British Traditional Wicca 101, Standing with the Watershed, Scent Laboratory, Dark of the Moon Practice for Hermes and Hekate, Geoff Hoyle's Geezer, Moonshine: Three Short Pieces, Tartuffe, Sacred Burlesque: The Art of Prayerformance, True Family Foods Talk Fermentation, Il Trovatore, Intuitive Healing Fair, Lunar New Year Celebration on Fourth Street, SoulCollage, Community Seed Imbolc Ritual, Civil Rights In America Today, The Middle Earth Ball, Acid Test: The Many Incarnations Of Ram Dass, San Francisco Antiquarian Book Print and Paper Fair, Baba Yaga’s House, Simple Sewing, North Bay Reclaiming’s Imbolc Ritual, Imbolc Spring Ritual, Belly Dance Student Showcase, Love Your Body, NorCal Trans Partners Family and Friends Support Group, Exploratorium After Dark: Sexplorations, Little Paper Acorns
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British Traditional Wicca 101
with Lady Argante
Wednesday, January 29, 7:00-9:00PM,
and ten more Wednesdays through April 9
The Sacred Well, 536 Grand Avenue, 510-444-9355
$10 per class
“British Traditional Wicca 101 is a 14-week class which provides students with a basic overview of the religion and craft of Wicca, from a British Traditional perspective. Subjects to be covered include the Goddess and the God, the Wheel of the Year, tools and correspondences, ritual structure and function, magical ethics and methods. There will also be guided visualizations and two informal rituals.
This month's classes:
January 29: Meditation on the Goddess
British Traditional Wicca 101 will be taught by members of the Coven Daoine Sidhe, led by their High Priestess, Lady Argante. At 26 years young, Daoine Sidhe is one of the most enduring (or stubborn) Gardnerian covens in the San Francisco Bay Area.”
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Standing with the Watershed
Closing Reception
presented by Wholly H2O
Thursday, January 30, 6:00-8:00PM
Lobby of Sherwood Design Engineers, 58 Maiden Lane, San Francisco
Free
“Many thanks to the throngs who enjoyed December 5th's opening reception, touring through the art, and hearing Patrick Keopele of Tuolumne River Trust, Bill Sears of the SFPUC and Elizabeth Dougherty of Wholly H2O's brief presentations about the Tuolumne River Watershed and Rim Fire.
Best of all was that so many of you took the opportunity to hang out with the artists, with one another, listen to great tunes and donate extra amounts of money to Wholly H2O. The gentleman who pulled a wad of twenties out of his wallet and threw them into the donation jar gets extra brownie points!
Sherwood Gallery reports are that folks are regularly coming in to Sherwood Gallery at 58 Maiden Lane in San Francisco to tour this extraordinary show while it's hanging through January 30th. Please continue to drop in when you are in San Francisco during the week. It's open daily from 12:00-5:00PM.
For those of you who missed the opening and only a party will get you out of the house, Standing with the Watershed's closing reception is Thursday, January 30th, from 6:00-8:00PM. We'll have a few storytellers to enhance your experience of the Tuolumne Watershed and the Rim Fire. We promise it will be an evening well spent.
It will also provide you another opportunity to purchase a piece of artwork from the show (40% of proceeds goes to Wholly H2O), to donate in person to Wholly H2O and to RIM: River In Motion Education Center.
The fragile relationship between San Francisco Bay Area residents and their water supply was heightened by the recent events of the Rim Fire that tore through the protected watershed in and around Yosemite that provides the Bay Area with much of its water. Wholly H2O, in partnership with Sherwood Gallery, has assembled a provocative group of 17 artists working to address the environmental issues surrounding this interrelationship.
Presenting works in a variety of media, the show Standing with the Watershed opened in the Sherwood Gallery on December 5, 2013 and continues through January 30, 2014. The artists share their interpretations and experiences defined by the nature-urban interface and the dynamic transformative element of wildfire that brings the tension in this relationship to the fore. Both the physicality of the Tuolumne River Watershed and the use of these waters in San Francisco and Silicon Valley are the launching points for all of the artists’ work. Grappling with the dynamic and unpredictable variables of ‘natural disasters’ provokes a corresponding response exhibited in the paintings, photographs and installations on view in the gallery.
