June’s Red Tent was blessed by two special guests. We had Jane Legge of Wales with her Magical Menstrual Tour and Kaya Singer of Portland, author of Wiser and Wilder.
Jane Legge is passionate about teaching menstruators what goes on in each of the 4 phases of the 28-day menses cycle. She believes that, armed with this knowledge, we may harness its power and navigate its challenges. Jane wants everyone to understand it so much that she embarked on a journey around the United States giving menstruation workshops. We had to compress her usual 5-hour class into one hour before dinner. I loved the way Jane split the altar into 4 quadrants, laying 2 long ribbons across it in an X, representing the 4 stages of our monthly cycles. Jane shared in depth what the quadrants represent both physically and metaphysically, how we can use them as a template to live by, and how to understand them as archetypes. Very useful information! I was able to understand myself and a friend of mine in a different light that was very helpful. I was so sorry we didn’t have more time for Jane’s workshop. Hopefully, Jane will come back again in the future and share more of her knowledge and passion.
Kaya Singer is a women’s business coach, author, businesswoman, counselor and artist in Portland. She helped facilitate the theme for our June Red Tent, the cycles of women’s lives:  Maiden, Mother, Crone (Wise Woman). Kaya opened my eyes to these stages as archetypes.  I had never really thought of them that way. To regard them as archetypes opens up a whole new world for me. I’m not just a crone/wise woman because of my chronological age and being post-menopausal.  I get to tap into and harness the energy of all of these stages of life in my current life! I can call upon my inner Maiden for fearlessness and my inner Mother for protection. My Maiden daughter can tap into her inner Wise Woman for confidence and assurance. In the ceremony we reflected on how we can use all of their strengths to aide in manifesting our visions.
Many of the women present had a-ha moments, too. It’s so wonderful to experience such positive shifts and awakenings together at the Red Tents. My heartfelt thanks goes out to Jane and Kaya for making our June Red Tent so special.
Here are some other highlights of our June Red Tent:

• Jacqueline Rubenstein, owner of SomaSpace, attended and experienced her first Red Tent with us! It was so lovely to have her there. We are forever grateful for the beautiful space she provides for our Moondays Red Tents. Jacqueline is working to make SomaSpace more visible in the community, so please check out the other events, classes and workshops and share with your friends. http://somaspace.us/
• Amber recently turned us on to this beautiful song called “Sacredness (The Blood Song)” and we played it in the circle before the ceremony began.  Listen to it here: https://www.reverbnation.com/shylahraysunshine/song/8609145-sacredness-the-blood-song
• Also present was Samatnha Zipporah who is “a practical & radical medicine woman, providing love and education for the womb continuum.” It was wonderful to have her input at the Red Tent! Check out Samantha’s work here: http://www.samanthazipporah.com/
• Morgan, whose daughter came to our Mother-Daughter Red Tent and was one of our first menarche ceremony recipients, informed me that her daughter still wears the red thread around her wrist from one of the rituals we shared. It was a ritual signifying our connectedness to each other and to our female ancestors. It makes my heart sing that she cherishes it so much, and that she’s still wearing it 7 weeks later!

I’m so happy we all had such an enriching time together. Looking forward to more. Until we meet again at the next Red Tent in August or other event, enjoy the summer!

Amber and I represented Moondays at the PDX Red Party on International Menstrual Hygiene Day (May 28th.) It was an awesome event and for a good cause. Since I believe strongly that our monthly cycles should be honored and celebrated, I was in heaven at this event that was promoted as a “Party for Your Period!” It was held in the beautiful Tiffany Center in downtown Portland in one of their big rooms. There were many great vendors representing important causes. Each vendor table had some kind of fun activity to participate in, too. Our activity was to write a period-positive message on one of our Moondays t-shirts and we would pick a winner from everyone that participated. One of the booths had a “Pin the Menstrual Pad on the Panties” game set up and there was also an arts and crafts table where you could use feminine products to make art. I was really impressed at how many men showed up to support the event, too!
I was honored to get to speak at the event, to help spread the message of the Red Tent Movement. We met a lot of great people and are looking forward to having some of them join us at our future Red Tents!
There were over 90 guests in attendance and together we donated $342 in cash and 392 menstrual products, and helped pack 905 menstrual care packages for this year's spotlight organization Camions of Care! Tiffany and Cheyenne of Periodic, Inc. did a fantastic job organizing this inaugural event, in honor of International Menstrual Hygiene Day, and we hope they will carry on and make it an annual affair

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.
 

