Atelier de Melusine

SCARLET WOMEN
2021

Dedicated to the memory of Alana Bowden
RIP

SCARLET WOMEN 2021 - 2022
ATELIER MELUSINE + satellite venues
Novembre 31 2021 - Mars 08 2022

Sally Annett
Manon Hedenborg White
Penny Slinger
Stephen Pope
Nikki Marrone
Tiffany Trenda
Siena Barnes
Roberta Gotti
Francesca Lucidi
Katie Eris
Bint Al-Shalabiya
Eva Macali
Eva Loubrieu
Luciana Lupe Vasconcelos
Sarah Sparkes
Hazel Florez
Cinzia Cremona
Yiota Panayiotis
Veera Kaamos Pitkänen
Milly Annett-Henry
Elisha Fall
Censi Annett-Henry
Henrik Bogdan
Khara Oxier-Mori
Sólveig Guðmundsdóttir 
Margaret Haines
Emily Jane & Alana Bowden
 + ANON

Media : Film, photography, painting, print, text, performance, ritual, meditation, debate.
Venues : ATELIER MELUSINE La Trimouille 86290, Château Mareuil.

Randonnee/peligrinage through the 55 communes of La Vienne and Gartempe.

EVENTS

Above - International Women’s Day Events @ ATELIER MELUSINE 2022
Closing events for the Scarlet Women Exhibition P1
Ci-dessus - Événements de la Journée internationale de la femme @ ATELIER MELUSINE 2022 Événements de clôture de l'exposition Femmes écarlates P1


Conference and Round Table events 2022

08/03/2022 International Women’s Day - Open dialogues
Real time conversations between participants and artists across borders via Zoom

ATELIER MELUSINE Célébration de la journée internationale de la femme.
08/03/2022 - Journée internationale de la femme. Heure de Paris CET.
19.00 - Conférence et questions-réponses avec Stephen Pope sur la signification du mot "Lilith" dans les anciens textes hébreux et de l'Ancien Testament.


Méditation sur les Femmes écarlates. Sally Annett
Youtube link : https://youtu.be/sogyoU8t6mE
Sally Annett 08/03/2022
A meditation on the Divine Feminine in the style of the teachings of Zev Ben Shimon Halevi, led by Annett for International Women’s Day 2022

ATELIER MELUSINE International Women's Day Celebration.
08/03/2022 - International Women's Day. CET Paris Time.
19.00 - Lecture and Q and A with Stephen Pope on the meaning of the word 'Lilith' in ancient Hebrew and Old Testament texts.
Youtube link : https://youtu.be/w2wzNgUE6Zo


21.00 - Meditation on the Scarlet Women. Sally Annett
Youtube link : https://youtu.be/sogyoU8t6mE
Sally Annett 08/03/2022
A meditation on the Divine Feminine in the style of the teachings of Zev Ben Shimon Halevi, led by Annett for International Women’s Day 2022

Saturday 22/01/22 “Feminine Archetypes and Imaging Across Faiths and Time”
18.00 CET/Paris

Panel 1 : Stephen Pope : "Lost in Translation. An examination of the feminine divine in the Revelations of St John”.
Keynote speaker : Stephen Pope
Moderators : Sally Annett, Manon Hedenborg White

Stephen Pope is a scholar and linguist focussing on addressing the (mis)translations of the Bible handed down throughout the centuries and across languages, from a Hebrew and Kabbalistic perspective. He comes from the tradition of Kabbalah which is non-religious, bringing out the essence of these ancient teachings simply and directly, and presenting fresh translations, which liberate them from the distortions caused by centuries of patriarchal mistranslation, misogyny and hierarchical thinking. Pope has degrees in biblical studies and studied Hebrew at university level for five years, however his main source of inspiration comes through meditating on the Hebrew letters themselves, in the manner that they were originally intended to be taught and received. This is how he teaches the sacred dimension of the Hebrew letters now: through meditation and conscious breathing techniques, allowing them to come alive within. He also works with the hidden Feminine Wisdom within Kabbalah, in particular the Song of Songs and the Mary Magdalene Mysteries. The Hebrew poetry of the Song of Songs is among the most profound and beautiful expressions of spiritual awakening – in Love for all Life, in Spirit and in Flesh. The teachings of the Mary Magdalene Mysteries originate from the Song of Songs and were given new form in the Gospels, especially the Gospel of John. These teachings give us the direct, practical guidance for embodying creativity as our natural state: awakening the spirit of the breath, awakening the spine, harmonising our sexual and creative fires, and connecting fully to the glory of nature and the cosmos. This inner connection to the natural world as we open more fully, allows us to receive profound guidance through our fellow animal, plant and insect beings. The divine feminine archetypes in Revelations embody not only the Magdalene, in her pure, creatrix form, but the distortion of her as Babylon and her aspect as the Logos. Pope will open a dialogue addressing the meanings and manifestations of this divine feminine aspect, hidden in plain sight in the texts of Revelation.

