May Red Tent Memoir

" A strong woman is a woman who is straining,
A strong woman is a woman standing
on tiptoe and lifting a barbell while trying to sing Boris Godunov.
A strong woman is a woman at work
cleaning out the cesspool of the ages, and while she shovels, she talks about
how she doesn't mind crying, it opens
the ducts of the eyes, and throwing up
develops the stomach muscles, and
she goes on shoveling with tears
in her nose..."

Nearly twenty in number the women gathered with shiny faces, tender hearts, and strength beyond belief. They came for comfort; they came for counsel; they came to reflect on who they are.

"...A strong woman is a woman in whose head
a voice is repeating, I told you so,
ugly, bad girl, bitch, nag, shrill, witch,
ball-buster, nobody will ever love you back,
why aren't you feminine, why aren't
you soft, why aren't you quiet, why
aren't you dead?..."
--

The women feasted on soup, and bread, and cheese, and fruit.There were teas, and herbs, and potions, honey , and chocolate.

"...A strong woman is a woman determined
to do something others are determined
not to be done. She is pushing up on the bottom
of a lead coffin lid. She is trying
to butt her way through a steel wall.
Her head hurts. People waiting for the hole
to be made say, hurry, you're so strong...."

The women wrote Six Word Memoirs, choosing carefully the words to describe themselves and/or their journeys in measured terms. Chants proclaimed connection to the universe, while an interactive people-bingo led to discoveries about others in community.

"...A strong woman is a woman bleeding
inside. A strong woman is a woman making
herself strong every morning while her teeth
loosen and her back throbs. Every baby,
a tooth, midwives used to say, and now
every battle a scar. a strong woman
is a mass of scar tissue that aches
when it rains and wounds that bleed
when you bump them and memories that get up
in the night and pace in boots to and fro..."

Working in pairs the women answered self-selected questions from a designated chakra chart. Statements were met with silent expressions of receiving, accepting, and understanding. Each woman felt "heard", in partnership, and later in whole group circle.

"...A strong woman is a woman who craves love
like oxygen or she turns blue choking.
a strong woman is a woman who loves
strongly and weeps strongly and is strongly
terrified and has strong needs. A strong woman is strong
in words, in action, in connection, in feeling;
she is not strong as a stone but as a wolf
suckling her young. strength is not in her, but she
enacts it as the wind fills a sail...."

And so the women embraced and departed, knowing that each was unique with strengths and weaknesses and valued for both. Knowing that in community we learn of others and of ourselves.Knowing that together we are beyond strong: we are invincible.

"....What comforts her is others loving
her equally for the strength and for the weakness
from which it issues, lightning from a cloud.
Lightning stuns. In rain, the clouds disperse.
Only water of connection remains,
flowing through us. Strong is what we make
each other. Until we are all strong together,
a strong woman is a woman strongly afraid."

Poem: "For Strong Women". by Marge Piercy
Summary by Danna

Red Tent Temple, 5-16-10, Bloomfield, CT

Welcome to your sacred space, dear women, It's your time!

This month we are honored to have Danna as our Circle Priestess. Thank you Danna!

Let us gather in honor of the feminine divine in our magical Red Tent Temple.

Please join us. Bring a Sister, a Mother, a Grandmother, and most importantly, YOU.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Red Tent Temple ~ May 16 ~ Auer Farm, Bloomfield, CT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Recreating the Women's Moonlodge for today's culture~

Please forward this to anyone you wish to be invited!

~ It is scheduled for Sunday, May 16, 2010, from 11 am to 5+ pm.
~ Set up will be from 9-11am.
~ A brief opening/orientation circle will be held at 12 noon if there are more than a few new women attending.
~ 11-12 am and 12:30-3pm will be free-form, organic time, where you can do what you wish in the space.
~ Formal Circle will be held from 3-5pm
~ 5-7 pm will be community time (farewells, hugs, networking, resting after circle..) and break down of the space.

