Lydia Ruyle is an artist scholar

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2 Joan Cichon, a retired history professor and reference librarian, is currently a Ph.D student at CIIS and is writing her dissertation. Joan's areas of interest are archaeomythology, matriarchal studies, and the role of women and Goddess in Bronze Age Crete, where she resides part of the year. Lydia Ruyle is an artist scholar emeritus of the Visual Arts faculty, University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colorado where The Lydia Ruyle Room for Women Artists was dedicated in Her research into sacred images of women has taken her around the globe. Ruyle creates and exhibits her art and does workshops throughout the U.S. and internationally. Since 1995, her Goddess Icon Spirit Banners have flown all over the world spreading their sacred feminine energies. Her book, Goddess Icons Spirit Banners of the Divine Feminine, was published in 2002.

3 Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum's professional work has developed from that of a traditional historian to the continually widening methodologies of a feminist cultural scholar concerned with submerged beliefs. Intercultural, as well as interdisciplinary, she has studied everyday and celebratory rituals, saints' stories, the lives of her sicilian grandmothers/godmothers, and other dark others, including canaanites, muslims, jews, heretics, and witches. Adopting comparative history, she has juxtaposed european and U. S. history and beliefs of the italian women's movement with beliefs of women of the world. Vicki Noble is a healer, artist, writer, independent scholar, and wisdom teacher, co-creator of Motherpeace Tarot, and author of numerous books including Shakti Woman: Feeling Our Fire, Healing Our World (1991) and The Double Goddess: Women Sharing Power (2003), which have been translated and published in Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and most recently, French. She travels and teaches internationally, as well as in the Womenʼs Spirituality Masters Program at ITP (Institute of Transpersonal Psychology) in Palo Alto, California. She lives in Santa Cruz, California, where she practices astrology and hangs out with her son, two daughters, and three grandchildren.

4 Max Dashú teaches global women's history and heritages through images. In 1970 she founded the Suppressed Histories Archives, researching mother-right, female spheres of power, goddess veneration, shamanic arts, patriarchy and the history of domination. She has built a collection of over 20,000 images and created 130 slide talks, which she has presented in every conceivable setting. Her dvd Women's Power in Global Perspective (2008) is followed by a second, Woman Shaman: the Ancients, now in production. Breastpots is the latest in her series of international posters on female heritages. Joan Marler, MA (Archaeomythology), is in the Philosophy and Religion/ Womens Spirituality doctoral program at CIIS. She is Executive Director of the Institute of Archaeomythology, and author (with Harald Haarmann) of Introducing the Mythological Crescent (2008). She edited The Civilization of the Goddess (1991) by Marija Gimbutas; From the Realm of the Ancestors: An Anthology in Honor of Marija Gimbutas (1997); The Danube Script (2008); Signs of Civilization (with M.R. Dexter, 2009); and is consulting editor of the journal ReVision.

5 Sharon Rigby Osborn I am a United Methodist pastor who jumped out of the patriarchal paradigm into women s spirituality at The Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. I am learning what it means to be a woman among women, standing in my female power. I ponder, pray, write poetry, and play! Rekha Kurup is a second year Women's Spirituality Masters Student at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. She is in the process of completing her Masters Thesis that explores the matrilineal traditions that influenced a Nayar womanʼs relationship to her body and sexuality in her North Malabar family structure of Kerala India. Rekha Kurup is also, a trained instructor in Yoga, Breathing and Meditation, and works as the Program Director for Silicon Valley Based Non Profit called Youth Empowerment Seminar (YES!) for Schools.

6 Marguerite Rigoglioso specializes in the study of female deities and women s religious roles in the ancient Mediterranean world. She is the author of The Cult of Divine Birth in Ancient Greece and Virgin Mother Goddesses of Antiquity, pioneering works on miraculous conception as women s shamanic practice. She teaches at CIIS, the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, and Dominican University, and offers The Divine Birth Mystery Teachings: Reawakening the Ancient Mediterranean Priestesshoods. She has presented her work on divine birth and the Libyan amazons at several world congresses on matriarchal studies and motherhood studies. Ph.D., humanities; M.A. in philosophy and religion, CIIS. Klaudeen Shemirani is a current graduate student at ITP s Women's Spirituality program, with a focus on birthing ancient messages and medicine of sacred belly dance. After working in high tech public relations for more than a decade, Klaudeen evolved her career as a Holistic Communications Consultant, and practices her lifework as an energy healer, life coach, ritual facilitator, "shimmy spirit teacher and content writer for entrepreneurial healers. Klaudeen is also the Founder of Sacred Shimmy Circles and Cofounder of Women of Divine Light (Facebook). She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of California, Berkeley.

7 Alana Roman is a Board member of The Red Web Foundation, which is non-profit educational website on menstruation. Currently, Alana is pursuing her Masters in Women's Spirituality at California Institute of Integral Studies. She is an advocate for pregnant women knowing and understanding their birthing rights, as well as, women understanding and embracing their menstrual cycle. She currently volunteers at San Francisco General Hospital as a volunteer Doula. Frances Florence Santiago was born and raised in the Philippines; she is a dancer and poet inspired by her ancestral traditions. Currently she is a Ph.D student in Women's Spirituality at the California Institute of Integral Studies. She also works with the Worldwide Indigenous Science Network in support of wisdom keepers of ancient cultures around the world.

