Mythic Rhythm II

2nd Annual Gaia Festival Debuts on West Coast

Kris — Thu, 17 May 2007 13:59:24 GMT

Kris Katsuko Oster kris@gaiafestival.com May 16, 2007 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2nd Annual Gaia Festival Debuts on West Coast Los Angeles-- Gaia Festival West Coast, celebrating multi-cultural, interdisciplinary and inclusive of all spiritual beliefs, debuts on Saturday, May 26 at 10:30 a.m. through Sunday, May 27 at Temescal Gateway Park, 15601 W. Sunset Blvd., Pacific Palisades. Tickets are available for full weekend passes ($180) and individual seminars ($10-$25). Festival presenters are leading scholars and artists in their fields that have created dynamic, interactive workshops to engage the whole person: mind, body and spirit. “Gaia Festival is a collaboration of diverse and multi-cultural artists, educators and business owners, to celebrate our connection to the living earth, Gaia, as well as pool our collective wisdom towards resolving the many issues and problems we are facing today,” says Kris Katsuko Oster, co-creator of Gaia Festival with Stephanie Hamberger. Ms. Hamberger organized the inaugural Gaia Festival on November 11, 2006 in New York centered on two workshops facilitated by Pagan author and activist, Starhawk. The energy and interest generated by the initial event led to the momentum necessary to develop the second event on the West Coast. “We recognized a yearning for connection to our Earth Mother and conceived Gaia Festival to feed that hunger,” says Ms. Hamberger. “Our goal is to begin a community that expands beyond the two day festival into a regular practice of goddess worship and earth nurturance.” Author, lecturer, Goddess advocate and native of Venice, California, Karen Tate (www.karentate.com), is the headline presenter and has played a major role in developing the festival program for this year. “I was really interested in working with Kris and Stephanie on Gaia Festival because it’s so in alignment with my own work, bringing the Sacred Feminine into mainstream consciousness,” Karen explains. Karen’s workshop “Sacred Sites of the Goddess: Ancient Echoes of Herstory” will open the Gaia Festival program on May 26, 2007 at 1:15 pm. Gaia Festival will share proceeds donated by sponsors and advertisers with its non-profit partners Temple of the Goddess Pasadena (www.templeofthegoddess.org) and global sustainability think-tank Empowerment Works (www.empowermentworks.org). Xia and her attendant Priestesses from the Temple of the Goddess Pasadena have developed a powerful and transformative opening ceremony to invoke Gaia and send healing prayers to ailing bee populations. The opening ceremony will feature the drumming talent of frame drummer and singer, Miranda Rondeau. Melanie St. James, Executive Director of Empowerment Works, is giving a lecture entitled "Social Permaculture" on Sunday, May 27, 2007 at 2:00 pm. Melanie’s organization practices a model of support and collaboration that creates a sustainable future for our planet. About the Gaia Festival Founders Hamberger is a photojournalist who has led pilgrimages to Glastonbury, Cornwall and Bath, England for Lammas celebrations since 2001 and is currently authoring a book about the sacred traditions of bread baking around the world. Oster is a percussionist, myth scholar, sacred event organizer and web developer. In 2006 she spent 2 and a half months in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil completing research for her Doctoral dissertation in progress, “The Heartbeat of the Mother: Ritual Drumming & Revisioning Images of the Feminine in Candomblé.” # # #