Panel 2 : “Final Taboos, Fleshy Bodies and New Boundaries - Gazing at the Scarlet Woman in 21C American Contemporary Arts Practice”

Speakers : Penny Slinger, Khara Oxier-Mori, Tiffany Trenda.
Moderated by Sally Annett and Manon Hedenborg White

Three contemporary women artists; Penny Slinger, Tiffany Trenda and Khara Oxier-Mori, all living and working in the USA, discuss aspects of their practice which address the concept of the modern 'Scarlet Women’ through differing media.

Slinger whose vast body of work spans five decades, with a concentration on the feminine, through film, performance, photography, writing and paint, has allowed us to preview her major series of images and writings ‘Reclaiming Scarlet’, begun in 2016, which addresses the physical and psychological taboos (still) used to oppress the human female and her sexuality. But; seen away from the male gaze. The un-tackled taboo of Menstruation is central to the work, which is deeply informed by esoteric and intercultural, non-denominational religious research around the divine and human feminine and its potential hybrid forms. She wishes to open up the hidden and suppressed secrets and functions of the female body to younger generations who have been swamped with images of cosmetically altered plastic-perfect bodies and pornography as consumption, highlighting the extreme commodification and subjugation of the female. Her work has a graphic precision which allows for little ambiguity and engages the viewer eye to eye using the photography and objects. It is hard to look away.

Oxier Mori continues to explore these themes of the flesh through paint and sculpture, with large visceral works in oils alongside intricate drawings and delicate, folkloric sculptures. The physicality and dynamism of the work turns the (female) body insight out - it is stretched, contorted, compressed, exploded, torn and sliced in a semi-abstracted expressionist assault. Its power and corpulence is unavoidable. These too are messy, soft, living bodies with leaky living elements which reach out to the viewer in a timeless manner. Her specialist interests include evolutionary medicine, feminist archeology, paleoethnobotany, biopower, micro-histories, mutualism, and the occult. Through her work Oxier-Mori concentrates on the body, power dynamics and the exploration of aspects of defiance and compliance. Heavily influenced by prehistory and the envisioning of ancient lifeways, her works manifest aspects of life, death and resurrection and transformative power through taboo, ritual and energy transfer. You want to touch.

Trenda’s work explores the relationship of the (female) body to ever-changing, ever accelerating technologies by creating wearable ‘living’ sculptures adorned with digital screens. Her work represents how our bodies are expected to be part of a constantly shifting dialogue between the physical (natural) and simulated (technological) worlds. She creates unconventional amalgam forms of presence and embodiment, exploring the phenomenology of the body and the ways simulation affects and generates (new) intimacies, barriers, memories and somatic experiences. This work emerges against a background of artists like Donna Hathaway and cybernetics industries and looks towards future potentialities, augmentation, AI and (again) hybrid bodies. Proximity Cinema (2013) creates a performance which, explores and comments on the male gaze in cinematic history and its fetishisation of women. That is; the female body in cinema was and still is objectified for male pleasure. Each wearable created by Trenda renders a new boundary; a new skin.

The artists will each discuss the artistic elements shown in the ATELIER MELUSINE, Scarlet Women project exhibition and then dialogue around the shared ideas and taboos they encountered with the question, what is the ‘Transgressive Feminine’ in the 21C?

Randonnée/peligrniage à travers les communes de la Vienne et de la Gartempe.

2021 EVENTS
Saturday 11/12/21
Vernissage 14.00 - 15.00 Château Mareuil
Penny Slinger. Installations ‘Reclaiming Scarlet’
Les billets sont gratuits mais les places sont limitées.

