Female Mysteries of the Substratum
Rila Monastery, Bulgaria
June 7-12, 2004
The international symposium, “Female Mysteries of the Substratum,” was held within walking distance of Rila Monastery, nestled in the magnificent Rila mountains of Bulgaria.
The gala opening of the symposium took place on June 7, 2004, at the National Museum of History in Sofia. We would like to thank Prof. Dr. Bojidar Dimitrov and his entire staff for generously opening the museum to us and to Dr. Gaurail Lazov for personally welcoming our group. Prof. Dr. Ivan Marazov expertly guided us through the phenomenal collection of Thracian gold treasures. Special thanks to the National Museum and the New Bulgarian University for providing a fine reception, and to Drs. Anna Ilieva and Anna Shtarbanova for arranging the folkloric performance of the “Bistritsa Grannies and their Grand-Daughters.”
The symposium presentations investigated female imagery from various contexts, embedded in the “substratum” of human culture and psyche. The disciplines represented by the contributing scholars include archaeology, anthropology, ethnology, folklore, mythology, linguistics, art history, women’s studies, psychology, music and the work of contemporary artists. The symposium space was vibrant with banners by Lydia Ruyle and “A Chorus of Women” from Australia performed throughout the week.
Presentations:
Cristina Biaggi ~ USA
“The Web: The Pattern that Connects: Its Palaeolithic and Neolithic Manifestations and Its Importance Today”
Glenda Cloughley
The Generative Substratum: On Relocating the Indigenous European Psyche
Mary Condren ~ Ireland
“Brigit: Goddess, Saint, and Muse”
Michael Dames – England
“The Cyclical Goddess in English Folk Drama”
Max Dashu ~ USA
“Iconography of the Matrix: a Global View”
Miriam Robbins Dexter ~ USA
“The Ferocious and the Erotic: ‘Beautiful’ Medusa and the Neolithic Bird and Snake”
Harald Haarmann ~ Finland
“Breathing in the Pace of the Female Guardian Spirits: On the Continuity of Traditional Belief Systems in Northern Eurasia”
Anna Ilieva ~ Bulgaria
“Maiden’s Ritual Dances of Initiation”
Ivan Marazov ~ Bulgaria
“The Statuses of the Goddess”
Susan Moulton ~ USA
“Reconsidering the Classical Athena: Myth and Metaphor for an Indigenous Goddess in the Substrata of the Acropolis”
Vicki Noble ~ USA
“Beer, Bread, and Blood: The Womanly Art of Agriculture”
Adrian Poruciuc ~ Romania
“The banished Forest Mother of the Romanians”
Peggy Reeves Sanday ~ USA
“Redefining Matriarchy: What the Case of the Minangkabau Might Reveal for Interpreting the Female Figurines of Old Europe”
Tatyana Shalganova ~ Bulgaria
“Late Bronze Age Anthropomorphic Idols: Typology and Semantics”
Anna Shtarbanova ~ Bulgaria
“A Relic of Female Mysteries in the Celebration of St. George’s Day”
Elisabeth Sikie ~ USA
“Patterns of Invocation in Neolithic Art: Reclaiming the Indigenous European Mind”
A Chorus of Women ~ Australia
“Websong”
Lydia Ruyle ~ USA
Goddess Banners