Located on the beautiful land of Auer Farm we will be held in the arms of Mother Earth while we retreat safely and honor the feminine spirit. The Red Tent will happen every month, on the Sunday closest to the New (dark) Moon.

Inside the Red Tent .........you will find a space to heal and be heard. To be your whole self. To go within and tap into your divine creative source. There will be space to rest, journal, cry, connect with sisters, breathe, meditate, and reconnect with what ties us all together: being woman. Womb or not, bleeding or not, all women from all walks of life are welcome.

Suggested Donations of $10.00 to $20.00 or more are requested to help pay for the rental fee and hopefully create some funds for Red Tent supplies and future needs.

There will be a beautiful storytellers chair, a grievance altar, a community altar, herbal teas and homemade soup. It is sacred space to go within and honor your divine feminine being. A place to remember.

Young women of Menarche age are welcome for all of the day except the formal circle at 3:00 which is adults only.
Nurslings are welcome until walking age.

This vision is held in the spirit of community and collaboration. Everyone who sets this up is working on a volunteer basis, which makes your attendance and contributions integral. Please take a look at the share list below to see where you are called to collaborate to keeping this vision alive and well. On the side bar to the right, there is a donation button you can use to make financial contributions if you are not able to attend but would like to help.

It is vital to our culture and to our next generations that we reclaim our innate Spiral Traditions. We are a culture starved for authenticity and community - but we don't have to be. The Red Tent Temple is a transformational and Global movement.

RSVP's are important. We need to know how much soup to make or request, who can Priestess, and who can bring what. When you refer to the share list below - please email us on what it is you are called to bring or do, so we can keep this day organized and wonderful.

Set up -
Break down
Providing Soup/s-
Breads -
Providing herbal belly tea/s-
Drumming, music,
Pillow, backjack, mat bringers-
Altar objects -every woman is encouraged to bring something for the altar, to be charged up with energy while she attends. Taken home after.
Candle provider-
Talking Bowl/stick bringer -
Healers; energy healers, body workers, oracles, wanted to serve either for free or at lowered cost. -
Massage Table -
Markers -

Belly Blessings,

The Red Tent Temple Team

Origins of the RTT Movement: ALisa Starkweather

04-11-10 Planting Abundance

Planting Abundance…April in the Red Tent

On a stunningly beautiful Spring day that only Gaia could create, the women made their way to the tent. From the four directions and so many walks, for this one day their paths converged and they followed each other into their special, light-filled, sacred space, not knowing what the day would bring, but knowing they wanted to be a part of it.

It occurred to me as we set up and adorned our space as only we can, that we are wonderfully unique, each from the other, and that we relish that diversity in a way that we need to bring back out into the world. Poems were shared, soups and other divine foods were offered and gratefully received, creativity honored, stories told, and, just before the circle began, the mood was beautifully set by Jessie Mayer who came for the tent, but generously shared her music and her heart as well.

Lucy was our Priestess and it was she who had called for the theme of “Planting Abundance” for this circle. At her suggestion, we brought items that symbolized abundance for us and created a beautiful Abundance Altar with these symbols and totems. When the circle began, Lucy led us on a journey to meet Lakshmi and to plant abundance for ourselves. When the journey was complete, each of us shared a bit of our experience on the powerful path to abundance and all that it offers.

It occurs to me as I write this summary each month, that it is a challenge to adequately express the beauty and wonder that we experience at every Red Tent and especially the power we all feel even as we create it. Every circle is delightfully different and an equally precious gift to each of us.

When I decided I would write this today, I asked Spirit for a special message to share with our Red Tent community. I did this while I was doing my morning devotions and this is the message I received for all of us. It comes from the “Healing Earth Tarot,” by Jyothi and David McKie:

Ten of Shields:

The Ten of Shields represents the Earth’s nurturing and sharing qualities within a group of supporting people. In this case, the group is all women from various parts of the world with the figure of the green goddess at their head. In the center of the circle are the ten shields from the women’s tribes or families of people.