Vernissage 18.00 Café du Centre, Welcome Celebration - ‘Balades des Artistes 5’
Dress Code Red! Célébration de bienvenue - 'Balades des Artistes 5' Dress Code Red!

Lecture 19.45 ATELIER MELUSINE
Manon Hedenborg White
Title: The Goddess Babalon and the Scarlet Woman in Western Esotericism

”In the stereotypical binary of Madonna and whore, the virgin is usually seen as the feminine ideal. In a radical turn, the British occultist Aleister Crowley (1875–1947) reversed this dichotomy, promoting sexual freedom and celebrating the harlot in the form of the goddess Babalon. Drawing on a positive reinterpretation of the Whore of Babylon from the biblical Book of Revelation (17), Crowley linked Babalon to passionate union with existence and the sacredness of liberated (and especially feminine) sexuality. Acknowledging them as avatars of Babalon, Crowley dubbed some of his most important female lovers and magical partners Scarlet Women. In this talk, Dr. Manon Hedenborg White will explore Babalon as an image of femininity, eroticism, and undoing in Western esotericism, sharing new research on some of the women who have donned the mantle of the Scarlet Woman and the meaning of this symbol in contemporary magical communities.”

"Dans le binaire stéréotypé de la madone et de la putain, la vierge est généralement considérée comme l'idéal féminin. Dans un tournant radical, l'occultiste britannique Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) a inversé cette dichotomie, en promouvant la liberté sexuelle et en célébrant la prostituée sous la forme de la déesse Babalon. S'appuyant sur une réinterprétation positive de la Prostituée de Babylone de l'Apocalypse biblique (17), Crowley associe Babalon à l'union passionnelle avec l'existence et au caractère sacré de la sexualité libérée (et surtout féminine). Reconnaissant en elles des avatars de Babalon, Crowley a surnommé certaines de ses amantes et partenaires magiques les plus importantes les Femmes Ecarlates. Dans cette conférence, le Dr Manon Hedenborg White explorera Babalon en tant qu'image de la féminité, de l'érotisme et de la défaite dans l'ésotérisme occidental, en partageant de nouvelles recherches sur certaines des femmes qui ont revêtu le manteau de la Femme écarlate et sur la signification de ce symbole dans les communautés magiques contemporaines."

Sunday 12/12/21

We are delighted to announce an additional event :
10.00 Féminin sacré, la forêt de l’arbre biblique par Bruno Founchereau
Trop d’exégétiques bibliques dissimulent, aujourd’hui encore, ce qui s’exprime du divin en féminité dans les textes sacrés du judéo-christianisme…Et plus encore en quoi cela nous invite concrètement à la découverte de la « voie prophétique », sacerdoce auquel le christ nous invite tous. Le féminin divin, la création et son sacre, sont les fondements de la pensée messianique et la clé potentielle de l’épanouissement réel et spirituel de notre humanité. C’est l’ultime révélation à entendre aujourd’hui de Yéshouah Meshiah (Jésus Christ) portée dans le Nouveau Testament, mais lisible aussi dans les textes apocryphes. Révélation qui nous reste à vivre en toutes les nations pour rééquilibrer les « eaux » du monde. Ce que les hébraïsants savent être le rééquilibrage de l’intelligence du vivant. Cette révélation nous est accessible par Marie qui s’offre en exemple. Elle, être humain devenu un vase apte à contenir ce que même le ciel ne peut contenir. Un vase capable de transformer tout ce qu’il reçoit en vase… Marie, permettant l’incarnation du messianisme et la manifestation de son trône, est la huitième figure de la lignée mystique des 7 prophétesses de la Bible : Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Abigail, Huldah, et Esther. Nous mettrons en perspective à quel point les 7 demeures s’ouvrant sur le trône de gloire du « Palais Intérieur », pratique extatique de sainte Thérèse d’Avila, fait écho à ce qu’évoque le Talmud Meguilah (14a) au sujet des 7 prophétesses. Elles, que la Baraïta met implicitement en équivalence avec les 48 prophètes hommes. Dévoilant que ces 7 prophétesse sont plus cruciales à la réalisation du plan divin pour l’élévation de l’humanité, que les 48 prophètes hommes nommés dans la bible et le Tanakh. Nous développerons alors ce que signifie traditionnellement le chiffre 55 (48+7), qui évoque l’ultime fiancé, le poteau de la crucifixion, la plainte et le lieu secret… Il sera alors mis en perspective que cette matière biblique de ce que le divin exprime en féminité, offre un éventail de principes, sources des grandes techniques de méditation et d’extatique judéo-chrétiennes. Nous retracerons comment il en va ainsi de la posture d’Élie, pratiquée dans la gestuelle du Bouclier de David… Et comment cela nous parle du dépôt dans la mangeoire à Beithlé’Hem du Christ nouveau né. Nous évoquerons alors certaines de ces techniques, ce « yoga » de la tradition judéo-chrétienne que beaucoup redécouvrent aujourd’hui.