The two-month exhibit aims to expose the energy and vitality of this watershed and water system before, during, and after the Rim Fire. The stories and impressions exhibited use the Fire as a point of reference but extend deeper into the human relationship with this watershed and the causal relationships behind environmental disasters. The show is inspired at times by the tragic beauty of the natural landscape engulfed in flames and its people reeling in the fire’s path and aftermath. Other moments, the show draws us in to the urban side of the water system, sharing impressions where this water is used by 2.5 million of the urban residents in the Bay Area.
Standing with the Watershed at Sherwood Gallery offers a new perspective in our series of exhibitions in the space that strive to reinterpret the modern urban condition and redefine our relationship with nature.”
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Scent Laboratory
with Jana Blankenship
Thursday, January 30, 7:00-9:00PM
Gravel and Gold, 3266 21st Street, San Francisco
Sliding scale $20-$40
“Jana Blankenship of Captain Blankenship will delve into the art of natural perfumery and the perfumer’s palette. While smell is our first sense to develop, it is arguably our least cultivated. We have the power to identify over 10,000 different smells, so let’s play. We will get our noses deep into essential oils and absolutes from Jasmine to seaweed and explore how to create simple oil and alcohol-based perfumes. We will explore how scent influences our other senses, the emotional impact of smell, and try to trace some of our scent-based memories. Everyone will leave with a vial of scent that they have concocted themselves.”
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Dark of the Moon Practice for Hermes and Hekate
with Sam Webster
Thursday, January 30, gather at 8:00PM, Ceremony begins at 8:15PM,
and each month within the three day Dark Moon window
The Sacred Well, 536 Grand Avenue, Oakland, 510-444-9355
Donations welcome
“Sam Webster (founder of the Open Source Order of the Golden Dawn, author of Tantric Thelema, and Priest of Hermes and Hekate) hosts an open Dark of the Moon practice at The Sacred Well each month, making offerings to Hermes and Hekate.
The large wooden representation of Hermes, classically called a Herm, was consecrated and worshipped at PantheaCon 2013 by Pagans, Magickians, and spiritual practitioners from many different backgrounds in a large ceremony that drew heavily on classical Greek material.
The Herm now resides at the Sacred Well, and each month we gather to continue this sacred work with Dark Moon ritual for Hermes and Hekate, who were frequently honored at the crossroads together in ancient Greece. The practice that Sam shares in this circle is one he has maintained without fail since the Dark Moon of January 1992.
Upcoming dates:
March 1
March 30
April 27
May 28
June 26
July 26
August 24
September 24
October 22
November 22
December 21
Study with Sam and more formal training in the Priestcraft of Hermes for those who desire to keep this rite are available. Please speak with Sam about this directly when you attend.”
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Geoff Hoyle's Geezer
Thursday and Saturday, January 30 and February 1,
Thursday 8:00PM, Saturday 5:00PM
playing through March 1
The Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston Way, Berkeley
Sliding scale, Thursdays $25-$35, Saturdays $30-$35
“The Marsh is thrilled to announce the return of Geoff Hoyle’s hit solo show, Geezer.
From a hysterical riff on life in a nursing home to The Venerable Bede’s meditations on the meaning of life, from delightful reminiscences of his youth in England and young manhood in America to ruminations on aging and mortality, Hoyle brings his irrepressible sense of comedy and trademark physicality, as well as a certain elegiac wistfulness, to this tour-de-force performance about what it is like to grow old.
Geoff Hoyle trained with Marcel Marceau’s teacher, Etienne Decroux, in Paris, developing his unique physical bravura comic style, a combination of the court jester, vaudeville and English music hall. He made his mark in the Bay Area as the Pickle Family Circus’ beloved clown, Mr. Sniff. Later, he created the critically acclaimed Feast of Fools, featuring masked Commedia Dell’Arte characters including the libidinous and elderly Pantalone (Hoyle claims he will no longer need to use a mask for this one,) Il Dottore and the pratt-falling Arleccino. It is a depiction of Everyman striving for dignity in the face of a multitude of struggles, big and small, that is not unlike Hoyle’s own search for meaning in Geezer. His award-winning shows The Convict’s Return (about taking Feast of Fools to Broadway and its mixed reception there,) (Geni(us) and The First Hundred Years (an improbable history of comedy) have been seen in San Francisco, Paris, London, Berlin, Taiwan, New York, England and the former Soviet Union.
