Events, Classes, Priestess Services & Writing
MY BOOK, GODDESS DURGA ANDSACRED FEMALE POWER IS BEING PUBLISHED BY HAMILTON BOOKS, AN IMPRINT OF UNIVERSITY PRESS OF AMERICA AND WILL BE OUT OCTOBER 1, 2010-JUST IN TIME FOR DURGA PUJA!!!. AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER NOW THROUGH LAURA@AMAZZONEJEWELRY.COM
$37.50 LIST PRICE
$3.66 CA SALES TAX
$5.00 SHIPPING
$46.16 TOTAL
(If you live in Southern California and prefer to not have the book shipped, the cost will be $41.15)
About the book:
Goddess Durgā and Sacred Female Power is an exploration of the many faces of the Goddess Durgā in ancient and contemporary culture. As we learn through a 5th century myth narrating Durgā’s victorious battles over corrupt forces destroying the equilibrium of Mother Earth and all Her creatures, Durgā and Her entourages of South Asian Goddesses offer us the wisdom, grace, inner strength and divine power needed to restore balance to a conflict-ridden world. The book takes us on a pilgrimage to Goddess temples and natural shrines, to visit shamans and living Goddesses in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal and in India during the annual ten-day Durgā Festival. The mythology, rituals, philosophy, and spiritual practices of this distinctly female-centered and millennia-old tradition of Durgā offers an alternative model of female potential and empowerment, focusing on peace, healing, spiritual liberation and realization of inherent divinity.
Essay and Images from Laura's 2006 pilgrimage to the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal: www.acoracle.org/news.htm
Temple of Female Consciousness: www.ambika-durga.blogspot.com
Selected Bibliography:
- Goddess Durga and Sacred Female Power. Baltimore: Hamilton Books (an imprint of University Press of America), 2010.
- “The Asta Matrikas: Mandalic Mothers of Bhaktapur, Nepal,” in Sacred Geography of Goddesses in South Asia: Essays in Memory of David Kinsley. Editor: Professor Rana P. Singh, New Delhi: Cambridge Scholarly Press, 2010
- “Durga: Invincible Goddess of South and Southeast Asia” in Goddesses in World Culture. Vol. I: Africa, Asia, Australia, and the Pacific. Editor: Patricia Monaghan. Praeger (a division of Houghton-Mifflin), 2010
- “Of Durga and Nepal,” in Talking to Goddess: Powerful Voices From Many Traditions. Editor D’vorah J.Grenn, Napa and San Mateo, California: The Lilith Institute, 2009.
- “Call of the Mermaid,” in Talking to Goddess: Powerful Voices From Many Traditions. Editor D’vorah J.Grenn, Napa and San Mateo, California: The Lilith Institute, 2009.
- “Durga and the Matrikas,” in We’Moon At the Crossroads, Oregon: Mothertongue Ink, 2009.
- “Matristic Societies: A Celebration of Women” in Feminine Reformation: A Goddess Metanarrative. Editor: Jayne DeMente. Publisher-in negotiation. Forthcomin
- Encyclopedia of Hinduism. (Entries: Shakta, Shakti, Women and Hinduism, Yoni, Hindu Goddesses, Shakti Pithas) Eds. James Ryan and Connie Jones, New York: Facts-on-File, 2006
- “The Goddess and the Sacred Art of Adornment” in She Is Everywhere. Editor: Lucia Chiavola Birnbaum, iUniverse, April, 2005.
- “Durga and the Dashain Harvest Festival: From the Indus to Kathmandu Valleys.” ReVision: A Journal of Consciousness and Transformation, Vol. 25, No.1, Summer 2002 (published under former married name, Chamberlain).
Interviews
Nov. 12. 2008 Interview on Voices of the Divine Feminine with Karen Tate:
Goddess Durga: Embodying the Mother Goddess of Paradox
Click on this link to listen:
http://internetvoicesradio.com/Arch-Karen.htm
Priestess Services
Intuitive Readings
I look at the energies in your chakras and aura as well as past life incarnations where certain energies are unresolved and affecting your current situation. These sessions offer clarity on present issues, experiences & concerns and help move stuck and/or blocked energies so you can more easily manifest your visions and dreams.
60 and 90 min phone sesssions available. Sliding scale. Contact me for more info.
Ritual Services
Officiant for Weddings, Sacred Unions, Memorials, Menarche and other Rite of Passage Rituals
Contact laura@amazzonejewelry.com for more info
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Events and Classes
CALL TO SACRED ACTION: RITUAL FOR THE GULF WATERS
DATE: Sunday, July 26, 2010-Full Moon
WHERE: Venice Beach at Rose Ave.
Organized by Chani Nicholas, Nicola Graydon, Mbali Creazzo and Laura Amazzone
More details to come
WEDDING CEREMONY IN MALIBU FOR
ELIZABETH & TRENTEN
DATE: Saturday, July 10, 2010
Private Ceremony~~~
TANTRA AND THE FIERCE GODDESS
The Yoga Philosophy Program at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles
DATE Tuesdays, September 15- October 12, 2010
TIME 7:30-9:30 p.m.
Location: Loyola Marymount University
Tuition: TBC
Adorned with garlands of skulls and often wielding knives, swords and other weapons, fierce Goddesses like Kali and Durga are two of the most beloved deities in parts of India and Nepal – and in California. Who are these so-called terrifying Goddesses, and what do they represent? This course will present several of the fierce and terrifying faces of Goddess in the Hindu Tradition within Shakta Tantric myth, history, ritual and devotional contexts. We will also look at the roles and qualities of various fierce Goddesses within the annual fall Durga Puja (begins October 7 this year!).
To register by phone: (310)338-1971 http://registration.xenegrade.com/lmuextension/courseDisplay.cfm?schID=194
~~~
PAST EVENTS in 2009
Shakta Devi Sa'Ham:I AM SHE. Faces of the South Asian Goddess in East and West.
First Tuesday of the month from January -September 2009. 7-9:00 p.m.
KATHMANDU BOUTIQUE 1844 LINCOLN (at Pico Ave) Santa Monica
$30 a class ~ 30% of proceeds go to Self-help Group for Cerebral Palsy Nepal (For more info about SGCP) contact: reena@kathmanduboutique.com
Sa'ham Registration: shaktayogini@yahoo.com -310-302-0088
Goddesses of the South Asian pantheon have a milennia-old history of rich dynamic mythologies and ritual practices that are empowering, transformative, and liberating. The Shakta Tantra tradition offers practices that honor and worship the Sacred Feminine as the pervading force behind all existence. In this tradition both men and women come to Devi with the understanding that in order to know Goddess, one must become Goddess.
On each of these evenings we will explore ancient Shakta Tantra techniques that will help us to access our inner guidance and the wisdom of these goddesses. Class will be part experiential (mantra-chanting, puja-ritual, pranayama-breathwork, and meditation). Images, music, storytelling, and myth will be utilized in our approach of these Goddesses. Together we will look at Devi's expression in India and Nepal as well as explore Her presence in ourselves and our lives in California.Ultimately, our relationship with the Divine within the Shakta Tantra tradition teaches us how to live in alignment with our inherent divinity. Sa'Ham! I am She!
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