When I first started hosting Red Tents, it took a lot of work and was somewhat stressful because it was outside my comfort zone. I always want everyone to enjoy themselves so much, I felt the pressure to deliver. Now that I’ve got the hang of it, I can relax into it more, and I’m so grateful these events have become easier for me to host! It really helps getting such wonderful feedback from attendees. Here’s what one woman said about our February Red Tent:
“The event was awesome! I feel badly, but I can't remember the organizer’s name... Thanks again to her and the ladies that made all the food and brought wine. I really enjoyed the ice breaker questions, the ceremony, the circle of sharing (even though I didn't share - I need to work on my vulnerability) and the scarf dancing. I think my favorite part was getting my hair braided Dutch style by Jule (I feel very youthful -- I wish I could wear my hair this way more often!), and reading cards with the ladies.”
The thing for me that’s most difficult still is just the physical labor required. It reminds me of when I used to be a crafts person doing Saturday Markets and craft fairs. It’s a lot of work to set up a booth and then take it down every weekend. I much prefer having a store like The Fossil Cartel where basically all I have to do is open the door and turn on the lights -- another reason for having a permanent brick and mortar Red Tent!
I’m so grateful that so many women are inviting other women to come to our Red Tents. It is such a wonderful thing to experience together with friends and family. I want to give a special shout out to Kiersten, Sera and Latasha for inviting so many women.
Here are some highlights from the February Red Tent:

• A new ritual: Angel (a first timer) anointed a bunch of us with a touch of sandalwood and vermillion on our third eyes. It’s a wonderful Indian ritual called Tilaka, performed as a greeting. What a great way to give acknowledgement to people and look into their eyes. I loved it so much, I’d like to make it a regular part of the ceremony!
• Raising our vibration: I noticed again that everyone seemed so ‘high’ afterwards, and realized that the event actually raises our vibration. A good thing!
• Sponsorship: We’re starting to accept sponsors for the event. My business The Fossil Cartel sponsored this one, and it was nice to find out that many of the women knew the store or would like to come check it out. Please let me know if you’d like to sponsor a Red Tent or might know of a business that would.
• Pampering: My 13-year-old daughter Jule volunteered to braid hair. She did up 5 different women’s hair and gave each one a unique style. She’s really good at it, too!
• Early Birds: Many women came early! I took that as a sign that they enjoy it so much, they wanted to spend as much time as possible there.
• Theme: Our theme this month was power. Power is normally defined in masculine ways. How can we define it with more feminine terms? What are the specific feminine strengths we have? How has it played out in our lives and where would we like to build more power?

I am so grateful to be the channel through which these events are hosted. I am grateful, too for the women who come and share of themselves, amplifying the divine feminine.  
 

For our first Red Tent of the year, we set powerful intentions for 2016. Everyone received empty jars to take home and put by their altar, charged with juicy Red Tent energy. Throughout the year, we will write down on a little piece of paper each good thing that happens for us and put it in the jar. On December 31, 2016 we will open our jars and read them! Maybe we could do this as on online activity; like have everyone read their top 3 on a group chat.
Here are some observations from our January Red Tent:

• It was a quiet group and in sharp contrast to November’s loud group!
• There were two mother/daughter teams. Divya’s mom Padma was visiting from India and Keirsten’s mom didn’t know she was coming until 40 minutes before we started. Neither Mom had ever been to a Red Tent before, and seemed to really like it.
• Everyone enjoyed the ice breaker game where we basically asked each other some fairly deep or personality-revealing questions.
• I mentioned that there was a stack of blankets in the coat room and that they were welcome to take one if they wanted to be all cozy and warm during the ceremony. Every single woman took one. Visually, it looked so great with everyone under the blankets around the circle!
• One woman traveled really far to get there. She lives across the street!
• My intention or word for the year is “empower:” to empower myself and other women and girls. After I shared, we all stood up and practiced power stances.

 
It was another lovely Red Tent. I felt a lot of support for carrying on the mission and look forward to the year ahead. 

We went from the most attended Red Tent of 26 women to 42 with our October Red Tent! I always wondered what that would look like and how we would accommodate that many women. Here’s a breakdown of the evening:

• Breaking the ice: Our ice-breaker game was: ‘Guess the important woman from history on your back.” This time it was a little easier because I passed around a couple of sheets with the list of possible names.
  
