La Befana's Table with Dina & Friends

Welcome back to another episode of La Befana’s Table. 

From the many messages I received this week, it seems like you guys are enjoying some of these more intimate conversations between you and me. So I thought I'd have another one with you today. 

In today’s episode, we will explore the transformative power of creativity and the importance of bringing your gifts to the table. 

We delve into the profound connection between grief and creativity and how they can be catalysts for personal and collective healing.

I’ll also briefly read the Instagram post that inspired this episode. 

Key points of what we talked about:

1:08 A message from @inspiredtowrite, Amy McNee

3:22 Why Gifts and creativity are best friends

Thanks so much for pulling up a seat at La Befana’s Table! 

If you want episodes sent directly to your inbox as well as access to our monthly community and connection hours. Be sure to subscribe to my substack dinagregory.substack.com

If you found value and love listening to La Befana’s Table please leave an honest review Apple or Spotify, share with a friend, or consider becoming a Supporting Subscriber.

Welcome back to another episode of La Befana’s Table. 

In today’s episode, I invite you to bring your grief to the table.

Why? Cause it’s a normal part of being human.

We all experience it when we suffer a loss. It can be experienced after the death of a loved one, the end of a relationship, the loss of a job, or any other major life transition. 

In this podcast episode, we’ll briefly discuss the different types of grief and the importance of making space for collective grief.

Grab Dina’s book, “Love at the Threshold” here:

Key points of what we talked about:

1:26 The different types of grief

3:13 The opportunity that grief brings to us

4:52 How can we bring our grief to the table

7:07 Collective grief needs a collective body to transform it

Thanks so much for pulling up a seat at La Befana’s Table! 

If you want episodes sent directly to your inbox as well as access to our monthly community and connection hours. Be sure to subscribe to my substack dinagregory.substack.com

If you found value and love listening to La Befana’s Table please leave an honest review Apple or Spotify, share with a friend, or consider becoming a Supporting Subscriber.

Welcome back to another episode of La Befana’s Table. 

In honor of Jazz Appreciation Month and Jazz Appreciation Day which is coming up on April 30, I'm sharing a conversation with you with our Jazzy Italian, Vanessa Racci.

Vanessa Racci is a singer, producer and voice teacher with over 25 years of professional performance experience.  She offers a range of shows that span jazz, theatre and Italian American music genres with unique show production, edutainment and a distinct retro image.

In this episode, Vanessa discusses how her Italian roots influence her music music that celebrates Italian American’s contributions to jazz.

She also blesses us with two songs from her current album “Jazzy Italian”!

Learn more about Vanessa and her music here.

Key points of what we talked about:

* 1:50 A clip of her song “At the Jazz Band Ball”

* 2:50 Vanessa’s journey to Italian music

* 5:36 The birth of her first album “Italian Fresca” or Fresh Italian

* 12:08 Bringing out the Italian American aspect of jazz

* 17:00 The balance in terms of preserving and sharing

* 22:53 Vanessa’s incredible rendition of the classic song “Volare”

Thanks so much for pulling up a seat at La Befana’s Table! 

If you want episodes sent directly to your inbox as well as access to our monthly community and connection hours. Be sure to subscribe to my substack dinagregory.substack.com

If you found value and love listening to La Befana’s Table please leave an honest review Apple or Spotify, share with a friend, or consider becoming a Supporting Subscriber.

So I just turned 42 and it got me contemplating the gift of not only human existence but the gift of human embodiment, and the gift that comes with the realization that I’m just one story among many in a cosmic legendary myth.

I hope you find this episode Soul nourishing.

Key points of the discussion:

1:52 The miracle of human existence and the beauty of becoming human

3:32 What I think is our purpose in life

5:00 The beauty of committing fully to life

Reminder: Gabriel Meyer from our last episode has a Sacred Playshop coming up on 4/22

Join Us for a Sacred Playshop

If you are in New York City area, you have the opportunity to partake in Gabriel Meyer’s sacred play shop where we learn how to bridge holiness and playfulness through an experience rooted in Kabbalah, and Sufism! 

Make sure you register for Gabriel's sacred playshop which is being offered on April 22, Upper West Side of New York City.

