• Featured Articles: Emmeline Pankhurst: "Votes for Women" by L. Crewe
• Book of the Month: What is Gnosticism? By Karen L. King
• Upcoming Pilgrimage: September 25 - October 4
• Spring Retreat: April 22 - April 26
• Spring Festival: April 27 – April 29
• Regional Events & News
• Contact Laconneau
  

In honor of women's achievements past and present, Laconneau presents a series of articles to empower women through knowledge of our own history. Featured this month:

EMMELINE PANKHURST:
“Votes for Women” (1858-1928)
by L. Crewe

Emmeline Goulden was brought up in a middle class family in Manchester, England. She enjoyed the privileges of a holiday home, piano lessons, and four years schooling in France. Her parents were liberal thinkers, her mother was a keen abolitionist, and both were supporters of equal suffrage for men and women; in fact, the beautiful Emmeline was only fourteen when she attended her first suffrage meeting (1). After returning from a second stay in France, she fell in love with Richard Pankhurst, a radical lawyer devoted to the cause of women’s suffrage who was twenty-four years older than she. Although a “free union” was what she proposed, they were married in 1879 (2).
 
Revolutionary ideas were not new in England. In 1792 Mary Wollstonecraft had written in her famous Vindication of the Rights of Women that it was time that they had “power over themselves” ...

Read the Full Emmeline Article:
http://www.laconneau.org/womensaffairsemmeline.html

What is Gnosticism?
by Karen L. King
 
From Library Journal: “Gnosticism has been notoriously difficult to define yet is vital for understanding early Christian history. The author of several books on Gnosticism and its sources, King (history of ancient Christianity, Harvard Divinity Sch.) offers an absorbing study of Western scholarship's historiography and definition of Gnosticism. Gnosticism as a concept took shape when early church fathers attacked a number of movements and ideas as heretical, drawing on the notion that these movements sought salvation through gnosis, or esoteric spiritual knowledge. King traces the scholarly discourse on Gnosticism, arguing that much scholarship prior to discovery of the Nag Hammadi manuscripts (in 1945 and after) had been colored by the orthodox Christian polemic that created an imaginary monolithic "gnostic" religion as a challenge to Christianity. When the Nag Hammadi texts are viewed as a group, they indicate that there is no distinct religious tradition with well-established doctrines and approaches to the world that can be called Gnosticism. King ably demonstrates that academics have assumed that early Christianity and Gnosticism were each unitary and have failed to read the gnostic sources on their own terms. This outstanding and essential resource is recommended for all academic and religion collections with a serious interest in early Christianity and religion of the ancient Mediterranean world.”

Visit the Reading Room:
http://www.laconneau.org/readingroom.html

Laconneau Spring Retreat
April 22-April 26, 2007
Artemis House - Greenville, North Carolina



Spring Retreat Details:
http://www.laconneau.org/retreats.html

For the first time in North America, Laconneau hosts its traditional Spring Retreat in Greenville, NC starting in the evening of Sunday, April 22nd and ending on the evening of Thursday, April 26th. This is a particularly auspicious time as it coincides with the inauguration in Greenville of the first Laconneau Chapel de la Madeleine in North America. You are invited to join us as we celebrate this event with four days of meditation, reflection, teaching and ritual.
 
Please Note: At the time of this writing there are only two spaces available for this retreat.

Laconneau Spring Festival
Workshop, Festival & Women’s Council
Greenville, North Carolina
April 27 - April 29, 2007


 
Spring Festival Details:
http://www.laconneau.org/festivalspring.html

All across Celtic Europe, the season of Imbolc ended at the spring festival, marking the beginning of summer. As with the Fall Festival, this is a time between dark and light, night and day, winter and summer. The veil between worlds therefore is thin, allowing this world and Other World to intermingle.
 
This year, for the first time in North America, we are holding the Spring Festival in the old way, in full accord with the principals of our Tradition. Come join us at Artemis House in Greenville, North Carolina for this wonderful weekend of council discussion, workshops, feminine spirituality and festivities. Lend your voice to the power and love of other sisters such as yourself who feel a burning need to see change in this world.
 
