Charlene Spretnak Honored for Leadership in Women's Spirituality
Charlene Spretnak is the 2012 winner of the Demeter Award for Leadership in Women’s Spirituality. The award will be presented at the Association for the Study of Women and Mythology (ASWM) national conference in San Francisco, May 11-12, 2012. Her presentation is entitled, Modernity, Mythology, and the Elusive Gestalt.
Ms. Spretnak’s work is internationally recognized in the areas of spirituality, cultural history, feminist and other social criticism, and ecological thought (Green politics, ecofeminism, ecophilosophy). In 2006 she was named one of “100 Eco-Heroes of All Time” by the publication of the British government’s Environmental Department.
She is one of the founding mothers of the Women’s Spirituality movement, through her work in the second half of the 1970s and the early 1980s. Her first book, Lost Goddesses of Early Greece: A Collection of Pre-Hellenic Myths reconstructed pre-Olympian myths for the first time in more than 2500 years; the Los Angeles Times called it “a poetic revelation.” [Two pieces from this work and several other references are included in Shirley Ranck's Cakes for the Queen of Heaven curriculum - Gretchen]
Her most recent book, Relational Reality: New Discoveries of Interrelatedness That Are Transforming the Modern World (2011), focuses on the “Relational Shift” seen in the fields of Education and Parenting, Health and Healthcare, Community Design and Architecture, and the Economy.
UN: Global Conference on Women in 2015
On International Women’s Day, Secretary-General, General Assembly President Propose Global Conference on Women in 2015, 20 Years after Beijing
Following is a joint announcement by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and General Assembly President Nassir Abdulaziz al-Nasser:
The President of the United Nations General Assembly, Nassir Abdulaziz al?Nasser, and the Secretary-General of the United Nations would like to jointly propose the convening of a Global Conference on Women by the United Nations in 2015, 20 years after the last women’s summit in Beijing.
Given that women make up half of humanity and given the importance and relevance of women’s issues for global progress, it is high time that such a world conference is convened. It is all the more important because of the enormous changes the world is going through, with both positive and other implications for women.
The President of the General Assembly and the Secretary-General feel confident the international community will welcome this joint initiative. They also hope that the Member States, who have the final authority to convene the proposed conference, could take the necessary steps during this sixty-sixth session of the General Assembly. They believe that the high point that the United Nations reached with the establishment of UN-Women in 2011 can be meaningfully substantiated with a global programme focusing on women that can be articulated at the Fifth Conference.
Consensus Resources
The following materials have been compiled to provide an overview of Consensus Decision Making, including definitions and suggested procedures. -- Nancy Irons, a past member of W&R in CMwD.
Consensus decision-making is a group decision making process that not only seeks the agreement of most participants, but also the resolution or mitigation of minority objections. This strategy involves everyone playing a role in the decision making of the group. In order for this to be successful it is important to be open to compromise!
Consensus is usually defined as meaning both general agreement, and the process of getting to such agreement. Consensus decision-making is thus concerned primarily with that process.
While not as common as other decision-making procedures, such as the parliamentary procedure explained in Robert's Rules of Order, consensus is used by a wide variety of groups. Religious denominations such as the Quakers. . . .
Continental UUW&R featured in One-and-One
Keep Margaret Fuller's Spirit Alive
The Margaret Fuller Bicentennial Committee would like to thank everyone who hosted the traveling display “Why Margaret Fuller Matters,” celebrated Margaret Fuller Sunday, and created or participated in the many programs that were part of the Bicentennial all over the country. You have helped make this Bicentennial both rewarding and memorable.
The final Boston-area event was held on May 25, 2011, at Max and Dylan’s Restaurant at 15 West Street in Boston, the former Peabody Book Room, where Fuller offered several of her famed “Conversations." We are happy to report that the Boston Landmarks Commission voted unanimously to designate 13-15 West Street a Boston City Landmark, with a recommendation to pursue national designation for the site. There was no owner opposition to this listing, and no protests to the nomination. This is happy news after three years of waiting. What this means is that any attempts to demolish or take the building further away from its original configuration will have to go through a process of scrutiny that will hopefully give the public time to defend the site. It does not make the building invulnerable, but it does establish a first line of defense. Be sure to visit the site next time you’re in Boston.
Although our scheduled program has come to an end, we would like to remind you of the extensive resources that will remain on our website: www.margaretfuller.org.
Apply for the Dana Greeley Award
All Unitarian Universalists are invited to submit a sermon (or address) to the UU-United Nations Office (UU-UNO). The topic this year should address “Empowering Women for a Better World.”
While all submissions will be considered, those highlighting the work of the United Nations and the UU-UNO will be given priority consideration. The winner will be awarded a cash prize of $1,000 and will have the opportunity to deliver the sermon or address at the next UUA General Assembly.
Send submissions by February 1, 2012 via email to greeleysermon@uu-uno.org. For more information, visit the UU-UNO's website.
CALLING ALL CRONES AND CRONES TO BE
Has your women’s group used the curriculum, Becoming Women of Wisdom: Marking the Passage into the Crone Years? If so, we would love to have your feedback. Thus far, we have heard that participants are finding the program very exciting and empowering. One comment we receive frequently is that the program provides a way for women to get know themselves and each other at a deeper level than ever before. Please send your feedback to Dorothy Emerson at RevEmerson@aol.com or call her at 781-391-6455.
If you have not yet participated in the program, you might want to consider it. The 13-session curriculum is designed for women who are entering or have passed through menopause and would like to mark this passage and deepen their understanding of what it means to be a wise older woman. The program opens the participant to the power, wisdom, and insight of the mature self.
Imagine entering the labyrinth of your psyche, slowly following its turns in and out as you weave yourself toward the deep center of your essential knowing. As you make your way forward, you will remember the past, integrate its lessons and shed its excess baggage, until you come to the present moment of possibility and transformation. There you will claim the beauty and truth that can be yours and begin your walk out of the labyrinth integrating your new found knowledge and the thirteen guiding principles of a crone as you retrace your steps. Before you reemerge into the world, you will celebrate your new state and assume the mantle of the crone. As a mature woman of action and compassion, you will claim your power as a woman of wisdom.
The curriculum has been written by Melody Lee, in collaboration with co-creators Karen Edwards and Dorothy Emerson, and can be ordered from Rainbow Solutions, at www.cronecurriculum.net.
Subcategories
Reproductive Justice
If you have any questions, please contact UU Women and Religion, info@uuwr.org.
Main resources from the UUA: www.uua.org/reproductive
