how might your life have been....

How might your life have been different if, 

when you felt time pressing in on you, 

there were a place to go where you were allowed to simply be?  

If, as you sat down silently, there were a sense of the presence of other women breathing in the stillness...waiting quietly with you?

....judith Duerk..

The four of us have gathered at a sister's forever home....

We have come together to celebrate the one year anniversary of our Sacred Circle....

There is a gentle excitement in the air as we arrive, hugging warmly...relaxing into the gladness of seeing each other.  We've brought food to share.  All vegetarian...mostly vegan.

We move together into the room where the altar is laid out and take our seats around it.

The altar is filled with our various totems and things that bring Goddess to mind.  

Flowers and candles.  It's lovely.  

Alicia is our leader today...the four of us rotate guiding the Circle  

We hold hands as she takes us in our opening meditation...

We chant to Ancient Mother...3 times.  

It opens us and brings us fully into this sacred coming together.

Dear, dear Alicia.  

A year and 9 months ago I only knew her as someone who had taken 

my Goddess Doll Workshop.

For almost 4 years I had been reading and rereading the book Sacred Circles...wanting a circle.  This is not to say I didn't have spiritual sisters...I do....but I wanted a regular coming together...I wanted ritual.. 
I had been putting it out there at various times, to various women.  Just a simple, 
"I would love to have a Sacred Circle."  The responses would vary...
but no one said, "I want one too...let's make it happen.'  

And I wanted it to be a shared experience.

Then one day, there in my email box, was a message from a friend, it simply said, 

"Alicia is interested in creating a Circle.  Here is her phone # and email."

Over the next 8 months...we talked, read the book, shared our feelings, got to know each other...and when we had nothing left to do but put out our invitation we held hands and jumped into possibility.

The first gathering was a packed house...more and more women showed up...they were curious.  Alicia and I talked a little bit about our very loose vision...we didn't want it to be ridged.  We didn't even want leadership....we were just laying the groundwork, holding the space...using the book as a guide...
We listened to what had prompted these women to accept our invitation......
some of them had a very clear vision of what they were looking for in a women's circle....and we couldn't promise how it would evolve.  

We only knew that the Circle like any other relationship would grow and change until it fit..we wanted it to be fluid...we wanted it to fit the women who would keep coming back...

We had  a few rules and guidelines about showing up and confidentiality....

about respect and non-judgement....
but the rest we trusted would come together as it should

Soon we had a core of 8 who met every two weeks....we explored ritual that felt right ...worked at gaining trust....most of the women had never met before. Then 4 left..
.time constraints, new jobs, and moving away.  Leaving us just 4.

Yes, we are small but right now it works for us.  

We have reached a place of trust...non-judgement....even love.

Today we draw goddess cards...mine is Flora...a new season of growth. 
 We check in with what is happening in our lives...we move outside to walk my portable labyrinth...with it's flowered path.

in the center we feel and voice our commitment to this sisterhood...to our friendships....we are all very different the 4 of us...a magic mix.

We share our meal...

We swim...

We close until next time when I will lead...

What a blessing....

......

....om, om, om, om

I think I told you about my best om experiences ever. 

 My sisters at the Positive Living Center...

placed me in the center of a circle and they omed me.  

It was the most amazing feeling and when they were done and ready to go on with their meeting, and me on with my day, 

I could only sit and weep in my car.  

The love and peace I felt left me so high I couldn't trust myself to drive for almost 20 minutes.

So...when this cd was gifted to me with a heads up that the om track is amazing,

I decided to light my candles and listen before I danced.

Oh my!!!

I so recommend you listen too, if you are into this sort of thing.  

Set aside a little time....Light some candles...relax your body...

sit or stand close to your speakers..

turn the volume up...

Om is about vibration....you need to feel it.

Om along and see where it takes you....

Spirit up!

xoxo

....evoking the Goddesses

our altar 
 it's not recognizable but I brought a little turtle, my totem,
 emerging from her egg...the intent there is obvious..
alway hope to be changing and emerging...
Growth can be hard, looking at flaws and weaknesses..
Change, oh my, how I sometime resist...
but the alternative is not so good..

I belong to a Sacred Circle..
.every other week my goddess sister friends and I come together to talk, and love, and explore our paths on the twisty, turning, sometimes crazy journey we are all on.  We take turns leading.  We are a spread out group of women...and although the gatherings are at different places each time, someone always has to travel an hour or so. 
It is a commitment...and not always an easy one to keep...but we do...
we make every effort to be there for each other...