To register, please contact Greenville@laconneau.org or 252.258.0495. To reserve your space, please submit your deposit in the amount of $150.00 by March 15th. The remaining balance for this event is due by Friday, April 2nd. Housing is $20.00 per night, payable to your respective hostess. Please also budget for $10.00 per day to cover lunches, altar materials, and electric.

Sunday, April 1, 2007            
Women’s Circle 8:30PM
Gainesville, GA
For students who have completed the Level I Course

Sunday, April 15, 2007
Circle 8:00PM
Decatur, GA
For Students who have completed the Level I Course

Saturday, April 21, 2007
Meditation 6:30PM
Film Screening 7:30PM
An Inconvenient Truth
Roswell, GA

Saturday, April 27, 2007
Dedication of La Chapel de la Magdalene 6:30PM
Greenville, NC

April 27 - April 29, 2007
Spring Festival
Greenville, NC

View the Atlanta calendar online: http://www.laconneau.com/CalendarAtlantaGA.html

Atlanta Region Coordinator: Carol - Atlanta@laconneau.org

GREENVILLE, NC:  April Events

Sunday, April 8, 2007
Meditation 12:00PM
Artemis House
 
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Film Screening 6:00PM
Iron Jawed Angels
Chapel Hill, NC
 
Saturday, April 15, 2007
Circle 9:00PM
Artemis House
For students who have completed the Level I Course

Sunday, April 22, 2007
Inauguration of La Chapel de La Madeleine 7:30pm
Artemis House
 
Sunday, April 22 - Thursday, April 26, 2007
Easter Retreat
Artemis House
 
Saturday, April 28 & Sunday, April 29, 2007
Spring Festival
Artemis House

View the Greenville calendar online: http://www.laconneau.com/CalendarGreenvilleNC.html
                         
Greenville Region Coordinator: Elaine - Greenville@laconneau.org

Sunday, April 1, 2007
Film Screening 3:00PM
Iraq for Sale: the War Profiteers
Falls Church, VA
 
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Women’s Circle 6:30PM
Falls Church, Virginia
For students who have completed the Level I Course

Sunday, April 15, 2007
Book Discussion 3:00PM
The End of Faith by Sam Harris
Washington, DC
 
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Circle 6:30PM
Washington, DC
For students who have completed the Level I course

View the DC calendar online: http://www.laconneau.com/CalendarWashingtonDC.html

DC Regional Coordinator: Lorely - dc@laconneau.org

Monday, April 2, 2007
Film Screening 6:30PM
The Road to Guantanamo
Walnut Street, Philadelphia

Monday, April 16, 2007
Discussion 6:30PM
Film Screening 7:30PM
Secrets of the Dead: Amazon Warrior Women
Walnut Street, Philadelphia

View the Philadelphia calendar online: http://www.laconneau.com/CalendarPhiladelphiaPA.html

Philadelphia Region Coordinator: Anna - philadelphia@laconneau.org

Atlanta Regional News:
The Atlanta circle has formed a sister circle in North Georgia in the city of Gainesville, GA. With the formation of the Gainesville circle, women will have greater access to their region’s events, having the option to attend Laconneau events in either Gainesville or Atlanta. 

Greenville Regional News:
The construction of the Chapel is on schedule with the drywall and electric work completed, the space measured and the carpet ordered. Betty and Beverly have begun constructing the Altar and making the curtains. To help with the construction of the Altar, please contact Betty.
 
We will begin painting on Sunday, March 25, and continuing each following weekend until April 16. In addition to painting, we need help with laying out and planting the garden, installing the carpet, general maintenance and cleaning and several other construction related tasks. If you are able to donate any time or money to help with the remaining Chapel construction, please contact or Greenville@laconneau.org.

Please contact your region coordinator with questions or updated regional information.

In Atlanta, GA: Atlanta@laconneau.org

In Greenville, NC: Greenville@laconneau.org

In Washington, DC: dc@laconneau.org

In Philadelphia, PA: Philadelphia@laconneau.org  

Please visit our website, www.laconneau.org, for the complete calendar, further articles, the book of the month, Laconneau’s history and further information.