press
Longing for
Darkness Tara and the Black Madonna. by China Galland Penguin/Compass The Chalice & the Blade by Riane Eisler Harper, San Francisco
The Once and Future Goddess by Elinor W. Gadon
Harper Collins
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