Reclaiming Eros Workshop
(presentation, structured journaling and meditations) – April 2023
Mary Magdalene and the Esoteric Egypt Workshop and Meditation
for the Women of Wisdom Conference – January 2023
Ecstatic Sexuality Workshop with Vanese McNeill
for the Women of Wisdom Conference – January 2023
The Divine Feminine throughout the Ages: An Overview
World Unity Week: 26 June, 11 am Brisbane time, 9 pm New York time.
I am very happy to present for World Unity Week ( June 20-27, 2020) along with such luminaries as Deepak Chopra and Marianne Williamson.
What are the narratives of the Divine Feminine and how have they changed throughout the ages? We are going to uncover and redefine the often forgotten narratives of the Divine Mother, the Creatrix, the goddesses of mystery traditions, Wisdom and Shamanism and discuss how the Feminine needs to be included in our narratives of the Divine if we truly want to create Unity in our world.
Faces of Shakti: Hindu Goddess as Archetypes for our Times
World Unity Week: 21 June, 5 pm Brisbane time, 3 am New York time.
I am very happy to present for the World Unity Week (June20 -27, 2020) along with such luminaries as Deepak Chopra and Marianne Williamson.
Can we learn anything from the Hindu goddesses as different representations of the mighty Shakti?
Oh, Yes!
In this presentation, we will discuss how Hindu goddesses – from the conservative Parvati (wife-archetype) to Radha (lover), to Saraswati (‘wisdom babe’), to Durga (‘the adventurer’) and to Kali (radical transformation) – can be seen as archetypes for modern times. They can be understood as primeval images in our psyche that can offer us choices and guidance. Throughout the presentation we will also explore how we can re-tell their stories to empower ourselves in our lives here and now.
Recovering the Archetype of the Goddess Lost: Ninmah, Inanna, Isis and Mary Magdalene
Thursday, April 2nd, 2020 7.30 -9.30pm
St Mary’s Anglican Church Hall, 455 Main St, Kangaroo Point, Qld 4169
Members & Concession $10; Non-members $15
In writing on the archetypes of the collective unconscious, Carl Jung reflected on a myth as [a]‘specific stamp…of an unconscious content … [which can] reveal the nature of the soul’.
In my talk, ‘Recovering the Archetype of the Goddess Lost: Ninmah, Inanna, Isis and Mary Magdalene’ I will discuss the lineage of goddesses that now reveal themselves to us again as a balancing act, the dance of the feminine (‘anima’) and masculine (‘animus’) in our times. In my research on Mary Magdalene I have found many unusual links to feminine divinities of the past. It is almost as if Mary Magdalene, throughout the ages, has become a focal point for the lost archetype of the Goddess in her conspicuous absence in our lives. The stories of the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge, the Serpent and the Resurrection of the young king in the presence of the Goddess have been previously recounted in Ancient Sumer, Babylon and Egypt — with Inanna, Isis, and Asherah at the centre of this archetypical story on the importance of the Archetype of the Divine Feminine.
Archetypes of Successful Women in Myth and History
11th Annual Womens Leadership and Empowerment Conference
8-10 March 2020 – Bali, Indonesia
In this presentation I examine the hidden and repressed archetypes of successful and empowered women in Greek and Hindu mythology and explore women in history who boldly, counter to their times and misogyny, embodied these powerful archetypes in their lives.
I will also examine how these archetypes and the women who embodied them were demeaned and ridiculed as being unsuitable for ‘virtuous women’. I will focus especially on women of great intellect and women of wisdom in antiquity and the Middle Ages who were pushed by mainstream histories to the edges of history and forgotten. In doing so, I will use the typology of Joan E Taylor (2003):
- Woman identified only as a sexual partner (and thus her intellectual achievements are disregarded or added to her partner’s achievements)
- Woman as an honorary male (and thus allowed into the arena of male intellectual accomplishment if she allowed herself to be stripped of her femininity)
- Woman as the bearer of secret knowledge (and later called a ‘dangerous heretic’)
- Bad woman (a woman who dared to transgress the lines of what was permitted for her gender)
The purpose of this presentation and possible paper is to bring the archetypes and examples of successful women back to our collective awareness as a tool of empowerment.
List of speakers: http://www.wleconference.org/wlec2020-agenda.html
Find the Lost Goddess in Your life Workshop – Fields of Healing, Byron Bay 24-25 November 2018
On the 24th and 25th of November I was a part of the Healing Fields Event organised by Unity Earth where I gave my ‘Find the Lost Goddess in Your Life’ workshop. The event was a great gathering of Aboriginal and Indigenous leaders plus shamans from around the world, as well as many speakers on spirituality. To check the details of the event please go to: https://fieldsofhealing.com.au/session/find-the-lost-goddess-in-your-life/
Manifest the Lost Goddess in Your Life – Sophia Meditation.
