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| The Goddess in Cornwall 2006:
A Weekend for Women
by Jacqui Woodward-Smith
 The first ‘Goddess in Cornwall: A Weekend for Women’ event was held in the stunningly beautiful, and deeply primal, landscape of West Cornwall from 14th to 17th September 2006. The aim of the event was to experience and celebrate the Goddess in the land and to create an inclusive event that ‘belonged’ to all the women that were present…and it certainly succeeded in that, and more!
The weather had not been kind in the few days before the gathering, and I was feeling tired and in need of home and my own bed after a wonderful summer of camping and walking the land, so it was with mixed feelings that I set off for the Goddess in Cornwall event. I did know though that I longed for the company of women and to see a wide expanse of sky, and what better place to go for that than Cornwall?
The event was organised by Cheryl Straffon, Heather Campbell, and Jackie Dash, who have worked with the Goddess in Cornwall for many years, holding celebrations of Her on the land for each of the festivals in the Wheel of the Year, and who are also involved in the wonderful West Cornwall Women’s Trust.
It was held at Boswedden House Healing and Retreat Centre at Cape Cornwall in West Penwith. The house is set in its own grounds, high above the sea, with beautiful views out to both Cape Cornwall and the moors. It was a truly relaxing environment with soft green grass to sink your feet into (I hardly wore shoes for the whole four days!), a turf labyrinth on the lawn, lots of ‘secret’ corners in the garden to relax in, and an indoor heated swimming pool! Accommodation for the weekend was either in the house or camping in the grounds and many of us chose to have three vegetarian meals provided each day as part of our ticket price. It was inspiring to see that there were many ticket prices, providing different accommodation and food options, and that felt more inclusive of people’s individual situations than one, often expensive, blanket fee. Thelma and her staff could not have been more welcoming and the food that they provided was delicious, nurturing and abundant. I don’t think that I have felt so cared, or carefree, for years!
By the time my friend Geraldine and I arrived the sky was blue and the sun was shining brightly on West Cornwall. We were greeted by the ever-wonderful Cheryl who was beaming from ear to ear, gave us both a big hug, and allowed me to hold her clipboard! Before settling down to camp we spent some time sitting in the sun on a bench by a fishpond full of water lilies looking out at the blue ocean. I think that we could easily have stayed there all weekend but we forced ourselves to move and explored the house and grounds. At Boswedden House We found five stunning altars, dedicated to the four elements and to the Goddess in Cornwall, and created by Heather Campbell and Geraldine McCarthy. They all featured Geraldine’s beautiful organic Goddess sculptures and the main altar also included Monica Sjöö’s powerful painting ‘Tarxien Goddess’; it was wonderful to feel her presence there watching over us all throughout the weekend and I was reminded of her each time I passed the altar.
On that first evening we met for some delicious dinner and I enjoyed talking to some women who had travelled to the gathering from Oregon in the US. It was inspiring to talk to so many different women throughout the weekend and, although I am usually shy, the meals gave me the chance to sit at different tables and get to know others, who had many diverse reasons for being there; some had come to honour the Goddess, some loved Cornwall, some wanted to be with other women (or a combination of all three) some knew nothing of the Goddess and had just come to experience something different. It was a true testament to the relaxed nature of the weekend that it was able to encompass so many different needs and points of view without making anyone feel excluded or out of place.
Later that evening we met in the top field for a simple opening ceremony and fire lighting; as Rhiannon was called we heard galloping horse’s hooves in the field over the wall, which was a lovely moment. The fire became a central focus of the weekend, and was relit from the embers of the fire from the night before each morning. The comfortable straw bales that had been laid out in circle around it made it a good place to go and relax and chat with other women in the evenings. What made it really magical was that, as it got darker, the Milky Way would appear above us and light up the night. It was the most beautiful sight and a lovely way to end each day. Most of the evenings were left as free time so some women might be sitting round the fire chatting, drumming and singing; others would be in the wonderful swimming pool or having time alone. I really appreciated the unstructured nature of the evenings as I often find it hard to relax at events like this, feeling that I have experience absolutely everything and then going home exhausted!
And now, back to the wonderful events during the day! On Friday morning I attended the ‘Bee Goddess: Community, Celebration & Organisation’ workshop, facilitated by Geraldine McCarthy. The plan had been for it to be held in the conservatory next to the pool but the weather was so beautiful that we stayed outside on the grass. Geraldine writes that “the bee, epiphany of the Goddess, is the symbol of the female potency of nature, and the Queen Bee is symbolic of matrilinear society, paying homage to the sun and producing amber nectar from flowers and woods…this magic elixir, honey, when mixed with ‘wise blood’ is the sacred gift from the Great Cauldron in the belly of Mother Earth. The humming of the bees is the voice of the Goddess; the sound of Creation, which draws us into the dream world”. Geraldine set up a beautiful Bee Goddess altar on the grass and asked us all to choose a card giving us a Bee Goddess word to work with. I was given ‘creativity’, which felt very bee-like to me and, now that I think of it, has already begun to manifest in my life as I was asked to write this report two days later! I was amazed, and moved, to see that each card had been hand-made by Geraldine and had a lovely bee drawing on it. Five of the cards were for the ‘Queen Bees’ and, when we split into groups later, each of us had a Queen Bee to honour (some of them took to their new role well and were quite bossy…and I write that with a smile).