In this sharing of strengths, much can grow and prosper. The women know that their combined abilities bring a wealth of understanding and experience to the entire group, which could not be achieved singly. This female circle reflects what is possible when we bring our uniqueness as individuals together, not to compete or compare, but to encourage or enjoy.

In a reading, the Ten of Shields is wealth which will nurture your growth to the fullest extent possible at this particular time. Look for opportunities to share your experiences with others of like mind or interest, for these are your family or community who can aid you in your forward movement.

~

I’d say that pretty well describes our amazing group and what we are to each other. In closing, I would also offer this: The very best way any of us can aid anyone else is by nurturing and loving ourselves to the best of our abilities. Each of us is a part of the Red Tent for what it gives to us and, in turn, because it gives so much, it then enables us to give to others.

Thank you for being an important part of this wonderful community and please join us on May 16^th for the next Red Tent Temple.

So it is. So it will be.

Red Tent Temple ~ April 11, 2010, Bloomfield, CT

Welcome to your sacred space, dear women, It's your time!

This month we are honored to have Jessie Mayer bless us with her live soul music!

And our Priestess for circle will be Herbalist, Womb Healer and Wise Woman Lucy Mitchella who will be guiding our way through a spiral of creating abundance.

Let us gather in honor of the feminine divine in our magical Red Tent Temple.

Please join us. Bring a Sister, a Mother, a Grandmother, and most importantly, YOU.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Red Tent Temple ~ April 11 ~ Auer Farm, Bloomfield, CT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Recreating the Women's Moonlodge for today's culture~

Please forward this to anyone you wish to be invited!

~ It is scheduled for Sunday, April 11, 2010, from 11 am to 5+ pm.
~ Set up will be from 9-11am.
~ A brief opening/orientation circle will be held at 12 noon if there are more than a few new women attending.
~ 11-12 am and 12:30-3pm will be free-form, organic time, where you can do what you wish in the space.
~ Formal Circle will be held from 3-5pm
~ 5-7 pm will be community time (farewells, hugs, networking, resting after circle..) and break down of the space.

Located on the beautiful land of Auer Farm we will be held in the arms of Mother Earth while we retreat safely and honor the feminine spirit. The Red Tent will happen every month, on the Sunday closest to the New (dark) Moon.

Inside the Red Tent .........you will find a space to heal and be heard. To be your whole self. To go within and tap into your divine creative source. There will be space to rest, journal, cry, connect with sisters, breathe, meditate, and reconnect with what ties us all together: being woman. Womb or not, bleeding or not, all women from all walks of life are welcome.

Suggested Donations of $10.00 to $20.00 or more are requested to help pay for the rental fee and hopefully create some funds for Red Tent supplies and future needs.

There will be a beautiful storytellers chair, a grievance altar, a community altar, herbal teas and homemade soup. It is sacred space to go within and honor your divine feminine being. A place to remember.

Young women of Menarche age are welcome for all of the day except the formal circle at 3:00 which is adults only.
Nurslings are welcome until walking age.

This vision is held in the spirit of community and collaboration. Everyone who sets this up is working on a volunteer basis, which makes your attendance and contributions integral. Please take a look at the share list below to see where you are called to collaborate to keeping this vision alive and well. On the side bar to the right, there is a donation button you can use to make financial contributions if you are not able to attend but would like to help.

It is vital to our culture and to our next generations that we reclaim our innate Spiral Traditions. We are a culture starved for authenticity and community - but we don't have to be. The Red Tent Temple is a transformational and Global movement.

RSVP's are important. We need to know how much soup to make or request, who can Priestess, and who can bring what. When you refer to the share list below - please email us on what it is you are called to bring or do, so we can keep this day organized and wonderful.