Regional theatre appearances include Berkeley and Seattle Repertory Theatres, A.C.T. and La Jolla Playhouse. He was the original Zazu in the Broadway cast of The Lion King and appeared off-Broadway in Bill Irwin’s Mr. Fox and in Tony Kushner’s and Maurice Sendak’s adaptation of the children’s opera Brundibar. His many film appearances include Popeye, during which his son, Dan, was born. Last summer, he performed his fabled three-legged dance in the oldest theatre in Italy, the Teatro della Pergola, built in Florence in 1656. Critics have remarked at the sheer joy Hoyle’s character finds in mastering his extra limb!”
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Moonshine: Three Short Pieces
presented by RADIX
Thursday-Sunday, January 30-February 2, 8:00PM
The Foundry, 835 Carleton Street, Berkeley
$10-$20
“RADIX takes over the Foundry! For the first time ever Foundry Nights presents an exclusive evening featuring the amazing artists-in-residence, RADIX with Moonshine: Three Short Pieces. The Radix Troupe crew has been working hard for months in long hours of rehearsal and building their incredible sets for this show. We think you should come.
- Andy and Ross, Foundry Nights Curators.
The Lady Aoi - A Japanese ghost play by Yukio Mishima. A living ghost tortures her ex-lover with the inside of a piano.
Tree of Codes - Movement set to original live music, inspired by Jonathan Safran Foer's erasure poem. A young girl is trapped in a sinking house. The windows shake and the orchestra weeps.
The Distance of the Moon - A theatrical adaptation of the whimsical Cosmicomic by Italo Calvino. Back in a time when the moon orbited so close to earth, you could reach out and touch it.
Featuring: Hannah Michahelles, Marica Petrey, Eli Wirtschafter, Eric Newcombe, Mogli Maureal, and Brendan Lucy Liu.”
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Tartuffe
presented by Shady Shakespeare
Thursday-Friday and Sunday, January 30-31 and February 2
Thursday-Friday 8:00PM, Sunday 7:00PM
playing through February 8
Hal Todd Studio Theatre, Hugh Gillis Hall #103, San Jose State University,
220 E. San Fernando Street, San Jose
see website for ticket details
“Religious hypocrisy has never been as hilarious (or as sexy) as in Tartuffe, one of the crowning jewels of French comedy. Monsieur Orgon, a prominent Parisian gentleman, has unwittingly invited religious con man Tartuffe into his home and family life where the impostor immediately makes designs on Orgon's fortune, a mercenary marriage to Orgon's daughter, Mariane (already engaged to her dashing young lover, Valere)... and the womanly charms of Orgon's wife, Elmire. Perhaps only Elmire's good sense and the aid of the family's whip-smart and delightfully sassy maid, Dorine, can expose Tartuffe and save Orgon from self-destruction. But will their efforts be enough to overcome Orgon's monumental buffoonery before it's too late? Moliere's fast-paced, seductive satire will leave you guessing till the very end.
Tickets range in price from $10 for students, $15 for seniors 65+, and $20 general admission. Prices include all service costs - no hidden fees! Tickets are available online will also be available at the box office.
Thanks to the generosity of our donors, kids 17 and under will be admitted FREE with a paid adult. Kids must still obtain a physical ticket to gain entry.”
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Sacred Burlesque: The Art of Prayerformance
with Veenaa Saynana
Friday, January 31, 7:00-10:00PM,
and six more Fridays, February 7, 14, 21, and 28 and March 7 and 14
Equinox Celebration and Performance Friday, March 21, 7:00-10:00PM
Dance Jam, 2525 8th Street, Berkeley
Sliding Scale $320-$280
Space is limited, registration required
“Sacred Burlesque: The Art of Prayerformance
Unique Dance/Choreography/Creativity Genre led by Veenaa Saynana
Gender Inclusive
Come transform your life by exploring your sensual and sexual essence through the amazing techniques of Sacred Burlesque, where you symbolically (and seductively!) shed that which is no longer relevant in the story of your life. You will learn how to come back to your core essence through Prayerformance, the art of combining the field of sacred intention with that of your infinite potential. Participants will perform their pieces in front of a live audience at the end of the course which will mark the Spring Equinox. Their progress will also be documented through live, mentored interviews in a television documentary.
