Women's circles

photo by the amazing Silvana Rigobon   

“…everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the power of the world always works in circles…The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars.

The wind, in its greatest power, whirls.

Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours.

Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power move.”

Black Elk, Oglala Sioux Holy Man

Over the past years, I have found women’s circles to have profound healing power. They are the perfect space for women to come together and share. A women’s circle can be run for all sorts of reasons, the choice of topics are endless. You can have reading circles, knitting circles, art circles, grandmother’s circles, full moon circles, online circles, red tent circles, dancing circles and so many other circles! 

Being part of women’s circle has been a wonderful experience for me, first because it was inside a women’s circle I was able to recognize that regardless of where we come from our stories are far from different, and secondly because it was inside a circle that I started sharing who I truly am.

When I first started attending women’s circles, many years ago, I thought I wouldn’t fit in and that I wouldn’t be able to relate to anyone, that somehow I would be different. Soon I realized being from Mexico was no different than being from Italy, England, India, Spain, Croatia or Zambia. Being a woman in any part of the globe means we know what pain and suffering means and feels, either because of physical, spiritual or political repression that still exists in our countries and we are able to feel the collective pain or because we have actually suffered a painful situation ourselves, and I mean, who has not suffered in their life’s?

When I started attending women’s circles I always felt very emotional, I couldn't even pronounce my name without bursting into tears, the intensity of my unspoken emotions where too much for me to be able to share. You see, I was raised in a family where things where just not spoken, it was always better to pretend nothing was going on than to speak openly and truthfully, so sharing wasn’t part of me. But the beauty of a woman’s circle is that it has the capacity to hold you and support you in whatever situation you may be in. There is no pressure for you to share, the sharing happens willingly. You can just sit and listen to other women’s stories and identify yourself with them as ultimately we are all mirrors of each other.

Talking in a circle can be scary but it can also be very liberating, Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes says that sharing our stories has the power to heal us and this is exactly what a circle of women does, it heals you.

Jean Shinoda Bolen in her book The Millionth Circle also talks about the basic principles of a circle and about how some circles may come to an end. I feel that a circle will sustain itself as long as it has been created with utmost love and respect for all things. However, I also believe we are all evolving all the time and so some circles may be transitory circles.

I must say I am now part of the most beautiful women’s circle and I feel truly blessed for having so many sisters around me who I have come to admire and love with all my heart. Each one of them has amazing talents and so much wisdom, the times we’ve been together had been like a huge bubbling cauldron of pure raw wisdom! They’re all my blood sisters, sharing a common blood, our moon blood.

All these beautiful, wise, talented and powerful women have all been part of my years’ apprenticeship program with Alexandra Pope. I must say that been part of this beautiful nourishing circle has helped me grow down deeper into myself, have a deeper connection with who I am and a clearer idea of my path and my calling. The beauty of this circle is that we’re all riding the magical wave together and going through the ups and downs of life, but as I said before, a circle has the capacity to hold you and nourish you until you feel safe enough to go out on your own and spread your wings. I feel our year’s apprenticeship program with Alexandra has done exactly that. It has given us the capacity to unroll our wings one step at a time and so we are now ready and free to fly!  

Life is sometimes too hard to walk on your own and so you need a circle of women to carry you on…

Belinda x 

Wishcasting Wednesday!

It is Wednesday and this means women around the globe are Wishcasting! If you would like to join us simply head over Jamie Ridler Studios to find out more about it! It is fun and a great way to make online friends!

So today’s question is: What belongings to do wish for?

As soon as I saw this I just smiled!!! It seems the Universe is already playing its magic and allowing me to concentrate at what I want rather than what I don’t want! :) 

It was only last night I was watching a video about creating abundance posted on the Goddess Circle by the beautiful Queen Loran. I felt so inspired by it that I immediately though I needed to start concentrating on the things I want and feel like I have them rather than feeling the lack of it.  

I’m in a transitory moment of my life where I am leaving my job, I am moving house and I am looking to move back home at the end of the year. This means I have already started getting rid of material things I no longer need in order to start a process of feeling lighter and be able to move around and travel before I head home so there isn’t much I want at the moment.

Here are some thoughts...

*A new laptop! My current laptop is five years old and apart from been slow and not doing what I would like it to do, the cable that goes to the socket is broken, this means I need to play my magic to even get it started every day. Not to mention I get scared every time I move the cable as I might get electrocuted!

* The perfect wardrobe! I wish I had the perfect wardrobe and key items so I could easily combine my clothes and know what to wear every day. I am useless at shopping, it takes me ages to buy something and when I do I either get the wrong size or I come back home and my new item doesn’t combine at all with anything I have.

* A new yoni egg! I am wishing for a new yoni egg, possibly rose quarts, tiger’s eye or jasper. I am wishing to increase my practice and start working with two and possibly tree eggs! 

I think all I wish at the moment is to create the right abundance in order to sustain my current situation and be able to travel and visit my friends around Europe, visit my sister in Canada and still have plenty money to move back home.

So, there I said it!!!

The M word...

It seems that even in the XXI century women are still scared of the word menstruation. What is it with this word that every time we say it our voice goes soft and we end up whispering as if we were talking about something really awful?

This post comes after going to the Mind Body Spirit festival last weekend as Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo where talking about menstruation and spirituality. I went there to support them and to help spread the word, talk about their coming workshops and books.

Hearing Alexandra and Sjanie talk about menstruation to a group of women was a really inspiring experience for me. I just finished my apprenticeship program with Alexandra so I saw this talk in a completely different way. So many ideas started popping up into my head about how can I approach this work in my own practice and the things I could offer to women.

It is amazing how still many women out there have no idea about their cycles and do not understand they could be working with them rather than against them. The sad thing about all of this is that the most common reaction when we hear the word menstruation is the idea that a women is in bed suffering with pain but we never think about menstruation in a positive way and we certainly don’t attribute spiritual connotations to it.  

The Mind Body Spirit festival is supposed to offer spiritual work but it doesn’t really offer deep radical work. Most things offered can be found in your main high street, book store, crystal shop, etc. but nothing as radical as menstrual work or cycle awareness. So it is amazing how the word menstruation on a well know event like the Mind Body Spirit where supposedly people are more open to this kind of things are still shocked when they hear menstruation and spirituality in the same sentence.

But I have hope just as much as Alexandra and Sjanie and many other women who are doing wonderful work on the lines of menstruation and women’s spirituality. I believe the more women start reconnecting with themselves and finding out the true meaning of their womanhood this work will start popping up in every high street. So let’s keep holding this vision together, let’s keep spreading the word.

And let’s say it one more time for those of you who are still a bit shy….

MENSTRUATION!!!

Wishcasting Wednesday!

I have joined Wishcasting Wednesday by Jamie Ridler Studios after seeing it at Jo’s blog and many other lovely blogs I enjoy reading and getting inspiration from. 

So here I am sitting in front of my desk thinking about this first wish: What do you wish to delight in?

The first thing that comes to mind is the fact I wish I had more time to delight in a morning practice, think about my dreams, write them down, do my daily meditations, smile and get ready to start my day!

I can see this happening very soon since I won’t have a full time job anymore and so this means more time in the morning to delight in a morning ritual which can set my day. I can’t wait for this job to end so I can start a new life, it feels scary but I just feel new things are coming my way! 

What about you, what do you wish to delight in? 

Belinda x