Goddess Festival Presenters 2024

Susun S. Weed - a green witch and wise woman, is an extraordinary teacher with a joyous spirit, a powerful presence, and an encyclopedic knowledge of herbs and health. She is the voice of the Wise Woman Way, where common weeds, simple ceremony, and compassionate listening support and nourish health/wholeness/holiness. She has opened hearts to the magic and medicine of the green nations for five decades. Ms. Weed's six herbal medicine books focus on women's health topics including menopause, childbearing, and breast health. Susun's newest book -- Abundantly Well - Seven Medicines -- is already being hailed as a landmark, "critically needed and timely, it redefines patient-centered care."

 

Visit her site www.susunweed.com for information on her workshops, apprenticeships, correspondence courses and more! Go to: www.wisewomanmentor.com for Susun's free herbal ezine and also mentorship offerings for those who want to go deeper. 

 

 

 

Zsuzsanna Budapest recognized a need for a spiritual dimension so far lacking in the feminist movement and started the Women's Spirituality Movement. Founder of the Susan B. Anthony Coven Number l, the first feminist witches' coven, which became the role model for thousands of other spiritual groups being born and spreading across the nation. Author of The Aquarian Holy Book of Women's Mysteries, the seminal book of the Women's Spiritual movement. Pioneer against laws prohibiting fortune telling. Her own 1975 case paved the way for women everywhere to tap into that birthright as a way to earn a living and serve the public.

 

Z has led rituals, lectured, taught classes, given workshops, written articles tirelessly, and published several books on multiple topics. Her works include Grandmother Moon, The Grandmother of Time, Summoning the Fates, and Z's Easy Tarot. Her ordained Daughters include many who have gone on to teach and lead in their own right, creating a lineage of fierce, independent women who continue the legacy of raising consciousness and bringing women to the Goddess.

Astarte expresses her creativity through her unique approach to dance. Her multi-cultural studies of art and spirituality has shaped her view of dance as a spiritual practice.  She enjoys offering classes and workshops in Sacred Dance as a way to explore and honor the divine.

Astarte’s passion for music and dance inspires her to learn and grow as an artist and a dancer. She has studied various different dance styles such as Egyptian, Turkish, Romani, Persian, Indian, Flamenco and Modern Fusion. She sees a correlation between the dances and the mythology and ritual of the ancient cultures from which they originated. She views the dances as a link to the ancient cultures of the past, and embodies sacred dance as a spiritual practice. She teaches classes and workshops designed to promote sacred dance as practice for physical, spiritual and emotional well-being and empowerment. She facilitates sacred dance workshops, women’s circles and Red Tents to create sacred spaces for women to be in support of each other.

Rita Shahi is a Priestess of the Goddess, Ceremonialist, Healer, and Bodyworker in the San Francisco Bay Area. Rita believes that bridging body and mind is the key to living a holistic life.  In addition to massage and energetic healing work, Rita leads Circle of Her Sacred Flame, a women's spiritual ritual group in Oakland, CA. Her schedule currently offers Womyn-Only Rituals for the 8 High Holydays and a 5-part Womyn’s Elemental Magick in person course. Rita received her graduate degree from Sonoma State University in Depth Psychology and weaves Jungian Depth Practices alongside her Dianic Priestessing. She is an active student of life and dwells in Her mystery. In 2017, Rita was guided to pilgrimage to her ancestral motherland in the Balkans along the Adriatic Sea. This journey furthered her studies with Goddess-centered themes and fueled her thesis, Re-Membering the Sacred Feminine through the Motherline. Rita is dedicated to the Motherline Lineage, Raising, and Uplifting Womyn to know who they are and from where they come as a basis for Personal Empowerment and Spiritual Growth. Rita is a contributing author in the Girl God anthology Re-Membering With Goddess: Healing The Patriarchal Perpetuation of Trauma published Spring Equinox 2022. Follow her on Instagram @sacredhearthgoddesstemple.

Rev. Laura Gonzalez offers her intuitive gifts as a Spiritual & Community Healer, Priestess and Minister and is a Practitioner of Traditional Mexican Folk Magic, Native Philosophies and North American Paganism in the Goddess tradition. Her community activism is an extension of her spiritual practice, she is an advocate for the Indigenous, Pagan & LGBTQIA communities and cares deeply about women’s rights, suicide prevention and diversity inclusion. Laura co-edited the e-zine, El Caldero and has published there and in Circle Sanctuary Magazine. Her book written collaborations appear on the following titles: “Pagan and Witch Elders of the World” by Tamara Von Forslun, “Dream Witchery” by Elhoim Leafar,  “The Gorgon’s Guide to Magical Resistance” by Laura Tempest Zakroff, “Cancer Witch” by Ivo Dominguez Jr & Madame Pamita and, “Madre Mundo” by Christian Ortiz (Spanish). Laura has been deeply honored to present workshops at events such as Parliament of the World's Religions, Greater Chicagoland Pagan Pride Day, Fort Wayne Pagan Pride Day, North Western Indiana Pagan Pride Day, St. Louis Pagan Picnic, Circle Sanctuary and Pagan Spirit Gathering. She’s a leader in her community as a resident Bruja (healer) and as volunteer ESL teacher at the Aquinas Literacy Center. Laura González is also a popular podcaster and producer of her shows, Lunatic Mondays and Paganos del Mundo and manages Circle Sanctuary Network Podcasts. 