Highlights in brief:
Prayerformance
Shamanic Techniques
Unleashing Creative Fire
Sacred Story-Telling
Sensual Dance
The Art of Seduction
Sacred Burlesque
Burlesque Choreography - no nudity, you choose how much you wish to take off, or how little.
Performance Skills
Interview in a television documentary
To register, please send an email to veenaasaynana@gmail.com with your details. A deposit is needed to reserve your space. Space is limited to 15.
This course is led by Veenaa Saynana Laughing Dolphin, a creative powerhouse of shamanic magic, dance, Prayerformance and ceremony. She is the author of Mary Magdalene Speaks: Gateway to Empowerment. She holds a Gold Medal in the performance of poetry and prose, is an unashamed seductress and a sensual mentor. She revels in the bliss of sensuality and sacred dance. She is well-known for her one-woman shows which are raunchy, comedic and purring with fun! She has facilitated in 3 continents, from Asia to Australia to North America. She leads retreats to major sacred sites of the world.
She runs a successful healing and coaching practice, empowering thousands to lead lives of blissful sensuality and abundance. She is available for private sensuality mentoring sessions and DNA Sequencing Therapy, a powerful modality utilizing deep trauma release and sacred journeying.”
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True Family Foods Talk Fermentation
Friday, January 31, 7:30-8:30PM
The Beanery, Alameda Natural Marketplace, 1650 Park Street, Alameda, 510-865-1500
Free
“True Family Foods
Full-flavoured organic foods steeped in tradition, rooted in the family kitchen.
Reclaim your food by reclaiming fermentation.”
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Il Trovatore
presented by Virago Theatre Company
Friday, January 31, 7:30PM
and Sunday, February 2, 2:00PM
playing through February 9
Elk's Ballroom, 2255 Santa Clara Avenue, Alameda
see website for ticket details
“Virago Theatre Company is proud to present Giuseppe Verdi's masterpiece Il Trovatore in a limited engagement of just four performances at the elegant Alameda Elk's Ballroom, 2255 Santa Clara Avenue! Ellen St. Thomas directs, Maestro Robert Ashens conducts this glorious and spellbinding opera. Virago Resident Artist Eileen Meredith as Leonora, Alex Boyer as Manrico, Jo Vincent Parks as Count di Luna and Elizabeth Baker as Azucena.
Verdi’s wrenching story of betrayal, passion, revenge and star-crossed love set in a tribal world of medieval fantasy. Rich with many of opera’s most beautiful and exhilarating melodies, Il Trovatore's score is simply glorious.
EXCLUSIVE TABLE SEATS WITH FRIENDS! BOOK NOW, LIMITED SEATING! FRIDAY NIGHTS ONLY! Available ONLY Opening Night, Friday Jan 31st and Friday, Feb 7, 7:30pm performance $45 per ticket Appetizers at the table 2 bottles of wine Premium seating 10 maximum per table Join us at the no-host bar before the show for cocktails or wine!
Friday, January 31st, Opening Night! 7:30PM show. Come early at 7:00PM to meet Maestro Robert Ashens. Champagne Reception after the show!
Sunday, February 2, 2:00PM performance.
Friday, February 7, 7:30PM performance. Arrive at 7:00PM and learn the Anvil Chorus with Maestro Robert Ashens!
Sunday, February 9, 2:00PM performance. Wine and Cheese Reception after the show!”
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Intuitive Healing Fair
with Katrina Martin
Saturday, February 1, 12:00-3:00PM
Private residence in Oakland, address given upon RSVP
Donations accepted.
To RSVP and hold a space, please email katrina@katrinadreamer.com
“Four fantastic healers with extensive intuitive training are gathering to offer energy healings to our community! We will offer readings and healings between noon and 3:00PM at a private residence in Oakland. We will email you the location once you RSVP.
Types of healings/readings include: ancestral healings, past-life healings, aura healings/readings, creative space readings, and trance-medium healings. Healings/readings will last between 20 and 30 minutes for each person. Healings/readings are free; we will also gratefully accept donations.”
