Black Madonna Reparation Retreat

Objective: to raise $6000 by the end of summer 2023, and offer a Black Madonna Reparation Retreat in late Autumn 2023 for 6 women. Budget: $6000 will cover $3000 in lodging and food costs in a shared Air BnB retreat house, plus a $500 stipend given to each woman. The Mt Shasta Goddess Temple also has an additional $1000 earmarked for this project from our first round of fundraising to support incidental costs, art supplies, and local activities for the group.

Agenda: 6 artists, priestesses, coaches, and creators will come to Mt Shasta for a weekend retreat to rest, relax, share in spiritual and creative activities, and enjoy the beauty of the natural landscape in Siskiyou County.

Attendees: The Black Madonna Reparation Retreat project has received 10 applications thus far. Invitees will be drawn at random from among the applications that have been submitted by June 30, 2023 to receive an invitation. If anyone whose name is drawn cannot attend, a new name will be drawn. Support: members of the Mt Shasta Goddess Temple will be on hand to run errands, deliver food, bring goody bags filled with items made by our Priestesses, or to be available to coordinate or provide for other needs that arise.

Measure of Outcome: attendees will be invited to submit a form with a review of the experience, and suggestions, ideas, or guidance for improvement.

Project Sponsors: The Mt Shasta Goddess Temple is a devotional community honoring the female divine at the base of Mt Shasta. We serve the spiritual needs of international Goddess devotees with online and in-person programs, ceremonies, and retreats. We conduct periodic fundraisers for endeavors related to the environment and animal welfare, the preservation and propagation of indigenous religion and culture, female and child welfare, and worker’s rights. In 2019, the Mt Shasta Goddess Temple's Order of the Black Madonna launched a project to fundraise for Black Madonna Reparation Retreats, free spiritual gatherings for Women of Color in Mt Shasta. Then, the pandemic struck, and we had to put this project on hold until it was safe to gather in person again. It's now time to revive this project! We are hoping to offer the first Black Madonna Reparation Retreat in Fall 2023. It is our hope that this flagship Reparations Retreat will provide support, rejuvenation, fun, and joy for this first group of women who attend in 2023, and that thereafter this will become an annual event that supports and incubates the happiness and spiritual fulfillment of the Women of Color in the Goddess community. Thank you so much for donating to this event, and for your willingness to participate in direct and nourishing reparations for Goddess Sisters of Color.