• How big was it? With the biggest attendance, our circle stretched out around the whole perimeter of the dance floor! And that’s a 1,000 square foot room!
  
• How did we manage it? We had to break up into three circles for our sharing so everyone would get a chance to share. That was a first!
  
• Where are we coming from? Going around the circle, I learned that most of the new women had come because a friend invited them. This was fascinating to me. Two months ago, when I asked for the first time how the new women had heard of us, it was Facebook. The next month it was Meetup. This month it was friends!
  
• Who did we honor and celebrate? Our theme this month was Hera, goddess of women and marriage.
  
• We had a very special guest: Sonia Miller (http://www.successforthesoul.com/) who led the meditation and facilitated the activity and sharing. Sonia is a very wise woman and an amazing teacher/coach. One of her specialties is relationships. Her knowledge was perfect for our theme. 
  
• We danced! We did the scarf dance after the ceremony which brought lots of giggles and smiles.
  
• More dancing! A young Moroccan woman named Sophia led us in an impromptu belly dancing lesson after the scarf dance.
  
• Reflected and connected with Spirit: Oracle card readings and deep discussions continued into the night.
  

 
We had some rich, deep sharing and felt such love and support from the big crowd that showed up, vowing to come again. Was it a fluke? Shall we limit the number of tickets? How can we move forward and accommodate that many comfortably? Shall we have 2 Red Tents per month? These are all questions that are currently churning in my head.

We had another fantastic evening at our September Red Tent, honoring and celebrating the Greek Goddess Hestia. Hestia is the Goddess of the hearth and the home. The evening also fell on the night before the Super Moon Eclipse, and there was a lot of energy building towards it. I shared an article about what kind of energies this special moon eclipse represented and about 90% of the women raised their hands in solidarity to what they were experiencing in their own lives, mainly big endings.

• Where are we coming from? In August, most of the new women who attended were from Facebook. September brought all new people from Meetup. It is interesting how it was so one or the other.
• Our meditation: This time, we did something a little different: we added a somatic part. For the first 5 minutes we sat in the lounge area. For the second part, we walked through the curtains into the ceremonial room to symbolize leaving behind what was ending for us and embracing the new.
• Our song this time was Circle Within A Circle in honor of the full moon.
• For our activity, we had everyone help set up the room since Hestia is all about housekeeping and interior design. We also had them make mini personal altars in front of their seats.
• We had a special guest:  Bette Steflik, a feng shui expert who is very knowledgeable about all things Hestia. It was wonderful to have her! We learned a lot. For instance, did you know that your stove is the hearth of your home? In the old days, it was the fireplace because that’s where people cooked before stoves were invented. It’s important that all of your burners work properly and to use all of them (in other words cook something even if it’s just boiling water for tea or heating up a pot of soup once in a while). The “hearth” is symbolic of important things in your life such as health and wealth. One woman talked about how the pilot light in hers wasn’t even lit and she suffered from a lack of prosperity. Here’s a great article I found on the subject http://gems4friends.com/feng-shui-kitchen.html. And here is Bette’s website http://shenmenfengshui.com/.
  
• Shared Experience: Many women in our circle related to our topic of the evening and got a lot out of our sharing!
• After the ceremony: Linda Cordey, a professional hairstylist who manages Rejuvenation Day Spa, braided many women’s hair after the circle. They were all different and so beautiful! Love Attraction Coach Alexandra Lewis was also present and meeting with women one on one. Here is Alexandra’s website: http://www.alexandraloves.com/.
• Nourishment: Besides the experience being nourishing in itself, Amber Carol Lewis provided us with delicious nourishing food as she always does and we are so grateful for it!
  

It was a nourishing evening all the way around! We learned about Hestia, feng shui, each other, processed the intense energy of the Super Full Moon Eclipse, got our hair braided, some tarot readings and had some great connecting time.
 

“Money makes the world go around” was an expression I often heard as a child. Now I realize it’s really desire that makes the world go around. Money is an inanimate object. It can’t “do” anything. It’s the human condition of wanting that makes us go after the money to begin with, whether it’s for actual objects, security, freedom or a better world. Abraham-Hicks speaks about this wanting as “contrast” and having “rockets of desire.” The contrast is the difference between what you want but don’t have and the “rockets” are the yearnings that will move us in the right direction. This is what makes the world go around!