This video meditation is based on my Manifest Your Inner Goddess Workshop in Byron Bay on 24-25 November 2018 for the Healing Fields event organised by the Unity Earth. Enjoy and walk That Possibility which is You.
The Lineage of Goddesses: Inanna, Ishtar, Isis and Mary Magdalene
Lineage of Goddesses: Ninmah, Inanna, Ishtar, Isis, Mary Magdalene – Who were they and what do they want us to know? This video is a recording of a live event where Dr Joanna Kujawa discusses the connection between the ancient goddesses and their relationship to the mysteries of the Tree of Life and the Serpent. She then presents three alternative theories related to the goddesses and their message for us.
Mary Magdalene Talk for the Carl Jung Societies: Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney and Canberra
The Video below contains fragments of Joanna’s talk ‘Mary Magdalene and the Gnostic Gospels’, for the Carl Jung Society, Melbourne on the 13th of December 2013. Please see below for dates and location of Joanna’s upcoming talks.
‘The Rise of Gnostic Goddesses: Sophia and Mary Magdalene’
13 November 2017, 7.30pm, Richmond Library
Meeting Rm 415 Church St Richmond 3121
Both Sophia and Mary Magdalene are representations of the feminine divine in Western religious literature. Both have been relegated to secondary roles by Orthodox Christianity. However, as Jung asserts, whatever is repressed and hidden has to eventually reassert itself, and so do these ancient traditions archetypes of the feminine divine. In Gnostic documents Mary Magdalene was known as ‘Sophia’, the manifestation of God’s wisdom, our spiritual awakening.
In this workshop, we will uncover ancient meanings and myths as the lost feminine is waiting for its awaking and empowerment. We will ask ourselves what archetypes do we unconsciously imitate and explore, and which archetypes would serve us better. For this purpose, we will engage in structured journal keeping and shared discussion on the recovery and empowerment of the feminine divine in our personal lives. This workshop is intended for both women and men.
‘Carl Jung, Mary Magdalene and Gnostic Gospels’
8 July 2016, Carl Jung Society, Sydney
‘Jerusalem Diary, the Gnostic Gospels and
Mary Magdalene ‘
17 December 2015, The Sea of Faith, Melbourne.
Abstract/Summary:
In this talk, Joanna explains how her pilgrimage to Jerusalem fired her interest in the Gnostic Gospels and culminated in writing of Jerusalem Diary: Searching for the Tomb and House of Jesus. She then discusses the historical discovery of the Gnostic Gospels and the representation of Mary Magdalene as an advanced disciple of Jesus.
For many centuries, Mary Magdalene was portrayed as a sinner and was used to symbolise sexual transgression. Yet, over the last 150 years about 40 gospels and letters were discovered that throw a different light on both: the role of Mary Magdalene in Jesus’ circles and Jesus’ teachings. Considered heretical and rejected in the fourth century, Gnostic Gospels, talk about the knowledge of the inner self, the importance of the feminine principle in creation, and the absence of ’sin’ in nature. Indeed, the word Gnosis means ‘self-knowledge’ or ‘inner knowing’. In this talk, I would like to briefly discuss the fascinating discovery of the Gnostic Gospels, some of their teachings and the portrayal of Jesus as a teacher/guru and Mary Magdalene as the recipient of his Gnosis/mystical teachings. My focus will be on The Gospel of Thomas, The Gospel of Mary Magdalene and The Gospel of Philip.
For more information please visit the Sea of Faith website.
‘Spiritual Experience and Travel’
19 November 2015, Monash University, Melbourne
In this talk, I look at different types of spiritual experience as an impetus for travel. My intention was to coalesce the theoretical discussion of spiritual travel with personal accounts written by non-academic writers. I used Norman’s (2012) taxonomy of spiritual travel and suggest that his varieties of spiritual travel (spiritual tourism as healing, as experiment, as quest and as retreat and as collective) are aspects rather than distinctions/varieties of spiritual travel. I also give brief examples from Paul Brunton’s A Search in Secret India, Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love and relate my own experience as described in my book Jerusalem Diary.
‘Carl Jung, Mary Magdalene and the Gnostic Gospels’
2 July 2015, The Carl Jung Society, Brisbane
‘Carl Jung and the Gnostic Gospels’
6 February 2015 (8pm), Carl Jung Society, Canberra.
Abstract/Summary:
The knowledge of the inner self and the feminine principle of creation are not concepts familiar to the Christian scriptures. Yet, about 40 gospels and letters were discovered over the last 150 years that throw a different light on both. Considered heretical and rejected in the fourth century, Gnostic Gospels, talk about the knowledge of the inner self, the importance of the feminine principle in creation, and the knowledge of the soul as juxtaposed to a belief. Indeed, the word Gnosis means ‘self-knowledge’ or ‘inner knowing’. In this talk, I would like to briefly discuss the fascinating discovery of the Gnostic Gospels, some of their teachings which inspired Carl Jung’s work since 1912. Jung himself claimed that Gnostics were his intellectual predecessors and an inexhaustible source of the collective unconscious especially for his concepts of psyche, archetypes, and the feminine. My focus will be on the relationship between Carl Jung’s Gnostic essay ‘Seven Sermons to the Dead’ and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, the Gospel of Philip and the Gnostic creation myths in general.