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Lunar New Year Celebration on Fourth Street
Saturday, February 1, 12:00-4:00PM
along Fourth Street between Virginia and Hearst, Berkeley
Free
“12:00-3:00PM
Traditional candy given-away at participating merchant shops
12:00-1:00PM
Martial Arts Demonstration
1:00-2:00PM
Dragon and Lion Dance by Kei Lun Martial Arts
2:00-3:30PM
Merchant Store Blessings by Lion Procession”
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SoulCollage
with Maya Spector
Saturday, February 1, 1:30-5:00PM
private home, 685 ½ Fairmount Avenue, Oakland
$15, all materials provided.
Space is limited, please RSVP to Maya at 650-329-1415 or mayaspector@hotmail.com
“Please join me on Sunday, December 29 for this easy yet profound way to access intuition, have fun, and create your own set of collaged cards. Invite your friends!
SoulCollage is a process for creating and working with a set of cards that reflect your inner self. SoulCollage is deeply satisfying and a lot of fun; it’s a fantastic creative exploration that anyone can do. Although it is highly personal, it is wonderful and most insightful when done in small groups.”
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Community Seed Imbolc Ritual
Saturday, February 1, gather at 2:00PM, Ritual begins at 3:00PM
Santa Cruz Masonic Temple, 828 N Branciforte, Santa Cruz
suggested donation of $8-$20, no one turned away for lack of funds
for more information, call 831-469-0336 or e-mail info@communityseed.org
“Imbolc, 2014: Enter the Forge: Create and be Transformed
Potluck to follow after the ritual. Please bring a dish to share and label the ingredients.
Earth signs - Greens, Air Signs - Main Dish Meat,
Fire Signs - Main Dish Vegetable, Water Signs - Dessert
Drinks will be provided
This is a child friendly event. All CS events are Clean and Sober.”
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Civil Rights In America Today
Saturday, February 1, 5:00PM
Palma Ceia Baptist Church, 28605 Ruus Road, Hayward
Free
“In partnership with the Women's Ministry of Palma Ceia Baptist Church, the South Bay Area Chapter of the LINKS, Inc. and Chabot College
The 2014 national topic for Black History Month is Civil Rights in America. Looking at current civil rights issues, one of the most pressing is the mass incarceration of people of color. Join our panel of local community leaders as we explore this issue and its impact on health, education, family structure, jobs and more.
Free admission. Light refreshments will be served.
Program funds generously provided by California State University East Bay.”
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The Middle Earth Ball
presented by PEERS
Saturday, February 1,
Doors Open 6:45PM, Dance Lesson: 7:00PM, Dancing Begins: 8:00PM
Alameda Elks Lodge, 2255 Santa Clara Avenue, Alameda
$20
“The Road goes ever on and on,
down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
and I must follow, if I can!
Pursuing it with eager feet,
until it joins some larger way,
where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
Elves, wizards, hobbits, dwarves, and humans alike are welcome at a grand ball in Lake-town in our tribute to The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings with glorious dance music - some of it Tolkien-inspired - by Celtic Fusion and Renaissance rock band Avalon Rising.
Dance waltzes, polkas, mazurkas, reels, set dances, and country dances, and such favourite Middle Earth dances as The Congress of Rivendell Waltz, The Merry Old Inn (Bilbo's Polka), Gandalf's Spiral Dance, and Sir Bard de Coverley. Some of the dances will be highly choreographed and will be taught and called at the ball, but others are open to improvisation and creativity. Avalon Rising's dance music varies from extremely elegant to wildly abandoned and is irresistibly danceable!
If you need a brush-up on your Middle Earth dance style, there will be a pre-ball dance class at 7:00PM. Formal dancing begins at 8:00PM.
Suggested attire is Medieval, Renaissance, Middle-Eastern, Pre-Raphaelite, or even Victorian costume (for those of you who favor Hobbit style), and, of course, fantasy costumes inspired by The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are admired but not required. Modern evening dress is perfectly acceptable and there is no dress code for the ball. If you are planning to dance, please do plan to wear shoes or boots that you can actually dance comfortably in (and that includes Hobbits. We'd seriously advise against dancing barefoot at such a popular event!). For everyone's safety, including the wearers, weapons should, of course, be peace-bonded.
For costume inspiration and as background information for the ball, we suggest Peter Jackson's The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The actual setting of the ball is the great hall at Lake-town during Bilbo's party's first visit in The Hobbit.
A no-host bar and a light snack buffet will be served. Our hosts graciously welcome your potluck contributions to their table. Even the resources of Esgaroth can be strained by a well-attended ball!“
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Acid Test: The Many Incarnations Of Ram Dass
Saturday, February 1, 8:00PM
Throckmorton Theatre, 142 Throckmorton Avenue, Mill Valley, 415-383-9600
$20 in advance, $25 at the door
“Written by Lynne Kaufman, Performed by Warren David Keith
Acid Test tells the true story of Ram Dass, renowned spiritual teacher and LSD pioneer, as he journeys from ‘Be here now’ to ‘Still here’ to ‘Be love’. The play explores Ram Dass’s life from being Richard Alpert, the scion of a wealthy Jewish family and a professor at Harvard, to launching the psychedelic movement with Timothy Leary. Whether meeting his guru in India or suffering a paralyzing stroke, he illuminates his search for inner peace and lasting truth with humor and humility.
Lynne Kaufman's plays have won numerous awards. She has created 20 full length plays produced at venues such as The Abingdon Theatre in New York and The Fountain Theatre in LA and Actors Theatre of Louisville.
Warren David Keith's performance as Ram Dass has been described as ‘pitch perfect.’ He appeared in The Big Lebowski, Fargo and Raising Arizona, and performs frequently in theatres throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.”
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San Francisco Antiquarian Book Print and Paper Fair
Saturday-Sunday, February 1-2,
Saturday 10:00AM-7:00PM, Sunday 10:00AM-5:00PM
Festival Pavilion, Fort Mason Center, 2 Marina Boulevard, San Francisco
$10
“The Largest Independent Book Fair in North America. Shop 200 dealers from across the United States, Canada, England, Scotland, France, Germany, Italy and Australia. Books on all subjects: First Editions, Modern Literature, Children’s Books, Science Fiction, Counter Culture, Cookbooks, Manuscripts, Illustrations, Fine Art, Antique and Modern Prints, Posters, Photographs, Autographs, Postcards, Ephemera, Maps, California and The West. Lectures and special exhibits too! Admission good for both days of the Fair.”
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Baba Yaga’s House
crafting workshop with Ulla Milbrath and John B. McRae
Saturday-Sunday, February 1-2, 11:00AM-5:00PM
Castle in the Air 1805 Fourth Street, Berkeley, 510-204-9801
$300 includes materials
register in advance - this class will sell out!
“Charmed by a classic Slavic folktale, John and Ulla bring you this unique class. Baba Yaga is sometimes a wise woman; at other times she is a frightful hag. She flies around in a giant mortar and lives in a hut that stands on chicken legs surrounded by a skull fence. She kidnaps children on occasion (like the witch in the Hansel and Gretel tale) but is also sometimes sought out for wisdom and guidance by heroes.
Here is an opportunity for you to learn from two masters of fairy-tale art, as Ulla and John jointly teach the construction and decoration of Baba Yaga’s woodland home. On the first day of class, you’ll learn how to construct her hut out of chipboard, thatch the roof, and how to wind and attach the magical chicken legs which support the structure. The next day you’ll make tiny furniture from found objects for the cabin. To complete your folktale, you can choose to dress a mouse Baba Yaga, fabricated from re-claimed vintage mink fur over an anthropomorphic manikin by John and Ulla for you, with fabric scraps provided in class.”
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Simple Sewing
with Traci Ikegami
Sunday, February 2, 11:00AM-2:00PM
Meeting at fabric store, see below
Handcraft Studio School, 5885 Doyle Street, Emeryville, 510-332-6101
$60, limit 6 students
Bring your own fabric - see below
“In this beginner's sewing class you will learn how to sew a decorative pillow cover with an envelope closure. We will meet at a local fabric store (address TBA when registered for workshop) where you will choose and purchase the fabric used in the sewing of a 20x20 decorative pillow cover. We will then return to the studio to create your pillow. Pattern and pillow insert will be provided. Previous sewing experience is not necessary. Sewing machines can be provided for your use, but feel free to bring your own (please let us know whether or not you'll be needing one). Students will take home their completed pillow.
