Wise Woman Celebration 2002!
Gaea • Mother Earth • Nature

St. Andrew’s College 1121 College Drive
June 28 & 29 in Saskatoon

From Melva Armstrong, WHOLifE Journal

We are back for our second annual Wise Woman Celebration! Blessed be! We are calling all women to gather on June 28 and 29 in Saskatoon to celebrate the beauty, power, and wisdom of women, and to honour Gaea, Mother Earth, and Nature. Women of all ages are welcomed and encouraged to attend.

The organizers of Wise Woman Celebration 2002 believe in the importance of women gathering together to honour and celebrate the gifts of life. This year we are focusing our energies on Gaea, Mother Earth, and Nature and in so doing we are presenting a series of playshops that will help remind women to reconnect with our Mother Earth through Gaea (Goddess of the Earth) and through Nature. In our busy lives we often forget to take some time each day, each week, or each month, to connect with our Earth Mother–to thank her for her enormous amount of gifts, to feel and absorb her rich energies that heal and rejuvenate us, and to remember and honour our sacred connection to Her. At this year’s celebration you will have a chance to do that reconnecting, that honouring of the sacred, which will help ground you and heal you for the many months that follow.

This year the titles for some of our unique and exciting playshops are: A Wise Woman Sings and Dances, A Wise Woman Connects Her Heart to the Earth, and A Wise Woman Dances Her Divinity. And indeed, a wise woman does these and more, so if all, or even a part, of your heart has been stirred by these gorgeous titles, that is your intuition speaking to the wise woman inside you. In that case, it may be time to seriously consider coming to this year’s celebration. The more the merrier!

A special feature this year will be Jacqueline Gautier of Saskatoon presenting her Labyrinth at a wonderful playshop called Wise Women Walk the Sacred Path. According to Gautier, "The labyrinth is a form of walking meditation. There is something special about walking the paths and turns that allows one to pray and meditate more deeply. It has the effect of clearing and calming the mind, allowing one to be open to insights for their spiritual journey." Everyone who attends the celebration will have an opportunity to experience walking this sacred path.

The experiences that come from women joining together to celebrate and honour life are powerful and energizing. We who attended last year’s wise woman celebration know this first hand. Therefore, we are excited about this year’s celebration because we know it will be another wonderful and empowering experience. We invite you to honour yourself by coming and celebrating with us. It will be great fun! I look forward to seeing you there.

It hardly seems a year has gone by since our first Wise Woman Celebration 2001. We had a wonderful time and so many of you have spoken with us throughout the year about your ideas for Wise Woman Celebration 2002. This year we are delighted to focus on the theme of Gaea, the earth goddess.

Our celebration will begin Friday night with a dramatic presentation of Baba Yaga’s Hut, performed by Lia Pas and Anita Verlangen. Lia wrote this play which is based on the Baba Yaga myth–a glorious fragment of the old Goddess-centred religions of Europe through Asia. According to the book, Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, the triple-headed Goddesses are represented by Hecate, the Baba Yaga, Mother Holle, Berchta, and Artemis, among others (p. 434). Baba Yaga’s Hut tells the story of a female initiation tradition and our Wise Woman Celebration 2002 will continue to tell these stories, or stages, of a woman’s life from maiden through mother through crone.

Our keynote speaker this year is Cathy Fenwick of Regina. Cathy is a well-known storyteller in Saskatchewan and across Canada. Many of us have been enlightened by her recent series of articles in WHOLifE Journal in which she writes about her inner and outer journey to the sacred feminine and mother earth. Her articles are based on the experiences she had during the Spiritworks "Crossing to Avalon" Pilgrimage in 2000. Full to overflowing with many wonderful life experiences, Cathy is sure to bring magic, laughter, and appreciation to the theme of Gaea (Initiations of the Earth Goddess), Mother Earth, and Nature.

Once again we will be bringing you lots of playshops to consider. Last year you told us you had a difficult time choosing from the wonderful selection of playshops and we promise the choice will be difficult again this year. This year we will also be adding a "Healing Room" to our celebration, as well as a Wise Woman Tarot Reader.

It is a great pleasure to issue the call for you to join the Wise Woman Celebration 2002. See you soon, Wise Woman!

