Donna Henes (born September 19, 1945) is a ceremonial artist,

urban shaman Urban shamanism distinguishes traditional shamanism found in indigenous societies from Western adaptations that draw on contemporary and modern roots. Urban shamanism is practiced primarily by people who do not originate in a traditional indigeno ...

, ritual expert and consultant, speaker, workshop leader and award-winning writer.Donnahenes.net
/ref> Henes is originally from

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

Biography

Since 1972, Henes – known as Mama Donna – has designed and led multi-cultural, non-denominational celebrations, using ancient, traditional rituals and contemporary ceremonies. 2010 is the fifth anniversary of Henes' book, ''The Queen of My Self: Stepping Into Sovereignty in Midlife'' (Monarch Press 2005). She has also written three others, ''The Moon Watcher's Companion'' (Marlowe & Co. 2004); ''Celestially Auspicious Occasions: Seasons, Cycles and Celebrations'' (Perigree: Penguin/Putnam 1996); and ''Dressing Our Wounds In Warm Clothes'' (Astro Artz 1982); as well as a quarterly journal, ''Always In Season: Living in Sync with the Cycles.'' She publishes a monthly Ezine
''The Queen's Chronicles''
and also writes columns for

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

Beliefnet Beliefnet is a lifestyle website featuring editorial content related to the topics of inspiration, spirituality, health, wellness, love and family, news, and entertainment. History Launched in 1999 by Steven Waldman and Robert Nylen, Beliefnet ...

and UPI's (

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) Religion and Spirituality Forum. Her writings for adults and children have been syndicated in publications throughout the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, and globally on the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

. In 2007, Henes was chosen to bless and lead

New York's Village Halloween Parade The Village Halloween Parade is an annual holiday parade on the night of every Halloween, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. The parade, initiated in 1974 by Greenwich Village puppeteer and mask maker Ralph Lee, is the world' ...

, which is held annually in

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Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

. For 18 years, until the

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

attacks in 2001 when the events could no longer be held, The Port Authority of New York and The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council supported Henes' production of her ''Celestially Auspicious Occasions.'' Henes also performs outdoor equinox and solstice celebrations throughout New York City, including an annual "Eggs on End" ceremony, and has led similar celebrations in more than 100 other cities throughout the

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. In 1984, she received a Mayoral

Citation A citation is a reference to a source. More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression embedded in the body of an intellectual work that denotes an entry in the bibliographic references section of the work for the purpose of ...

from New York City Mayor

Ed Koch Edward Irving Koch ( ; December 12, 1924February 1, 2013) was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was may ...

for designing the New York City Olympic Ticker Tape Parade and a Mayoral Citation from New York City Mayor

David Dinkins David Norman Dinkins (July 10, 1927 – November 23, 2020) was an American politician, lawyer, and author who served as the 106th mayor of New York City from 1990 to 1993. He was the first African American to hold the office. Before enterin ...

in the early 1990s for her work as

Shaman Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a spirit world through altered states of consciousness, such as trance. The goal of this is usually to direct spirits or spiritu ...

in the Streets. She has been a recipient of four fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal ...

, as well as numerous project grants from municipalities, corporations and foundations. She served as children's book award judge for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

Jane Addams Laura Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 May 21, 1935) was an American settlement activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, public administrator, and author. She was an important leader in the history of social work and women's suffrage ...

Peace Association from 1980-1988. Henes maintains a ceremonial center, ritual practice and consultancy in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, Mama Donna's Tea Garden and Healing Haven, where she works with individuals and groups to create personalized rituals for all of life's transitions.

References

* ''Daily News (New York), Daily News'', April 16, 1996 * ''The Village Voice'', February 3, 1998 * Mayoral Citation - December 4, 1989 * Mayoral Citation - August 23, 1984 {{DEFAULTSORT:Henes, Donna 1945 births Living people American women writers Feminist musicians 21st-century American women