A few weeks ago our hosting sister asked that we come as our most glorious goddess selves and talk about how Goddess works in our lives...
which one, or two, or three, we most identify with..
or the goddess whose qualities we'd like to evoke..


Of course Goddess Nu Kua is my art muse...
I've written about her many times...paying homage...
She is my partner in so much that brings me bliss.


And for a while now I've been aware that Aphrodite has come along to teach me a few things about love...
 I decided to pay a little closer attention to her...study up a bit.  
I pulled out my beat up copy of 
Goddesses in Every Woman by jean Shinoda Bolen 
So much of what she has to say about this, 
the alchemical goddess, resonated with me.


Yes, she is the goddess of love...but not just romantic or sexual love...
She is also there for platonic love, soul connections, deep friendships...
Bolen says..."when ever growth is generated, a vision supported, potential developed, a spark of creativity encouraged"...Aphrodite is there.

"Aphrodite consciousness is present in all creative work, including that done in solitude...."  Whenever she is present energy is generated...she adds the spark, the sizzle, the passion, to every encounter...rather it be in our creative life, or in our relationships.   

 She brings so much energy to the creative process we often lose track of time when under the influence of her magic.

Aphrodite is also there to encourage the sorting of things..
when a crucial decision must be made she reminds me to go within and sort those jumbled feeling...take an honest look at what is important to me and what my motives might be....what passion is at work.




I decided that I wanted to call in Athena too...
she is the goddess of wisdom, strategy and clear thinking...much needed here.  
And I called in Persephone...to help me stay open and receptive when sometimes I want to close up and run away from life....it happens...
I am an emotional being.


Hera came to me to help me make commitments that I can be comfortable with, and faithful too..
and last but not least..I called in Artemis 
to help keep me focused on my goals...
not let myself be detoured from what it is I vision for myself...She reminds me that I don't always need to know every step to getting where I want to go....that sometimes it is enough to be clear and to take the steps as they come...I don't need to have all the answers..
often intuition speaks loudly enough...if only I'm clear enough to listen.

I've covered some bases here...yes, I have...


I think we can learn a lot by reflecting on the archetypes, 
and the myths and stories about larger than life women.  
It helps me to look at my strengths and weaknesses...call in balance.

There is a lot of joy in being a woman, exploring with other women...
we are so multi-faceted...
so much to share and offer each other and the world....
I think we could use a little more Goddess energy floating around...
.woman energy...not so much the energy of women who have turned away from their feminine qualities to be more like men in this man's world...
but women who celebrate our feminine strengths.  We are pretty amazing in   our ability to love so deeply and live so creatively..stay so strong.
Hat's off to my sister goddesses..xo

....for my sisters

About seven or eight months ago...my friend Alicia and I started a Sacred Circle...

we invited women we knew well, and women we barely knew but whose energy we enjoyed, to join us for our first gathering....

an amazing number of them showed up to see what we had in mind.

What we had in mind was to create a

safe place for women to gather and explore our spiritual journeys.

We decided to meet every other Sunday afternoon and follow the basic guidelines from the book, "Sacred Circles" by Robin Deen Carnes & Sally Craig....there are 8 circle basics...Council Sharing, Listening without an Agenda, Rotating Leadership/Shared Ownership, Confidentiality, Taking Responsibility for One's Own Needs, Self-Reflection,

Focus on spiritual Development, and Commitment.

We lost some of the women a long the way..

they may come back later....

the women who kept coming back are the ones meant to take a journey together....

it's pretty cool...new sisters!

This is a poem written for the Commitment Gathering we had on Sunday...

I really want to share it with you...

Sisters, we weep with grief

Shout with anger

Tremble in fear
Stand tall in joy.

We grow strong as the biggest tree
Deep as the deepest well
Wise as the elders.

We echo and call
and call
and call.

We dream our circle to life.
Within, we cradle the newest
being – the babe we feed
with the nectar
of the goddesses and gods
the whatever is.
All of that.

We are spread about with sunshine
We are covered in rain
We soar with the wind
push up the green shoots.
Our legs are roots
Our bodies living wood
Our arms move in worship
We dance between the stars.

I’ve heard we are made of stars.
We are old as the oldest
We are the blackest night
And the newest light.

Formed from the dust of the galaxies
Conjured from lust and need
the moans of pleasure
slick seed
and yes.

We birth the mountains from our wombs,
Bring forth the seas.
From between our thighs,
the scent of ancient sands.
The old queens whose hands
hold the scepters
bestow the mysteries.

All that is.
All that is.

Megan Ralph

http://prayinghorse.blogspot.com/2010/10/for-my-sisters.html