Priestess for Circle
Set up -
Break down
Providing Soup/s-
Breads -
Providing herbal belly tea/s-
Welcomer, Greeter -
Drumming, music,
Cloth bringers (Collective: We really need more than one woman for this. It will take a lot of cloth to paint the room)
Red Tent Journal -
Pillow, backjack, mat bringers-
Altar objects -every woman is encouraged to bring something for the altar, to be charged up with energy while she attends. Taken home after.
Candle provider-
Talking Bowl/stick bringer -
Healers; energy healers, body workers, oracles, wanted to serve either for free or at lowered cost. -
Massage Table -
Markers -

Belly Blessings,

The Red Tent Temple Team

Origins of the RTT Movement: ALisa Starkweather

Spring Ahead…March in the Red Tent

Spring Ahead…March in the Red Tent

On the day the women turned their clocks ahead it was also the eve of the New Moon; a powerful day, filled with the promise of growth and change and new life. Mother Earth was saturated from much, much rain and Her rivers and streams were swollen and pulsing, flowing swift and full toward the sea much the same as the women made their way to the farm and their beloved Red Tent Temple.

On arriving, we were pleased to see the results of the completed renovations of our space that now has a beautiful window wall so that we may look out on the trees and the trees may watch us while we are bathed in healing natural light.

During our free time, we rested and rejuvenated and reveled in each other. There was a special energy in this day. Was it the power of New Moon, the perfect time for starting over, making good changes, creating something new? Or was it the energy of Spring, felt weeks before we actually see it, as the Mother births Her beautiful changes to our Earth home? Or, was it the women luxuriating in the easy comfort and joyful gratitude of being together once again? Clearly it was all of these and more.

The call for one priestess had resulted in two and Jaz and Lezley formed our Priestess Team for the day and the Circle was called. Lezley Two Bears told the story of why bunnies lay eggs. Any circle that begins with such delightful storytelling is bound to be specially blessed and it was, for when we open ourselves to story, magic happens.

Jaz shared that the current moon is known as “Geese Returning Moon” and we passed the talking bowl and gave the moon our own names, connecting powerfully with our personal Moon.

We divided into three groups and created phrases of deep meaning to us and, with the talented Jaz composing the accompanying songlines, we created a song together and sang it in a round:

~ loving dancing children laughing

~ we are planting love

~ we are opening to the wisdom of life

Lezley then offered a ‘spring planting’ exercise in which we were able to identify the crops we wish to grow this year as well as those that no longer work for us. The talking bowl was passed again and we shared our hopes for this planting season in our lives. We all look forward to our harvests.

Our deep thanks goes out to Lezley and Jaz for a job well done. Also, thanks to Ananda for the amazing owl calls.

And then our time was almost done. It was lovely to have a bit of daylight left in which to clean up and pack up and the work is gladly undertaken by everyone as it is another way to extend our time together.

Then finally, the cars are packed, the lights turned out and the women must leave each other again and so we do. But as we go out into our worlds and back into our lives, we are lightened and encouraged by the joy and support and the love that we have shared. And we know that we are blessed.

Please join us on April 11^th for the next Red Tent Temple.

~ Diana Powers

Living Wide Open: Landscapes of the Mind

by Dawna Markova

I will not die an unlived life,

I will not live in fear

of falling or catching fire.

I choose to inhabit my days,

to allow my living to open me,

to make me less afraid,

more accessible,

To loosen my heart

until it becomes a Wing,

a Torch, a Promise.

I choose to risk my significance,

to live so that which came to me as seed

goes to the next as blossom,

and that which comes to me as blossom,

goes on as fruit.

~

Red Tent Temple ~March 14, 2010~ Bloomfield, CT

Spiral Traditions Red Tent Temple
Sunday, March 14, 2010
11AM to 5PM at Auer Farm, Bloomfield , CT

A time to come into sacred space... to rest your soul and restore your spirit. A day to heal, as it should be, near the Dark Moon, as our fore-mothers did.

