Margaret Starbird holds BA and MA degrees from the University of Maryland where she concentrated in comparative literature, medieval studies and German language, studies she pursued on a Fulbright Student Grant at the Christian Albrechts Universitat in Kiel, Germany. She taught German language classes at the University of Maryland for four years and for one year at North Carolina State University. She later studied theology at Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville, TN. Margaret Starbird has lived and traveled widely in Europe including pilgrimages to Black Madonna and Mary Magdalene shrines and Cathar citadels in Provençe. Starbird and her husband of 38 years currently reside in the Pacific Northwest. They have five grown children. Starbird presents frequent lectures nationwide as well as international seminars and retreats honoring the Divine Feminine and the Sacred Marriage at the heart of Christianity.

 

Margaret is a widely read and referenced author. Her first book, The Woman With the Alabaster Jar, is available in 17 languages and was a major inspiration for Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code.

 

Margaret's other published works include: Mary Magdalene, Bride in Exile, The Feminine Face of Christianity, Magdalene's Lost Legacy: Symbolic Numbers and Sacred Union in Christianity and The Goddess in the Gospels: Reclaiming the Sacred Feminine in Christianity

 

 

Joan Norton, M.A., M.F.T., a Jungian psychotherapist in practice for 25 years and a channel for The Sedona Journal of Emergence for 12 years, is the author of "The Mary Magdalene Within."  The book is based on a personal visionary encounter with Mary Magdalene in 1996 and illuminates the true equality of consciousness of The Sacred Marriage, the balance of the Divine Feminine and Masculine.

 

Joan organizes Mary Magdalene seminars in the greater Los Angeles area and hosts the Mary Magdalene Circle, a monthly study/prayer group that takes place in Hollywood, California. You may order Joan's book online on Amazon to bring with you to the book signing.

 

 

For over two decades, Karen's work has been fueled by her intense interest and passion for travel, comparative religions, ancient cultures, and Goddess Spirituality.

 

A prolific writer, published author, and tour organizer, Karen's most recent work blends her experiences of women-centered multiculturalism evident in archaeology, anthropology and mythology with her unique literary talents and travel experience throughout the world to pen Sacred Places of Goddess: 108 Destinations.

 

An ordained minister, independent scholar of the Sacred Feminine, and graduate of The Women's Thealogical Institute, specializing in Goddess and Women's Spirituality, Karen's particular emphasis is on the roles of women and the study of comparative religions and ancient cultures in a modern or reconstructed context.  It is no surprise then that she is the founder of the educational, art, and cultural organization, The Isis Ancient Cultures Society.  An Adepta within the International Fellowship of Isis, Karen was ordained by one of the founders, Lady Olivia Robertson, at Clonegal Castle in Ireland.  More than a decade ago, the author began the Iseum of Isis Navigatum, a hearth of the Goddess within the FOI, which continues to fulfill her calling to help mid-wife the rebirth of the Divine Feminine in contemporary society.  

 

Karen resides in Venice, CA with her husband, Roy, her life partner for more than twenty years.  They are the creators, artists, and caretakers of the Isis Temple of Thanksgiving.

 

Karen was nominated for the Pagan Pride Day 2006 Community Service Award.

 

Stephen Gerringer, with the Joseph Campbell Foundation, will be joining Gaia Festival for the first time this year. Stephen pens the "Practical Campbell" essays for the JCF, where he serves as liaison to the larger myth-minded community. As part of that responsibilty, this year Stephen helped midwife the birth of the JCF's new website.

Tyr Jung-Hall comes with a diverse background from fine to performance art, musician to sound engineer, and performer to producer. Some of the projects on which he has worked include Manchester Girl (Off West-End), Mozart's Requiem w/Los Angeles Philharmonic (Festival of Sacred Music), If I Were Lost (Highways’ Ecce Homo, Ecce Lesbo), Hustler White (Sundance, Berlin, OutFest, London, and Amsterdam Film Festivals), The Big Rich for (Los Angeles Olympic Arts Festival); AIDS/US II, Queen of Angels and Camille for Artists Confronting AIDS; West Hollywood Story for Charity Parodies and the AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s annual telethon. His artwork has been shown at the LA Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center, A Different Light Bookstore, Six Gallery, and Lizards.

 

Tyr has also conducted a workshop on masks and maskmaking for California Men's Gathering.

Currently in post production for "Unwrapped," a short film he wrote & directed.

Link to feature film produced, Into the Arms of Strangers:

For Lydia's bio, I inserted quotes directly from her delightful website:

"Who is Lydia Ruyle also known as YA-YA? I am a 70 year old crone with much life experience, partner of Bob for 48 years, mother of three and grandmother of six, five girls and one boy. My oldest granddaughter, Mae Elizabeth Rukstalis, gave me the name YA-YA when she was learning her first words. It was hard for her to say Ly-di-a. It came out YA-YA.

 

I am an artist /scholar who has been pursuing Goddess research for several decades with my mind, body and spirit. As an artist, I create icons, sacred images of the divine feminine from the many cultures of the world. Since 1995, the icons have become spirit banners which fly around the globe weaving the sacred energies of the divine feminine.

 

How did I find the Goddess ? The Ancient Mothers gave me many wake-up calls. They asked me to listen, see, touch, learn, laugh, cry and share with art, stories and sacred places of Mother Earth.

Twenty years ago, I began collecting images of women from art history which I teach at the University of Northern Colorado. I put the images in my art and in 1987, Better Homes & Goddesses was born for National Women's History Month. The Goddesses now number in the hundreds."

 

All of Lydia's gorgeous Goddess banners can be viewed on her website, www.lydiaruyle.com