ABSTRACT
This chapter will focus on the sacred place of, and the place of the sacred at, Michigan Womyn’s1 Music Festival (Michfest), reflecting the plethora of spiritualities and religions that are practised, lived and felt on Michfest land. Many of these conform to recognisable categorisations of religion/spirituality such as Dianic and Judaism, others however are more individualised experiences of connection, celebration, rejuvenation, acceptance, energy and love that cannot be located within particular religions or spiritualities. What is consistent throughout however is the basis of deities, practises, experiences and rituals in the feminine, female and/or womyn’s connections, subjectivities, lives and bodies. In this way it addresses Wilcox’s (2006, 2009) contention that queer/ lesbian women’s reworkings of spiritual practices are underexplored. This is perhaps unsurprising given Michfest’s roots in lesbian feminist separatism and its current womyn-only policy.2 It will build on previous work that argues for a move beyond the critical (Browne 2009a, Sedgwick 2003) and develop Wilcox’s contention that queer engagements with religious studies may necessitate a broader engagement with the ‘positive roles that religion plays for LGBT people’ (2006: 94).
