Divina et Femina IV
Department of Classics and Religious Studies / Département des Études anciennes et de Sciences des religions
University of Ottawa / Université d'Ottawa
Keynote SpeakerZsuzsanna Budapest
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Zsuzsanna Emese Budapest is listed in Barbara J. Love's book, Feminists Who Changed America 1963-1975 as seeing "women taking part in political demonstrations and speaking truths she had only felt about private property and how women need to own their own bodies" (64). Z was inspired to volunteer at the Los Angeles Women's Center and came to realize "that her greatest contribution to women's liberation would be through her spirituality." She founded the Susan B. Anthony Coven Number l, the first feminist witches' coven, which became the role model for thousands of other spiritual groups being born and spreading across the nation. She wrote The Holy Book of Women's Mysteries (Weiser Publishers, 1989) which was originally published in 1975 as The Feminist Book of Lights and Shadows. This book served as the first hands-on book to lead women into their own spiritual/Goddess heritage.
In 1975, Z was arrested for reading Tarot cards to an undercover policewoman. She lost the trial but won the issue, and the law against psychics was struck down nine years later (See WitchTrial.net). Z has led rituals, lectured, taught classes, given workshops, written articles tirelessly, and published in hundreds of women's newspapers across the country. She has powerfully influenced many of the future teachers and writers about the Goddess.
Today Z lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, traveling a lot, giving workshops and lectures, but always making time to smell the roses. She is the star of her own cable TV show called 13th Heaven and acts as the director of the Women's Spirituality Forum, a nonprofit organization sponsoring a monthly lecture series in the Bay Area about the Goddess, spirituality retreats, and annual spiral dances on Halloween. Z founded and sponsors the Dianic University Online, a vagina-friendly online school for Dianic Wicca and Goddess studies for women.
This year, Z's contributions to both the feminist movement and women's spirituality are being recognized by the Canadian Centre for Research on Women and Religion, Department of Classics & Religious Studies at the University of Ottawa.
As noted by the conference organizer and University of Ottawa professor, Dr. Lucie Marie-Mai DuFresne:
Z's influences transcend the communities of feminism, spirituality and gender studies. Her life's works will be remembered in American History as one of the great foremothers of the second wave of feminism, the founding mother of the Women's Spirituality Movement and an outspoken lesbian woman who fought for women's reproductive rights in Los Angeles at one of the first abortion clinics, who co-founded the Los Angeles Anti-rape Squad (the first rape crisis intervention), who established the Los Angeles Take Back the Night marches for which she received the mayor's proclamation of appreciation. And of course, she will be remembered as the last witch put on trial for her witchcraft and found guilty in the United States; meaning she also blazed a trail for the popularizing of Paganism.
The importance of Z's work on the development of contemporary women's spirituality cannot be overlooked. At a time when women were finding their voice, when the archaeological findings of Marija Gimbutas and Merlin Stone had not yet been published, Zsuszanna Budapest had already drawn the link between feminism and spirituality. The Susan B. Anthony Coven No. 1 became the springboard and training grounds for many well-known leaders, like Starhawk, Ruth Barrett, Carol Christ, Charlene Spretnak, Barbara Chesser, Susun Weed, Ava Carpenter, Fiona Morgan, Patricia Monaghan, Anne Carson, Vicki Noble, Lunaea Weatherstone, Riane Eisler, Diane Stein, Jade River, Kathy Jones, Kriszta Veres and hundreds of other authors, scholars, artists, musicians and spiritual leaders.
For more information on Z, her books, the Coven, Dianic University, etc., check out Z's website, http://www.zbudapest.com/