What are they all about & why should you be attending one as part of your regular self-care practices?
The simple practice of women coming together to sit in circle is nothing new - it has been happening in communities for thousands of years. Our maternal ancestors relied on these spaces as supportive mechanisms for their spiritual & emotional health. A way to connect with themselves, their sisters/community & the deep Divine Feminine current.
In the simplest form, a women's circle is a sacred event of women coming together to sit in a circle around a central altar. It is usually aligned around the time of the month of the full or new moon. The structure of the event can take many forms, but usually involves opportunities for every person to participate in the ceremony and to connect, share & listen.
In ancient times these events were very popular amongst women & were actively apart of every girl's right of passage into womanhood, at the time of her menarche (the first occurrence of menstruation) to celebrate, welcome & initiate her into her womanhood.
Women would gather together over the new moon in the menstrual hut (known as the Red Tent) to free-bleed together into the earth and connect with themselves, their wombs & Gaia. They would share their stories and life insights, and in this way it would be a beautiful cross-pollination of generational wisdom, from the crones, to the mothers, to the maidens. In this way the younger women, would learn from the older women, about the ways of women and their Divine Feminine energy.
In ancient times, when we lived closer together in tribes & communities, we women would all be synced up to the same cycle, of bleeding on the new moon & ovulating over the full moon. This collective cycling had to do with the cycles of the moon, as the varying amount of exposure to light at night, affects how the pituitary gland releases hormones.
With the modern invention of electricity & artificial light, this has interrupted collective cycling, but still women living together today have found this magical phenomenon to take place.
I believe that this proves the interconnectedness of every woman, and the subtle energetic communications between every womb, which are prominent themes explored & discussed in Women's Circles.
The Red Tent in our contemporary world, is a cultural movement & philosophy, something anyone can learn, adopt & share. The modern movement is inspired by the novel "The Red Tent" which is a historical novel by Anita Diamant, published in 1997. This movement has grown exponentially in the West over the past 20-30 years, and has slowly started to spread itself into mainstream spirituality.
In 2020, I had the life-changing opportunity to train as a Red Tent Facilitator, over a 9 month period of deep shadow work, personal womb healing & transformational self enquiry. This training equipped me with the practical tools & spiritual knowledge to be able to facilitate safe & sacred ceremonies for women to come together in a constructive & therapeutic way.
I use the structure & teachings of Red Tent to create sacred Women’s Circles, which offer a safe space to be with other women, as witness and support, in owning, healing & transforming wounds of betrayal & mistrust that have developed because of patriarchal control.
In order to fully open our hearts & wombs, to participate in honest, vulnerable & sacred connection, we need to feel safe & restored to fully trust in sisterhood again. By holding space for these wounds to be shared openly & without shame, healed and forgiven. Women’s Circles can be truly loving, nurturing & nourishing spaces sourced from the overflow of inner trust, raw vulnerability, feminine connection & unique womb wisdom that each of us bring in our own unique way.
These circles are about sharing with you the embodied codes to help you shift your reality, connect to your deepest soul essence & create lasting change, abundance & health into your life. Join us for a fun evening to sync-back-in-flow with yourself & divine sisterhood; to laugh & connect!
Discover your inner power & connect bak to your natural cycles through ancient womb wisdom, body-based practices, meditations & rituals.
For now, these circles are only happening as in-person ceremonies in Cape Town South Africa. See upcoming events here
I truly hope to see you at a circle in the near future dear sister!
Until then, thank you for being here & apart of this community ❤️
Love Josie
xoxo