Metaformia

Judy Grahn, Ph.D., currently serves as Co-Director and Research Faculty of the Women's Spirituality M.A. program at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology. She is internationally known as a poet, woman-centered cultural theorist, co-founder of lesbian-feminism, and early contributor to literature of women’s spirituality. Her work centers on the reclamation of stories, values and methods of Sacred Feminine traditions. Her book, Blood, Bread, and Roses: How Menstruation Created the World (Beacon Press, 1993) outlines a new origin theory of culture blossoming from women’s peaceful blood rituals, especially menstruation. Her poetry collections include The Queen of Wands, The Queen of Swords, She Who and The Common Woman Poems, considered foundational to the development of cultural feminism. As a member of the first lesbian feminist collective in the U.S., Judy's contributions to the lesbian-feminist movement have been instrumental, including the publication of Another Mother Tongue: Gay Words, Gay Worlds (Beacon Press, 1984) which pffers extensive research into the origin and evolution of words and symbols of lesbian and gay culture. In 1994 she was awarded The Publishing Triangle's Lifetime Achievement Award (in Lesbian Letters). Judy’s Ph.D. is in Integral Studies with a concentration in Women’s Spirituality. Her dissertation, “Are Goddesses Metaformic Constructs? An Application Of Metaformic Theory To Menarche Celebrations And Goddess Rituals Of Kerala And Contiguous States In South India” was publised in 1999. Judy is currently writing a book on goddess practices from research she did in India, using metaformic theory. www.judygrahn.org

Deborah J. Grenn, Ph. D. is Co-Director and Core Faculty in the Women’s Spirituality M.A. Program at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, Palo Alto, California. She founded The Lilith Institute, A Center for the Study of Sacred Text, Myth & Ritual (1997), is founding priestess/kohenet of Mishkan Shekhinah, a sanctuary honoring the Sacred Feminine in all (2007), as well as Voice of the Spirit, a San Francisco Bay Area women's spirituality/study circle and lecture series. She completed her M.A. degree in Women's Spirituality at New College in 1998, and her Ph.D. at California Institute of Integral Studies. Her dissertation was an inquiry into South African Lemba and United States Jewish women's religious identities, beliefs and ritual practices. Deborah's writings include Lilith's Fire: Reclaiming Our Sacred Lifeforce (Universal Publishers, 2000) and "How Women Construct And Are Formed By Spirit: She Who Is Everywhere In Women's Voices, Kol Isha, Maipfi A Vhafumakadzi" in She Is Everywhere (iUniverse, 2005). Her current research, recently presented at the University of Liverpool's "Women and the Divine" conference, explores the role of the ancient and contemporary priestess.

Yoruba Chief Luisah Teish, a priestess of the West African river goddess Oshun, is an acclaimed spiritual leader as well as author of the witty, provocative and highly acclaimed Jambalaya: The Natural Women’s Book of Personal Charms and Practical Rituals, as well as Carnival of the Spirit and Jump Up!. She is a woman of wide-ranging talents - writer, storyteller, educator, performer, ritualist, and playwright, to name only a few. Chief Teish serves as faculty at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, New College of California, and California Institute of Integral Studies. She is a regular guest lecturer at John F. Kennedy University, Naropa Institute, Institute of Noetic Sciences, as well as many other venues, and teaches an ongoing “Soulwork for Sisters” series in Berkeley and Oakland. www.luisahteish.com

Mary Beth Moser, M.A., is an Italian American independent scholar who researches, writes and gives presentations on the Black Madonnas of Italy (Dea Madre). She holds a M.A. in Women's Spirituality from New College of California, and a B.S. in Mathematics from Colorado State University. Her work is fueled by her love for Italy, where she has traveled widely, and by her devotion to the Dark Mother. Mary Beth is the author of Honoring Darkness: Exploring the Power of the Black Madonnas in Italy (Dea Madre Publishing, 2005) and "Hidden No More: The Black Madonna Adonai of Sicily" published in She Is Everywhere (iUniverse, 2005).

Tina Proctor holds an M.A. in Women's Spirituality from New College of California, an M.S. in Wildlife Biology from Colorado State University and currently works as a biologist for a federal land management agency. Her article is a curious blend of two of her current passions: great apes and the moon. Her hope is that homo sapiens will, in all parts of the world, recognize our kinship with other primates and honor their lives and respect their homes. She can be reached at tinaproctor@4edisp.net.

Nané Araidne Jordan, M.A., is undertaking doctoral studies in Education in the Centre for Cross-Faculty Inquiry in Education (CCFI) at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. She holds a B.F.A. in Photography from the University of Ottawa, and completed her M.A. in Women’s Spirituality at New College of California, with a thesis exploring intersections of ecofeminism, midwifery practices and politics, and women’s ‘natural’, physiologic birth experiences. Her midwifery apprenticeship and work as a home birth attendant and post-partum doula within pre-regulation Canadian midwifery informs her research in women’s health and spirituality. She continues her art practice, and is developing a cosmology of 'sacred economy' rooted in placental morphology and its dialogue of blood. She draws inspiration from and loves the Pacific Coastal rain forests, being with her two daughters, husband, family, friends, scholarly colleagues, and an extended community of women and midwives around the world.

Dianne E. Jenett, Ph.D., is Co-Director of the Women's Spirituality M.A. program at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, as well as Adjunct and Research Faculty at California Institute of Integral Studies and Sonoma State University. She is the founder of Serpentina, a collaboration in support of 'woman-centered research for everybody.' She is also one of four co-authors of the groundbreaking qualitative research methodology, Organic Inquiry, first published in Organic Inquiry: If Research Were Sacred. She holds a Ph.D. in Integral Studies with a concentration in Women's Spirituality and an M.A. in Transpersonal Psychology. Her passionate love for Kerala, India takes her there almost every year where she researches and participates in community rituals to Bhadrakali. Her research interests are women's rituals and community rituals to the Goddess in South India, women's psycho-spiritual development, and qualitative research methods. Her research has been published in the U.S., Europe and India.