Hecate's Wheel are Vicki Scotti and LuAnn Morris. Together with Amy Otero they formed the musical trio in 2007. While Amy has left the group, LuAnn and Vicki continue to record and tour across the country. The ladies deliver outstanding vocal harmonies while telling tales of the Goddess, love and life.

Ella Hope is an author, educator/ facilitator, entrepreneur/ visionary, rainforest advocate, and ritual dance artist. As an author, her two 500-page textbooks, Healing Through Nature: A Self- Healing Practice- & Reference Guide: Volumes I & II were printed in 2010 for teaching purpose; she has facilitated at national/ international conferences since 1999. Her recent books are: A Course in Healing Through Nature: Bridging Complementary Healing, Vibrational Medicine & Eco-Shamanic Practice, and Initiation of the Heart: Re-Membering the Ancient Religion of the Great Mother for Contemporary Times. Her online platform includes in-depth Courses filmed in Ritual Landscapes:: The Foundational Practice of Healing Through Nature - NW rainforest; Initiation: Working with Larger Landscapes - Kauai; Evolutionary Elemental Healing - Bermuda, and recently, Returning to Her Garden of Immortality - Mexico. As an entrepreneur/ visionary, she founded the Mother Earth Temple in 2006, an 8000 sq/ft ceremonial lodge with residences.  Ella's ritual dances of the Minoan Snake-Tree-bird Goddess continue to surface at Festivals, in celebration/ teaching of the ancient yogic-shamanic techniques of The Great Mother at this time of Re-Membering. As an ordained Dianic High Priestess, and Healing Through Nature Author & Practice-Guide, she is working to link "third/ first world" Goddess Temples, in Her Service.

 Tinnekke Bebout is a Torchbearer and Keybearer in the Covenant of Hekate, and in that capacity, founded the Sanctuary and Temple of Hekate Einalian, which serves the community in the greater Chicago area as well as the global online community. She is also an ordained Dianic High Priestess in the lineage of Zsuzsanna Budapest.
Tinnekke is founder of The Mystai of the Moon, a path of Dianic witchcraft that is dedicated to exploring the Mysteries of Hekate in the modern era. As a Mentor Sister of the Mystai, Tinnekke has been teaching women in a Goddess-centered tradition of Hekatean magick and mystic studies for over a decade.
Tinnekke is author of The Dance of the Mystai, which will be coming out in its third edition in 2024. Tinnekke is creatrix of the Female Mystique Tarot, also due out in 2024. Tinnekke has been published in Sagewoman, Circle, PanGaia, The Goat and Candle, and Goddess. She is a contributor to Hekate: Her Sacred Fires from Avalonia Publishing. Tinnekke has been featured as a speaker at Paganicon, Chicago Pagan Pride, Goddess Festival International, and Fire on the Mountain. She frequently teaches workshops on tarot and offers divination services in person and over Zoom at Tarot by Indigo Light

Areli Fraga / XochiAtl (Blooming Waters) is mother, healer, visioner, ceremonialist, fire woman and temazcal runner, yogini, moon dancer, sun dancer, activist and Transpersonal Coach.

She has being walking this path learning, connecting and expanding through the ancestral medicines, sacred ceremonies and wisdom’s keepers by the hand of her healing gifts used for the awaking and healing of others.

She represents the Modern living Goddess Culture thru her life, practicing tribal mothering between sisters and doing ceremonies for the community in service for the great cosmic mother, working with the elements and essence of the Mexican goddess spirits.

XochiAtl believes We can let go of suffering as a means of learning by expanding our consciousness and connecting to the Spirit. Magic is a gift given for all of us and can be used in service to the awakening of humanity.

Crackpot Crones Terry Baum, slightly world-renowned lesbian playwright, and Carolyn Myers, retired warrior princess of comedy, are the Crackpot Crones.  They create a show of sketch comedy and improvisation about goddesses and heroines.  For example:  Eve goes into therapy after 5,000 years of guilt over that apple, Eleanor Roosevelt has a lesbian lover while in the White House,  a new discovery of Sappho’s poetry reveals a more sardonic look at love. . . and much much more.  Laughter, revelations, recognition, the audience onstage – every show unique.