Gaia Festival Schedule At-A-Glance

Kris — Sat, 28 Apr 2007 21:23:18 GMT

Gaia Festival - Celebrate our Ancient Connection to the Sacred Feminine May 26-27, 2007 Temescal Gateway Park Pacific Palisades, CA. Gaia Festival Workshops & Events: May 26, 2007: 10:30-11:00 am Opening Ceremony - "Invoking the Divine Feminine" Gaia Festival opens with a ritual circle of all participants and presenters, led by Rev. Karen Tate and members of the Temple of the Goddess from Pasadena. Public Ceremony. $5 suggested donation to the Temple of the Goddess of Pasadena. 1:15-2:45pm - “Sacred Sites of the Goddess: Ancient Echoes of Herstory” workshop with Karen Tate. $25 fee. 3:25-4:55pm - “The Magdalene Circle: Connecting with Mary Magdalene Within” workshop with Joan Norton. $25 fee. 7:00-8:00pm - “Fumbling Towards Ecstacy” - A Dance Workshop with Jo Cobbett. $15 fee. 9:15pm - Film Screening of “Signs Out of Time” – Documentary about the life and work of Marija Gimbutas. Film duration is 58:40 and will be followed by brief discussion. $5 suggested donation to Gaia Festival. May 27, 2007: 11:20am-12:50pm - "A Musical Journey Through the Elements: An Introductory Frame Drum Workshop” with Miranda Rondeau. $25 fee. 2:00-2:30pm. "Social Permaculture" - 30 minute lecture by Melanie St. James, MPA of Empowerment Works. $5 suggested donation to Empowerment Works. 2:30-4:00pm - “Celebratory African Drum/Dance Workshop and Performance” with Adama "Ken" and Naomi Doumbia. $25 fee. 4:30-5:00pm - “Closing Ritual of Thanksgiving” Gaia Festival closes with a ritual circle of all participants and presenters, led by Rev. Karen Tate and members of the Temple of the Goddess from Pasadena. Public Ceremony. $5 suggested donation to the Temple of the Goddess of Pasadena. Note: If you wish to stay for the weekend, we have a festival pass available, all workshops, overnight stay and meals inclusive. Please see our website for prices: www.gaiafestival.com. Or call Kris at 805.624.4361 for more information.

Japanese/Mexican fusion cuisine

Kris — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 14:50:40 GMT

Last night my husband Shaun taught a class on cooking Mexican/Japanese fusion style dish. It was soooo delicious. The subtleties of the flavors and textures were exquisite. And of course the flavors were so well balanced - sweet, tangy, spicy and some bitter, The menu: White roughy baked to perfection, on top of a tempura poblano chile and medallion of dashi-infused quinoa. The fish was topped off with a saki tomatillo sauce to die for and a single tempura shitake mushroom. Dessert, made by my mother-in-law Nancy was a delectable green tea flan. Rich and creamy with plenty of caramel sauce, and a kiss of green tea flavor. It was glorious! Have a happy Monday, Kris

Gaia Festival Early Bird Registration Extended to March 26th

Kris — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 05:06:18 GMT

Date & Time: Saturday, May 26, 2007 - Sunday, May 27, 2007 Start Time: 10:00 AM Location: Temescal Gateway Park 15601 W. Sunset Blvd. Pacific Palisades, CA view map More Info: 805.624.4361 www.gaiafestival.com Register online before March 26th and get the discounted rate for the festival: www.gaiafestival.com/registration.html Featured Events / Workshops: “Sacred Sites of the Goddess: Ancient Echoes of Herstory” 1.5-hour workshop will be followed with a book signing. Date & Time: 5/26/07, 1:15 pm Facilitator: Karen Tate “The Magdalene Circle: Connecting with Mary Magdalene Within” 1.5-hour workshop will be followed with a book signing. Date & Time: 5/26/07, 3:25 pm Facilitator: Joan Norton “Fumbling Towards Ecstacy” - A Dance Workshop with Jo Cobbett Followed by a Campfire Drum Circle 2 hour costume optional dance/drum circle. Please wear non-restrictive clothing for ease of movement and feel free to dress up as the goddess that you are, or your favorite deity. Faeries, angels, druid, sorceresses, wizards also welcome! Use your imagination! Date & Time: 5/26/07, 7:00 pm Facilitator: Jo Cobbett Location: Stewart Hall “A Musical Journey Through the Elements: An Introductory Frame Drum Workshop” 2-hour workshop. All levels welcome. Frame drums provided, but please bring your own if you have one. Date & Time: 5/27/07, 11:00 am Facilitator: Miranda Rondeau Plus yoga, drum circles, art exhibits, complimentary body and energy therapies from onsite healers. Gaia Festival Pass Descriptions: Full Festival Pass includes all festival activities, parking, continental breakfast each day, 2 organic vegetarian lunches (5/26 & 5/27) and 1 organic vegetarian dinner (5/26), 1 night lodging in onsite bungalow (shared sleeping quarters). Day passes cover festival activities only - add $30 for Saturday meals, or $15 for Sunday meals. Parking pass $5. Student Rate Full Festival Pass (Must email, fax or mail valid student ID before registration can be processed). Full Festival Pass: $180 Saturday, 5/26/07: $75 Sunday, 5/27/07: $75 Student Full Festival Pass: $150 Senior Discount Full Festival Pass: $150 Individual Workshop (in the comments field indicate which workshop you wish to attend): $45

