Portraits of Peace
Jan 15, 2009
A Path With Heart
Feb 17, 2009
A Different Kind of Valentine
In February, the month of the heart, we will pause to explore our deeper hearts and what it means to live more fully from that place of love. We will use music, chanting, and creative visualization to learn about unfolding of our hearts into the Unity of the heart of hearts.
Eileen Mahoney is an Expressive Arts Therapist whose love of creativity is informed by her love of Sufism. She has been a student of the Sufi path for 15 years and is just completing a 4 year program of Sufi Esoteric Studies.
Women, the Arts and the Sacred
Mar 19, 2009
Reception: 6-7pm Program: 7-9pm
NOTE: The Reception with refreshments replaces the potluck dinner this month.
Join us for this inspirational event as women in the written, visual and performing arts share their intimate spiritual experiences, how their lives were changed, and the journeys they took to unveil and reveal the sacred through their work.
Reception: A time for informal Networking and Introductions of Berkshire and Guest Artists, for short Presentations by local artists, and to view gallery art. Light refreshments will be served.
Program: Presentations by three exceptional women dedicated to their artwork as a means of discovering and expressing their spiritual experiences and serving society:
Saphira Linden is a senior meditation teacher/guide in the Sufi Order International and Artistic Director of Omega Theater, in Boston. She is a writer, actress and director, therapist and consultant. In the 1970s, Saphira was Director of The Cosmic Celebration, a performance piece celebrating the major religions, written by Sufi master, Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, and performed around the world. She directs a Transpersonal Drama Therapy training program, bringing together Sufi practices and the expressive arts “to tap into the wellspring of the Self for transformation through human and divine love.”
Linda DeHart is an integrative artist, whose overall passion is “to create art that carries the viewer beyond the object, to a place of transformation through the power of color”. She has created large scale works of art for corporate installations and custom commissions: tapestries, aerial and paper sculptures, silk paintings, art-to-wear collections, and a body of work called, “A Thousand Windows: A Long Walk in Beauty.” From these 1000 watercolors, Linda created “Colors in Motion”, an inspirational Audiovisual designed for health care settings. She will show part of this DVD.
Belle Fox-Martin is widely recognized as an artist and religious leader in the Berkshires. She is a published play write and poet, a visual artist–working on canvas with religious themes–and owner of Fox-Martin Fine Art Gallery in Housatonic. For many years, Belle served the homeless in NYC as a Substance Abuse Specialist. In her role as a UCC Licensed Pastor, Belle has been writing and performing dramatic readings for congregations in lieu of sermons, monologues presenting Biblical stories, “to bring to life God’s mysteries in ways we don’t expect, to open our hearts a little wider to His love.”
Among the Berkshire and NY women artists and spiritual leaders participating in the evening are: June Wink, Katharine Houk, Pauline Dongala, JoAnne Spies, Satyena Ananda, Bonnie Gable, Rev. Natalie Shiras and Peggy Reeves, and Wendalah Rabinowitz. Shirley Paukulis is Moderator. The WII Board will be our hosts.
As artists, we study, practice and express our art, until the inner becomes the outer and the heart a swinging door. When we become intimate to an experience, our images have direct connection to the whole. Spirit mysteriously reveals itself when we transcend our individual selves. Both artist and audience experience moments of illumination when present and aware. The arts inspire us to see more clearly, with freshness and depth.
WII is especially pleased to be one of the Co-sponsors of the Eighth Annual International Women’s Day Conference, “The Power of Women in the Arts,” March 6th and 7th at Simon’s Rock College.
Letters to the World: Women, Poetry, and Community
Apr 14, 2009
A reading and talk on poetry, peace, and an international Internet collaboration by Rosemary Starace
From Red Hen Press: Letters to the World is the first anthology of its kind- a feminist collaboration born from The Discussion of Women’s Poetry LISTSERV (Wom-Po), a vibrant, inclusive electronic community founded in 1997 by Annie Finch. With an introduction by D’Arcy Randall and brief essays by the poets themselves reflecting on the history and spirit of the listserv, the book presents a rich array of viewpoints and poems. Letters to the World is a remarkable example of how the Internet has radically rearranged associations among poets, editors and readers. Includes 259 contributors from 19 countries and 5 continents.
Here is a link to Rosemary Starace’s website that tells about the book:
http://journal.rosemarystarace.com/index.php?s=letters-to-the-world
PLEASE NOTE:There will be a special theatre performance during dinner. Two five minute pieces from “Fanny Kemble: Unyielding Spirit”, and “The Life of Emily Dickinson”, performed by Amy Judd and Barbara Sims. Not to be missed. (You can see the full performance at the Colonial Theatre on Mother’s Day Weekend.)
The Feminine, Sufism and Islam
May 14, 2009
Join us for an enlightening talk about the Feminine in Sufism and Islam. Zumurrud Butta from Vienna, Austria, is a Senior Teacher in the Sufi Order, Retreat Guide and European Head of Universal Worship. She will discuss the role of the feminine in the mystical traditions of Sufism and Islam. She is a member of the Ibn’Arabi Society and fluent in Arabic and Urdu. In addition to her many accomplishments, she is a delightful, warm person who is sure to leave us with a deeper appreciation of being women on the spiritual path.
