User:Bendis
Hello! I am Deanne also known as Bendis, Fierce Huntress of the Two Spears, Priestess of the Goddess.
Life has been beautiful for me - gifting me with love and joy in abundance. As mother of three, grandmother of five, ah, life is sweet.
I was awakened late in life - a life filled with searching the spiritual, studying Buddhism, learning of the world's major religions, finally finding Goddess in my forties. Diving headlong into the greatest treasure I have ever known, I studied and trained. Spending several years in Taoist Spiritual Alchemy, and then into the study of the Sacred Trees becoming High Priestess in two Dianic Traditions. And finally, ordained as High Priestess, Dianic Feminist Witch by Z Budapest, Mother of Feminist Dianic Witchcraft.
My work has led me many places, from owning and operating a pagan book store, finally throwing in the towel to find ways to serve Goddess that did not involve trying to make a living with it.
The Ivy Girls were formed in 1996 through a spontaneous combustion of pleasure. We women learned the meaning of ecstatic in our spiritual lives. From this work, The Apple Branch ~ A Dianic Tradition was born, eight high priestesses have hived, all practicing, honoring the Trees and training priestesses themselves.
I have been heavily involved on the Net, weaving a web through continents, networking and pointing seekers far and wide, serving as moderator for many lists, the Z Budapest group for four years, Circle of Aradia in Southern California, HerStudy, BlueRoebuck_StudyGroup, Feminist_Dianic_Witchcraft, and finally, this, the Priestess Training Program called From-the-Branch. This Internet is truly an amazing connector of women world wide!
Other work on-line has been as founder of, Global Goddess, birthed in the Summer of 2002. I originally shared this birthing process with my friend, Regina, and went on alone for an additional two years connecting and building bridges for women worldwide. We organized as a legally recognized Church in 2004 and are registered as a non-profit corporation in the State of Texas - Goddess women helping women worldwide.
As a High Priestess, ordained by Z Budapest, "From the Branch" is the outreach program I have developed as a partof The Apple Branch - A Dianic Tradition for women who wish to study Dianic Feminist Witchcraft on-line in a correspondence program. In conjunction with our Women's Mysteries as handed down and taught by Z Budapest and others, we also use the Sacred Tree Alphabet as a model of continuity of the energies of both the lunar and solar year combined with a great deal of practical experience in all areas of service to The Goddess.
Our approach to our magic is to remove the focus from the cerebral ~ to bring the energy down into the body ~ thereby removing barriers and limits to personal ecstasy and fulfillment. This is not always an easy approach, but in the long run becomes a full experience of the whole self, embodying all of our personal magic into an ecstatic experience.
Like the honey apple turning red on the high branch, High on the highest, but the apple pickers missed it. Oh no, they did not miss it, they could not reach it. - Sappho
Life is good, my friends. Immersing myself in Goddess, serving Her and Her women, is how I live - fully embracing all that life offers!
Such a fine gift it has been for me!
The "Resume"
Ordained as High Priestess, Old Dianic Craft, December 1991, (ministerial credentials) Specialty, ritualist and educator
Ordained Master of the Craft, Old Path Religion, December 1990, (Ministerial credentials) Specialty, ritualist and educator
Ordained High Priestess, Faerie Faith Craft, 1995 (Ministerial credentials) Specialty, ritualist and educator
Ordained, High Priestess, Feminist Dianic Craft, June 2000 by Z. Budapest, Founder of Women's Dianic Craft. (Ministerial credentials). One of nine women in the world ordained as clergy of this path. Credentials are for a global ministry rather than local small groups.
Founder of The Apple Branch ~ A Dianic Tradition, a Texas non-profit religious corporation. I took the training and credentials of all of the studies shown above which lead to individual degrees and combined them into one, giving women the opportunity to work with a path that incorporates an ancient tradition with a more modern spontaneous spiritual practice. Under this corporation, I train women who will one day serve as spiritual leaders around the world.
Founder of Global Goddess, a worldwide organization for women who live by the words, "Goddess women helping women worldwide." This organization is open to all women who honor the divine feminine in some form. Global Goddess offers through the efforts of its membership, opportunities for women in the areas of educational opportunities, global networking, spiritual circles, study groups, and philanthropic work in their communities. Global Goddess is a Texas non-profit religious corporation, working toward 501c status.
Festivals offered from 1986 through 2005
Founder of Wikima, 1988 through 1992 ~ Seasonal and Lunar Celebrations open to the community of Dallas/Ft. Worth. (21 per year) These were open to any who wished to come and were done in such a way as to be inclusive of diverse spiritual paths.
United Earth Assembly - fully coordinated twice, assisted 6 times. Served as lead coordinator with a staff of assistants. Wrote and led main ritual for the event. Conducted rituals and workshops at all events.
Spirit of Spring - fully coordinated twice, assisted 3 times Served as lead coordinator with a staff of assistants. Wrote and led main ritual for the event. Conducted rituals and workshops at all events.
Founder of Wild Woman Retreats - created and provided spiritual retreats for women 1995 through 2000. These were for women with numbers attending anywhere from 6 to 25. They were kept small because intimacy was critical to the purpose of these retreats. They were first held in my home in the woods in East Texas and then later as they grew were held in private locations in parks in Texas and Oklahoma. I created and led all of the workshops and rituals, which were theme based - each retreat having a specific focus leading to women's personal spiritual growth. The rituals for these events included dramatic portrayals of goddesses to allow a new and different way to expose women to the divine as well as hands on crafts to gather women in women's work with shared stories.
Festival of the Goddess - Served on planning committee and as Temple Priestess 2003 and on planning committee in 2005.Event draws approximately 150 women each year.
Founder of WildWomenCollective - provided a weekly open forum for women to come together to celebrate being women and honoring their own spirituality. Women of all earth-based religions were invited and included. Through shared stories women grew in knowledge and were empowered to live full authentic lives.
Founder of WomenSinging - 10 to 15 women who came together to sing sacred music. We had no musical director; rather women would each have their favorite song and would choose to lead. We sang multi-part harmonies and were soon invited to lead opening ceremonies and songfests throughout the Dallas/Ft. Worth community.
Founder of CraftyWomen - a group of women who came together once a month to do hands on crafts together and in the ancient ways of women working with their hands, shared stories and facilitated creative bonding experiences together.