Dissertation Update

Kris — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 07:44:04 GMT

I'm in the middle of writing Chapter II, entitled, A Long, Perilous Journey Over Water. It outlines the narratives, many epic and heroic in nature, of the enslaved Africans during the trans-Atlantic crossing, also known as the Middle Passage. I decided to include a small piece of what I've been writing: The trans-Atlantic trafficking of enslaved Africans is undoubtedly one of the most inhumane and tragic crimes perpetrated throughout the Americas, mostly by the empires of Western Europe–the French, English, Spanish, Portuguese– and the United States. The slave trade in Brazil was a strong epic theme in the development of Candomblé, and now slavery is a part of its history, written into the songs, stories, rituals and festivals so people will remember what happened. In her lecture, “Literary Genres as Psychological Terrains,” Louise Cowan describes the epic genre as “a whole people moving into a future” and “dispossessed people trying to make their way to freedom” (Cowan 1995). Cowan makes a specific connection to the aftermath of the trans-Atlantic slave trade through Toni Morrison’s novel Beloved, where necros, the landscape of the dead, is the predominant theme. In Beloved, the dead come back to rejoin the living and give voice to all that has been forgotten, buried and denied. In a landscape of such injustice and horror, Cowan admits, “some things have to be given over to the dead” (Cowan 1995). Candomblé is a tradition that has not forgotten where it came from and faces its ghosts through its traditions and rituals. One such tradition is the Bembé do Mercado, a civic holiday utilizing the sacred music and drumming of Candomblé, which takes place every May in Santa Amaro, Bahia, 73 kilometers from Salvador da Bahia. The Bembé is a celebration of the legal abolition of slavery in Brazil and has been celebrated since 1889 (The Manual to Brazil Website, 2/3/07, http://www.themanual2brazil.com/Destination/BA-Salvador/Event/Bembe-do-Mercado.aspx). The Bembé do Mercado festa was initiated on May 13, 1889 when one man named João de Obá brought his drum out into the open square of the marketplace and began to openly play the rhythms of Candomblé (Bahia Online, 2/3/07, http://bahia-online.net/festas.htm#mercado). Prior to this moment, it was illegal for any slave to practice Candomblé at all, let alone in a public place. The photo shown in this post is a schematic of how the slaves were literally piled into ships.

Gaia Festival Tribe is open!

Kris — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 16:35:56 GMT

I started my tribe Gaia Festival yesterday and just started inviting folks to join. We would love to have engaging conversations about Gaia, the living Earth, Sacred Sites around the world, rhythm making and healing, shamanism... There are so many topics that really interest me. And amazingly, they are all connected! Hope to see you in my tribe soon, Kris

Writing day

Kris — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 05:35:59 GMT

As some of you may know I am working on my dissertation, "The Heartbeat of the Mother: Revisioning Images of the Feminine in Candomble." The dissertation is taking on a life of it's own, yet it seems to take me hours just to get one or two pages done. The writing process is often painfully slow. I get bored or feel anxious when I think I have to write 150 of the 200 pages due early next year. I pray for the strength and the creativity every day and meditate on my patron orixas Iemanja and Iansa who take care of me, and protect me always. I feel like I have a good balance - the water and fire combination. the fire heats up the water, and the water cools the fire so it doesn't overboil and evaporate out of the cauldron. I am truly blessed.

Welcome to my mini-blog, Mythic Rhythm II

Kris — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 18:05:32 GMT

I just founf Tribe.net and am really excited about making connections with the Goddess and drum circle communities. Going to get a pedicure -- so will write more later! Bright blessings, Kris