Conference
MATRES HERBARUM.
Eden mitologici ed erbe delle dee (Mythological edens and the goddesses’ herbs
)
with Erika Maderna, researcher and author, and Giulia Farina, literary scholar and activist
Saturday, October 4th, at 3:30 PM
in the Central Pavilion
The mythologies of the Mediterranean world are rich with references to primordial paradises belonging to female deities — from the garden of the goddess Inanna described in the Epic of Gilgamesh, to the Garden of the Hesperides, the orchards of the Olympian goddesses, and the sacred grove of Hecate in the Orphic Argonautica.
These are sacred spaces guarded by female presences, where the connection to the healing properties of medicinal and wild edible plants plays a significant role.
Healing trees and herbs trace a symbolic path that has accompanied women’s pharmacological tradition across the centuries.
The event is held in Italian
Bio
Erika Maderna
Classically trained, Erika Maderna is a researcher and author. With Aboca Edizioni she has published: Le mani degli dèi: mitologie e simboli delle piante officinali nel mito greco (2016); Medichesse: la vocazione femminile alla cura (2012); Per virtù d’erbe e d’incanti: la medicina delle streghe (2018); and Con grazia di tocco e di parola: la medicina delle sante (2019). Her most recent book is La memoria nelle mani: storie, tradizioni e rituali delle levatrici (2024).
Giulia Farina
With a background in literature, Giulia Farina is an activist and event organizer. She works in the theater world and is a member of Le Donne della Porta Accanto, an intersectional transfeminist collective, for which she manages digital communications and coordinates events and initiatives.