December 3, 2003
Awakened Woman's Circle is working for peace
Report from Women's Meeting at Barcelona, August 2003:
Compartir Culturas
by Luciana Percovich
The meeting of more than 700 women, somehow belonging to the three monotheistic religions, at the beginning of August, in Barcelona, has been a great and unprecedented event.
Even if for many of them there had been a previous encounter, in Austria, 7 years ago, this time the theme of the Synod (from the Greek words syn: with, odòs: way), which was Compartir Culturas/Daring Differences/Zusammen Vielfalt Leben, has made possible a wider staying together, a respectful and loving attention, a larger exchange of experiences through verbal and non-verbal workshops, singing and "pagan" rituals hardly believable on a foreground in which religious fundamentalisms, narrow fixed paths imposed by ecclesiastical institutions and hierarchies seem dominating.
No sign of these in those intense, hot 5 days together on the campus of the Autonomous University of Barcelona. While the Vatican doesn't miss any occasion to reclaim the Christian common ancient roots of the new constituenda, and Europa and the politicians are going on building a sterile Banks & Laws political construction, one of the topics of the synod was how to create a Europe of common rights, acceptance and valuation of differences, fighting against the economic gaps and for the necessity of naming the female face of God. All those women are already working for a new and different Europe, a utopia rising like yeast in our everyday actions.
Themes of the goddess in the rituals, the visit to the Black Madonna of Montserrat, a co-celebration of a mass by a catholic bishop, a protestant pastor and an orthodox rabbi, the leit motif of the song "give me a heart strong to fight, give me a heart great to love" unified the persisting and willing differences.
In fact, we don't need to cancel or hide our differences but, on the contrary, we must be deeply aware of them, in order not to feel menaced by the other's identity, knowing that a real relation is possible only between two or more full subjects. This is the basic ground where we must not fear to tread together, like "drops of water flowing into the ocean" of the ongoing process of creation.
Not to forget our true archaic roots, as women and as Europeans, I had been invited &endash; as a feminist and a Goddess researcher, to speak about our Ancient Roots, that is the Pre&endash;IndoEuropean Female Cosmogonies, which means not only pre-Christian but even before the very idea of a male god of man-born were conceived.
I have met many beautiful women coming from western and eastern Europe, up to Russia, a number of young theologists, many nuns in short pants dancing in circle, white and black ministers of different faiths I'd never thought existed in Europe.
It has been a very positive, nurturing, cheering up meeting where sharing cultures and daring diversities, without fears of being judged or refused, has been the concrete experience of a midsummer's week, that has left all of us more determined to get on one's own journey through a world which does not offer only conflicts and desperation.
Luciana Percovich, Libera Università delle donne di Milano