Cakes for the Queen of Heaven
Cakes goddess art - "Gaia" and "Theodora" by artist Elizabeth Carefoot
Sunday evenings
6:00 - 8:00 pm Central
September 18 - October 23, 2022
All sessions held on Zoom
How would your life have been different if, when growing up, the divine had been imaged as female?
Cakes for the Queen of Heaven is a woman-honoring curriculum that explores the relationship between women's religious history and the personal issues that arise in women living in this patriarchal society. It examines pre-Judeo Christian cultures that likely worshiped the female as divine. This workshop series examines important elements of today’s women’s lives; personal, interpersonal, and societal. The primary question raised is: How would your life have been different if, when growing up, the divine had been imaged as female?
Women struggle with issues of body image, troubled mother-daughter relationships, sexual freedom and access to power. We need to know that there was a time when the female body was sacred; that there once was a long-lasting religion in which the chief divine actors were a mother and her daughter; that in very ancient times women had significant power in their societies; that although patriarchal societies have oppressed women for centuries, there have always been strong and talented women. Our female history has been erased and trivialized for too long. In this book we meet ancient goddesses and their stories from around the world, real women in ancient Sumer, in Greece, in Judaism and in Christianity. In Cakes for the Queen of Heaven the past is before us, the women are there, and they help us change our lives.
Participants will create a community of trust where they are encouraged to share their own experiences and beliefs and process them through multi-sensory practices like drawing, sculpting, journaling, and meditation.
The course was created by the Unitarian Universalist’s Women and Religion program in the late 70s. It is divided into two parts. The first part was held in Spring 2022, with weekly meetings focused on the goddess in near eastern pre-history. The second part, being presented now, focuses on the goddess in the Judeo-Christian tradition and imagining the future. Part two is six two-hour sessions that meet weekly. Participation in the first session is required to enroll in this series.
Traditionally, this class was offered to people who identified as women, however our class is open to anyone interested in connecting with the feminine aspects of themselves and exploring the divine feminine.
The recommended offering is $75. Other pay options are available. All classes are held on Zoom, and class size is limited to 12 people. The course is led by Sivani Gelfand and Erica Merchant.
Register early. The facilitators will contact registrants with suggested reading prior to the start of the workshop series.
6:00 - 8:00 pm Central
September 18 - October 23, 2022
All sessions held on Zoom
How would your life have been different if, when growing up, the divine had been imaged as female?
Cakes for the Queen of Heaven is a woman-honoring curriculum that explores the relationship between women's religious history and the personal issues that arise in women living in this patriarchal society. It examines pre-Judeo Christian cultures that likely worshiped the female as divine. This workshop series examines important elements of today’s women’s lives; personal, interpersonal, and societal. The primary question raised is: How would your life have been different if, when growing up, the divine had been imaged as female?
Women struggle with issues of body image, troubled mother-daughter relationships, sexual freedom and access to power. We need to know that there was a time when the female body was sacred; that there once was a long-lasting religion in which the chief divine actors were a mother and her daughter; that in very ancient times women had significant power in their societies; that although patriarchal societies have oppressed women for centuries, there have always been strong and talented women. Our female history has been erased and trivialized for too long. In this book we meet ancient goddesses and their stories from around the world, real women in ancient Sumer, in Greece, in Judaism and in Christianity. In Cakes for the Queen of Heaven the past is before us, the women are there, and they help us change our lives.
Participants will create a community of trust where they are encouraged to share their own experiences and beliefs and process them through multi-sensory practices like drawing, sculpting, journaling, and meditation.
The course was created by the Unitarian Universalist’s Women and Religion program in the late 70s. It is divided into two parts. The first part was held in Spring 2022, with weekly meetings focused on the goddess in near eastern pre-history. The second part, being presented now, focuses on the goddess in the Judeo-Christian tradition and imagining the future. Part two is six two-hour sessions that meet weekly. Participation in the first session is required to enroll in this series.
Traditionally, this class was offered to people who identified as women, however our class is open to anyone interested in connecting with the feminine aspects of themselves and exploring the divine feminine.
The recommended offering is $75. Other pay options are available. All classes are held on Zoom, and class size is limited to 12 people. The course is led by Sivani Gelfand and Erica Merchant.
Register early. The facilitators will contact registrants with suggested reading prior to the start of the workshop series.
ABOUT THE FACILITATORS
Sivani Gelfand is an Interfaith Spiritual Guide, Reiki Master Teacher, and the Director of Religious Exploration at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans. She is also a Pagan High Priestess, leader of a monthly new moon women's circle, and teacher of the Divine Feminine. Through teaching, ritual, and mentorship, she is devoted to empowering and supporting others, especially women, on their spiritual journeys towards wholeness.
Erica Merchant is a writer, teacher, intuitive reader, and reiki practitioner. She double majored in Religious Studies and Creative Writing, and after graduation she moved to China where she spent the next 12 years visiting as many temples as possible across Asia. She is a devoted life-long learner with particular interests in mysticism, world mythology, and the translation of poetry and sacred texts. She has never met an ancient kingdom or dead language she didn’t want to know better. She loves teaching Cakes for the Queen of Heaven, which introduces ancient Goddesses and their stories from around the world, to remind women of female history which has been repressed and trivialized for far too long.
Please contact us if you have any questions:
(985) 892-8111 or [email protected]
Women's Center for Healing & Transformation
71667 Leveson Street
Abita Springs, LA 70420
(985) 892-8111 or [email protected]
Women's Center for Healing & Transformation
71667 Leveson Street
Abita Springs, LA 70420
