It's My Birthday and I'll Make Peace If I Want To

One of the few things I've been clear about this month is that I knew, deep in my soul, that I needed and wanted to be at the 2nd World Congress on Matriarchal Studies, which this year is happening in San Marcos (on the campus of Texas State University) and is themed "Societies of Peace." So, off I go, on my birthday no less (September 30th, baby!) to spend a wondrous weekend surrounded by some of the most brilliant and painstakingly righteous women that I know! (Big shout outs to Firesong, Frieda Werden, Bracken Firecracker, Millilani Trask and Andrea aka Gaia!)

The Congress kicked off on Thursday the 29th, but it's probably not too late to get out there to get your ears filled and heart sung, cuz it goes on 'til Sunday, October 2nd. Click here for more information and to register online. There's no registration cost because the folks putting this together adhere to the concept of the Gift Economy. Donations and other resource support will, however, be gladly accepted. See ya there, mujeres!

Here's schedule information:

Friday 30th September  Texas State University, San Marcos

  Opening ritual
 
  Part III.  Present Matriarchal Societies - Africa
 
9 - 10:30 a. m.      Panel 4:  North Africa
 
  Hélène Claudot-Hawad, France
 
"Woman the Central Pillar of Society"
  The Representation of Gender among the Tuareg (Imajaghen)/Sahara
 
  Fatimata welet Halatine, Tuareg (Imajaghen), Central Sahara
  Renouncing privileges: a Tuareg Woman in Modern Times
 
  Malika Grasshoff, Kabyle, Berber, Algeria/France/Germany
  The Central  Position of Women among the Berber People
of Northern Africa, exemplified by Kabyle Women
 
10:30 - 11 a. m. Discussion with the audience
11 - 11:30 a. m. Break
 
11:30 a. m. - 2 p. m.      Panel 5: West and South Africa
 
  Wilhelmina J. Donkoh, Akan, Ghana, West Africa
  Female Leadership among the Ashante
 
  Gad A. Osafo, healer, Akan, Ghana, West Africa
  Akan Healing Heritage – an Overview
 
  Cécile Keller, woman doctor/healer, Switzerland
  Matriarchal Medicine
 
  Dr. Yvette Abrahams, Khoekhoe, Namibia, South Africa
  Living in Our Natural World:
Indigenous Women, Power and Knowledge
 
  Bernedette Muthien, Khoisan, South Africa
  Beyond Patriarchy: The Khoisan and Partnership
 
2 - 2:30 p. m. Discussion with the audience
2:30 - 4 p. m. Lunch Break
 
  Part IV.  Present Matriarchal Societies - Asia
 
4 - 6  p. m.      Panel 6:  India, Sumatra, China
 
  Patricia Mukhim, Khasi, Northeast India
  Matriliny among the Khasi and Garos of Meghalaya:
  Challenges and Opportunities
 
  Savithri de Tourreil, Nayar, Kerala, Southwest India/Canada
  Nayars: matrilineal or matriarchal or a bit of both?
  How do they fit into a South Indian Matrix
 
  Peggy Reeves Sanday, USA
  Divine Queenship: Considerations from the Minangkabau of West Sumatra
  of West Sumatra
 
  Ibu Ita Malik, Minangkabau, Sumatra, Indonesia
  The Role of Minangkabau Women
 
6 - 6:30 p. m. Break
 
6:30 - 7:30 p. m. Lamu Gatusa, Mosuo, China
  A Sacred Place of Matriarchy: Lugu Lake – Harmonious Past and Challenging Present
 
  Danshilacuo, Mosuo, China
  Mosuo Woman – Environment, Pullulation, and Views on Own Culture
 
7:30 - 8 p. m. Discussion with the audience
 
 

Saturday  1st October     Texas State University, San Marcos
 
 
  Opening ritual
 
  Part V. Past - Historical Matriarchal Societies
 
9 - 11:30 p.m.      Panel 7:  Research in the USA
 
  Joan Marler, USA
  Old  Europe through  a  Matriarchal  Lens
 
  Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum, Italy/USA
  Black Madonnas, Cathars, and Witches – Peaceful Societies and Violence
 
  Vicki Noble, USA
  Those Without Husbands: How the Amazons Got Their Name
 
  Marguerite Rigoglioso, USA
  In Search of the Libyan Amazons: Preliminary Research in Tunisia
 
  Susan Gail Carter, USA
  The Matristic Roots of Japan
  and the Emergence of the Japanese Sun Goddess, Amaterasu-o-mi-kami
 
11:30 - 12 P. m. Discussion with the audience
12 - 2 p. m. Lunch Break
 
2 - 4 p. m.      Panel 8:  Research in Europe
 
  Annette Kuhn, Germany
  Transitions of Matriarchal Power in the Symbolic and Social Sphere in History
 
  Kurt Derungs, Switzerland
  Landscape of the Ancestress. Principles of the Matriarchal
  Philosophy of Nature and the Mythology of Landscape
 
  Kaarina Kailo, Finland
  The "Helka Fest" - Traces of a Finno-Ugric Matriarchy and Worldview?
 
  Christa Mulack, Germany
  Matriarchal Structures in the Hebrew Bible
 
4 - 4:30 p. m. Discussion with the audience
4:30 - 5 p. m. Break
 
5 - 5:40 p. m. Origin of  Patriarchy
 
  Heide Goettner-Abendroth, Germany
  Origin of Patriarchy -
  Criticism of Theories and a Suggestion for the Solution
 
5:40 - 6 p. m. Discussion with the audience
 
 
8 - 9 p. m. Evening program
  Max Dashu, USA
  Slides Show: Mother-Right and Gender Justice
 
  Lydia Ruyle, USA
  Icons: Sacred Images of the Divine Feminine Around the Globe
 
 

Sunday  2nd October      San Marcos, Texas
 
  At the Parks and Recreation Dept. Activities Center
501 East Hopkins
San Marcos TX 78766
 
  Opening ritual
 
  Part VI. Matriarchal Politics
 
9 - 11  a. m.
Big Panel: All of the lecturers are invited who would like to make
 
a short statement on this topic.
 
Discussion with the audience
 
11 - 11:30 a. m. Break
 
11:30 - 12:30 p.m. Developing  a DECLARATION
 
 
San Marcos River

 
3 - 6 p. m.

Public matriarchal ritual of
"The Circle of a Peaceful World"
 
All of the speakers and participants are invited.