"Cape Cod Goddess Festival Celebrates Sacred Feminine
by Jennifer Sexton
HARWICH---The Goddess is alive and magic is afoot at the first annual Cape Cod Goddess Festival, Saturday, Sept. 1 at noon until Sunday, Sept 2 at 7 p.m. at the Harwich Junior Theater Arts Center, 265 Sisson Rd.
The festival will feature performances, art, gifts, classes, kids’ activities, metaphysical vendors and more, celebrating feminine energy and the sacred space where feminine and masculine energy create synergy. The idea for the festival began when creator and organizer Pandora Peoples, a clairvoyant medium and herbalist who specializes mind-body- soul health, was approached by a literary agent.
“She saw my website, she read a bit about me and what I do,” Peoples explains. “She saw that I do workshops on women connecting with the sacred feminine and female empowerment and that sort of thing, and she said, ‘I want you to write a book on the Goddess.’ Which is awesome, because that is something that has been brewing within me for a long time.”
The next step in the puzzle was a conversation with musician, singer, writer and healer Alicia Mathewson, who will perform in the festival.
“She said, ‘It sounds to me that what you really want to do is a festival,’” Peoples recalls. “I was saying I want there to be musicians, and it would be great to have some dancers in the gallery, and that is how the event came together. And the more we got into it, people wondered, are men going to be involved? How are they going to be involved? It expanded to be about celebrating women in their many facets by also celebrating the wisdom and beauty of men and women coming together and the masculine-feminine synergy.”
Peoples describes the Goddess as a metaphor for women’s multiple facets and the many roles women play in today’s modern world. To Peoples, the goddesses of mythology and folklore from the ancient traditions of every global culture reflect the many aspects of today’s modern woman, from Celtic Brigid’s focus on hearth, home and nurturing to Athena’s focus on business, justice and keeping order. She has expanded these ideas in her photo series The Living Goddess, in which her female subjects embody the images of goddesses from traditions around the world.
“We can see the reflections of our many facets in these poetic stories,” Peoples says. “Women play so many roles today, as caretakers, career professionals, mothers, entrepreneurs, artists, teachers, listeners, counselors, friends, sisters, daughters, romantic partners, and we do it with grace, compassion, and love. The Cape Cod Goddess Festival celebrates women, summer’s end, and the magic created between men and women, and in a broader sense between the masculine and the feminine.”
Musicians at the event will include Boss Queens (R& B, hip hop, poetic female empowerment), Kim Mitchell (jazz vocalist), Yana Sorokina (blues and classical piano), Kathleen Healy (singer/songwriter), Alicia Mathewson (singer/songwriter), Daniel Ouellette and the Shobijin (crazy awesome rock), Sarah Burrill (acoustic rock ‘n’ roll), Molly Parmenter (singer/song writer), Nicolas Rideout (Ambient Trance genius) Joanna Meager and Danielle Ryder (acoustic guitar), Sarah Marchio (bag pipes), Hana Kahn (singer songwriter),Ashley Paige (singer songwriter) and Diana di Gioia (singer songwriter). Performances will be featured by Khadija’s Middle Eastern Dance Troupe Isis, Flamenco dance with Zoe, Raquel the Little One, Anahita Dance (belly dance solo), folk dance, Cape Cod African Dance and Drumming and Trevor the Juggler. Classes will be offered in yoga, movement therapy, herbal medicine, voice work, flamenco dancing, karate and more. An art show will showcase the works of Peoples, Richard Williams, Shannon McDonald, Ned Sonntag, Peggy Masce and Rebecca Burrill. Retail Therapy will offer jewelry, aromatherapy, green clothing, while other vendors will offer astrology, doula information and reiki. Kids’ activities will include dance, song, and fairy houses. All this plus fire spinning, theatrical readings, voice work, henna tattoos, healers and massage therapy adds up to an event with something for everyone, from Aphrodite to Zytniamatka (Germanic goddess of agriculture).
“This is a celebration of our community too, and local artists and families,” says Peoples. “Everyone can come and have a good time. Come on an empty stomach, eat some yummy food from Dancing Spoons and bask in the last real weekend of the summer.”
The first annual Cape Cod Goddess Festival takes place Saturday, Sept. 1 at noon until Sunday, Sept 2 at 7 p.m. at the Harwich Junior Theater Arts Center. Admission is $10 or $3 for children aged 5 to 12. For more information, call Pandora’s Garden at 310-591-6996, e-mail info@capecodgoddessfestival.com or visit capecodgoddessfestival.com.
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