Goddess Journeys at Gaia's Garden

Whether you have found us by word of mouth, or through your own searching for a deeper connection with the Divine Feminine : We Welcome You Here.

Gaia’s Garden is a wonderful location in Kew East, Victoria which contains a sacred ceremonial space, labyrinth and meditation spaces.

We conduct workshops and study circles as well as allowing for small groups and individuals to privately use the spaces by negotiation.

In 2012 we have planned eight journeys with some wonderful friends who are experts in their area. All Journeys cost $60 including lunch. Places must be reserved in advance.

Goddess Gathering: Intentional Listening and Connection to the Land

For the third year, the team at Gaia’s Garden is delighted to host the Goddess Gathering at the end of April. Previous Gatherings have provided an opportunity for women to hold deep discussions about the meanings and beliefs they hold about Goddess spirituality and practice.

The third annual Goddess Gathering is an opportunity for women to explore their Goddess spirituality in a supportive environment. This year we will also be visiting some sacred sites close to Melbourne. We will be posting more about the Gathering in the next couple of weeks. This year we invite you to join us in an experience of intentional listening which will deepen our understanding of this unique place and connection with Goddess in Australia.

The Gathering commences on Friday 27th April at 6:00pm and concludes 4:00pm Sunday 29th April. Cost: $120 to cover food and other expenses. Accommodation can be arranged in billets in the local Goddess community.

Goddess Gathering: Connecting to the Land

What are the particular challenges for Goddess loving women in Australia? Our ancestors, largely from Western cultures, connected to the land in their part of the world; they moved with the seasons as they followed the wheel of the year. The Goddess, for them, came from this connection and spoke to them of the land and the changing conditions; they knew when to celebrate, to create ceremony, to connect with the sacred.

For those of us whose ancestors came to this land after white settlement, we connect to these ancient traditions and we also love this country. However, the seasons are different and the sacred places have been identified by another culture. Also western sensibility to landscape and place is affected by living in urbanized settings, separated from the land and nature.

This Gathering will explore what it means to connect to the land here in Australia. We will journey to two Indigenous sacred sites and learn the significance of place; we will pay attention by using our senses to connect to the land through careful listening, feeling and seeing in new ways.

Where is Goddess expressed in your environment in the place where you live? Early people saw Her in the land, in nature and She is still there; and She is also in the urban environment despite the challenges that may create. In your planning to join us at the Gathering we would ask for you to find signs of Goddess in the landscape where you live, take a photo and bring it with you.

Date: Friday 27th – Sunday 29th April
Time: Friday 6:30 – 9:30pm

Saturday 9:00am – 9:00pm
Sunday 9:30am – 5:00pm
Cost: $120 covers all meals, refreshments and travel to site visits.

Mothers of the Movement

with Drs Patricia Rose and Clare French

June Saturday 23rd 10:00 – 4:00

Dr Clare French is the first person to receive a PhD in Goddess Studies in Australia. Clare is an elder from the Northern Hemisphere - Europe, with Goddess stories of her Place there, and the loss and regaining of them, who has also experienced leaving her homeland and coming to live here – in Australia and in the Southern Hemisphere.

This fascinating day will introduce you to the 'mothers' of the Goddess community around the world through the eyes of Dr Patricia Rose, scholar and activist from Queensland. Patricia is the co-author of Gaia Emerging: Goddess Beliefs and Practices in Australia and brings personal knowledge and experience of the many women who led the way to Goddess spirituality. Her active search for Goddess is unique in Australia. Come and meet Asphodel Long, Monica Sjoo, Starhawk, Kathy Jones, Carol Christ, Mary Daly, Zsuzanna Budapest and more in conversation with Patricia Rose.

Move Like a Goddess

with Shekhinah Morgan

August Saturday 4th 10:00 – 4:00

In this wonderful workshop Shekhinah will teach us to move like a Goddess. Shekhinah, a dancer, musician, and body worker, is principal and teacher at the Awalim School of Middle Eastern Dance and Percussion and for 20 years has been exploring the relationship between Egyptian Dance and the Sacred Feminine. A highly skilled teacher, Shekhinah will show you the power of what she has learned in a unique and deceptively simple manner that will build your body awareness, confidence and personal presence.

The Magick of Ritual

with Jane Meredith

September Saturday 22nd 10:00-4:00

Jane Meredith is a writer, ritualist and workshop presenter. Her book, Aphrodite’s Magic: Celebrate and Heal Your Sexuality is a combination of a magical Goddess spell with personal development work and her second book, Journey to the Dark Goddess: How to Return to Your Soul will be published in 2012.

Jane is a regular presenter at both the Glastonbury Goddess Conference in England and the Australian Goddess Conference, and her workshops run internationally. She is known for her innovative rituals, powerful invocation of Goddess and her enthusiasm for making ritual and magic accessible and participative.

The Magick of Ritual

Rituals can be amazing, magical and powerful – and some are just... not. Everyone can remember times where the ritual - whether it was solo, with a partner or group - took off, and seemed to almost run itself, powered with an energy that came from the Goddess, the earth and deep within ourselves. Less happily, we can also remember rituals that were dry, stilted or uncertain, where we never quite connected with what was happening.

What makes a successful ritual? How do you invite the participants to be fully involved? What does it take, to step across the boarders of the ordinary into the numinous? How can you, as a ritualist, become one with your ritual, so that you exist in the living breathing magical realm you are calling on?

Intention, technique, structure and practice all play a part in creating rituals that work. We will explore a number of aspects of ritual in depth; learning about invocations, casting circles and calling to the elements as well as creating intention and facilitating and deepening your ritual through structure, content and active participation. Magic unfolds within this space… and we’ll also examine what that means.

This work is fully participative, experiential and experimental, come prepared to use your voice and body. The day will culminate in a group ritual, devised by the participants and implementing what we've learnt.


bio
Jane Meredith is a Priestess of the Goddess who lives in Australia and presents workshops internationally. She is a regular presenter at both the Glastonbury Goddess Conference and the Australian Goddess Conference. Her books are: Aphrodite’s Magic: Celebrate and Heal Your Sexuality and Journey to the Dark Goddess: How to Return to Your Soul (pub. May 2012). She is affiliated with the Reclaiming Tradition and passionate about ritual, magic and myth, trees, rivers, dark chocolate and cats. Visit Jane's website and Jane's blog.

Goddess Antecedents of Christmas

December Saturday 22nd 10:00-4:00

This fun day will help you see Christmas in a totally new way. Join Tricia, Jenny and Margaret for a fun and information full day that draws on Goddess history from many parts of the world. This day will make this Christmas the most enjoyable you could have.