The Feminine Divine is rising. We need to nourish our energies and pay attention to our inner callings. We need time

to go within.

We need time, together.

We need sisterhood.

Please join us. Remember to bring a back jack, or pillows and/or a cover, so that you may "nest" within our shelter.Your donations, both monetary and material are welcome. (Check February's post for ideas.) For planning purposes, let us know if you plan to attend.

Special Request: We ask each woman to bring one red column candle in a glass container to help us replenish our supply. A fun prize will be given to the woman who finds the lowest price. Grocery stores often carry these candles for relatively low prices. Thanks. If you haven’t got time to pick up a candle, do not fret.... come anyway! See you on the 14th.

***REMEMBER THE TIME CHANGE***

02-21-10 Out With the Old

Out With the Old…February in the Red Tent

On a February day so beautiful it seemed to promise that Spring is not far behind, the women came from the Four Directions. Women of the Elements they are - Earth and Air and Fire and Water – and they carry those elemental gifts within and without. On this day they brought their diverse and unique spirits to the farm to join their sisters in the Red Tent Temple. As if some tribal drums had broadcast the message, they continued to come until hearts and spirits and the tent itself was thrumming with the energy of good women.

For several hours, we relaxed. Some wrote in journals, did artwork, or rested. Others shared stories, sought counsel, offered counsel, bore witness, and welcomed newcomers. There were tears and laughter and learning and love. We all nourished ourselves on wonderful soups – I think I counted six different pots – teas, fruit, salads, and finally, one amazing woman’s amazing fudge. Our special thanks to the Soup Artists and all the cooks as well.

Jaz brought an art project for us and we each made a heart card for ourselves and then wrote wonderful, magical messages in each other’s cards. It was good, loving fun and I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one who sniffed the construction paper to be delightfully brought back to a childhood where making cards was a frequent, joyfully uninhibited, and creative activity.

When it was time, Jaz, a princess of light and laughter, also our Priestess for the day, called the circle together. We began by naming into the circle our ancestor-women and any others we chose to place and hold within the rim of our sacred space. Jaz then led a meditation in which we identified, honored, and then released anything we had been holding within us that happened in the last year, in order to make space and new energy for the fresh life experiences to come in the current year. It was a moving and healing journey, and a powerful privilege to be a part of that circle. It was clear, as we then passed the talking bowl, that the women had felt the magic and gained much insight and gratitude from our circle that day. We ended in song and couldn’t help but notice that, unlike last month, it was still light outside, and just like last month, there was much light inside of each one of us.

After a bit more soup, much more laughter, always, much more laughter, and finally, cleaning up, the women said their goodbyes with hugs all around, and headed back out into the Four Directions to return home until the next Red Tent. Please join us there on Sunday, March 14^th at 11:00 a.m.

Special Request: We ask each woman to bring one red column candle in a glass container to help us replenish our supply. A fun prize will be given to the woman who finds the lowest price. Grocery stores often carry these candles for relatively low prices. Thanks. If you haven’t got time to pick up a candle, do not fret.... come anyway! See you on the 14^th.

The Red Tent

by Diana Powers

Today we came together in a specially blessed place,

for laughter and for wisdom, for sisterhood and grace.

Some came with long-felt longing, some, curiosity;

but each was drawn to be there in sacred trinity.

Our trinity, the Feminine, of Maiden, Mother, Crone;

so powerful, it helps us know that we are not alone.

We shared in conversation, and caring company,

and filled again our well of love with sweet community.

We drew the sacred circle and filled it from the heart;

the bold, the shy, the in-between, we came to do our part

to send the power up and out while healing from within,

and this bright ring of healing is where we all begin.

We bless each other with our trust, respect our right to be,

because we understand the gift that’s given when we see

that every path is sacred and every walk is true,

and so we honor our own paths and all those others too.

~