Women and Depression Conference 2007

I am flying up to Sydney next week to give a presentation at the Women and Depression Conference (23-25 May at the Carlton Crest Hotel). I was expecting to offer a two hour workshop 'Returning to Reverence of the Sacred Source' in which women are invited to use art, voice dialogue, the wondrous vulva puppets and other processes to become aware of and to begin to heal any dis-empowering attitudes to our most glorious and sacred feminine parts.

However I recently discovered that all presenters are now allocated a 30 minute slot only! It's going to be fun condensing all that into a 30 minute presentation. Any suggestions?

Returning to Reverence of the Sacred Source - Workshop abstract

The prevalence of terms for women's genitalia that can be classified as derogatory or dismissive, or terms which are nonspecific and vague reflects and perpetuates a cultural context in which women's genitalia are either conceptually absent or perceived negatively (Braun & Wilkinson, 2001). Participants in Lee and Sasser-Coen's (1996) qualitative study spoke of menarche as an experience that "contaminated" their bodies, and their genitals in particular. Is it no wonder that the self-esteem of young women plummets in their early teens?

While we as women experience any difficulty thinking about, talking about, ‘owning’ or experiencing the miracle of our genitals and reproductive cycles, what effects must that have on our health and happiness and our overall attitudes to being a woman?

'Returning to Reverence of the Sacred Source' is a powerful experiential workshop in which women have the opportunity to explore and renew their relationship with their vulva and vagina. We use art, voice dialogue, vulva puppets and group process to become aware of and to begin to heal any dis-empowering attitudes to our most glorious and sacred feminine parts. (NB No nudity is involved in this process).

Dangerous GE food on our plates

'Hey Mr Monsanto, don't want you interfering with our food!'

The opening line of a song I wrote over 10 years ago is just as relevant today - if not more so. For a while Australia (my home) has benefited by being a little behind the times as well as by being separated by sea from other land masses. Alas we are not protected from the dubious motives of our politicians with the result that genetically engineered (GE) crops and GE foods are gaining approval and threatening our ecosystem, our health and that of our children.

When rats were fed the GE corn variety, MON863, they showed signs of kidney and liver toxicity. But the same corn was given a big tick by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), declaring it safe for human consumption. Does this make any sense? A new study of the toxic effects of MON863 on rats concludes that the corn cannot be considered a "safe product". Yet FSANZ had access to the same test results back in 2004 and still gave it the thumbs up.

The good news is that there is no need to spend millions of dollars of taxpayers money trying to create genetically engineered drought resistant crops as Australian scientists have already produced them using conventional breeding techniques. A non-GE drought resistant canola variety developed in Victoria will be available to farmers this year. Despite the industry spin GE technology is being rapidly replaced by other technologies that don’t pose the same environmental and human health risks.

For more info and to take express your concern to our politicians visit the Greenpeace website and take cyberaction.

Court finds Pan Pharmaceuticals innocent

Australians and those who follow the fate of natural medicine in the hands of drug company bank-rolled givernment departments, may remember the massive recall imposed upon Pan Pharmaceuticals in 2003 that sent Australia's largest natural health manufacturing base bankrupt and threw another nail in the coffin of the reputation of alternative health care in this country.

Below is the recent press release from the Australian Democrats regarding the Pan Pharmaceuticals case in the NSW Supreme Court. The Supreme Court verdict speaks for itself ... in case you still had any doubts, the TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration - Australia's regulatory agency for medical drugs and devices) works for the health of the drug company’s bank accounts and not the personal health of Australian citizens.

18 APRIL 2007
SENATOR LYN ALLISON
AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRATS LEADER

DEMOCRATS DEMAND HOWARD APOLOGISE FOR PAN PHARMACEUTICALS WITCHUNT


The Howard Government must now apologise following the acquittal of Pan Pharmaceuticals boss Jim Selim in the New South Wales Supreme Court. The pharmaceuticals giant was forced into administration in May 2003 following the largest pharmaceutical recall in Australia’s history.

“It was a pointless exercise targeting complementary medicines and it sent hundreds of small businesses broke”, Democrats leader and Health spokesperson Senator Allison said today. “The Howard Government turned its back on the mess and just walked away.”

1500 products were recalled, not because they caused adverse reactions, but because of speculation about ‘inconsistent quality’. Senator Allison raised concerns in the Senate at that time about what was playing out as a destructive over-reaction.

Mr.Selim was accused of a litany of charges, including breaching his manufacturing licence. In the end only two counts made it to court which were thrown out today.

“The unprecedented recall had a devastating effect on small businesses and shook public confidence in complementary health”, Senator Allison said. ”The very least those who have suffered deserve is an apology.”

Sourced from Alliance for Health Freedom Australia

For those of you in the USA the agency involved is the FDA. This body is seeking to reclassify virtually all vitamins, supplements, herbs and even vegetable juices as FDA-regulated drugs. Even massage oils and massage rocks will be classified as "medical devices" and require FDA approval. The document is called Docket No. 2006D-0480 and can be read here and the FDA is accepting public comments on the docket until April 30th. They tried to sneak this under the radar, but word got out and now the natural health community is up in arms over this rule. If you wish to protect your access to nutritional supplements, herbs, essential oils, homeopathic medicine or any other "complementary" or "alternative" modality, it is crucial that you take action to post your comments with the FDA right now and write your representatives in Washington to put a stop to another outrageous effort to destroy natural medicine.

For more information see Mike Adams' article in Newstarget

yOni gorgeous gift shop opens

After a few months beavering away behind the veil I am delighted to announce that the new yOni gorgeous gifts shop is now open for e-business. We have all your favourite, funny, fabulous and feminine goodies from the original shop. Delights such as the fluffy pussy purse, the wondrous vulva puppets, our cloth menstrual pads, the glass goddesses, the yoni jewellery etc. etc. as well as a host of new products for your delectation. And there are more waiting in the wings!

Come check out oodles of gorgeous gifts for her brought to you by yOni.com

Protect priceless Aboriginal rock art at Burrup

Even as you read this, oil and gas giant Woodside are using diamond cutters to slice some of the oldest and largest collection of rock carvings in the world off the rocks at Burrup in Western Australia.

The time has come for Federal and State governments to come together and halt this unnecessary destruction of our heritage by calling for a moratorium on Woodside’s current bulldozings. Then they can call for an inclusive and meaningful discussion between all the parties with some integrity.

Even if you have spoken up on this issue before please add your name to the petition that GetUp Australia will present to leaders on this issue.

The destruction of the ancient Aboriginal rock art at Burrup would be akin to blowing up the the pyramids or bulldozing stonehenge.

Please don't let it happen.

Sign the petition here

When exactly was the 'dawn of civilisation'?

I am an avid reader of the New Internationalist and was particularly fascinated by the latest issue 'Inside Iran' which provides an independent view of what is happening for the people of this war-torn and often vilified country.

I was sad however to find that even in such an 'enlightened' publication as the NI the journalist who wrote the section 'Iran - a history' subscribes to the dominant but debatable view that 'the dawn of civilization' was in the 4th millenium BCE.

Eminent archeologist Marija Gimbutas and others have uncovered numerous sites that show evidence of much older sophisticated civilizations and clearly reveal an ancient widespread culture which flourished throughout Europe between 6500 and 3500 BCE. Gimbutas' work shows a society in which women had high status and power along with men. Egalitarian and peaceful, "Old Europe" existed for thousands of years without war.

Clearly at odds with the images of kings, warriors, and conquering gods that generally dominate our view of the past, this work cuts to the heart of basic questions about human nature. Is war inevitable? Did men always dominate women? It is not hard to see why this controversial information is hotly (but not terribly convincingly) disputed by the current patriarchal paradigm of scholarship. However the evidence of civilized societies much earlier then 4000 BCE is clear. I wrote to the NI and told them what I thought!

For more information see www.belili.org where you can also order copies of 'Signs out of Time' an inspiring documentary on Marija's life and work.

Buy local to reduce global warming

I recently attended a discussion called 'Dharma, Gaia and Globalisation' with Helena Norbert-Hodge, a leading analyst of the impact of the global economy on cultures around the world and Catherine Ingram an international dharma teacher, leader of 'Dharma Dialogues' - public events inquiring into the possibility of living in awakened intelligence.