Geraldine had brought us an enormous and beautiful basket of fresh herbs from her garden and each of us chose a bunch so that we could drink in the smell while she read a bee meditation. It was wonderful to smell the herbs and to imagine being a bee flying through a meadow or garden. Afterwards we all split up into groups, with our Queen Bees and Geraldine on hand if we got stuck, and made our own bees out of willow withies, decorating them with tissue paper. Gluing on the tissue paper was especially exciting as often we either got covered in glue and stuck the tissue paper on ourselves or watched our favourite piece of tissue paper being whipped across the lawn by the wind and had to chase it! It was a truly joyful and creative experience and all the bees looked so different and beautiful at the end. Eventually we came back to the circle and placed all our bees on the altar. We were each asked to choose three words for the energies that we wanted to carry with us into the winter (our store of honey), and one for the harvest that we have gathered this year, and then we launched our bunches of herbs into the circle to bless the bees, ending with a joyous and hilarious waggle dance on the lawn.
Although the workshop lasted for three hours if I had one criticism I would say that it was too short. I would have enjoyed exploring the symbology and importance of the bee more deeply and discussing the ways in which bee energy can be, or is being, used in our own communities. Having said that I did feel that I connected to an aspect of the Goddess that I had not really considered before and I have thought about it a lot since (which is perhaps the aim of a short workshop)…and I LOVE my withy bee!
In the afternoon we took our bee energy out into the land at Boscawen-ûn stone circle, where we were given lots of time to relax and commune with the site, and also take part in simple ritual, facilitated by Geraldine and Marjorie Rowland…and another waggle dance! I very much enjoyed the opportunity to travel to sacred sites during the Goddess in Cornwall gathering , particularly as I don’t drive, and it felt important to experience the energy of the landscape in places other than Boswedden House. I also appreciated the fact that several of the facilitators mentioned this year’s lunar standstill and asked us to look back over the, almost, nineteen years since the last one. At Boscawen-ûn we were asked to find three natural objects that symbolised our past, present, and hopes for the future, and discuss them in small groups. It made me realise just how far I have come in the last nineteen years and that was a powerful gift to take away with me. I know that other women felt the same when they were given the time and the space to look back over their lives; for some it was pleasurable, for some painful, but all appreciated being asked to look at longer cycles than the monthly and yearly ones that many of us work with. When I looked up from thinking my own thoughts I saw, just for a second, spirals of energy coming from the tops of the stones; another blessing to take home with me
On Saturday morning, filled with the joy of the bee and of a delicious breakfast, I went along to the tepee in the garden for a therapy treatment; each participant at the gathering was allowed one free half hour session with a qualified therapist as part of her ticket price - many of us had two! We could choose from Indian Head Massage with Samantha George, Reiki with Debbie Campbell, Yoga and Deep Relaxation with Pamela Masterton, or Full Body Massage with Maria Baylis. It was VERY hard to choose between them, and I heard good things about all the choices, but this morning I chose to have a reiki treatment with Debbie. It was lovely to be pampered and the reiki was deeply relaxing. I could hardly manage to wobble off to the morning’s workshop without curling up in a sunny corner for a snooze. I just about managed it though, and was glad that I did as Saturday’s workshop was ‘Making a Clay Goddess: a Shamanic Journey’, facilitated by Jackie Dash and Diana Dixon.
Again we chose to work outside in the sunshine and we were led by Jackie up to the labyrinth in the grounds so that we could take in its shape and meaning before being guided in a visualisation to its depths. Our task was to connect with the source of creation, and our own inner Goddess, and to create an image in clay as a ‘personal expression of Her energy and being’. We were asked once more to consider the last nineteen years and to move to the centre of ourselves as part of that. I enjoyed the visualisation, and Jackie’s drumming added a new layer of depth to our work, but I was slightly distracted by being bitten on the breast by a red ant and having my knee investigated by a large black dog’s cold nose. It isn’t easy being spiritual! During the visualisation several women also left as they heard an old lady, who lived in a cottage adjacent to Boswedden House, calling for help. She had fallen and hurt her wrist and the women who heard her were able to call for an ambulance. It led me to reflect on the ways in which the Goddess leads us to be in the right place at the right time, if we have the ears to hear and the eyes to see. Despite all this I still got a lot from the visualisation and really enjoyed making my clay Goddess. I was deeply moved to see the many expressions of the Goddess that we had all created when we came back into a circle, and to hear the stories that each woman had connected to her inner Goddess. One of the things that I really enjoyed about the gathering was the opportunity to create things with my hands; bringing the Goddess back into the body, rather than intellectualising Her as I often do.
