FAQ and Background Info for Course
No course times
The most frequently asked question is, When does the course meet? There is no set meeting day or time! except for the occasional webcasts. You can participate on your own schedule and to whatever extent works best for you.
We'll work from the Veleda listserv as our nexus of connection, along with essays and images on the course main page, web articles, videos, and other resources. Go there for links to readings, image pages, and web resources. This is a good place for new subscribers to catch up and find their bearings.
You are also welcome to read the previous posts in the Veleda logs. In addition to all resources for the current course, Spiritual Heritages of Ancient Europe Part III, these logs give you access to earlier sections of this course. First as you work your way back is Part II, on Italian, Gaulish and British traditions. Before that is Part I, with info on the European megalithic cultures, Crete, the Cycladic Islands, Greece, Spain, and Portugal (Part I - A few articles and web pages from Part I are available here.) Among other topics...
The primary source is my unpublished manuscript, Secret History of the Witches. By subscribing to this course, you have agreed not to publish my writing without permission. It is copyrighted in advance of publication.
Webcasts will be held at three separate times to accomodate our transcontinental subscribership. (More information about those will be posted as they're announced.) Here's info on how webcasts work (ignore the line about "once you've paid"--all course webcasts are included in your subscription).
About posting
Please feel free to provide information, comment, or ask questions on the listserv. All levels of knowledge are welcome, and we value other kinds of wisdom than written or academic information. Don't be shy about posting. Participation is encouraged, though it is up to you. There are no exams, grades or papers. The listserv is intended as a forum for discussion, so have at it!
Please change the subject line when shifting topics in the discussion forum. This makes it easier for everyone to track subjects they are interested in, and will help to ensure responses to your posts and queries. This is important to keep in mind when you post by hitting Reply, which is easier, but also easy to forget to change the subject line!
An asterix in the subject line of my posts flags important content for the course: readings, image pages, etc. Example: [Veleda] * New Reading. (Please delete asterisk when replying.) It is helpful to excerpt from a post you are replying to, for clarity, but not the entire previous post, please!
Tech info
All Veleda posts can be found in the online logs, but it's more cumbersome to work your way through the yahoo web interface than to save unread messages to look at later. You may want to assign them a special mailbox in your email setup and transfer them as they come in, for easy reference. Or, when you want to search through them, you can bunch them all together in your In folder by selecting the To: field in your email program. This is also an easy way to transfer them to a separate mailbox.
If you have admin-type questions (subcriptions, yahoo tech, or payment questions) see this FAQ or the course info page. If the answer is not there, email me with your questions. You can renew your subscription at http://www.sourcememory.net/courses/prepay.html In the near future, I will be setting up a Subscribe button on Paypal which should make it easier to handle subscriptions and reminders.
You have the option of changing your settings from Individual Emails to Daily Digest, which compiles a day's posts into one email. (I prefer individual emails because you can delete posts you have read or don't need, and keep others that you want for easy future reference.) If you choose Daily Digest, please, please, please don't leave the entire digest text in your reply posts, and remember to change the title to reflect what you're talking about.
To change settings, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/veleda/ and sign in (link at page top). If you don't have a yahoo account, register yourself with a username and password. Once signed in, look for the My Groups link near upper right and click on it. Then click on Edit My Groups, find Veleda in the list, and under Message Delivery where it now reads Individual emails, you can click on the arrow and see Daily Digest. Select that, and you'll start getting your messages in that format.
The Veleda yahoogroup site also has sections for Photos, Files, and Links which members can upload. They're linked from the bar on the left side of the yahoogroups Veleda page. You may be asked to sign in; i advise creating a minimal yahoo profile, username and password should be all that is required, so that you can access these most easily. I will be adding things to these folders and announce each new entry on Veleda listserv. But you can do the same:
Adding photos to group files: Sign in at womanshaman yahoogroup, find the links on left. You click on Photos, and then look at the right where it says Add Photo. Click again and you'll see a prompt that allows you to browse through your hard drive and select images to upload. All course members can view the pictures. (If you have a lot, you can Create an Album.)
See the Key Resources page for links to previous readings, image pages, and other important posts and web resources. A good place for new subscribers to catch up, or for old ones to find stuff.
If you have admin-type questions (subcription, yahoo tech, or payment questions) email me about them, not Veleda listserv.
The teleconference option was voted down in the Part I session; people are busy and members span half the planet in time zones. The cost of call-ins was an issue, unless we can figure out a conference call site that is web-based and has international numbers, or Skype. I'm holding this idea open for future consideration.
Course philosophy:
My aim is to lay authentic groundwork that documents women's spiritual leadership, practices, and traditions, using quality sources and working with what archaeological and historic images can tell us. Our approach is to integrate recorded history, literature, archaeology (especially the iconography), oral tradition, comparative religion, and linguistics. We will critically examine doctrines of historical orthodoxy as well as New Age ideology, and challenge claims based on masculine, white, or Christian supremacy. We'll also avoid spurious etymologies not grounded in historical linguistics (deriving Cailleach from Kali, for example) and fanciful theories that conflict with documented history and archaeology (Mary Magdalene as "sacred prostitute" who ran a Goddess temple).
This course is not academic, but it is scholarly. What that means to me is not ecxlusionary; it just aims to back up what is said with sources, and to indicate when something is speculation (which a lot is, necessarily!) I'm attempting to pass on knowledge to a group with widely varying educational backgrounds and interests. Please don't be intimidated if some things go over your head. It's OK. Some people will want more detailed information than others. If you are not interested in, say, the political history that tracks oppression of women or conquest patterns, just pass over it.
There is no requirement on this course to be on a Goddess path, although this is a safe space for that, and any spiritual orientation or disidentification: Pagans, atheists, Christians, Jews, whoever, all are welcome. The only requirement is respectful discourse, and that does not rule out civil disagreement.
You are encouraged to customize your course experience, including participation levels. Some like to engage in discussion on the Veleda forum, others read but don't post, still others concentrate on the asterisked readings and graphics, not having time for all the posts. There are no exams or grades, so you can make choices based on what works best for you. I will do my best to split the difference between those who can't get enough posts and those who want to proceed at a slower pace.
The organic approach of the course doesn't easily fit into Week 1, Week 2 lesson plans. I post new material and resources as I develop them, not on a set day. Some sections involve more time and work for me to pull together, so that will affect the order of information delivered.
Please feel free to comment or ask questions on the forum. All levels of knowledge are welcome, and other kinds of wisdom than information have value. If you are new, you are welcome to introduce yourselves. The easiest way to post is to hit reply (but remember to change subject line for new topics).
There's no requirement to read all the posts on the Veleda forum. You're welcome to ignore posts that go over your volume comfort-quotient. If you feel there are too many to read, save them for later or delete them.