Register here

If you want episodes sent directly to your inbox as well as access to our monthly community and connection hours. Be sure to subscribe to my substack dinagregory.substack.com

If you found value and love listening to La Befana’s Table, please leave an honest review Apple, share with a friend, or consider becoming a Supporting Subscriber.

Welcome back to another episode of La Befana’s Table. Today Musician, Storyteller, Peacemaker, and Radical Creative, Gabriel Meyer joins me at La Befana’s Table for a conversation on bridging our longing for (w)holiness with playfulness.

Born in Cordoba, Argentina. Son of human rights champion Rabbi Marshall Meyer. Gabriel opens hearts and builds cross-cultural bridges through music, humor, and story celebrating Spirit. He travels the Globe performing his music, facilitates interfaith and multicultural playshops and ceremonies.

He has led rituals, concerts, and workshops with great success for thousands of people around the world (Israel, Europe, North, Central & South America, India, Australia & South Africa) in the past 20 years.

In today’s episode, Gabriel blesses us with two different songs which serve as a jumping point for a conversation that touches on liminal space, sharing our true voice through song, how to simply be present to to the miracle that is life.

Join Us for a Sacred Playshop

If you like what you hear and want to learn how to bridge holiness and playfulness through an experience rooted in Kabbalah, and Sufiism, make sure you register for Gabriel's sacred playshop which is being offered on April 22, Upper West Side of New York City.

Register here

Lear more about Gabriel here and his works. https://www.gabrielmeyerhalevy.com/en/home

Keypoints of what we discuss:

* 00:00 Liminal Grace song

* 06:19 Start of conversation

* 07:00 What liminality is for Gabriel

* 24:15 About the Sacred Playshop: A bridge between Playfulness and Sacredness

* 30:19 The importance of telling your story

* 37:25 We need to learn how to walk as gracefully as we talk

* 43:05 There’s a time for planning and there is a time to let go

* 01:07:00 Too much unconditional love and too much compassion don’t make you a hero

* 01:11:28 Human song

Thanks so much for pulling up a seat at La Befana’s Table! 

If you want episodes sent directly to your inbox as well as access to our monthly community and connection hours. Be sure to subscribe to my substack dinagregory.substack.com

If you found value and love listening to La Befana’s Table, please leave an honest review Apple or Spotify, share with a friend, or consider becoming a Supporting Subscriber.

Welcome back to another episode of La Befana’s Table! 

Today, we have here our special guest, Author, Raylene Abbott.

Raylene describes herself as a listener of the wind. A singer of green psalms written on the forest floor. A student of heart softening. Finder of Wayside Shrines, Collector of Medieval Recipes. And somehow with the Grace of God, she became an Author of Books. 

And in this episode, Dina talks with Author Raylene Abbott about her latest book, “Novenas For Now”.

This multi-layered book is filled with mystical stories, ancestral wisdom, traditional recipes and direct experiences with working with Novena practices.  

Find out more about Raylene’s written books here. 

Questions for Reflection:

Have you ever prayed a Novena? If you have what is the impact on your life? What are some practices that help you stay rooted? How do we become true gift-givers in this world?

Thanks so much for pulling up a seat at La Befana’s Table! 

If you want episodes sent directly to your inbox and & other perks such as access to our monthly community and connection hours. Be sure to subscribe to my substack dinagregory.substack.com

If you found value and love listening to La Befana’s Table, please leave an honest review & share with a friend.

Rate us on the Apple podcast:

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Welcome folks to another episode of La Befana’s Table.

Today Matt Mitler joins me in a conversation about searching for the sacred through the medium of theater.

Matt is an American actor who is also the founding director of Dzieci Theatre (the polish word for "children"). 

Integrating techniques garnered from such theatre masters as Jerzy Grotowski, Eugenio Barba and Peter Brook, ritual forms derived from Native American and Eastern spiritual disciplines, and an ethic based securely in Humanistic Psychology, Dzieci aims to create a theatre that is as equally engaged with personal transformation as it is with public presentations.

In this episode, Matt and I talk about their work, the Dzieci theatre and their upcoming Passion production in celebration of the Holy Week. 

