Embodying Medusa Workshop
with Kathleen Prophet and Amy Palko
To the extent that we have culturally repressed and feared the powers of Medusa and have accepted the patriarchal view of her as a monster to be destroyed, we have cut ourselves off from our ability to access our sexual power to create, regenerate, and know the truth from within ourselves.
– Demetra George
No longer a bloodless bodiless Monster, in this workshop we will explore, awaken, and embody our original Medusa nature – our instinctual bodily wisdom and power – through a depth process of embodied arts and photography.
What we’ve lost from Medusa is her story. We have lost her side of things. We only know her through the voice of the patriarchy. She has been frozen out and silenced. Isn’t it time we got to know her better?
The Event
Beginning with the ancient roots of the myth of Medusa, we will explore her story as Libyan Queen and Crone aspect of the triple Moon goddesses: Athena/Metis/Medusa – Maiden/Mother/Crone. It is she who ruled over all the patriarchy feared: women’s blood mysteries, death, and the Dark Moon mysteries of a woman’s sexual self-rejuvenating power.
After entering into the deeper feminine mysteries in our own bodies through a cacao ceremony and embodiment practices, we will place the print of our bodies upon paper*. We will then continue to paint upon our bodyprint while deepening our relationship to it through authentic movement, stream-of-consciousness writing, and back to the painting. On the second day we will merge the painting with a wholebody self-portrait culminating in an embodiment experience weaving together all we have worked with.
This workshop includes a Medusa Astrology Reading… pinpointing where the asteroids, Medusa, Athena and Metis, reside in your astrology chart – opening you to the intelligence and power of these Ancient Moon Goddesses. The workshop will bring to light these forces of Nature within you so as to bring them into an empowering harmonious whole in your bodysoul and your life.
**Essential to the embodiment of Medusa is our body. Each one will be invited to make their bodyprint on paper however they feel most comfortable… partially clothed or naked. Please bring clothing you can get paint on. We will be using tempera which is a water-based paint. There is an area to do this privately as well.
I would add, that our shame around our bodies comes through the patriarchal eyes we were conditioned by, which is the source of the Medusa split. For women to be received and witnessed by each other is both healing and empowering.
Artist’s Statement
“What do we do with the wild creative self which defies the boundaries of our society, pushing the edge of our taboos, threatening to destroy traditions as well as the human when uncontrolled… while at the same time is the creative force we are being impelled by evolution to create? Anew! Ourselves and our society.
Revolution! The revolutionary force of evolution!”
I am an Art Sorceress. I fashion art from the material of my life, my shadows, my suffering. Through the process, I am transformed. My life, love, and living is the richer for it. I call the many forms of creative expression I work with, Embodied Arts. My art over the last 20 years weaves together authentic movement, expressive art, stream-of-consciousness writing, working with the astrological forces of nature, ritual performance, and photography.
These forms of self expression give us access to the deepest levels of the raw material of our intelligence… the unconscious. The journey is revelatory. A communion with the living vital pulsations of the psyche dynamically unfolding unto itself, weaving together the disparate parts of my shadows and the archetypes… illuminating, healing, and transforming me as it moves. The resulting artwork is the bodysoul print of this dynamic encounter. Like the tradition of mandalas and shamanic art, these pieces radiate out their healing power into the world.
My photographs scribe the living moments of these encounters. The effect of witnessing oneself during these transpersonal initiating experiences transforms and liberates the self limiting perceptions we hold of ourselves. They capture the journey into the heart of our inner wild terrain and the encounter with the metamorphic force of the Self.
Here, when the danger to his will is greatest, art approaches as a saving sorceress, expert at healing. She alone knows how to turn these nauseous thoughts about the horror or absurdity of existence into notions with which one can live ~Nietzsche