Friday Evening Performance Baba Yaga’s Hut

A multi-disciplinary telling of the Russian Folktale "Vasalisa the Wise". A dark and bizarre story of initiation, intuition, and the meeting of the crone. Vasalisa, a young woman with a magical doll, is sent to fetch fire from Baba Yaga, who eats sweet young things, controls the movement of light through the world, and lives in a hut that dances on chicken legs. Baba Yaga gives Vasalisa a number of impossible tasks, which the doll helps her complete. Written, Composed, and Performed by Lia Pas with Anita Verlangen as the Doll.

Saturday Morning Keynote Presentation Cathy Fenwick, Regina

Wise Women Respect Gaea, Our Earth Mother – Mother Earth is the Great Goddess Gaea, who births herself and all of creation. We, daughters of Gaea, long to perceive the sacred that is all around us. Mother Earth cries out to us to heal ourselves, heal each other, and heal the spirit of our planetary home. Goddess principles of nurturing, compassion, joy, and beauty are essential to the life force of Mother Earth. As we celebrate the Goddess energy manifested in nature, we are able to connect deeply with the spirit of Gaea. We will welcome this day by honouring Gaea, Mother of us all.

Wise Women Walk The Sacred Path – A presentation of the Labyrinth by Jacqueline Gautier of Saskatoon. Jacqueline will share her many experiences and knowledge about the sacred path of the labyrinth. After that everyone will have an opportunity to walk the sacred path and reconnect with the healing and nurturing energies of the Great Mother Earth.

A Wise Woman Dances Her Divinity – A dance playshop to invoke and honour the divine mother within and around us all. Be prepared for a unique and divine experience that you will remember and cherish for years to come. Presenter: Gina DiPaolo, Saskatoon, SK.

A Wise Woman Knows How to Live with Loss – A common theme in all our lives is loss. Using a mixture of reflective, interactive, and creative activities, participants will be invited to share images and spiritual resources that have helped them in times of loss in their lives. Presenter: Charlotte Caron, Saskatoon, SK.

A Wise Woman Connects Her Heart to the Earth – A playshop called Circle. Hear the drums’ rhythm. Escape into your natural inner landscape. Reconnect heart to earth in an improvised performance celebrating snake-like transformation; goddess emerging again and again and again. Presenters: Beata Van Berkom and Kellie Welk, Saskatoon, SK.

A Wise Woman is a Storyteller – Storytelling helps us give voice to our inner selves, to sing our own song, and dance to the rhythms of Mother Earth. I will use the character of Trickster, who has outrageous and humourous behaviour, to put things into perspective and teach us lessons. Trickster is fun and fun to hear about. Presenter: Cathy Fenwick, Regina, SK.

A Wise Woman Reclaims Feminine Power & Energy – We will use a special meditation that stimulates our connection to Mother Earth in order to receive her important messages. You will learn how to call upon and draw only the powerful, spiritual energy that belongs to you, while teaching respect for the "gifts," energies, and power that belong to another. Presenter: Sheila Bautz, Middle Lake, SK.

A Wise Woman Sings & Dances – I plan to share my own healing voice and spirit dancer within by taking you on a magical journey towards falling in love with your own spirit dancer and "The Dancer" in your dream. We will sing, we will dance, we will have fun! Presenter: Beauty Faulkner, Saskatoon, SK.

A Wise Woman Takes Care of Mother Earth – Can we influence the weather in a positive way? A playshop about opening our hearts and minds to the possibility that individually and as a group we can create balance and harmony in our weather and environmental conditions on Mother Earth. Presenter: Carell Farmer, Blackstrap, SK.

A Wise Woman Nourishes Her Body – An opportunity to learn the components of "Intuitive Eating" and why intuitive eating is needed to nourish your body. This playshop will also include group discussion about nutrition against disease and understanding eating for regeneration versus degeneration. Presenter: Eleanor Kozak, Saskatoon, SK.

A Wise Woman is Full of Soul – Shamanic techniques will be used to acquaint or renew your connection to your own soul. Are you fulfilling your spirit? What is the gift you have come to share with this world? Presenter: tessera nova, Saskatoon, SK.

A Wise Woman Uses Intuition – Focusing on the mythical story of Baba Yaga, this playshop will explore the various psychic tasks women must engage in to claim the instinctual life. It will focus on the tasks of understanding and celebrating how a wise woman must let old patterns of being die in order for the new wise woman to be born. Presenter: Anne Elliott, Saskatoon, SK.