More of what we talked about: 

* 2:30 Inviting an audience member into the piece

* 8:22 Meeting the audience

* 14:10 The power of the audience

* 24:52 Dealing with difficult participants

* 35:59 Finding projects you can be married to for life

* 45:25 Working with different spiritual communities

A Passion performance schedule 2023:

* Palm Sunday, April 2nd at 10:30 AM (as part of the morning service)

CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH74 Park Avenue, Glen Ridge, NJ 07028

* Holy Tuesday, April 4th at 7:00 PMTHE CENTER AT WEST PARK165 West 86th Street, NY, NY 10024

* Maundy Thursday/Passover, April 6th at 7:00 PMTHE EPISCOPAL ACTOR’S GUILD1 East 29th Street, NY, NY 10016

* Good Friday, April 7th at 7:00 PMBOUGHTON PLACE150 Kisor Road, Highland, NY 12528

Whether Christian or Jew or Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or Zen,A Passion appeals to the human spirit in everyone and our essential longing for communion.

Please join us.

$20 donationDoors open 15 minutes prior to the performance!

Notes On A PassionA Commentary by Matt Mitler

More of their schedules!

Next Fall

MAKBET

Out West!

Stay tuned for the touring schedule

(We’re seeking contacts for LA & SF venues!)

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December 2023!

The Twenty-fifth Anniversaryof Dzieci’s Signature Creation

FOOLS MASS

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TDF shines a light on Dzieci, with this wonderful little video:

Meet the Theatre

If you have been touched in any way, shape or form by our work,please consider making a donation.Together, in communion, we will continueto bring meaning into art, and art into meaning.

Connect with Dzieci theatre: 

Dzieci workshops and performances are available for groups of all kinds, both secular and sacred.

* Dzieci’s Workshops: Dzieci Workshops

* Dzieci’s ministerial offerings: http://dziecitheatre.org/ministry-to-ministers/

* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dziecitheatre/

* Website: http://dziecitheatre.org/

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Thanks so much for pulling up a seat at La Befana’s Table! 

If you want episodes sent directly to your inbox and want access to our monthly community and connection hours. Be sure to subscribe to my substack dinagregory.substack.com

If you found value and love listening to La Befana’s Table, please leave an honest review, this helps people find my podcast. 

Rate us on the Apple podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/la-befanas-table-with-dina-friends/id1661361657

Rate us on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/70YvUA6lbFm0gnKdq1YtXZ?go=1&sp_cid=b102b9bdf24d8caacd62ad564c1b3eac&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop&nd=1

Welcome back to another episode of La Befana’s Table.

Today’s episode is an honest heart to heart.

I talk about showing up as we are and reflecting on the ways in which our goals accurately represent our implicit interests and values in life.

More of what we talked about:

* 1:07 Showing up as I am

* 2:30 Commitment to what you love the most

* 4:08 The beauty of Launching a Podcast

* 5:24 Nobility

* 6:04 Women of Welcome Quote

* 7:19 Wisdom within

Thanks so much for pulling up a seat at La Befana’s Table! 

If you found value and love listening to La Befana’s Table, please consider leaving a review, sharing this email with a friend, or becoming a Supporting Subscriber.

Welcome back to La Befana’s Table. 

Today, I have my very good friend here, Jen Violi. 

Jen Violi is a writer, mentor, and facilitator of Elemental Writing courses. Elemental Writing means remembering writing as a wholly embodied act of a wholly embodied being, and that we humans belong to and are in a relationship with the animate world. 

Jen’s spiral of identities includes but is not limited to: Original Detective of Joy, story sanctuary keeper, word witch, and mystic. Also: Scorpio sun, Aries rising, and Leo moon, a.k.a. two fires and a big dark water. 

Jen is the author of the novel Putting Makeup on Dead People, a finalist for the Oregon Book Award, as well as numerous published essays, short stories, prose-poems, and other form-defying feats of word magic.   

In today’s episode, we dive deep into meeting the people of your soul tribe. We also talk about elemental writing, what is it, and how Jenn come up with it. 

