February 2009: Embodying Compassion: Tara in the Buddhist Tradition

I am very excited to announce a new initiative in Veriditas Programming called the School of the Sacred Feminine. After nearly 20 years working with the Women's Dream Quest, 14 years working with the Labyrinth and 6 wonderful years being immersed in the mysteries and magic of Chartres, I am delighted to be working with Lauren on programming that will deepen our understanding of the sacred feminine at this moment in our world's history

The School of the Sacred Feminine is a school for the soul. We will offer courses, gatherings and pilgrimages. In each gathering, we will meet in council utilizing the principles of circle organization. We will walk the labyrinth for guidance and inspiration. We will study cross cultural teachings of the sacred feminine from history, spiritual practice, religion, philosophy, psychology, literature and the arts and integrate these streams into our hearts, minds and bodies through meditation, dance, and ritual. The school will convene regionally in the United States, in the UK and in France.

The sacred feminine is that stream in the history of our species that reflects the inner, receptive, holistic aspects of human being. It has been expressed throughout history not only in the archetypes of the great female deities, but also in the impulse to compassion and inclusive understanding that resides in the hearts of all men and women. The sacred feminine has been secondary and implicit in our history. We seek in every way to honor the sacred feminine -- to make it an explicit and equal partner to the stream of masculine creativity and power that has dominated the life of our culture. We go about this task with care and awareness, conscious as we can be at this moment in history, of the shadow sides of both the masculine and feminine impulses.

We live in a time when the inner arts of meditation, body practice, and expressive arts are coming into their own as partners to more discursive ways of learning. This is also a time when psychological awareness is keen and transformative. We seek to weave these modalities into a coherent whole that produces a transformed human being who sees with the heart, feels with the mind and knows with the body.

The labyrinth is our symbol, our common practice and our refuge. We will return again and again to its integrating power. The School of the Sacred Feminine blooms like a rose from the 12^th century labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral. It is fitting that we receive inspiration from a place where the spirit of the sacred feminine has been kept alive from the reign of the great Goddess to the reign of our remarkable Mary.

The School of the Sacred Feminine will have a specific and coherent curriculum. Students will be able to take courses that will build on each other. They will be sequenced and related. We will encourage community development with annual gatherings. We seek to be a wise and compassionate voice in our culture encouraging our students through practical service and creative endeavors to manifest the values of the sacred feminine in our societies.

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