Official Transcript of the First Annual Charity Event, January 5th, 2003**
[Emily Maloy]: Welcome to the first annual Charity Event for The Society for the Greater Education of Women! My name is Emily Maloy, president of this non-profit organization, and I will be your hostess tonight. First, I would like to thank each and every one of you who have donated to our fledgling organization. You have helped us to realize our goals and we are forever grateful for your continued support. I hope you have enjoyed your meal, which represented different cultures from around the world.
Now, I have the great joy of introducing you to our program. The Society for the Greater Education of Women is dedicated to bringing education to women, not just through traditional means, but through a more comprehensive approach which includes women’s spirituality and women’s history in addition to the fundamentals of learning. What we hope to do is to encourage women to take a step back and see what women around the world are doing, and what they have done in the past. If we can convey a feeling of unity among women, then women will feel stronger in their endeavors, with the strength and support of their sisters around the world.
One way of doing this is to provide information about women’s roles in societies- these roles range from mothers, workers, and leaders of their spiritual communities, among many others. Tonight we will give you just a taste of one of the roles we focus on through our education- and that is of women in religion. Nearly every religion that exists today, at one time held strong beliefs about a Mother Goddess. Just as every religion has a creation story, most have a concept of there being a Father and a Mother of humankind. In ancient days, this was quite common, but as societies changed, many cultures tried to suppress the idea of a Mother of humankind. Some of the most obvious examples are those of are Judaism, Christianity and Islam. However, they all stem from a common belief system, and this belief system once included a Mother Goddess.
The Society has invited 7 speakers from around the world who are going to share with you stories about the way they see the Mother Goddess. We have Rei Ayanami representing Japan, Wrenn O'Neil representing the Celts, Chanda Khatakar representing India, Jae-Lin Chen representing China, Talasi Chochmo representing the Pueblo people, Ixchell Teotalco representing the Aztecs and Bathia Amenahem representing ancient Judaism...
Without further ado, I will give the floor to our first speaker, Rei Ayanami, representing Japan.
[Applause]
*Editors note: to continue, please click here or on the Japan and China link in the bar to the left.
** (Disclaimer: This is a fictional organization; any similarities to an existing NGO are purely coincidental. Characters are also fictional, but the stories told by the "speakers" are actual stories that have been passed down throught the ages and can be referenced on the Sources page.)