More of what we talked about: 

* 2:13 What is elemental writing

* 5:45 Jen’s own adventure of Elemental writing

* 10:17 Jen’s invitation to someone who says “I’m not a writer”

* 15:09 Jen’s inspiration for her book Putting makeup on dead people

* 17:57 What is initiation? What does it mean?

* 29:18 The fire course

* 32:16 Living in epiphany 

Join Jen’s Elemental Writing: Fire!  Tuesdays March 21- April 25, 11-1:30 PDT. Register by March 18.

Elemental Writing is a series of courses that will enliven your writing—both the words and the act—through embracing writing as the wholly embodied act of a wholly embodied being (you!). We engage in simple rituals, remember our belonging to the natural world, seek the wisdom of elements, and write in community, fueled by an ever-deepening sense of connection to everything. 

In this iteration, we ask fire to be our guide for a six-week simmer, sauna, and thaw of the writer body. 

Join us to explore friction in fiction (& non), writing as devotion, soothing the swollen manuscript and burnt-out writer, the anatomy of a creative chimney, tending the writer's heart, and more. Guest teachers include: sacred flames, volcanos, wildfires, bodily inflammation, hot springs, and hearths. 

Each week, you’ll receive a pdf with prompts, practices, and tools you can use for all phases of writing. You’ll also have the opportunity to receive generative editorial feedback on one 2,500 word piece of writing and a chance to share it at an end-of-year public reading and celebration in November 2023. Ready for a wild, wonderful, and warming adventure?

Learn more at https://www.jenvioli.com/ready-to-write/elemental-writing/

Connect with Jen:

Website- www.jenvioli.com

Instagram- jenvioli

Join her initiation at www.patreon.com/jenvioli

Other links and resources mentioned:

* The Spell of the Sensuous By David Abram

* Wheel of Initiation: Practices for Releasing Your Inner Light By Julie Tallard Johnson

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Thanks so much for pulling up a seat at La Befana’s Table! 

If you want episodes sent directly to your inbox and want access to our monthly community and connection hours. Be sure to subscribe to my substack https://dinagregory.substack.com/about

If you found value and love listening to my podcast, please leave an honest review, this helps people find my podcast. 

Rate us on Apple podcast. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/la-befanas-table-with-dina-friends/id166136165

Rate us on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/70YvUA6lbFm0gnKdq1YtXZ

Happy International Women’s Day! 

Welcome back to La Befana’s Table. 

Today, I am so excited to share with you my conversation with my dear friend, Michela Musolino.

Michela Musolino, American-born and raised, known for her fiery and passionate interpretations of both traditional and contemporary Sicilian Folk and Roots Music,  enchants with a voice that seems to float between the ages.

She grew up in a household where the Sicilian dialect was spoken so the children wouldn't be able to understand the adults' conversations. The sounds of that language were like music to Michela and she fell in love with them. 

Listening made her curious, hungry to understand, and determined to join in the conversations.  On trips back to Sicily, she'd become enamored of the traditional folk songs and began to collect them, scouring tape bins with her dad trying to find recordings she didn't already have.

In this episode, we are celebrating International Women's Day with Michela who you may remember from our pre-launch episode. And our conversation today focuses on the ways in which we celebrate and care for the women in our midst, and the care that sustains us, individually and collectively. So let's jump right in.

More of what we talked about: 

* 1:19  What are we really celebrating? How are we celebrating the women in our lives.

* 7:44 What it means to be a woman

* 13:05 We all have a role to play and your presence is important

* 19:52 Taking care of a brand new and fully formed human

* 25:53 Songs and stories of a woman. A song about the sea “The Wives and Fishermen”. 

Connect with Michela:

Website: https://www.michelamusolino.com/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/MichelaMusolino

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michelamusolino/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michela.musolino.58

Listen to her music on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/275QPH57IifD4vl0J76u4A?go=1&sp_cid=b102b9bdf24d8caacd62ad564c1b3eac&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop&nd=1

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Thanks so much for pulling up a seat at La Befana’s Table! 

If you want episodes sent directly to your inbox and want access to our monthly community and connection hours. Be sure to subscribe to my substack

If you found value and love listening to my podcast, please leave an honest review, this helps people find a seat at La Befana’s Table.

Rate us on Apple podcast.

Rate us on Spotify: