What can you expect at the Great Mother Conference?
Any day at the Conference could include a poetry reading, a talk on the translation, group singing to greet the morning, dancing, the telling of Celtic myth, a one-on-one poetry or singing workshop, quiet time by the lake or on it canoeing or kayaking, sitar music, a rich and intimate workshop with any number of teachers, or a simple campfire. The week tends to be a mixture of both large and small group activities, and times of much needed solitude and integration. One of the goals of the Conference is to nourish the heart, the body, the mind, and the soul – and to do so in community.
Story
Each year, the Great Mother Conference is held, guided, and informed by a central theme, centered by a story. A living thing in its own right, story breathes through and gives breath to the entire week. The central story or stories become the needle moving the thread of the Conference through the week.
Small Groups
At the start of the week, a piece of the story is unveiled to each attendee without the context of the greater story. Those that gravitate towards a particular moment of the story form a Small Group, led by a member of the community, which meets each day. These intimate groups provide a way to delve into the story in a more immediate, intimate way and to share and talk through the unfolding experience of the Conference.
Sweat Lodge
Each year a group of conference participants work together to construct a sweat lodge with the guidance of community Ritual Leader Miguel Rivera. Sweat Lodge ceremonies are held three or four nights of the conference after the evening program.
Notes from Miguel about the Lodge:
Sweat Lodge ceremonies have been performed throughout human history for physical detoxification, emotional purification, and spiritual connection. This is a purification ceremony, using steam created by pouring water over hot rocks while sitting on the earth in a small round structure in the dark.
The lodge provides an opportunity to recognize and overcome habitual responses to fear, discomfort, and self judgement. It is a place to remember that we are connected to everything that exists in the universe, and to be reminded that everything that exists in the universe is connected to us. There is no us and them, it is all us. The lodge is an opportunity to experience unconditional love and protection.
The direct, physical experience with the elements of Fire, Water, Earth, and Air offered in this ceremony transforms them from symbols, ideas, academic positions or metaphors into living representations of archetypal energies.
Think of the lodge as a kind of family reunion, where you may meet relatives you never knew you had. They may look strange, talk strange, dress strange, listen to weird music, dance strange, eat weird food but through this ceremony you will realize that they are really cool.
The ceremony was taught to me over a period of twelve years starting in 1980. Several steps and initiations are required to earn the honor and blessing to work with this sacred technology including periods of fasting and a multiyear commitment to dancing in the annual Sundance ritual.
The long term goals of my teachers are understanding the ritual obligations to these lands, learning how to practice reciprocity with them and the beings we live with, human and non human, organic and inorganic; and seeking to uncouple from the legacies of colonization.
Miguel Rivera
Emergent Spaces
Throughout the week, there will be opportunities for spontaneous, emergent spaces and activities - led by anyone in the community - to take root.
Workshops
Over the week, the teachers of that year lead workshops that they design, to further investigate the themes of the year or their own inquiries via their practice and medium - poetry, painting, tracking, language, dance, medicine, ritual.
Evening Programming
Ranging from stand-up comedy to poetry readings, dancing, music, storytelling, panel conversations, and beyond, attendees gather each morning and evening in the main hall to experience something only the container of the Conference can provide.
Youth Program
The Youth Program at GMC is thoughtfully curated to engage children ages *5-12 in activities that weave art and adventure while building a vibrant community founded on friendship, intention, and shared experiences. From daily circles and rituals to exciting adventures, campers make new friends and rekindle older connections while listening, sharing, creating, observing, learning, and playing.
Camp runs from 9am-12pm and 1pm-4pm each day (your child will be in your care during lunchtime).
* Four-year-olds are sometimes welcome to participate in Youth Program activities. Youth Program teachers find that often children younger than five may need more time with their parents during these stretches of the day. Times when they might attend can be determined through conversation with the Youth Program teachers and is at their discretion. We make every effort to scaffold activities to include the youngest and eldest of our community.