We chose the little serpent as our logo as a reclamation of earth energy as an intelligent force and part of our spirituality. 

We use the phrase women-centered research to mean ways women connect to each other and exert leadership in the world, and partnership in the family. 

We use research to mean inquiry which uses all modalities, including the body, mind and spirit. 

We use the phrase for everybody to affirm our belief that if women and their children were at the center of our consciousness and priorities, both men and women, girls and boys, would benefit from the ensuing values of social, economic, and ecological justice. 

The women and the work presented on these pages are connected in several ways. Dianne Jenett and Judy Grahn, the founders of Serpentina, began collaborating in their Women's Spirituality doctoral program, founded by Elinor Gadon at the California Institute of Integral Studies.  Some Serpentina women are founders, leaders, scholars and practitioners in women's spirituality, feminist spirituality, feminist movements within mainstream religious denominations, female shamanism, womanism, peace and justice movements, ecofeminism, grass roots feminism including lesbian feminism, ritual and movement work. Others are relatively new scholars and practitioners who have been inspired by them. We don't always agree with each other and we will present our diverse points of view. Women's spirituality is not a religion and has no doctrine: it reaches across all traditions to the feminine heart of spirituality. 

Most of us on these pages are North Americans, but our research and spiritual paths have taken us around the world, and we seek and invite international dialogue and reports on traditions and efforts relating to the Sacred Feminine.