Note: the cost of your fabric is not included in the price of the class. If you already have fabric that you'd like to use, please bring it. You'll need 7/8 yd of fabric that is at least 42" wide.
Traci Ikegami is a crafty individual residing in Oakland, California. She has dabbled in many of the craft arts but particularly excels in those that involve sewing. She currently works for Erica Tanov as a studio manager and sews as much as she can in her free time.”
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North Bay Reclaiming’s Imbolc Ritual
Sunday, February 2, 4:00PM
Sebastopol Grange Hall, 6000 Sebastopol Avenue, Sebastopol
Suggested donations of $7-$21, no one turned away for lack of funds
for more information, please call 707-484-7786 or e-mail northbayreclaiming@yahoo.com
“We will never lose our way to the well.
Please join us for a celebration of the end of Winter and of the coming of the Spring - A time of pledges, a time of renewed vigor, a time of anticipation for the coming year.
As a conscious act of healing our planet, we ask that you bring a small container of water from your home, a local creek, a sacred place to you that we may join it with other ‘Waters of the World.’
Reclaiming respects healthy relationships with traditional medicines, but out of respect for those in recovery, all Reclaiming rituals are clean and sober - so please, no recreational drugs or alcohol at or prior to the event.”
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Imbolc Spring Ritual
with the San Jose Pagan/Magick Meetup Group
and FoDLA’s Grove of the Bay
Sunday, February 2, 5:00PM
private home, 35200 Paseo Padre Parkway, Fremont
$2
Organizer Joel Schonbrunn says:
“Hi Folks
Come join us for a public druid ritual put on by FoDLA celebrating the coming of Spring. The Imbolc Ritual will take place outdoors, rain or shine. Please bring offerings to share in the fire, or pour on the ground. There will be a post-ritual potluck, so please also bring food and drink that you enjoy so there will be things you like to eat!
No one will be turned away for lack of funds but we are asking for $2 towards the cost of the Meetup site.
A description of the traditional Imbolc Celebration is below:
Imbolc is a festival of purification and a celebration of the first signs of spring. It is the time when the milk begins to engorge the udders of the livestock in preparation for the first births of spring. It is an important date in the beginning of the agricultural year. Preparations for spring sowing, hiring of farm workers for the coming season, fishermen taking out their boats after staying in for the winter season, seaweed gathering on the coast to be used for fertilizer, and the gathering of shellfish all begin at that this time. The larder of the housewife and the hay stores of the farmer were also checked to make sure that only half had been consumed.
Most of the elements of the traditional celebration can be seen, as referring to match making, romance and fertility: the men, having the charge of making the ‘little Brid doll’ often from the dasher of a churn; the women preparing the ‘bed’ for the don; the churning of butter; the emphasis on birth and milking; and the use of straw, which was the traditional material for the birthing bed for human and beast alike, etc.
In folk practice, it appears mostly as a holiday centered on the household, but it can easily be turned into a community celebration as well.”
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Belly Dance Student Showcase
Sunday, February 2, 6:00PM, and the first Sunday of each month
Suhaila Salimpour Studio, 425 San Pablo Avenue, Albany, 510-527-2400
Free
“Join us the first Sunday of every month at Suhaila’s studio for an evening of live music and belly dance. Free to the public.
Suhaila Salimpour is a highly acclaimed performer, teacher, and choreographer of belly dance. Schooled from an early age in jazz, tap and ballet, Suhaila began integrating her extensive classical training with the Middle Eastern dance passed on by her mother, Jamila Salimpour. The result was a true artistic breakthrough: a revolutionary foundational technique that has brought the art of Belly Dance to a new level.
The Suhaila Salimpour Format and School of Belly Dance enjoy worldwide success. Dancers who train with The Salimpours quickly realize Suhaila's method of teaching allows them to excel in their art beyond any other training they have received.”
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Love Your Body
with Kimber Simpkins
Monday, February 3, 4:30-6:00PM
Three Stone Hearth, 1581 University Avenue, Berkeley, 510-981-1334
$15, Broth bar $3.
