The Desert Goddess Center is a new women’s space in Morongo Valley, operated by local women’s studies scholar and activist Jayne DeMente who has started this resource center, workshop room, and educational retail space to raise awareness of women’s overlooked historical narrative and current issues.
Years ago, DeMente ran the women-centric arts center Magdaline in Los Angeles, eventually retiring and relocating to Morongo Valley. But due to recent American socio-political developments, she decided it was time to reach out to local activists to see how she could help.
“So when this happened, I reached out to women in my community who are activists and they said, ‘You can’t do everything, but do what you can,’ and this is what I can do. (The Center) is a combination of women’s studies and women’s spirituality and we’ve created something called ‘her story’ so it’s a different narrative than the one we were brought up with,” said DeMente.
Launched with application for a start-up loan, DeMente says the next step will be filing for 501(c)(3) non-profit status with a longer-term goal of opening an institute somewhere in the Morongo Basin. In the meantime, the Center is offering tiered memberships that will include discounts on merchandise and classes.
DeMente says the classes taught at the center will include lunar astrology, reike, and a Thursday night women’s studies masterclass series starting next week and running through July, starting with a film on Lithuanian anthropologist Marija Gimbutas whose teachings DeMente says “women’s studies based women’s spirituality upon.”
In addition to the workshops that DeMente says will focus largely on “trajectory towards maturity and sovereignty” for woman young and old, the space sells affordable art and gifts representing educational and activist plights, like the colorful purses she pointed out.
“They’re hand woven by women in Colombia who live in villages where they don’t have access to water, so they have to walk 10 miles or more––these bags are actually water bags, as pretty as they are, that’s what they do. It’s a tight weave so they hold water, and they bring it back to the village as a daily routine. So this company uses the profits to buy water towers, and so far they’ve given out eight water towers.”
While woman-focused, DeMente says the center is open to men as long as they’re interested in learning more about women’s studies.
“We try to keep the model inclusive. We love our men, so we share it, you know? But we do a lot of other things––it’s a gathering place for women to network, feel safe talking about things they can’t in their normal life.”
For Mother’s Day weekend on Saturday May 10, the Center will offer a free kids art class from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. followed by Mother’s Day high tea beginning at 11:30.