Here’s a parable supporting this concept:

An old man passes to the other side. At death’s gate, an angel welcomes him in and lets him know that he can have anything he wants. He immediately asks for a big fancy house. The next day he asks for a beautiful wife to keep him company. On the third day, he asks for a fancy sports car. Day after day, all of his wishes are fulfilled. He can’t believe his good fortune! Days, weeks and months go by and he has everything he had ever wanted. Finally, there was nothing else to want. He says to the angel, “I’m grateful I got everything I asked for, but now I’m bored. I’m curious to see what it would be like on the other side, in hell. Would it be possible for me to go check it out?” To that the angel answers, “Where do you think you’ve been all this time?”

I love this story as it illustrates so well the necessity of our wanting. The question then becomes:  which part of us is doing the wanting, the id, ego or super ego? Or you could say, is it our “smaller selves” or “bigger/higher selves?”

There’s a lot of talk lately about how our yearning and wanting is all part of the divine spark that initially created our Universe to begin with. It’s called, the “Evolutionary Impulse.” I first learned about it from a course I took on Evolutionary Spirituality taught by Craig Hamilton and his Integral Enlightenment Academy. He says that just as there is a “biological imperative’” (our will to survive), there is also an “evolutionary imperative.” Although I just mentioned that I had “learned about it,” I feel it was something I actually knew all along and was being re-awoken to it. It just seems so logical to me.

There is a condition in the U.S. and other parts of the world called “Not Enoughness.” It is tied to our North Star, our old definition of success. Many of us feel the need to have bigger and better as it applies to our material possessions, our careers and our status. This condition is insatiable. It does help the world go around, but at what cost? Many with this mindset have a dog-eat-dog worldview and feel justified raping the earth to satisfy their needs. This kind of wanting comes from our “smaller selves.”

While wanting is part of the human condition, hopefully we can evolve enough to align with the wanting of our bigger/higher selves and bring much needed healing to this world. May we all become aligned with the evolutionary impulse!

“When you want something with all your heart, that’s when you are closest to the Soul of the World. It’s always a positive force” (from the book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho).

     It looked like the apocalypse outside. The air was thick with forest fire smoke. Our Goddesses braved the gloom and what felt like doom and showed up to our most attended Red Rent at SomaSpace yet! We all had a wonderful time. There were lots of new faces and a great age range of 13 to 64! Here’s a recap:

·         Looks like FB is still powerful after all! Before we started the ceremony, I asked everyone to go around that hadn’t been to a Moondays’ Red Tent and tell us how they found us. Two said through the SomaSpace website and the rest were from Facebook. I found that so interesting because so far, FB has been slow growing for us vs. Instagram and Twitter.

·         Something interesting happened during the first hour with our ice breaker game. Usually people pair up or talk to a couple of different people at a time standing and sitting in various places. This time a circle formed in the lounge area and everyone played the game sitting in a big circle. It just happened organically and was lovely!

·         Our theme was Demeter who is the archetype of the mother.

·         Our activity was to draw and color on an outline of a baby (actually was a gingerbread man outline as I couldn’t find a good baby one) all of the children, pets, projects, businesses and whatever else we’re mothers of.

·         Our sharing was to talk about our drawings or how we related or didn’t relate to the Demeter or Mother archetype.

·         Synchronicities at our Red Tent! Our synchronistic guest Persephone wasn’t having any of it. She screamed and cried until her mother finally had to take her home. Backstory: Alison brought her pregnant daughter Luna to our April Red Tent. Luna then gave birth to a girl on the same day as our June Red Tent. She had no idea that the name she chose for her daughter, Persephone, would be the theme for our July Red Tent! Luna then brought Persephone to our August Red Tent, but unfortunately, little Pepper had to leave. I think Hades was summoning her back down to the Underworld J. We had another synchronicity when a couple of days before the August Red Tent, I got a call from a woman inquiring about attending our Red Tents. Turns out she has been working with the Goddess Demeter for many years!

·         Beverages consumed: Even though we had more people, less wine was consumed after the ceremony. Instead, people were drinking the Univera Xtra I brought. I love this product and have been consuming it twice a day for 7 years. It’s great for energy (but it’s not a stimulant, with no caffeine), mental clarity, joint comfort and stress management. It’s a comprehensive wellness product that pushes down on damage and up on repair. To learn more click here and if you’re interested in trying it out, you can either get in touch with me ([email protected]) or order here.

·         Testimonial video: Alexandra Loves, a Love Attraction Coach, made this great video talking about how wonderful the Red Tents are. Check it out! Click here.