Meditation Classes

All meditation groups are free of charge or any other commitment.  All faiths and levels of experience are welcomed and you can just pop in one time to check us out. I open and close the meditations with a chant, followed by 30 minutes of some guidance and longer periods of silence. The guidance varies depending on who shows up, the promptings of my heart and the Spirit. After the meditations we spend 15-20 minutes sharing about what came up, the joys and challenges of our prayer life and spiritual paths.
Zoom link for all groups: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/221895142?pwd=SnROcjF3My95NC9Qc3hVS1VUZzlJZz09

Ongoing Interfaith Meditation Groups on Zoom with Ella Rozett

• Mondays, 9:00 a.m. PST/California Time, 17:00 UK Time, 18:00 Central European Time

• Tuesdays, 12:00 noon PST/California Time, 20:00 UK Time, 21:00 Central European Time

• Fridays, 11:00 a.m. PST/California Time, 19:00 UK Time, 20:00 Central European Time

•  In German!!! Mitwochs und Samstags, 11:30 a.m. PST/in Kalifornien, 20:30 in der EU

Gospel of Mary (Magdalene) Friendly Study Group

We meet on the first Monday of every month 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. PST (7 - 8:30 p.m. UK time), using a non-hierarchical Quaker friendly study group method to contmeplate and share insights on this important, early Christian text. To join, email David Curtis at David@theGospelofMary.org

3 Day Mary Magdalene Online Retreat, July 21 - 23

another amazing program of

* talks by Kayleen Asbo, Ringu Tulku, Fay Barrett, David Curtis, and others
* dance performance by Jo Blake
* meditations, yoga nidra, and Friendly Gospel Study with David Curtis and I
* music by Catherine Braslavsky

For details visit https://www.thegospelofmary.org/copy-of-resources

Julian of Norwich Friendly Study Group

6 Saturdays during lent 9:30 - 11:00 a.m. PST, i.e. 5:30 - 7:00 p.m. GMT, starting the first Saturday of lent, February 25th - April 1st 2023

Please RSVP by contacting me here.

In the introduction to Julian's "Revelations of Divine Love" she explains how these 'showings' came about: "I thought I had already had some experience of the passion of Christ, but by his grace I wanted still more. I wanted to be actually there with Mary Magdalene and the others who loved him..." This opening intention somehow led her to echo the Gospel of Mary at times. E.g. when she says: "What is sin? ... it has no substance or real existence. It can only be known by the pain that it causes .... (which) purges us and makes us know ourselves."

The Gospel of Mary: “What is the sin of the world?” The Savior answered: “There is no such thing as sin, you only make it appear when you act according to the habits of your adulterated nature; that is how what you call 'sin' manifests. (…) This is what sickens and destroys you; it is because you love what deceives you.”

Mother Julian sometimes calls God our eternal lover, joy and bliss, sometimes our Mother.  She quotes God as saying: "Look, I am God. I am in all. I do everything!" While rejoicing in God's love and presence, she never negates that human life is riddled with suffering, but she sees deep purpose in it.

The Friendly (i.e. Quakerly) sacred text study method will help us let the blessings of Mother Julian’s revelations in deeper and understand the more difficult, oh so Medieval parts better. This method entails reading a short passage, journaling in answer to 5 questions, and then sharing what one wrote.

The questions are:

1.      What is the author’s main point in this passage?

2.     What new light do I find in this particular reading of this passage today?

3.     Is this passage true to my experience?

4.     What are the implications of this passage for my life?

5.     What challenges, difficulties or problems do I have with this passage?

There is usually a little time for discussion before or after this process.

Recordings of Past Activities of Ella Rozett and David Curtis

Ella lived and worked with David in the U.K. for one and a half years, helped him get established on his path as a teacher, but then was called back to her own life in California.

• Friday included a Medieval, German Mary Magdalene litany, a foot washing and anointing, readings from the Bible and the Gospel of Mary, guided meditations by Kayleen Asbo and others, a short sermon by Lizzie Berne DeGear, and Medieval singing of Catherine Braslavsky.
  Recording of day 1 of Mary Magdalene retreat 2022.

