Packed Lunch to Share! A highlight from the Goddess Conference in Glastonbury

Crikey!

As I mentioned on Saturday night, Lady Somerset is up for the weekend.  She has resided in Glastonbury for the past 22 years and has seen many things.  Monday 26^th July sees the onset of the 15^th Goddess Conference in Glastonbury which, including all the fringe events, lasts for nearly a week.

The Goddess Conference was set up initially for women and men to celebrate female spirituality, and to be a forum for women to showcase their artwork and creativity.  All fine so far.  In more recent times, the conference has become more extreme and limited in nature.  When Lady Somerset arrived on Friday, she could not wait to show me a leaflet that she’d brought with her, that had completely shocked her (usually unshockable) sensibilities.  She also couldn’t stop giggling, which is always a bad sign, as she pulled the leaflet (pictured) from her bag.

Just in case you can’t read the leaflet, although you can probably enlarge it, this is the gist of what is going to happen in this workshop.

“An offering of deep healing of our feminine bodies, this ritual experience begins with a morning of breath work and movement to open out bodies and being-ness into a space of receptivity.  We will use this sacred dance to claim the power inherent in our womb-spaces.  Spiralling deeper together we will nourish out bodies with a shared lunch, before moving into the afternoon’s healing ritual.  Holding the feminine power we have accessed through dance, we will then provide an opportunity for deep healing for each other through yoni massage.  Yoni is a Sanskrit word meaning sacred space or source. This tantric healing technique holds the capacity to heal trauma, held in the tissues of the yoni, help access orgasm for women who do not reach orgasm, and heightened pleasure states for women who would like to experience their orgasmic capacity more deeply.  The touch of sacred massage can support you on your path to reconnect with your deep self as woman and rediscover your body’s sparkling life energy, honouring the feminine in a state of being rather than doing.  This idea is to explore our bodies so they can open in a flow of feeling, experience whatever arises in each moment.  Enter this ritual prepared to receive and explore your own body, and to serve as a priestess in giving to another woman.

* Please bring your own sheet and lubricant and a packed lunch to share.  Wear comfortable clothing in which you feel beautiful and can move freely.”

”PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN SHEET AND LUBRICANT … AND A PACKED LUNCH” !!!

I have been to many workshops in my lifetime and I can honestly say these things have never been on my kit list.  And who exactly will be going to this workshop?  I don’t see any age limit specified either which could be construed as being somewhat unethical.  The way I see it, these women are being asked to pay fifty quid to touch each other up (with or without a packed lunch) under the pretext of ‘healing’.  Assuming that the participants may have chosen this course because they have suffered some kind of emotional or physical trauma, is this really an appropriate forum for dealing with it?

I would have to leave the first two items on the kit list to the participant’s own discretion, but in my capacity as a Wartime Housewife and with the benefit of the advice of Lady Somerset, we came up with a few suggestions for the packed lunch.

     Fish Paste Sandwiches
     Muffins
     A banana (as oranges are not the only fruit)
     A Mars Bar (no further explanation needed I think)
     A bottle of gin (my God you’d need it)
     A packet of Wet Wipes
    
I will offer a free, exclusive and not yet on sale Wartime Housewife mug to anyone who can infiltrate this workshop and give me a full and detailed report on proceedings.

One gauntlet, thrown down.