The evening was fascinating & inspiring and my hunger for information on how I can, as an individual, support the reduction in global warming and contribute to raising consciousness on the planet was well satisfied.

I'd like to share some of what I heard.

Helena's message was clear and strong. She spoke about the very small window of opportunity that we have to reverse the effects of our lifestyle to date and attempt to restore the planet into balance. She also made the point very clearly that we tend to (and in fact are encouraged to) feel guilty that our materialism has created global warming and the environmental mess we are in. However she referred to evidence that psuedo-scientific research funded by the big energy companies has been actively used to disseminate the idea that climate change was not occurring despite overwhelming evidence that it is. And more poignantly that the rise in consumerism has been systematically created by very effective psychologically based marketing, targeted at all ages, in particular the very young, and designed to turn us into a race of materialistic consumers, discontent with our selves and our lot and carefully conditioned to believe that to be happy we really do need to have the new, the latest, the whatever it is that big business want to sell us!

She says if you are looking for 10 things you can do about climate change, at the top of the list is to support your local farmers and buy local. In fact she suggests that this is probably the top 9 of the top 10 things you can do with setting up local renewable energy resources as action number 10!

On her website - The International Society for Ecology and Culture (ISEC) she elaborates

'Throughout the world, agriculture is in crisis. Farmers are going bankrupt in record numbers, and the rural communities of which they are an integral part are being drained of life.

Meanwhile, international trade in food is booming. Every year, the distance between producers and consumers rises, to the point where the average American meal has now travelled more than 1,500 miles before it arrives on the dinner table.

These two trends are directly linked. The globalisation of the food economy, while enriching a small number of giant 'agribusinesses', is undermining the welfare of everyone else. What's more, it is a major contributor to increasing CO2 emissions, and therefore to climate change.'

Her organisation has been working hard to encourage the creation of local farmers markets. The results have been outstanding with such a boom in some local economies that councils and local government are starting to incorporate market areas into some town planning.

Another valuable piece of information that I gleaned from the evening was the hidden effect that using my credit card was having on local economy. I tend to use my card for all my shopping and pay it off once a month before interest is due. As the discussion pointed out this means I am donating 2-3 percent of my monthly spend to the potentially dubious, and certainly non-local, investment activities of my credit card bank. Money which could be supporting local retailers if I were to pay cash when shopping locally.

The third gem that I gleaned is more difficult to convey. The discussion moved to the urgency for action vs the importance of staying calm and centered and in a place of 'intelligent awareness'. This is a conundrum that I have often wondered about as I try to apply meditation practices in my busy daily life. I spoke to Catherine afterwards about this and she suggested that within the urgency to achieve the work that is to be done one can maintain an inner calm and an inner state of relaxation. Something in her communication touched me deeply and without knowing exactly how I would do this I could feel that this was a practical (and very peaceful) possibility. I'll keep you posted on how I go.

Helena's website again is The International Society for Ecology and Culture (ISEC)
Catherine Ingram can be found at Dharma Dialogues with Catherine Ingram
And the fabulous Kali Wendorf who compered and co-created the event is the publisher of the independent, cutting edge, parenting and lifestyle magazine Kindred - well worth a read. Find out more and subscribe to Kindred here.

High school girls suspended for saying Vagina!!

TODAY host Meredith Vieira talks with Eve Ensler, author of "The Vagina Monologues," three Westchester County High School students, who were suspended for using the word vagina during a school performance of her play, and Peter Breslin, school board president.

View the video clip here

In case you do not have a connection that supports video these are the highlights of Eve’s comments.

"I am not shocked that the school resisted saying the word because unfortunately we are still living in a world where people are terrified of the word Vagina!" “Vagina. It’s a body part... Vagina, elbow, hand, Vagina."

"The fact that we still live in a world where saying this word creates such controversy is disturbing to me. Because often it is adult's contaminated projection onto the word rather than girl’s healthy understanding of their bodies."

"If authority gives you a directive that is unwise and inappropriate, to me it is a sign of leadership to refuse the directive."

