Pacific Palisades, California- 1998– It all started with a couples’ workshop I attended with my husband.There came a time when the men and women were separated into different rooms. There was about thirty women, all ages, shapes and sizes, from many walks of life. We were told to come together in a circle. There we were guided in song, meditation and dance. At one point we were told to look into the eyes of each woman in the circle. In doing so, I felt a tremendous feeling of sisterhood and a common thread binding us all together. It was very powerful and emotional. There was also a feeling that we women had done this before, a kind of ” deja vu”.That same year, I had been given a gift of a book called, “Wild Succulent Woman”, by the author Sark. It is written in a very free, journal type form, both playful and deep. I was struck by the chapter about forming your own “Wild Succulent Woman Group”. This was at a time when I was meeting one incredible woman after another; along with already having a tight core of close,wonderful girlfriends in my life. I kept thinking, “What if I brought all these incredible women I know together in the same room at the same time? What if we got together on a regular monthly basis? What if we all came together into a circle? What kind of magic would occur? What kind of magic could we create!?
Sark’s “Wild Succulent Women” book had an address you could write to and request guidelines for starting your own “Wild Succulent Woman Group”. I mailed out my request and started formulating my list of women to invite. The ideas for the “Gatherings” started pouring into my mind and my heart.– First, the name of our group; I wanted it to be meaningful but not too serious. I loved the word “Succulent”, and also seeing ourselves as “prosperous” in all areas of or lives, seemed to me, to be most appropriate! Hence the name, “Prosperous Succulent Women” came into being. I sent out invitations to about eighteen women, I selected for their openness and kindred spirits. And so it was, November, of 1998, I hosted and facilitated the first “PSW Gathering”. Created to “bring together a core of conscious women, with the purpose of being a Sisterhood that meets monthly, to provide a safe, supportive environment for sharing, networking and celebration of feminine energy.”
I enjoyed creating the space, filling the room with candlelight. There were twelve of us. We started out with time to eat and mingle. After an hour, I brought us all into a circle, starting with a meditation to get us all centered. Then, we got focused together in a “single conversation”. We all shared who we were and why we were here. The running theme seemed to be a longing to come together with other like- minded women. I created a ritual in which we each wrote out what we would like our “Ideal Life” to be. We shared and we listened. It was magic! Something wonderful occurred coming together in this way—an undeniable underlying current of knowing that there was power in our combined energies and that somehow, we had done this before. The feeling in the room seemed to be that we were coming back together and that what we were doing was of great importance.
A few months after starting the PSW Gatherings, I was introduced to Kyra Dawn , of WoodlandHills, California. She was just forming her own women’s group. W.I.L. L., Women in Light and Leadership. She had a similar draw to the importance of women coming together in circle. Her vision is on a very broad scope.–”The idea hit me like a lightning bolt. All of a sudden the name W.I.L.L. came into my head, and the mission to bring together women to share our thoughts, plan, and encourage one another to grow and prosper, and most importantly to access our femininity as leaders,” she told me. Since then, several ongoing W.I.L.L. women’s circles have been created in Los Angeles and other states, a Health for the Whole Self Symposium, and most recently W.I.L.L. was given funding to help grow nationally and internationally.
Shortly thereafter I was given a book called “Creating Sacred Circles”, by Robin Deen and Sally Craig, about creating your own women’s spirituality group. The timing seemed quite remarkable as it was published the same year I formed the PSW Circle. It showed the many diverse groups of women’s circles that were springing up all over across the country. I realized that what we were doing seemed to be a part of something much bigger. It was as if we were a part of an organic process spreading fast and furious continuing something that was begun so long ago…
Recently I had the priviledge of being invited to San Diego, to meet with Mary Rice, the founder of ” Sisters of Viriditas”, a women’s circle of eight years. She told me the name was inspired from, Hildegarde of Bingen’s concept of Viriditas, about, “creativity, fruitfullness, moist greeness that brings forth new life, always growing and blessing.” During our talk, Mary expressed her strong feelings of the importance of women coming together, combining their energies, creating a sacred space to share and be truely who they are. The way she expressed it that was so powerful to me was, “We don’t have the option not to be fully who we are.”
When the time came for me to experience their circle that evening, I was already quite exhausted from the afternoon. I wondered to myself how I was going to have the energy to get through the night’s events. I was warmly welcomed and embrace by the women in attendance. Once in their circle they quickly got down to tying up some business, and then they sang a song together called “Come Home to your Soul”, to get centered. Then the sharing began. As each women was ready to speak, she signaled by first lighting a candle. While each spoke, they were given the full attention of all in the circle. No one was restless. It was a slow progression and I thought to myself, that this was going to be a long night. Then, something shifted in me. I too was giving my full attention to each women as she spoke. Energized, I found myslf feeling as if I were a part of them. I became each woman. I cried when they cried and shared in their joy. It was moving and magic!
It’s been over a year and a half since starting my own women’s circle. In that time, I’ve had the thrill of experiencing the evolvement of it and other circles of various structure and maturity. I have come to the conclusion that no matter what form it takes, a circle is still a circle. And when women come together in circle with clear intent and presence, something very magical and powerful occurs.There is a synergy created in circle, a presence that is healing and indescribable in full by words. I now realize that creating a women’s circle has been a reflection of my own acceptance of my femininity. As I have embraced these incredible women in my life, I have embraced my Self. This experience is that of tremendous healing and support! It is important and it is big!
“Until one fine day, a new circle will form, and it will be the millionth circle— the one that tips the scales—and brings us into the post-patriarchal human era.” — Jean Shinoda Bolin, M.D.,”The Millionth Circle”
Article reprinted from the Holistic Health Journal, Vol.6, No. 2
www.holistichealthjournal.com