‘Mary Magdalene and the Gnostic Gospels’
13 April 2014, Brisbane, Brisbane Square Library.
Level One, Meeting Room 1.9.
For many centuries, Mary Magdalene was portrayed as a sinner and was used to symbolise sexual transgression. Yet, over the last 150 years about 40 gospels and letters were discovered that throw a different light on both: the role of Mary Magdalene in Jesus’ circles and Jesus’ teachings. Considered heretical and rejected in the fourth century, Gnostic Gospels, talk about the knowledge of the inner self, the importance of the feminine principle in creation, and the absence of ’sin’ in nature. Indeed, the word Gnosis means ‘self-knowledge’ or ‘inner knowing’. In this talk, I would like to briefly discuss the fascinating discovery of the Gnostic Gospels, some of their teachings and the portrayal of Jesus as a teacher/guru and Mary Magdalene as the recipient of his Gnosis/mystical teachings. My focus will be on The Gospel of Thomas, The Gospel of Mary Magdalene and The Gospel of Philip.
‘Carl Jung and the Gnostic Gospels‘
13 December 2013, The Carl Jung Society.
Abstract/Summary:
The knowledge of the inner self and the feminine principle of creation are not concepts familiar to the Christian scriptures. Yet, about 40 gospels and letters were discovered over the last 150 years that throw a different light on both. Considered heretical and rejected in the fourth century, Gnostic Gospels, talk about the knowledge of the inner self, the importance of the feminine principle in creation, and the knowledge of the soul as juxtaposed to a belief. Indeed, the word Gnosis means ‘self-knowledge’ or ‘inner knowing’. In this talk, I would like to briefly discuss the fascinating discovery of the Gnostic Gospels, some of their teachings which inspired Carl Jung’s work since 1912. Jung himself claimed that Gnostics were his intellectual predecessors and an inexhaustible source of the collective unconscious especially for his concepts of psyche, archetypes, and the feminine. My focus will be on the relationship between Carl Jung’s Gnostic essay ‘Seven Sermons to the Dead’ and the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, the Gospel of Philip and the Gnostic creation myths in general.
For more information please visit the Carl Jung Society website.
‘Mary Magdalene and the Gnostic Gospels’
10 September 2013, Theosophical Society, Melbourne.
Abstract/Summary:
For many centuries, Mary Magdalene was portrayed as a sinner and was used to symbolise sexual transgression. Yet, over the last 150 years about 40 gospels and letters were discovered that throw a different light on both: the role of Mary Magdalene in Jesus’ circles and Jesus’ teachings. Considered heretical and rejected in the fourth century, Gnostic Gospels, talk about the knowledge of the inner self, the importance of the feminine principle in creation, and the absence of ’sin’ in nature. Indeed, the word Gnosis means ‘self-knowledge’ or ‘inner knowing’. In this talk, I would like to briefly discuss the fascinating discovery of the Gnostic Gospels, some of their teachings and the portrayal of Jesus as a teacher/guru and Mary Magdalene as the recipient of his Gnosis/mystical teachings. My focus will be on The Gospel of Thomas, The Gospel of Mary Magdalene and The Gospel of Philip.
For more information please visit the Melbourne Theosophical Society website.
‘Mary Magdalene and the Gnostic Gospels’
May 2013 at the Shiva School of Meditation and Yoga,
Mt. Eliza.
Abstract/Summary:
The knowledge of the Self- is a concept familiar to Hinduism but less so to the Christian scriptures. Yet, about 40 gospels and letters were discovered over the last 150 years that throw a different light on both Jesus as a teacher and the content of his teachings. Considered heretical and rejected in the fourth century, Gnostic Gospels, talk about the knowledge of the inner self, the importance of the feminine principle in creation, and the absence of ’sin’ in nature. Indeed, the word Gnosis means ‘self-knowledge’ or ‘inner knowing’. In this talk, I would like to briefly discuss the fascinating discovery of the Gnostic Gospels, some of their teachings and the portrayal of Jesus as a teacher/guru and Mary Magdalene as the recipient of his Gnosis/mystical teachings. My focus will be on The Gospel of Thomas, The Gospel of Mary Magdalene and The Gospel of Philip.
More information can be found on the Shiva School of Meditation website.