In the afternoon many of the participants travelled to Carn Euny settlement and fogou for a ceremony to meet with the Ancient Grandmothers, facilitated by Heather and Cheryl, with a guided visualisation by Sue Barnet. I heard that the ceremony was deeply moving but had chosen to stay at Boswedden House to help complete the preparation for a sweatlodge and fire for that evening with a core group of around ten other women. I felt very drawn to take part in the sweatlodge, but nervous because I knew nothing about them and worried that my physical difficulties might make it impossible to sit for so long. I was moved by the gentle support that I received, allowing me to make up my own mind but reassuring and encouraging me too. I also loved being part of a co-operative effort with a group of women; each person feeling able to make suggestions and being heard, whatever their experience. As part of the preparations, Freddie Miller and I made a ‘Mud Goddess’ altar from the earth that had been dug out of the stone pit in the lodge. I felt quite naughty and rebellious mixing up mud in a bucket and kept expecting someone to come and tell me to wash my hands at any moment! It was fantastic to get dirty and to end up with a beautiful, round, curvaceous Mud Goddess at the end…and it was wonderful to be swept along by Freddie’s enthusiasm. Freddie also spent several days making a wicker Goddess, with the help of a small group of other women, and She was wonderful; eventually being named Honey-na-Gig! She was also brought over to the sweatlodge and I think that the presence of the Mud Goddess and Honey looking over the lodge encouraged me to go in that evening. The whole process took place with care, love, and laughter and the longer I spent preparing the lodge and bonding with the other women the more comfortable I felt.
That evening we all gathered around the fire and chanted for several hours before entering the lodge, with the wonderful Hana and Jane staying outside as doorkeepers. I really enjoyed the dark womb-like environment and as each glowing ‘Grandmother stone’ came in it was like welcoming an ancestor into our circle. As it became hotter and hotter I was moved to see the fiery outlines of ancient women above each of us, as though we each carried the mother of the mother of the mother of the mother with us. What happened then I can’t really describe, except to say that it was one of the most fantastic experiences of my life. The most wonderful thing was invoking many Goddesses and hearing each one ‘come to life’ in the darkness, particularly the Crone, in her various forms, who seemed to find no end of amusement and depth there; we called to Rhiannon, Blodeuwedd, Baba Yaga, Brigit, Sedna, Domnu, Cerridwen, Banbha, and many more, each coming and opening her mysteries to us, helping us to release our pain and regrets into the earth and celebrate being alive. When I came out of the lodge I felt like a new person; that I had shed a layer of fear and been through an initiation into the earth and the body. Such is the mystery of groups of women, and of the Goddess.
On Sunday morning I had a lovely Indian Head Massage from Samantha and settled down in the garden for some much-needed relaxation after my experiences in the sweatlodge. I was sad to miss the ‘Maiden, Mother, & Crone’ workshop, facilitated by Katinka Soetens. Katinka’s task was to help each person ‘explore three of the archetypal aspects of the Goddess as they manifest within us and in the seasons…using creative drawing, sound, and movement’. I saw many women coming from the workshop loaded down with beautiful images that they had created and looking full of happiness, and I also saw the VAST array of Goddess statues that Katinka had brought with her, showing care, enthusiasm, and abundance, as ever. In the afternoon many women went to Sennen beach for a Mother Ocean and Seashore ceremony, facilitated by Sheila Bright and Katinka, with music by the incredibly talented Sally Pullinger. Sunday had been windy and showery and, by then, the waves were huge. I’m quite sure that it was a powerful experience to stand on the beach and connect to the Mother of the Ocean. In the meantime, my friend Geraldine and I went to Cape Cornwall and watched two seals calmly negotiating the stormy seas and Bridie’s Oystercatchers wheeling around the cliffs. It was a perfect end to the weekend before returning to Boswedden House for the simple closing ceremony, which was facilitated by participants at the gathering and led each of us to write down the things that we were grateful for during the weekend and give them to the fire; my list was very long! And then absolutely everyone hugged everyone else and we left for the long journey home.
This was an inspiring, creative, nurturing, and abundant weekend and, for those few days, it felt as though we were in our own world. It was a real example of how women can live together co-operatively and inclusively; creating beauty and honouring the Goddess within and without, and I was grateful for the opportunity to connect to the Goddess in the powerful and primal landscape of Cornwall for the first time. I had never really ‘got’ Cornwall before, but now I do…and what better gift to take away from the ‘Goddess in Cornwall’ gathering than that?! I’m already looking forward to next year…
©Jacqui Woodward-Smith, 2nd October 2006. 
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