WILPF Features Starhawk for Equinox-International Peace Day

By Jeneve Brooks, PhD
WILPF US Strategic Support and Initiatives Coordinator, Development Committee

September 2024

On Saturday, Sept. 21 – 12 pm ET/11 am CT/10 am MT/9 am PT, WILPF US is thrilled to welcome Starhawk, the award-winning eco-feminist and pagan author, activist, and permaculture teacher, as our main presenter for our unique Fall Equinox/International Peace Day event, “Harvesting Inner Peace and Wisdom”. You can register for the event here.

Traditionally, the Fall Equinox is a time to acknowledge the fruits of our labor and reflect on our lives. While we may not yet be where we aspire to be in our activism or in our own personal lives, we are certainly further along than where we started. The journey together is worth celebrating! 

The Fall Equinox occurs yearly in late September, anywhere between September 21-24. This year, the actual moment of the Equinox will occur on Sept. 22nd at 8:43 AM ET. And International Day of Peace (“Peace Day”), is annually celebrated on September 21st; it was established in 1981 by unanimous United Nations resolution and offers the world a shared date to commit to Peace. WILPF US wanted to mark the significance of both the Equinox and International Day of Peace with this special event. See more information about the UN’s commitment to a Culture of Peace below.

Starhawk will offer perspectives and techniques that can help us appreciate this time of abundance, to help us meaningfully harvest personal growth benefits and inner calm from our peace and justice activist work. Together we’ll acknowledge the energy we’ve expanded this year, lessons learned and blessings we release into the world through our intentions for justice and a world at peace. We’ll renew our commitment to build a lasting culture of peace while we refill our cup during an exhausting election season, and amid a world torn by endless war and violence.   

Our Presenters 

Starhawk is an influential figure in modern earth-based spirituality and ecofeminism, and an author or co-author of 13 books, including ”The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess” and the ecotopian novel, ”The Fifth Sacred Thing” and its sequel ”City of Refuge.” Starhawk founded Earth Activist Training, teaching permaculture design grounded in spirituality and with a focus on activism. She travels internationally, lecturing and teaching on earth-based spirituality, the tools of ritual and the skills of activism. 

Starhawk will also be joined by two extraordinary presenters: Della Z Duncan and Ruby Woods.

• Della Z Duncan is a renegade economist who supports individuals to better align their values with their work. She is also a Senior Atlantic Fellow of Social and Economic Equity at the London School of Economics and hosts the Upstream podcast which challenges traditional economic thinking. She’ll conduct an experiential exercise to help create mindful presence in our activist work during the Great Turning.
• Ruby Woods is a singer, songwriting, poet/ritualist. She also has decades of experience as a Massage Therapist and a Reiki practitioner. She co-organized Women Walking Woodward for Peace from 2012-2023, won a 2021 Knight Arts Challenge Grant, and is Co-Chair for Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit. She will share personal insights on the theme: How the Head, Heart and Hands Can Be Your Guide.

Click here to attend.

Please note: There is a $20 (suggested) donation fee to attend this event, or whatever your heart tells you to give towards our work for peace. You can contribute a lower amount (or the minimum to register - $5) if you need to. 

Why do we have a suggested donation fee for events like these? 
WILPF US is a national peace and justice nonprofit organization operating on a very modest operational budget. Every dollar helps sustain our important work. Thank you for giving what you can.  

Please contact me if you have any questions about this exciting event at wilpfus.jenevebrooks@gmail.com. 

Help us spread the word by forwarding this email invitation to friends, allies, family and community members. We are so excited to host the living legend – Starhawk! And I hope to see you there!

2024 Marks the 25th Anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly’s Adoption of the 1999 Declaration & Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace

The declaration states: “Not only is the absence of conflict, but also requires a positive, dynamic participatory process where dialogue is encouraged, and conflicts are solved in a spirit of mutual understanding and cooperation.”  

In that moment, the UN General Assembly worked collaboratively to lay out the values needed for a culture of peace. Based on the UN’s website, those values are: 

“Respect for life, human rights and fundamental freedoms; the promotion of non-violence through education, dialogue and cooperation; commitment to peaceful settlement of conflicts; and adherence to freedom, justice, democracy, tolerance, solidarity, cooperation, pluralism, cultural diversity, dialogue and understanding at all levels of society and among nations.” 

WILPF members truly exhibit those values!

Yours – in gratitude and in peace.

Jeneve Brooks, PhD
Strategic Support & Initiatives Coordinator