Women’s Interfaith Initiatives Cross Borders
Jun 16, 2009
Reverend Natalie Shiras and Pauline Dongala’s Faith in Action
Join us on a journey to Ghana and the Congo as Reverend Natalie Shiras and Pauline Dongala share their stories and a slide show about initiatives that were funded through the Women’s Interfaith Institute and the John A. Sellon Grant.
Reverend Natalie Shiras, pastor of Church-on-the-Hill in Lenox, MA, recently traveled building interfaith and cross-cultural bridges in Russia, Turkey, Ghana, Nepal and India. WII funds helped re-build a church roof in Accra, Ghana and funded and funded medical and food supplies for disabled pensioners and their families in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Pauline Dongala is supporting two projects in the Congo: rebuilding a church and supporting a skills-training center for women in Kinkala, Congo. Join us for a lively presentation and discussion.
Multicultural Women and Their Faith
Sep 15, 2009
The Women’s Interfaith Institute is happy to announce our first potluck program of our 2009-2010 season. Our theme for this year is:
“Interfaith Interface: Deepening our Connections through Unity and Collaboration.”
Gwendolyn Hampton VanSant, Executive Director of BRIDGE, (Berkshire Resources For the Integration of Diverse Groups and Education) will be presenting “Multicultural Women and their Faith.”
BRIDGE has partnered with Women’s Interfaith Institute to welcome women of different faiths and traditions into our community and to offer support and friendship. Women will share how they maintain a sacred connection with their heritage and with their faith, and they will also share a traditional dish.
Joining us will be: Kaya Stern-Kaufman, Gabriela Cruz, Mikkha Barkman, and Shirley Edgerton.
All are invited to bring a heritage dish that represents connection with tradition and family. We also invite you to put your faith into action and listen for ways throughout the year that you can support our community with deeds of friendship of all sizes… sometimes just an invitation or a note and sometimes a winter coat or bundle of food to get through the winter.
On the Journey to Womanhood
Oct 13, 2009
Shirley Edgerton, Executive Director of Youth Alive, Inc. will be sharing with us a rite of passage program offered to young women. A rite of passage is a ritual that marks a change in a person’s social status. Youth Alive, Inc., is establishing a four month program to celebrate and provide the tools for young women passing from childhood to womanhood. This program cultivates a spiritual awareness and empowerment through education. The program focuses on hygiene, education, cultural awareness, sex and sexuality, self-esteem and resilience.
As women, we have an opportunity to learn, be inspired, and possibly even support or mentor young women coming of age, if you are called to do so. Come join us for this presentation and good company of women.
In addition . . . We begin our 3 month FOOD & CLOTHING DRIVE. . .in collaboration with BRIDGE. (Berkshire Resources For the Integration of Diverse Groups and Education). To help those in need, we invite you to contribute an article of clothing or non perishable food item.
Annual Harvest Celebration
Nov 19, 2009
“One of the greatest upliftments…One of the most powerful forms of healing and changing our lives is the practice of Gratitude.”
During this gathering we will focus on and experience some of the powerful gratitude and manifestation tools/techniques that change lives. As creative women of power, using Song, Sharing and Ritual, we will co-create a ceremony of Blessings for ourselves and for all life. As a community of women of faith, we will create an altar of gratitude. As a circle of grateful women we will share with each other the Harvest of our blessings. Through a guided music meditation we will release the blockages to receiving the good that is here for us and tap into the deeper gifts of gratitude.
This Program is being facilitated by Satyena Ananda, Co-founder and Director of Starseed Healing Sanctuary and Retreat Center in Savoy Ma. Satyena is a Holistic Educator and Spiritual counseler who has spent the past 38 years creating and offering programs, retreats and ceremonies with women that transform and restore body mind and soul.
What to Bring:
-An object for the gratitude alter that represents the good that you are harvesting from the seed intentions you have planted.
- A Harvest potluck dish that blesses everyone who shares it.
In addition . . . We continue our 3 month FOOD & CLOTHING DRIVE. . .
in collaboration with BRIDGE. (Berkshire Resources For the Integration of Diverse Groups and Education). To help those in need, we invite you to contribute an article of clothing or non perishable food item.
Celebration of the Light & Annual Mtg.
Dec 15, 2009
“Verily to possess such LIGHT means to be contemplated by the
LIGHT of LIGHTS”
Join Eileen Mahoney & Friends for Meditation, Music and Poetry in a Ceremony of Light based on the Universal Worship Service created by Hazrat INayat Khan, Sufi Master & Founder of the Sufi Order International. The Ceremony will draw on readings from major religious traditions & other expressions on the theme of light. At this time of year when darkness lasts the longest, let us explore the richness of the darkness and the beauty that emerges in the light from the journey.
Eileen Mahoney is a Creative Arts Coach whose passion is helping individuals and groups discover their own innate creativity. In so doing, they begin to connect with the Divine. Eileen works with adults and adolescents with serious mental illness, patients and families facing end of life, and Alzheimer’s patients. She also works with those who want to expand and empower their own definition of self so as to grow and lead a fuller, more rewarding life.
ANNUAL MTG. 7 – 7:20pm – Our membership will be voting on new officers and board members. We hope to see many of our members attend.
In addition . . . We complete our 3 month FOOD & CLOTHING DRIVE. . .
in collaboration with BRIDGE. (Berkshire Resources For the Integration of Diverse Groups and Education). To help those in need, we invite you to contribute an article of clothing or non perishable food item.
Women supporting women of diverse faiths in
generating spiritual leadership, scholarship and service