Eve's response to young people being in the audience and being sensitive to making some people uncomfortable.

"Sensitive to what?" "Hearing Vagina... that they would know that they have one?" "What are we concerned about?" "Heaven forbid.”

"Let's look at why don't we want girls to have language for their bodies!" "Why don't we want girls to have agency over their bodies... to know their bodies, to love their bodies?" Half of the reason why girls end up getting violated, getting disassociated, getting distracted, is because they are not educated about their bodies!" "Why don't we want girls and boys to be educated about their genitals?"

On the fact that the f-word was said at the school open mike night with NO consequence?

"I predict to you that worlds like rape, and war, and plutonium were used. Why are those words less disturbing words than Vagina? Vagina is the place where life comes from; where we all pass through..."

Many thanks to Christie Achor of Badmimi, another dedicated vagina revolutionary, for passing me this information.

See The Truth

If you haven't seen Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" please click below and pledge to do so today.



Or go to the website www.climatecrisis.com and find out more or just go ahead and order the DVD or the book

Lets make sure our children have a planet they can live on.

Light a candle for AIDS - or pharmaceutical profits?

'Thank you for lighting a candle to support the fight against HIV/AIDS' Bristol-Myers Squibb tell us on their Light to Unite (TM) campaign page designed, they say, 'to help raise awareness of the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S'.

Cute candle ... I lit one ... felt good ... and then regretted it when I checked out what independent writers in the New Internationalist have to say about Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Looks like B-M don't have such a feel-good-thing going in AIDS stricken poor world countries.

NI article 'Patient versus Patent' describes the company's attempts to patent HIV drugs in Thailand - thus making them unaffordable to most of the million or so Thai's who have or have died from HIV.

Another independent article on AIDS explains how lucrative it is for pharmacuetical companies to maintain their monopoly on the
market through patents which prevent the production of cheaper generic medicines for at least 20 years.

It also reports that Bristol-Myers has paid its CEO at least $146 million in one year.

As they've capped their donation to AIDS research at $100 thousand I'm afraid it looks to me like those cute Christmas candles are merely a smidge of the CEO's pocket money being spent on an image makeover.

They might even be providing a useful return in skewed research findings!

Sorry to be a candle snuffer!

Adopt a drought stricken sheep in the Australian outback

In our over consuming world I love the idea of gifts that give something important to those in need. It's like getting double your money's worth. In fact there are really three recipients - you and the person receiving the gift from you who both get to have a great feeling of having made a difference in someone's life and the person or family who actually receives the goat or the loom or the medical care that you have paid for.

The first gift giving organisation that I came across was www.heifer.org who call themselves "the most important gift catalogue in the world". Their gifts come with a card which can be sent electronically to the recipients - great for those super last minute gifts to far away loved ones. Heifer.org works in US$ and you can give someone (for instance) the geese to start a flock for US$20.

For the Australians there is TEAR australia who have a catalogue at



TEAR's gifts start a little cheaper with eye examination and care for a needy person in Bangladesh or school supplies for a child in Ethiopia or Zambia for as little as AU$5. Tear also offer e and postal cards to give to your recipients.

And if you would like to offer your gift to a drought stricken Aussie sheep or lamb check out Adoptasheep where your "donation" will provide essential hay and grain for your personal sheep for 100 days. The Kiely family are dedicated eco-farmers battling the worst drought in 1000 years. They offer you the opportunity to name your sheep and they will send you a photo of it along with your gift recipients certificate (check it out here it's delightful!). They will even read out your emails to your sheep although they do warn ... "we will print it out and read it out to the flock. We have too much trouble isolating an individual sheep for a personal communication. So be aware and don't get too personal in your emails!"

Global mind shift urgently needed

The wombat speaks, and he's smarter than you, so listen up! In less than a minute, this rapid-fire animation tells you everything you need to know about how to get along on earth for the next million years.

View it now!

And if the wombat's message stirs you at all, do yourself and your children's children a favour and buy a copy of the New Gaia Atlas of Planet Management for Christmas. As it says in the introduction

"This is no ordinary book. It maps and analyses a living planet at a critical point in its history - as one species, our own, threatens to disrupt and exhaust its life-support systems. It charts the growing divisions in the human family. And it proposes that we have the chance to redirect our course and become caretakers of our future."