Language : Française

14.00 Conference and Round Table event
The Scarlet Woman in Western Esotericism and the Artistic Occulture from the Fin-de-Siècle until Today
Panelists: Henrik Bogdan, Sólveig Guðmundsdóttir, Margaret Haines
Moderator: Manon Hedenborg White

This roundtable takes as its starting point the ways in which the Scarlet Woman – up until the nineteenth century connoting a prostitute or sexually “immoral” woman – has been reinterpreted as an esoteric office, especially within Aleister Crowley’s (1875–1947) religion Thelema and among its later adherents. Bringing together experts on Western esotericism and the artistic occulture, this roundtable will explore the shifting meaning of the Scarlet Woman in the intersecting spheres of esoteric and artistic expression from the early twentieth century until today in relation to the changing stakes of femininity, magic, and transgression during this time.

Cette table ronde a pour point de départ la manière dont la Femme écarlate - qui, jusqu'au XIXe siècle, évoquait une prostituée ou une femme sexuellement "immorale" - a été réinterprétée en tant qu'office ésotérique, notamment au sein de la religion Thelema d'Aleister Crowley (1875-1947) et parmi ses adhérents ultérieurs. Réunissant des experts de l'ésotérisme occidental et de l'occulture artistique, cette table ronde explorera la signification changeante de la Femme Ecarlate dans les sphères croisées de l'expression ésotérique et artistique du début du vingtième siècle jusqu'à aujourd'hui, en relation avec les enjeux changeants de la féminité, de la magie et de la transgression durant cette période.

Meditation 16.00
Yiota Pannayioyis ‘Medition on Red’
Yiota Pannayioyis "Méditation sur le rouge"

‘A guided meditation that encourages the exploration of the principles that the Scarlet Woman embodies. By accessing our own feeling and imagination, we have the opportunity through this meditation to touch upon the meaning of the ‘scarlet red’ within us, and the inner, life-giving gifts that it has to offer.’

Une méditation guidée qui encourage l'exploration des principes que la femme écarlate incarne. En accédant à nos propres sentiments et à notre imagination, nous avons la possibilité, grâce à cette méditation, d'aborder la signification du "rouge écarlate" qui est en nous, et les dons intérieurs et vitaux qu'il a à offrir.

Language : English

Médias : Film, photographie, peinture, gravure, texte, performance, rituel, méditation, débat

Lieux : ATELIER MELUSINE La Trimouille 86290, Château Mareuil.

Randonnée/peligrniage à travers les communes de la Vienne et de la Gartempe.

Media
Photography : Slinger, Pope, Lucidi, Eris, Macali, Cremona, Florez, Annett-Henry, Annett-Henry, Emily Jane & Alana Bowden
Performance : Loubrieu
Meditation : Panayiotis, Annett
Painting : Sparkes, Annett, Luciana Lupe Vasconcelos
Print and Collage : Pitkanen, Macali
Film : Barnes, Marrone, Gotti, Al-Shalabiya, Trenda
Text and poetry : Pope, Marrone
Archival Objects : Anonymous, Slinger, Hedenborg White, Loubrieu,

A Scarlet Trail
We have created a scarlet trail throughout the 55 communes of the Vienne and Gartempe which forms a trail or pilgrimage through sites sacred to women and heritage sites, follow the markers and the QR codes and see the map below.

Un sentier écarlateNous avons créé un sentier écarlate à travers les 55 communes de la Vienne et de la Gartempe qui forme un parcours ou un pèlerinage à travers des sites sacrés pour les femmes et des sites patrimoniaux, suivez les balises et les QR codes et voyez la carte ci-dessous.

Venues
ATELIER MELUSINE & Château Mareuil