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Circles & Gatherings

Circles are the heart of Gather the Women. Circles have the power to transform the world—woman by woman, circle by circle! A circle is a gathering in the form of actually sitting in a circle and following general guidelines that facilitate authentic conversation. The circle form is nonhierarchical—everyone’s input holds equal importance. It fosters listening to and learning from every participant. In circle, women support each other and discover themselves through conversation that meaningfully explores of each topic that arises.

Contact a Regional Coordinator about GTW circles and events in your area. Check the GTW calendar for current events too.

Start a GTW Circle or Gathering!

"If it is to be, it is up to me."

Gather the Women is a global community of diverse women transforming distances, differences, and isolation into opportunities for collaboration and leadership. We need each one of you....we invite you to take the next step in activating the incredible power of women’s wisdom!

  • Contact your GTW Regional Coordinator (RC). She will provide you with information and support.

  • If you don’t find an RC in your area, we invite you to become one!
    It’s an exciting, life-changing leadership opportunity.
    To find out more, contact RC Coordinator
    Mary Cunningham or click here What’s Involved?

Creating a circle simply involves bringing a group of women together to start an ongoing conversation, and committing to set aside time and a space for the circle on a regular basis. In a circle, leadership is rotated and the circle decides as a group the direction it wishes to go. Circles can involve a meaningful movie and discussion, book studies, movement, meditation, crafting, and so on. Tools to Get Started

 

Regional Coordinator: What’s Involved?

Regional Coordinators in the US, International Anchors, and Internet Coordinators seek to reach all women from all belief systems and political paths. We are not trying to change minds but to connect hearts. We believe that once we are connected heart to heart and move into the deeper qualities and values of the universal feminine, changes for the good of all is created.

Bringing this feminine perspective into homes, businesses, churches, and political parties makes a greater difference than arguing at the level of world issues. That said, we do encourage women to follow their hearts, minds, and passions where ever it takes them in service or activism, in politics or through spirituality.

Regional Coordinators, International Anchors, and Internet Coordinators agree to:

  • Abide by the GTW Covenant of Leadership
  • Be familiar with circle principles
  • Participate in the Regional Coordinators monthly telephone conference calls (U.S. only).
  • Anchor GTW regional or virtual gatherings on the Internet.
  • Encourage smaller sacred circles to be created within the Region or on the Internet.

Regional Coordinator’s Guidebook  [PDF download]


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“…what the world needs now is an infusion of the kind of wisdom women have and the form of the circle itself is an embodiment of that wisdom.” 

—Jean Shinoda Bolen, from
The Millionth Circle


Get Involved!
Start an Online Conversation
Create Your LightPage
Engage your creativity!
GTW gatherings on YouTube

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Circle Guidelines
www.millionthcircle.org
www.peerspirit.com

Articles:
Honoring Time in Circle
Holding the Rim of the Circle
Authentic Conversation
On Meaningful Conversation

 

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Global Circle Altar

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Gather the Women rests in the deep well of grace provided by Divine Source, with the commitment to honoring all the diverse expressions of faith in that One Being. We believe that when we can bring together a critical mass of diverse women of deep faith in a shared understanding of our common beliefs that everything will change.

You are invited to rest here...
To relax in the containing grace that is available to all of us...
To pray these prayers gathered from diverse faiths around the world...
To know how we are all the same in our love for this fragile Earth and her family.

 

Hindu Prayer
Oh God, lead us from the unreal to the Real.
Oh God, lead us from darkness to light.
Oh God, lead us from death to immortality.
Shanti, Shanti, Shanti unto all.

O Lord God Almighty may there be peace in Celestial regions.
May there be peace on earth.
May the waters be appeasing.
May herbs be wholesome, and may trees and plants bring peace to all.
May all beneficent beings bring peace to us.
May thy Vedic Law propagate peace all through the world.

May all things be a source of peace to us.
And may thy peace itself bestow peace on all.
And may that peace come to me also.

Buddhist Prayer
May all beings everywhere plagued with sufferings of body and mind quickly be freed from their illnesses.
May those frightened cease to be afraid
and may those bound be free.
May the powerless find power,
and may people think of befriending one another.
May those who find themselves in trackless,
fearful wildernesses - the children, the aged, the unprotected - be guarded by beneficent celestials,
and may they quickly attain Buddhahood.

Zoroastrian Prayer
We pray to God to eradicate all the misery in the world:
that understanding triumph over ignorance,
that generosity triumph over indifference,
that trust triumph over contempt, and
that truth triumph over falsehood.

