Women’s Circles: Own Your Truth and Your Sovereignty.
“As the temple dancers of former times needed their temples, so we too need sanctuary spaces. We need to recreate our temples not through physical structures, but through the power of our intention. Centering ourselves in sacred space not only helps us heal old wounds, but also reconnects us with the usually veiled depths of our own nature.” ~ Jalaja Bonheim, Aphrodite’s Daughters
Women’s circles and moon circles have been occurring, arguably, since the dawn of human communities. However, you may have noticed sacred circles becoming more prevalent over the last several years, and those who have never experienced one may view them as trendy or fluffy. I’ve heard women and femmes brush off the idea of a women’s circle, saying it’s “not for them,” or that they are “not a women’s circle type.”
Perhaps this article can change your mind.
If you are a human on this earth identifying with the Feminine, this experience is made for you. It’s in your blood and in your bones. You have been here before.
Whether in person or online, these spaces provide an integral supportive space for not only healing (what a buzz-word that has become) but a place for homecoming. A place for becoming. Not becoming some fantasized, inflated, perfect version of yourself, but rather, becoming who you truly are.
We are waiting.
We are here.
We create our temples, even if we must do so through the brilliant, beautiful, and sometimes strange mechanism of the interwebs, across long distances or short ones.
We create our temples, even if it means holding energetic circle space through the screen of our computers, our smartphones, yet simultaneously, our hearts.
Yes.
Jalaja Bonheim, author of Aphrodite’s Daughters, highlights the importance of our stories, of holding these spaces for stories to be shared and held sacred. As we voice our stories, we collectively heal the wounds of our present and past, of our ancestors, and of the Feminine everywhere.
Bonheim says, “We have forgotten how to honor the sacred and precious nature of our stories, how to treat them as rubies and emeralds that have fallen out of the crown of a goddess…What matters is that we gather in sacred space, speak our truth, and listen to our bodies. We may no longer have temples, but we still have our circles, sanctuary spaces carved not of stone but of our intention. Like the ancient priestesses, we know how to invoke spirit through ritual, prayer, meditation, and movement, and we know how to tell our stories.”,
Our stories matter.
These spaces matter.
This is not some trend for Instagram, nor is it a practice reserved for a certain type of person.
You don’t need to practice yoga to benefit from a circle.
You don’t need to eat kale.
You don’t need to buy crystals.
You don’t need to have dreamcatchers in your room, or feathers in your hair, or rings on your toes.
This is sacred and important space for all women and femmes.
Your stories matter.
Holding each other matters.
You may never have felt the unwavering support of other women around you.
You may never have had a circle of women listening to you speak, breathing in your story, your life force, and feeling with you, holding you, in all that you are.
Not only your love and your light.
Holding you in all that you are.
Holding your heavy stuff. Your dark stuff. The things you’ve never said out loud until this very moment.
You may never have felt the miraculous spirit-healing that occurs when your own words flow from your lips in the conscious presence of others.
You may not even think what I’m describing exists.
You may distrust women.
You may have a history of being hurt, shamed, or betrayed by women.
You may even think you dislike women.
Many of us have walked that road too.
These are the wounds we carry from a patriarchal culture; we have internalized the external pressures and judgments of society at large, and over time we’ve turned against one another.
It doesn’t need to be this way, sister.
No more.
These circles can hold it all, and once you feel the magic that is a group of powerful enchanted beings (like you) coming together and sharing this sacred temple space, you’ll wonder how you ever survived without it.
It is time.
When you’re ready, we are here for you.
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Jen Wyatt is a circle facilitator, yoga instructor, and retreat leader, who hosts an online womxn’s circle and membership called Temple of the Wild Wanderer. Jen holds a Master of Arts degree in Teaching, a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, is a certified yoga instructor at the 500-hour level, and is a Reiki healer. She believes that liberation of the true authentic self — in all its weirdness and wildness — is the key to lasting happiness and fulfillment. Jen guides others to come home to themselves by connecting deeply with the earth, with nature’s cycles and rhythms, and with the depths of our often buried imagination and creativity. Through movement, ritual, story medicine, and activating imagination, Jen guides you to find freedom and homecoming within your own being. May all beings be wild and free.