You can read more of the book here


And for more great material from the global mind shift crew see their memebase.

Starhawk speaks for the goddess

Newsweek and the Washington Post have started a new website devoted to religion. They have a number of panelists with widely differing perspectives, among them Starhawk who is as they say "a prominent voice in modern Wiccan spirituality". If you don't know Starhawk she is the author a number of fabulous books on Pagan Spirituality and the Goddes and the novel 'The Fifth Sacred Thing' which is a fantastic and powerful read. In her mailing list Starhawk says
"I’ll be responding to questions they pose and participating in interfaith dialogue. The more of you that click on my page, the more they’ll know there’s interest out there in the Goddess:"

Click away..
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/starhawk/

Starhawk's website is http://www.starhawk.org/

"Obese" mum commits suicide

Grief stricken family sue Science Museum.



No - not really!
But these were some of the possible headlines that floated through my brain after a recent experience at the Brisbane Science Museum.


I have shied away from weighing machines for over a decade, having spent much of my teenage years and early adulthood obsessed with the figures on those unforgiving dials. Recently however I have made some pleasing progress with my battle with the bulges and I now fit comfortably into a size 14 and even occasionally a 12.


So when confronted with an interactive Body Mass Indicator exhibit at the Brisbane Science Museum on a recent trip with my son I decided I might finally be willing to break my taboo and face those scales.


The height measuring part was fairly painless (although the measure jerked rather uncomfortably down on my head) and only slightly surprising (when I realised that the last time I had measured my height it had been in feet and inches).


But the scales were another story. They must have seen me coming! Maybe they have a special sensor detecting scales aversion because when I first stepped on the readout confidently read 72 kilos and then quick as a flash it changed its mind and jumped to 80 kg. Yikes - that can't be right I screamed internally in a panic. 80 kilos - why thats only a mere kilo or two less than I weighed after my son was born - a comfortable motherly size 18. What's going on? Heavy bones? Muscles? I have been doing a lot of bike riding but really ....


I jumped off and tried to start over but the machine was having none of it. It appeared that once you'd started you had to finish or remain forever ignorant of your BMI score.


I probably should have chosen the latter option but I remembered those pleasingly loose size 14 jeans and I plucked up my courage and pressed the button for the final section of the exhibit. The red LED display teased me for a moment as it computed my fate. It whirred and pondered and then spat out my BMI readout - 30.1! I turned nervously to the scale printed on the wall and ran my finger up the scale: past average .... they tell me 14-16 is the average for Australian women ... but no ... up into overweight .. oh well I guess I could still loose a bit without fading away ... but no ... horror of horrors .. I passed overweight at 30 and ... discovered my distressing diagnosis...


... OBESE!


I decided on something sweet to cope with the trauma.
Well - I'm an obese size 14 - what difference was it going to make?

End hatred in this world?

What can you do to end all forms of hatred in this world?
What can you do to bring more bliss into this world?


..asks Lisa Dale Miller in her powerful video/performance Millennial Burn




Listen here (you'll need Real Player)


Lisa is a talented lady. As well as her artistic endeavours she is an insightful astrolger.

I have been enjoying her moon analyses (at www.astrowisdom.com) for some months and sharing them with my women's circle as a guide to direct our energies at the different phases of the lunar cycle.

Lisa recently posted an interesting perspective on the demotion of Pluto to "dwarf planet" status by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). She reflects on the astrological significance of this "demotion" and suggests that 'The dwarfing of Pluto is in fact a perfect metaphor for a world in denial of its own destructive nature'.
Full article here

Her piece on 'Postmodernity, Spirituality and Guidance' is also well worth a read.

Real Beauty?

Wow - check this video out

Fascinating - I couldn't stop watching it!

However I do have to add my piece (courtesy of the New Internationalist) about Unilever who produce Dove.