Jainist Prayer
Peace and Universal Love is the essence of the Gospel preached by all the Enlightened Ones.
The Lord has preached that equanimity is the Dharma.
Forgive do I, creatures all,
and let all creatures forgive me.
Unto all have I amity, and unto none enmity.
Know that violence is the root cause of all miseries in the world.
Violence in fact, is the knot of bondage.
"Do not injure any living being."
This is the eternal, perennial, and unalterable
way of spiritual life.
A weapon, howsoever powerful it may be,
can always be superseded by a superior one;
but no weapon can, however,
be superior to non-violence and love.

 

Jewish Prayer
Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, that we may walk the paths of the most high.
And we shall beat our swords into ploughshares, and our spears into pruning hooks.
Nations shall not lift up sword against nation - neither shall they learn war any more.
And none shall be afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken.

Shinto Prayer
Although the people living across the ocean surrounding us, I believe, are all our brothers and sisters, why are there constant troubles in this world?
Why do winds and waves rise in the ocean surrounding us?
I only earnestly wish that the wind will soon puff away all the clouds which are hanging over the tops of the mountains.



Native African Prayer

Almighty God, the Great Thumb
we cannot evade to tie any knot:
The Roaring Thunder that splits mighty trees;
the all-seeing Lord up on high who sees
even the footprints of an antelope on a rock mass here on earth.
You are the one who does not hesitate to respond to our call.
You are the cornerstone of peace.

Native American Prayer
O Great spirit of our Ancestors, I raise my pipe to you;
To your messengers in the four winds, and
to Mother Earth who provides for your children.
Give us the wisdom to teach our children to love, to respect, and to be kind to each other, so that they may grow with peace in mind.
Let us learn to share all good things that you provide for us on this Earth.

Goddess/ Pagan Prayer
I who am the beauty of the Green Earth
and the White Moon among the stars
and the mysteries of the waters -

I call upon your soul to arise and come unto Me.
For I am the Soul of Nature that gives life to the universe.
from Me all things proceed
and unto Me they must return.

Let my worship be in the heart that rejoices
for behold: all acts of love and pleasure
are my rituals.

Let there be beauty and strength, honor and humility
mirth and reverence within you.
And you who seek to know Me, know
that your seeking and yearning
will avail you not, unless you know the Mystery.
For behold, if you find Me not within,
you will never find Me.
For I have been with you from the beginning
and I am that which is attained
at the end of desire.

Muslim Prayer
In the name of Allah the beneficent, the merciful. Praise be to the Lord of the Universe, who has created us and made us into tribes and nations that we may know each other, not that we may despise each other.
If the enemy incline towards peace, do thou also incline towards peace, and trust God, for the Lord is the one that heareth and knoweth all things.
And the servants of God, most Gracious are those who walk on the earth in Humility, and when we address them, we say "PEACE."

The Baha'i Prayer
Be generous in prosperity and thankful in adversity.
Be fair in thy judgment, and guarded in thy speech.
Be a lamp unto those who walk in darkness, and a home
to the stranger.
Be eyes to the blind, and a guiding light unto the feet of the erring.
Be a breath of life to the body of humankind, a dew upon the soil of the human heart,
and a fruit upon the tree of humility.

Sikh Prayer
God adjudges us according to our deeds, not the clothes that we wear;
That truth is above everything, but higher still is truthful living.
Know that we attain God when we love, and only that victory endures in consequences of which no one is defeated.

Christian Prayer
Blessed are the Peacemakers
for they shall be known as the Children of God.
But I say to you that hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
To those who strike you on the cheek offer the other also, and from those who take away your cloak, do not withhold your coat as well.
Give to everyone who begs from you, and of those who take away your goods, do not ask them again.
And as you wish that others would to do you,
do so to them.

 

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Our Mother
by Dale Allen

Our Mother who art within us,
Each breath brings us to you.
Thy wisdom come,
Thy will be done,
as we honor your presence within us.
You give us this day all that we need.
Your bounty calls us to give and receive
all that is loving and pleasurable.
You are the courage that moves us to be true to ourselves
and we act with grace and power.
We relax into your cycles of birth,
growth, death and renewal.
Out of the womb, the darkness, the void, comes new life.
For you are the Mother of All Things.
Your body is the Sacred Earth and our bodies.
Your love nurtures us and unites us all.
Now and forever more.

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