8 Leilani Birely is a Hawaiian Kahuna and Dianic High Priestess who brings ancient Hawaiian healing and Goddess wisdom to the community. She is the founder/ritual director of Daughters of the Goddess Women s Temple in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has conducted workshops and ceremonies in Hawaii, Canada, the Michigan Women s Music Festival, the Goddess Temple of Orange County, Spiral Door Priestess Training Faculty at the Temple of Diana, and at CIIS. She is on the faculty of the Women's Spirituality M.A. program at ITP and co-authored a book with Luisah Teish entitled On Holy Ground: Commitment and Devotion to Sacred Lands. Lin Daniels, MA (Women's Spirituality) has been been producing events, conferences, and festivals internationally for women since She continues to produce and direct events for and by women, most recently, Eve Enslerʼs Vagina Monologues at I.T. P. in Palo Alto. She is Director and Founder of the Amazon Icon Foundation, which produces and distributes biographies and films of Lesbian Feminist activists, writers and cultural workers. lindanielsamazon@inreach.com

9 MaShiAat Oloya Tyehimba-Ford carries the title of Queen Mother (MaShiAat), and is founding and presiding Queen Mother of Spiritual organization: The Kindred of ShiEndra, an active matriarchal spiritual community based on the morality and universal concepts of the Kemetic pantheon. She is an IyaNifa in the Ifa tradition and was ordained by Z Budapest as High Priestess in the Dianic tradition. MaShiAat Oloya is a Holistic/Spiritual Practitioner and Herbalist, receiving a BS in Nursing and Midwifery from Alfred University and other certifications in indigenous and complementary healing. She is co-founder of the Khepra Holistic Institute and the Khepric Transformational Platform both dedicated to the concepts of complete wellness through holistic, indigenous, and naturopathic modalities. MaShiAat Oloya lectures and facilitates workshops with local and national community activist and spiritual leaders. She is considered a bridge between religious organizations and their misconceptions of indigenous people and their spiritual practices and has made it a personal crusade to expose the similarities among Christian based philosophies and indigenous spirituality with the intent to build unity among the people as a whole.

10 Mariam Irene Tazi-Preve is currently Visiting Professor at the University of New Orleans and as an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Vienna on leave. She has a background as political scientist/women`s studies doing research in the area of demography (fertility) and family studies, research focus: motherhood and fatherhood (empirical studies and politics, national and European perspective) family and population policies (national and European perspective) and women in Islam; she published several books: Familienpolitik nationale und internationale Perspektiven (Family Policy National and International Perspectives, 2009), Väter im Abseits (Fathers aside, 2007) and Mutterschaft im Patriarchat (Motherhood in Patriarchy, 2004). Deborah Neff is a sociocultural anthropologist whose work has centered upon Native Americans in the Southwest and among Nayars and itinerant lower caste ritual performers in Kerala, South India. Her work has focused upon the empowerment of women and the poor and the symbolism and social practices in which social inequality is embedded. Dr. Neff published a book entitled, Desert Indian Woman (University of Arizona Press, 2000) and has recently completed a second book entitled, The Dancing Serpent: Nayar Women and Pulluva Ritual Specialists in Keralaʼs Pampum Tullal. Dr. Neff is currently Visiting Scholar in Anthropology at the University of Arizona and has recently begun work assisting Betty Makoni of Girl Child Network in replicating GCNʼs model to instantiate empowerment for girls who are victims of gender-based violence throughout Africa.

11 Wennifer (Wei-Ni) Lin, PhD (World Arts and Cultures, UCLA) remains grateful to have explored her passions in natural birth and spiritual/shamanic midwifery via an interdisciplinary, heart-centered, and wombbased approach. Of native Taiwanese ancestry, Wennifer loves that she comes from a goddessloving island devoted to Matsu, mother deity of the sea. Currently, she is committed to nurturing her three much-loved children, running a livingfoods/eco-water store (The Water Brewery) with her dear Norwegian husband, and actualizing The Mother Earth Sanctuary ~ an envisioned global webwork of eco-villages for the conscious birthing of babies and the matristic/matriarchal rebirthing of our planet. J a n i e O q u a w k a Rezner, "Spiritual Feminist Warrior. I am a mother, grandmother, artist, writer and musician, maker of mystical sounding triplechambered ocarina, and Iʼve been singing publicly most of my life, inspired as child by my motherʼs beautiful alto voice. Born in 1933, I grew up on Illinois farm, BA in music. After 46 years in mid-west, three children, I moved to Berkeley, California, MA in clinical psychology from JFK University; began profound sacred journey into the Sacred Feminine, as music, art and writing poured forth, heralding the Return of the Sacred Feminine. I interview women who are concerned about life, on Womenʼs Voices radio.

12 Dr. Heide Goettner-Abendroth Born in Thuringia (Germany) in 1941 and mother of two daughters and one son. Ph.D. in philosophy and theory of science at the University of Munich where she taught philosophy for ten years ( ). She published extensively on theory of science and various books on matriarchal society and culture and, by her lifelong research on this topic, has become the founder of Modern Matriarchal Studies. In 1986, she founded the International ACADEMY HAGIA. Academy for Matriarchal Studies and Matriarchal Spirituality in Germany, and since then she is director. In 1980, visiting professor at the University of Montreal/Canada and, in 1992, at the University of Innsbruck/Austria. In 2003, she organized and guided the 1st World Congress on Matriarchal Studies in Luxembourg, and in 2005, the 2nd World Congress on Matriarchal Studies in San Marcos/Texas. In 2011, she guided the international Conference on Matriarchal Studies and Matriarchal Politics in Switzerland. In 2005, she was elected by the international initiative 1000 PeaceWomen Across the Globe as one of these women from all over the world who were nominated for the Peace Nobel Prize In 2009, she published: SOCIETIES OF PEACE Matriarchies Past, Present and Future Forthcoming April 2012: Matriarchal Societies. Indigenous Cultures across the Globe