|  History
and Past Events
One aspect of the Gather the Women
Global MatrixSM is our
focus on March 8 -- International Women's Day as declared
by the United Nations. Many countries in the world have a
rich tradition of celebrating this day with a variety of events
to recognize and honor women.
Borgna Brunner
is quoted as saying, "In its various
incarnations, ranging from a communist holiday to a U.N.-sponsored
event, International Women's Day has been celebrated for almost
90 years."
Explore the reports and stories about events
created globally in 2003
and 2004.
History
The original Steering Committee of Gather the Women began
with a discussion about how the enormous potential of International
Women's Day has never been fully realized because these diverse
events were never energetically linked in common intention.
We acknowledged that women everywhere have been gathering
for centuries and yet what we have missed is a mechanism for
connecting those diverse gatherings into a shared energy field,
and in doing so, harvesting our feminine power for the
well being of all life. We were inspired and activated by
the possibility that GTW could help this single day truly
become a focal point for the energy and wisdom of the world's
women.
Thus, Gather the Women was first launched as a grassroots
initiative to build more recognition and participation in
International Women's Day. We put out the word that women
around the world should create an event on March 8, 2003 –
whether that was a circle of three gathered in a home or a
community meeting or a national rally with 3,000 in a large
venue. We created the technology to link the women participating
through our unique interactive Internet website and we established
a unifying goal of creating purposeful action through each
event which can help to address the real problems facing our
planet.
In this way, even small local events allowed women to participate
in a global wave of shared energy that supports women in creating
positive change through collaborative action.
While each woman, circle or organization has been encouraged
to create their own event, we offered three common threads.
1) To read the GTW vision statement
2) To create a reflective opportunity
to connect with the women around the world who were also
gathering on this same day with the same intention.
3) To ask their husbands, partners and
sons to consciously honor all that is feminine in the world.
GTW became the container for these events and a source of
connection among women. Internet run, we offered opportunities
to connect in cyber space through forums, directories, and
event listings. We also offered assistance in creating events.
In only two years (2003,
2004),
we collected reports from more than 700 gatherings
in over 40 countries. The feedback from these
events was exhilarating. Women reported that just in
the planning and creation of their event with other women,
they had felt empowered, witnessed and engaged in meaningful
work. Gatherings were as small as the 6 women who came
together for a potluck meal in Alaska, to the 250 women who
gathered in a small church to visualize where they would be
in five years. The women in Uganda asked why we did
this only ONCE a year. Many churches from different
faiths took part across the U.S. and across the world.
Many women joined with us in a global retreat, beginning
seven days before the events or programs. Two or more
would come together for 30-60 minutes each day to discuss
and meditate on issues and values like compassion, love and
integrity. These opportunities were provided to deepen
both the connection and the experience of the event itself.
Daily themes were sent out to once again establish a common
intention.
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