• Saturday’s focus was on reading, contemplating, and discussing the entire Gospel of Mary. David’s translation of the Gospel of Mary (8 pages).
  This day wasn’t suitable for recording.

• Sunday we homed in on the Ascent of the Soul section of the Gospel of Mary with various guided meditations aimed at entering the text and using it for transformative practice. Catherine Braslavsky’s singing and Harmony Harrison’s poetry will help us join Mary Magdalene’s soul in her great rejoicing.
  Recording of day 3 of Mary Magdalene retreat 2022.

• On Saturday, June 11th 2022, at 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. UK time, i.e. 10:30 - noon US West Coast time, David gave a presentation with Kayleen Asbo to her Rose Sangha. Here her announcement:
  ”What do hidden texts in Egypt, caves in France and monks in Ireland and Scotland have in common? Mary Magdalene, of course!

  Mythica has a marvelous gathering planned for this Saturday's Rose Sangha where our monthly gathering will follow the thread of Mary Magdalene through the centuries as David Curtis joins me from Great Britain.

  David has spent the past few months following the trail of Mary Magdalene in Egypt and Provence while he was working on his new translation of the Gospel of Mary. I was beyond excited to learn about his research at the Sinai Palimpsest Project at St. Catherine's Monastery in Sinai. Housed in the oldest continually used library in the world, this project seeks to use modern technology to recover the ancient original texts, which were erased with lemon juice and written over by scribes at the end of that century when treasured wisdom texts were forbidden, banned and burned.

  David is steeped in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and I am eager to hear his reflections on how the Gospel of Mary has universal relevance for our world right now.

  After our discussion, I will pick up the pilgrim thread from Magdalene's cave in Provence and show how Mary Magdalene's influence through the monk John Cassian permeated the Celtic Monastic movement in Ireland and Scotland beginning in the 5th century.

  I'll trace a few of the fascinating (if fantastical!) legends about Mary Magdalene in Scotland and we will end with some exquisite treasures of art in Edinburgh, including Love's Testament (above) and Mary Magdalene at Pentecost (below) by Phoebe Anna Traquair.

  There are two ways to join us for the Rose Sangha gatherings. You can opt to purchase a one time admission to the live broadcast (click here, available on a sliding scale with first time guests free) or you can become a sustaining member of the Mythica Community by joining Patreon at the Rose Sangha level for $33 per month. Membership through Patreon also allows you to watch a whole collection of past programs on topics ranging from Julian of Norwich to Trees of Life to Robert Schumann to Our Lady of Guadalupe that weave together music, art, and myth with fascinating guest speakers and artists from around the world. Click here to enroll.

  With delight and anticipation,

  Kayleen”

• February 25, 2022, 7 PM GMT (UK), Fay Barrett of the Mary Magdalene School of Wisdom interviewed us as part of her “Meet the Magdalene Teachers” You can get to the recording by clicking on the link.

• February 19-21, 2022, 2:15 hrs daily, an international Mary Magdalene Conference with 22 presenters, put on by Kayleen Asbo, “Returning to the Roots of Healing: Walking in the Footsteps of Mary Magdalene and the Myrrhbearers” You can get to the recording by clicking on the link. (David and Ella speak about their Gospel of Mary Study Groups on day 2 at 0.50 minutes – 1:06.)

• December 11, 2021 Kayleen Asbo’s Rose Sangha: Black Madonnas,
  ”Black Madonna scholar and interfaith leader Ella Rozett joins us from Europe  to share the story of Our Lady of Loretto in Italy ; artist and pilgrimage leader Emily Grieves  teaches about Our Lady of Guadalupe from Mexico  and Catherine Braslavksy serenades us from Paris with Medieval Pilgrim songs for the Black Madonna in this international celebration of the sacred.” Recording here.

• July 22, 2021 a Catholic celebration of Mary Magdalene’s feast day . The recording starts too early and ends too late; fast forward to 8 minutes and 13 seconds to get to the beginning. https://www.churchservices.tv/portswoodchur/archive/recordings/gAefJiRHGulmdoI

• July 22, 2021 a Tibetan Buddhist teaching by Ringu Tulku on interfaith dialogue and the Gospel of Mary, https://bodhicharya.org/teachings/archives/a-meeting-of-two-faiths