| We have Three
Event Reports from
Santa Cruz, California, USA
Santa Cruz, March 7,
2003
A sacred event transpired in a huge dome-home on a Santa
Cruz hilltop, perched between stars above and city lights
below. About 20 females sat in a circle before a candlelit
altar, spellbound by the lilt of soft music rising--cathedral-like--to
ceilings high overhead. A hush held the softness in our hearts
as we watched each female (from grandmother to high school
student) take time to light her candle on the altar while
setting her very own silent intention.
Before she turned around to peer into the circle of waiting
faces--where she would hand the taper to another woman, of
her choosing--each female surveyed the array of gifts and
candles on the table beneath a veiled perch, where a Goddess
statue presided, amethyst crystals inside her open belly,
illuminated by an inner flame from which each of us would
light the taper to ignite our own candle on the table below.
This candlelight ceremony, occurring near the end of our
gathering, was reminiscent of ancient rituals through the
corridors of time. The tender intensity of focus in the room
was palpable. Who would have imagined that a roomful of virtual
strangers would be so strongly entrained after only a couple
of hours together?
It took a couple of months--for 4 of us--to plan, coordinate
and host this event. A rich diversity of women arrived in
a steady stream to enter our 'temple' where 7 thematic altars
were arranged around the perimeter of the large circular room.
Greeted by females in flowing silks, earthy greens, gossamer
and blue jeans, participants were ushered to the candle-making
tables where females fell to the innate art of craftwork and
conversation.
Our 'welcome' included a reading of Gather-the-Women's 'Vision
Statement' and 'Common Threads' position, followed by a time
of personal introduction. Each female told a bit about herself,
what she had brought and why she had chosen this particular
'gift' to give away. After her time of speaking she stepped
forth to place her gift, along with the candle she had made,
wherever she liked upon the flowing cascade of fabric on the
altar beneath the goddess.
As our evening progressed we traveled across time and place--each
woman in her own way--via guided meditation through the rich
lineage of feminine wisdom, vulnerability and support, which
stretches out behind and ahead of us. We walked slowly about
the candlelit room exploring each altar as we listened to
an explanation of 'the 7 veils' (theme upon which our altars
were based), letting music draw us even deeper into that fertile
feminine field of imagination.
In smaller groups, we did what woman have always done best--we
talked and listened to one another beyond the allotted time!
Each of our 4 groups had a theme (from one of the altars)
as a springboard. We listened to ancient cyclic stories, unique
for each of us in our moment ... a widow--suddenly alone in
a house where silence is deafening after a lifetime of sharing
it with her husband--now held gently by her female friends
and ushered back into the adventure of living on her own in
the world ... a young woman uncertain how to forge her own
way amongst the overwhelming impact of peer pressure from
her classmates, friends, and the media ... a breast cancer
survivor celebrating the relief of good news from her most
recent bone scan while acknowledging the difficulty of carrying
such concern from 'test to test'... a mother, a grandmother
and a single woman each trapped in 'roles' which may have
outlasted their usefulness ... and on and on and on...
So much packed into 3 short hours! When we reached the candlelight
ceremony it felt like we had all known each other forever--one
of the magic things females can somehow accomplish!!! As the
last candle was lit the music shifted to a middle-eastern
flavor and one of our guests (a chiropractor and dancer) reentered
the room veiled 7 times to dance in the midst of our circle,
casting off scarf after scarf before the mesmerized eyes of
a swaying group of appreciative women. Many joined her as
she handed her scarves out to all of us and then there was
food and tea, while the high dome ceiling echoed boisterous
conversation about the room. It was during this celebratory
time--just before she would sign the guest book and depart--that
each one of us visited the altar to select exactly the gift
which had been "meant for her"!
For each of us present at this event it was only a beginning.
For each of us linked to this event across the planet this
is only a beginning. Many of us, expressed how very much it
meant to participate right now as the momentum of women gathering
everywhere ripples out into our world. Thank you so much to
Gather the Women for all your work in coordinating this opportunity!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is something we have talked about doing for a couple of
years now--your initiative gave us the boost to seize the
moment and act!
Gratefully yours, Stephanie (along with Lyn, Rhonda, and
Marilyn) ~ on behalf of all of us who attended our local
event in Santa Cruz! ~
Santa Cruz, March
8
Women's Solidarity and Forgiveness Event
Greetings dear sisters! Below is a description of a beautiful
gathering held here in my home town on International Women's
Day. Produced by Greeneye Records Foundation, a not-for-profit
partnership of sisters who are activists for peace, sustainability,
ecology, human rights, creative living, and women's liberation.
This event was held in solidarity with International Women's
Day, Gather the Women, The Global Women's Strike, and all
the gatherings of women happening on this transforming and
magical day. All these efforts in concert have succeeded in
creating a start for true peace on earth!
