Joy Becomes You
An Advent Journey of Darkness and Delight with Mother Mary
How can we be joyful in a moment like this?
How can we not be joyful, especially in a moment like this? -Ross Gay
How is your joy quotient these days? Do you need a little permission to BE joyful, in this turning of the year, in these dark and difficult times? What might it mean to dance in darkness AND de-light?
This Advent, join a circle of women and Mother Mary in JOY, exploring the interplay of darkness and delight.
Details
An Advent Retreat Series
Wednesdays: December 7, 14, 21, 28; January 4
7:00-8:30 pm Central Time
Zoom Room (all registrants will receive a recording the day after each session)
Investment: $111 if registered by Dec. 1 ; $133 after Dec. 1
Mother Mary’s Medicine
Why Mother Mary? Isn’t she an outdated, co-opted tool of the patriarchal church?
Mother Mary is a powerful archetype and embodiment of the Great Cosmic Mother, Goddess Herself.
Like all archetypal energies, this is NOT about some being far away. The Divine Mother is showing us Her heart to call us into our own— to empower our lives for who we are and all we’re called to do and be in this lifetime. Her heart mirrors our own. Her love and liberation is ours.
For those of us who grew up in a Christian lineage (or whose ancestors did), Mother Mary is the way the Goddess, or Divine Feminine, has been hidden in plain sight right in our midst. She is a potent way to come into relationship with the Divine Feminine without appropriating Her from another tradition.
It is true that she has been used and abused by sexist and misogynistic forces. Yet it is MORE true that despite it all— despite every effort to be silenced, seduced or scared away— She remains. She continues to love Her people. She continues to show up— to Catholics, Buddhists, the lost and lonely, the nones and the dones, the seeking, the bewildered and the lit on fire in Love. She is HERE, the Great Comic Mother Herself, and She is beckoning you into Joy, into wHoliness, into ever greater Love and Life.
Mary is a unique form of the Divine Feminine because in Her lifetime, and in Her ongoing eternal energies, she embodies ALL aspects of Goddess— Maiden, Mother, Crone and Queen, in one expression.
In this retreat, we will in a particular way explore Her aspects of Maiden and Mother, touched by Crone and always held in the Soul Sovereignty of Queen.
More Details
WEEKLY THEMES
Week 1: Mother Mary as Maiden: The Duty of Delight
Week 2: Maiden Meets Mother: Wrapped in Joy
Week 3: A Mother is Born: Light in the Darkness
Week 4: Mother Touches Crone: This Whole Heart
Week 5: Fierce Mother: Finding and Keeping the Light
WHAT TO EXPECT
-time to relax, release and retreat
-space for embodied spiritual practice of various forms: simple movement and physical presencing; guided meditation and visualization; breathwork and re-formed traditional prayer
-teachings on Mother Mary and shared learning in a wisdom circle
-time for connection– to yourself, to others and to the Divine
WHAT YOU WILL RECEIVE
-encounter with and deepening relationship with Mother Mary (this is a journey, each in their own way and timing)
-increased understanding of how Her energies are present and moving in your life
-a toolkit of various spiritual practices to incorporate into your daily life
-ways to work with the archetypal Goddess energies of maiden, mother, queen and crone
-many benefits of gathering with women in circle
WHO THIS RETREAT IS FOR
-women (and/or anyone identifying primarily with the feminine principle) of any spiritual or no spiritual background; this retreat is most relevant for those with a Christian or Catholic lineage, as we will be re-imagining and re-invigorating stories and energies from the Christ-light lineage
-those seeking to deepen in relationship with the Divine Feminine, and desiring to encounter Her in Mother Mary
-those interested in growing spiritually in community
-those desiring a more embodied, incarnational spiritual experience and practice (weaving together heart, mind, body, soul with practical applications in life)
-those seeking healing of their ancestral and spiritual lineage, of their human heart and relationship with the Divine Feminine
Who is Erin Duffy-Burke?
Hello! I ‘m Erin. I live in St. Louis, MO (unceded land of the Osage, Mississippian, Sioux and Miami peoples) with my beloved, John and our two fur pups, one of whom is named Guadalupe, after Our Lady! (and because the man giving her to John insisted she have a Mexican name). When I was a little girl, I said to my mom, “I love my mommy on earth, and my mommy in heaven.” Since then, in various forms, near and far, in and out, I’ve been encountering and exploring (and sometimes running from) this Love. My initiations into Her are primarily the death of my youngest sister Caitlin by suicide almost 10 years ago, and the tremendous honor of midwifing her into Death and Eternal Life. (Mother Mary showed up frequently during that time). Others include my family of origin and the tribe of Duffy; being a priestess choosing in this lifetime to be born into the Roman Catholic lineage; my marriage to my beloved and the fire of transformation and ecstasy that primary relationship always is; living in Chicago, IL, St. Louis, MO, Dallas, TX and Berkeley, CA. All those lands and peoples and experiences in those places have profoundly impacted my soul. The paths of dancing, breathing, stretching, walking, running, eating, lovemaking, gardening, writing and all forms of embodiment constantly inform my work and practice. I also hold three masters degrees in Catholic Education, multicultural ministry and Christian spirituality. I am a certified yoga teacher and yoga therapist, facilitator of embodied transformation, spiritual director, birth doula, theologian and priestess. All these rivers and more and none make me who I am. It is a profound honor to be of service in the teaching, spirit and energy of the Divine Mother.