They may have an politically correct and women empowering advertising take but they are not super ethical about their supplies. In spring 2006 Unilever was challenged to dissociate itself from a major Indonesian palm oil supplier accused of mass firing of union members, expulsion of children from their homes and criminalisation of legitimate trade union activity. They are also accused of eviction and harrassment of indigenous people living in the area of tea plantations run by their Indian wing and farms supplying cotton seed to the same Hindustan Lever were accused of using child labourers as young as 10 to work in fields doused in pesticides which caused nausea and convulsions.

Still - great video!

Drinking from the wellspring of the Goddess

Last weekend I went to a Goddess Conference.

It was a rich and delightful experience.
The conference was convened and beautifully held by the women of the Goddess Association In Australia (GAIA).
An intriguing mix of ritual, circle work, singing & dancing, experiential workshops and inspiring lectures, the event was filled with gorgeous invitations to connect with a bunch of beautiful women, delicious opportunities to indulge in that most sacred of goddess activities - shopping - and completed with hearty feasting, heartfelt celebration and copious quantities of chocolate.

It was enough to make a goddess wax a bit lyrical.
I hadn't realised I was so thirsty.

One of the many highlights for me was finally meeting Shekinah Morgan whose beautiful Moon Diaries I have been selling in the yOni.com shop for quite a number of years. Shekinah was one of three speakers, elders of the circle, who opened the conference by reflecting eloquently on the past, present and future of the Goddess in Australia. She urged us to take time to appreciate and experience the gifts of our natural womanly cycles, menstruation, mothering and menaupase. Shekinah has kindly allowed me to put a version of her address online in yOni.com. Titled 'Women's Spirituality - Ushering in the Sacred Feminine' it is well worth a read.

It was also wonderful to connect with Glenys Livingstone, author of Pagaian Cosmology. She describes her book as a resource for individuals or groups seeking new forms of devotional expression and an Earth-based pathway to wisdom within. The work grew from her sense of alienation from her place as female white European transplanted to the Southern Hemisphere. It is available to download at pagaian.org.

Altogether a total treat.
If you are in Australia don't miss it next year.

The cost of the war in Iraq

Victoria Vulva's video debut

Victoria is an unusually vocal velvet vulva. In her video debut she demonstrates how to do your kegel exercises correctly. You can see her on Google video.

Victoria would love some fan mail. Post a comment on google video or on the Do the Kegel forum and let us know and I'll send you a link to download the song for free.

Continence Awareness Week

I love the way songs teach me about things. I'm talking, not just about songs that I hear, but particularly about songs that I have written myself.


It happens like this: I write the song and I think I know what it's about - well I wrote it didn't I? And then, over time, I find the the song teaches me more than I had ever realised was contained in it. It makes me question the whole idea of "I write" and to accept more and more that I am much more of a vehicle for the song to come through than the creatrix.


I wonder if other song writers, or poets and artists have had similar experiences. I'd love to hear about it if you do.


Mostly the revelations I get from my songs are on an emotional level - how I feel about things and how to deal with situations in my life. Recently though 'Do the Kegel' has been revealing stuff big time - in a very practical way. Before started on compiling the support information for the website (www.dothekegel.com) I didn't really have an idea of how widespread incontinence problems are. Nor what a huge industry disposable continence products is becoming. I certainly never knew that there was such a thing as 'Continence Awareness Week' here in Australia and also in the UK. Maybe it also exists in the US also but I haven't tapped into it there yet.


And I certainly wouldn't have had the remotest notion that I would be flying up to Melbourne with my CD in my hand to attend the Continence Awareness Week breakfast next week! Nor quite how passionate I would become about supporting awareness about this oh so common but hidden, embarrassing and, for some, incredibly debilitating problem.


Continence Awareness Week 2006 in Australia is 6th - 12th August.
The Continence Awareness foundation's slogan is Pelvic floor- use it or lose it!



Lets get kegeling!


PS The feedback I'm getting for 'Do the Kegel' has been great so far. Women are finding that the song really motives them to do their pelvic floor exercises and they have fun while they are doing them. There's still an opportunity to get a free download by heading to the forum and posting your kegel related tip or question - but be quick!


See also my earlier posts Do the Kegel and Coughing and Kegeling