Blessings to all,
Shekhinah Mountainwater
Hi everybody... it's one a.m. and I just got
home from the International Women's Day event here in Santa
Cruz. It went great!!! I am soooooooooo happy!!! Kelle Green
did a fantastic job creating a beautiful sweet and love-filled
gathering, with lots of support for women, for shifting the
dominant paradigm, and honoring the Goddess. Diane's music
was powerful, filling everyone with dance-abilities... a teen
group theatre project charming and very pertinent on environmental
issues, funny too!...Ann Simonton, veteran feminist activist
who has been arrested 11 times for her outrageous public demonstrations
and protests was eloquent and moving ... Suzanne Phial of
Women's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM) in her wheelchair,
speaking so gently saying powerful things about our sister
the hemp plant...Tal, a beautiful sister who sang a glorious
song about compassion... Janus Blume, wonderful sister priestess
(of the God/Goddess Wiccan persuasion) who led a singalong...and
the awesome women's empowerment drumming troupe Goddess of
Funk... whooee!!! And then there was me.. LOL
I brought my tissues and my zinc tabs and my ocia and licorice
root with me onstage, praying my voice wouldn't quit on me,
(had a whopping case of flu) and sang three songs; "I
Am A Woman of Women," "Lady Mother of All,"
a passionate psalm to the Goddess, and "The Buried Moon"
which is an epic storytelling piece about the Moon Goddess
coming down from the sky, getting buried under a stone, and
later freed by the people... great metaphor for what's happening
to women, right?
The audience was delightful... warm and open and receptive...they
responded enthusiastically to everything we offered. After
my set we did the spiral dance which I started with a meditation
inspired by the one WalkingSheWolf sent to us earlier today
(3/8)... thank you sys! We spiraled slow with lots of eye
contact, and everyone could participate, including two gals
in chairs... the love in that room was palpable. We said prayers
for forgiveness and peace, abundance and many other good things.
I called for all those still caught in hierarchies to step
down and learn how to circle in egalitarian mode...to pass
the rattle...share the power... with every voice heard and
every presence honored...including humans, animals, plants,
faeries and stones.
Kelle invited a few different groups to come set up tables
around the perifory, with various offerings; sorry I didn't
get a chance to go and see. But one table had prayer flags
waving above it and folks were invited to go over and make
their own...they looked beautiful. Clustered on stage were
giant plants in big pots; kinda looked like a little forest!
...including my baby Solstice tree Treela, who we brought
in search of a home for her. (Found one! :0) ) And at the
back of the stage area were hung several gorgeous handwoven
rugs, made by the Dine (Navajo) grandmothers at Big Mountain,
Arizona. (Diane and Kelle have done many Big Mountain benefits
and actions over the past 10 years. Last year I participated
in three of these.) Kelle even created a backstage area for
us performers, behind a theatre screen with a table of snacks,
and places to sit and chill out... what a treat.
Kelle emceed powerfully, speaking in her rantish way about
the changes needed on this planet. She read a great excerpt
from a book called "Like There's No Tomorrow" about
feminist activists... I hope to get the quote from her to
send you..it was so great and really hit home to my heart...
about how when a woman tells the truth in fairy tales she
is rewarded and seen as a hero, but in life she is ignored
and silenced. Or then if her idea does get acceptance it is
carried by someone less honest or honorable than she... and
if becomes widespread it is assumed everyone knew about it
all along... gees, haven't we all been there!
This event was a miracle for me because of those very issues
which have impacted my life profoundly. To be welcomed in
my own lifetime, in my own community, singing and sharing
the truth I've found, with true sisters around me... it is
a dream come true. The world really must be changing, 'cause
it couldn'tve happened otherwise... we're doing it systers!
Thank you systers, all of you who prayed and supported me...
couldn't have done it without you, I'm sure! Together we have
gathered our magic and systerly intention, and made a little
more difference in the continuum. Blessed Be!!
Love and more love,
Shekhinah
Santa Cruz, March 8
GTW Event
 I
convened a March 8 GTW event in 'Seba's Rainbow Garden', a
Healing Garden in the Santa Cruz mountains (Bonny Doon) where
I am privileged to reside. I set the space inside the cottage
which is my home. In the three days before the 8th I moved
the bed and created a wall of imagery to set the scene
I was scheduled to speak and exhibit that evening on WomenRise
for Global Peace, CodePink & Gather The Women, at International
Women's Day Solidarity Event & Benefit Concert and I felt
the need for a deeper/deepening circle prior to this big public
event. I was prompted to put the call out to three other women
and, later in the day, to three more. I was thinking small
numbers (where two or three are gathered together...). On
the morning of March 8 I set a side altar and a center-of-the-circle
altar also, taking care that all elements were represented.
I lit a fire, made soup, and saged the room. We ended up being
six which, one of the women pointed out, was exactly the number
in the main image, Penny McManigal's 'Dance the World' (millennium
Dream Weaver) featured on the central altar in the circle.
© Penny McManigal e-Mail: PaxWeave@aol.com
We opened by reading GTW common intention and closed by all
signing the GTW Declaration of Solidarity (now framed). Each
of the women gathered are trail blazers/knowledge/faith keepers
in their own right. As we emerged from our opening meditation,
one who has held full moon tipi (women only) and Equinox &
Solstice tipi (men & women) in this part of the mountains
for more than 10 years, led us in honoring the seven directions
- North, South, East, West, above, below, within. We moved
into checking in, sharing, spilling forth and then at the
moment I was about to strike the tibetan bowl with an invitation
to take it deeper, our tipi woman shared an exquisite Hafiz
poem ~ bringing up images of circle in nature... I've got
the hint: there's something the beloved loves about circles....
This had the effect I was seeking and took everyone deeper
into poems and songs and sharings. tears came at times, and
the deep voice of grief. Our laughter was healing. We ate
home made soup and tangerines together (breaking bread). We
felt replenished and satisfied as we brought the circle to
a close.
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