“Would you like to:
Let go of negativity around your appearance?
Be a better friend to your body?
Counteract negative media messages?
Join Kimber Simpkins to explore how to listen to your body and turn it from foe to friend. Letting go of negativity around your body can free up energy to engage in social and political change. Many of us have never fully recovered from old habits of disliking our bodies, but it’s never too late to change your relationship with your body to one of more caring and love. Come hear Kimber share her journey and let it inspire yours.
Enjoy our broth bar 20 min before the event begins. Tickets at the door are $10-20 sliding scale.
Kimber Simpkins is a yoga instructor and author of memoir ‘Full: How one woman found yoga, eased her inner hunger, and started loving herself.’ Sick of dieting and hating her body, Kimber transformed her hunger and her unhappy relationship with her body through the wise practices of yoga and meditation.
Kimber’s successful shift away from secret body hating to public body loving has inspired her yoga students and readers everywhere. She teaches weekly classes, Love Your Body workshops, and yoga retreats in Northern California.”
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NorCal Trans Partners Family and Friends Support Group
Monday, February 3, 7:30-9:00PM, and the first Monday of each month
Billy DeFrank LGBT Center, 938 The Alameda, San Jose, 408-293-3040
“Having a family member, child, spouse, partner, or other loved one go through transition can be difficult and comes with a unique set of challenges that most folks don't really comprehend. Come join the Northern California Trans Partners and Family support group at the DeFrank Center the first Monday of each month from 7:30-9:00PM.
To communicate between meetings, we also have a Facebook page and a Yahoo mailing list.”
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Exploratorium After Dark: Sexplorations
Thursday, February 6, 6:00-10:00PM, and the first Thursday of each month
Exploratorium, Pier 15, San Francisco
$15, 18 and over
“After Dark: Sexplorations
Live Nude Cells!
Sex involves the exchange of genetic information resulting in evolution and specialization - and is the reason you have your father's nose. Peek into the whys and hows of sex and discover some of the surprising ways nature brings sperm and eggs together.
See sexual deception of the floral kind, tease apart the mechanics of sex toys, and find out how eggs and sperm may become the most unique and specialized cells in the body with UCSF professor Dr. Diana Laird.
Uncover the astonishing sex lives of flowers with Exploratorium emeritus biologist Dr. Karen Kalumuck, and taste honeys made from different nectars - or sample a sauteed bull testicle. Guess which sperm is human, catch insects in the act, and watch a live egg become fertilized.
Arouse your scientific curiosity in romantic love, and hear the history behind ‘hysterical paroxysms’ from Good Vibrations sexologist Dr. Carol Queen. Explore interventions for infertility, flirt with the advantages of sexual versus asexual reproduction, and get up close and personal with dissections of gonads, ovaries, and other naughty bits.
From your own DNA to cinematic exposes, it's all on display at After Dark.
Not a theater, cabaret, or gallery, Exploratorium's After Dark contains aspects of all three. Each evening showcases a different topic - from music to sex to electricity - but all include a cash bar and film screenings, plus an opportunity to play with our hundreds of hands-on exhibits.”
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Little Paper Acorns
with Tiffanie Turner
Thursday, February 6, 7:00-9:00PM
Handcraft Studio School, 5885 Doyle Street, Emeryville, 510-332-6101
$55, limit 20 students
“Using blown out chicken eggs and gorgeous Italian floral crepe paper, Tiffanie will guide you through the process of making a beautiful and memorable acorn ornament. You will be given the choice of using a traditional color palette or brighter, more spring like colors. One ornament will be completed during the workshop and supplies to complete another will be available to take home.
Tiffanie is an architect, artist, performer and homemaker, and is the person behind the blossoming paper art of papel SF. Tiffanie has taught classes for Martha Stewart Living, at Makeshift Society and Workshop in San Francisco, here at Handcraft Studio School, and online for creativeLIVE. Her work is on display year round at Rare Device and is sold through both One Kings Lane and her papel SF Etsy shop. She documents almost everything she makes and does at Corner Blog".
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Have a Week of Lunar Intuition and Fertile Seeds of Ideas!
Molly Blue Dawn
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