Dancing with the Red Goddess
By popular demand, August 2016 hails the return of "Dancing with the Red Goddess".
Bringing a unique and magical exploration of the initiatory and transformative nature of the Red Goddess, Kash will guide you through dance, pathworking discussion and reflection. Through your dancing your interpretation of Babalon will be born.
Accessible to beginners and challenging to more experienced dancers. Each dancer will collaborate with me to formulate their own set of achievements to work towards. Full support will be offered in preparation and debrief. Expect to grow and learn on physical, artistic, spiritual and personal levels.
"As the dancer whirls, she chants in a strange, slow voice, quickening as she goes: Lo! I gather up every spirit that is pure, and weave him into my vesture of flame. I lick up the lives of men, and their souls sparkle from mine eyes. I am the mighty sorceress, the lust of the spirit."
A. Crowley - The Vision and the Voice.
Who is "The Red Goddess"?
This term refers primarily to the goddess Babalon, but also to associated deities, such as Innanna, Ishtar and Astarte.
Babalon is the avatar of transformation and transcendence. She is a compound of many deities and ideas, with a rich and varied background. She is a virgin, whore and mother. Thus she brings together life, death, rebirth, sacrifice and feminine power.
In brief the myth of Babalon is that the seeker approaches her and offers their life to her as payment/sacrifice. She drinks their blood from a sacred chalice, and the seeker is reborn through her, as their higher self.Why Babalon?
As a student, then teacher of Arabic dance, I have seen many people come to learn the dance, and find their lives altered on profound levels by the process. As they blossom and grow in confidence, they also must cast aside the habits, mindsets, even toxic relationships that trapped them in their former lives. To me Babalon, an avatar of transformation, feminine power and beauty, resonates strongly in this dance. The realisation that holding space for the facilitation of dancers' personal growth is an essential part of my work as a teacher, inspired me to create a dance centred experience that focuses unabashedly on this aspect.
As an archetype, Babalon is accessible to people from a variety of spiritual backgrounds. She is the anthropomorphisation of an idea, whether you wish to view her as a deity, egregore, an aspect of your self or a nice story to simplify a concept, that is entirely up to you.
I have worked with the Red Goddess for nearly 20 years. As a dancer, teacher and priestess, I am in the perfect position to guide you on this journey.
"Kash knows her dance stuff, and knows her sacred stuff. You're safe in her hands" - Elise
How is the course structured?
This full day immersion has grown out of material originally developed in 2014, when I ran a 6 week course. We will be exploring the following themes:
The descent - Following the tale of Ishtar. A journey to the self. Connecting to our roots, and the beat of the music.
Cycles - Exploring the concept of eternity and cycles of rebirth. In this session we will reflect this in our bodies dancing circles and figure 8 movements, building towards the introspective taxeem improvisation.
Flow - Moving with grace, poise and fluidity, exploring the different faces of the Red Goddess.
Power - Raising energy through explosive shimmies and dervish spins.
Sacred sensuality - Exploring strength in the femininity, and the power of feeling good in ones skin.
Unity - Bringing together the movements and concepts in devotional dance.
What are the pre-requisites for this course?
Although a working knowledge of the fundamental bellydance movements would be beneficial, all movements will be broken down from scratch where need be and you will be free to simply follow the movements that feel right and good in your own body. It is possible to fully engage with the course with no previous experience at all.
While all of my other classes and workshops are open to dancers of all genders, this immersion is restricted to female-identifying individuals. This is because I recognise that many women, particularly those dealing with challenging or traumatic personal histories, don't feel comfortable facing intense personal work such as this in a mixed gender environment. I do believe that these principles may be relevant to many men, and I am willing to hold mixed or male-centered workshops for groups that wish to participate.
If you are interested in this course
Contact me to register for updates on future workshops. I am also happy to visit you to run this as a full day or in a few workshops over the course of a festival.
