Sisters' circle
It was quite a few moons ago now that I was sitting at Confest with a dear friend of mine under a big yellow tarp, looking around and the men in our lives had created: an entire village in the middle of the paddock .. TP’s, bit tarp for shade, workshop space, stage, bush kitchen… everything was in place for us to have a good time for this week long festival over the summer holidays. But suddenly, my mind started ticking…. there was something missing.. where was OUR space? where was the retreat for women who needed some time out? For women who started to bleed or just needed to have a cry?.. There was nowhere for us to hide and from that moment, the Pink TP was getting created in our mind. Within a week after the festival, a pink TP was getting delivered to my front door at a very cheap price cause no one wanted it because of its colour!
In this moment of creation, not only had we created a retreat space for women for festivals around Australia but also a whole new journey of sitting in circles, sharing, laughing, crying together. When women sit in circles, something magical happens.. Every single time! The simple fact that each and every woman shows up and is open to share with vulnerability what is happening for her at the present time is enough to dive into the mysteries of womens’ circles. I use the word mysteries because it still feels like it for our generation but needless to say that it wasn’t mysteries at all not that long ago… Rather the opposite, it was just of normal occurrence to sit and gather and bleed together. The red lodge was created for women to have their moon time and share the load of looking after their children when rest and care were needed.
What I also love about womens’ circles is that by us retreating, we actually create the space for men to gather and find each other as well. Whether they will end up having a fire and share their hearts as well or doing more manly activities, they have the opportunitiy to go deeper with what is going on for them too, which is not always a natural thing for them to do.
TP’s are an amazing space to gather but with intention and thoughts, any place can become a sacred space for womens’ circle. The intention of setting up the space to create a sacred container for whatever is going to be shared will stay in the space and for everyone to be smudged as they enter are the basics of creating a safe space. I love white sage as a smudge but they are lots of different options out there these days. Once again, it doesn’t matter which herb or incense you use, it’s the intention behind it that is essential!
Once the place is set and women are feeling comfortable, I believe the person who is holding space needs to be in a pure heart space of being of absolute service of what is going to happen. This person can have a plan but the thing is, with women, there are no plans! You just never know what is going to happen and to watch it unfold as you guide the flow of the circle is one of the things I love doing in life more than anything else.
I’ve been holding space for years now, for womens’ circles, blessing ways, bride-to-be, young maidens and their menarche celebration and every time, I leave the space feeling so filled with love, magic and wonder.
I feel really blessed that one day, sitting down under a yellow tarp, an idea came through my head that a women space was needed… I will never look back and am really looking forward to many more to come… All in divine timing!