The months are flying by. I can’t believe it’s May and I’m writing about April’s Red Tent.
Earlier in the day of our April Red Tent, I spoke at the Body, Breast, Baby event to a room full of women and their babies about Red Tents and why they’re important. It felt great spreading the message outside of actual Red Tents. Plus it gave me an opportunity to practice my public speaking!
For our Red Tent, April’s theme was renewal in honor of the spring. Everything had started blooming early in Portland. The flowers and foliage were so lush, green and colorful. It makes us feel so alive and rejuvenated after months of rain. We reflected on how renewal was showing up in our lives recently.
My daughter Jule had gotten her first moon two weeks before, so we celebrated her menarche! It was a very sweet little ritual where we showered her with gifts, attention, blessings, love, a temporary moon tattoo, and later in the evening special Dutch braids.
The food was ah-mazing as always, thanks to Amber. Small intimate group. Lovely evening.
Mother-Daughter Red Tent
May 7th we held our first Mother-Daughter Red Tent! We did it in the morning instead of the evening like our regular Red Tents. It had a totally different feel and one that I thought was appropriate given the nature of the event. There were 13 of us. I just realized as I was writing that 13 is the number associated with covens!
The concept behind this Red Tent, for girls between the ages of 9-15, was to help transition them into womanhood: to teach them about the changes in their bodies, how to best navigate their monthly cycles and how to tap into their cycles as a source of power.
It was very sweet and some tears of joy were shed. We learned at the event that one of the girls had recently gotten her first moon. We were able to honor and celebrate her with a little impromptu menarche ritual and she seemed to really be receiving it with a big open heart. I was so touched doing it! I felt shivers and a big gush of energy flowing through me.
Towards the end, the moms and daughters shared and brought up some great ideas and tips. My daughter Jule shared about an app called Clue that helps track your cycle on your phone and makes it fun. I was proud of her for finally sharing and contributing verbally. She’s always such a huge help at the Red Tents: setting up, taking down, checking people in, etc., but she’s held back from sharing in the circle. Of course, it’s understandable, given that she is a young teenager in a room full of grown-ups. So I was especially grateful to have her be in a situation where she felt comfortable speaking up and also for helping mentor the younger girls.
It was a great opportunity for mother-daughter bonding. I was honored that the moms really appreciated the event. One mom even offered to volunteer at future events to ensure their continuation, which is absolutely awesome! She also asked about us doing a Blessingway for her and I’ve been wanting to incorporate those into our mix anyway, so we’ll have to work on that, too!
Amber made some yummy muffins and smoothies for the occasion. And brought her teenage daughter, too!
Hosting this Mother-Daughter Red Tent was completely gratifying. There’s something really meaty about working with the girls; helping to start out a generation of maidens on the right foot into womanhood. I’m looking forward to more!
Photos in the slider bellow are a mix of our April Red Tent and the Mother-Daughter Red Tent.
Earlier in the day of our April Red Tent, I spoke at the Body, Breast, Baby event to a room full of women and their babies about Red Tents and why they’re important. It felt great spreading the message outside of actual Red Tents. Plus it gave me an opportunity to practice my public speaking!
For our Red Tent, April’s theme was renewal in honor of the spring. Everything had started blooming early in Portland. The flowers and foliage were so lush, green and colorful. It makes us feel so alive and rejuvenated after months of rain. We reflected on how renewal was showing up in our lives recently.
My daughter Jule had gotten her first moon two weeks before, so we celebrated her menarche! It was a very sweet little ritual where we showered her with gifts, attention, blessings, love, a temporary moon tattoo, and later in the evening special Dutch braids.
The food was ah-mazing as always, thanks to Amber. Small intimate group. Lovely evening.
Mother-Daughter Red Tent
May 7th we held our first Mother-Daughter Red Tent! We did it in the morning instead of the evening like our regular Red Tents. It had a totally different feel and one that I thought was appropriate given the nature of the event. There were 13 of us. I just realized as I was writing that 13 is the number associated with covens!
The concept behind this Red Tent, for girls between the ages of 9-15, was to help transition them into womanhood: to teach them about the changes in their bodies, how to best navigate their monthly cycles and how to tap into their cycles as a source of power.
It was very sweet and some tears of joy were shed. We learned at the event that one of the girls had recently gotten her first moon. We were able to honor and celebrate her with a little impromptu menarche ritual and she seemed to really be receiving it with a big open heart. I was so touched doing it! I felt shivers and a big gush of energy flowing through me.
Towards the end, the moms and daughters shared and brought up some great ideas and tips. My daughter Jule shared about an app called Clue that helps track your cycle on your phone and makes it fun. I was proud of her for finally sharing and contributing verbally. She’s always such a huge help at the Red Tents: setting up, taking down, checking people in, etc., but she’s held back from sharing in the circle. Of course, it’s understandable, given that she is a young teenager in a room full of grown-ups. So I was especially grateful to have her be in a situation where she felt comfortable speaking up and also for helping mentor the younger girls.
It was a great opportunity for mother-daughter bonding. I was honored that the moms really appreciated the event. One mom even offered to volunteer at future events to ensure their continuation, which is absolutely awesome! She also asked about us doing a Blessingway for her and I’ve been wanting to incorporate those into our mix anyway, so we’ll have to work on that, too!
Amber made some yummy muffins and smoothies for the occasion. And brought her teenage daughter, too!
Hosting this Mother-Daughter Red Tent was completely gratifying. There’s something really meaty about working with the girls; helping to start out a generation of maidens on the right foot into womanhood. I’m looking forward to more!
Photos in the slider bellow are a mix of our April Red Tent and the Mother-Daughter Red Tent.
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