We played a mixer game of guess-who-the-famous-woman-from-history-is on the post-it note on your back. It was a little disturbing how difficult it was -- probably a reflection of how little women’s history is studied in school. There’s a great interview on upworthy of the first woman who brought the study of women’s history to academia, Gerda Lerner. Sadly, it wasn’t that long ago that this became a legitimate area of academic study.
We started the circle with a metta meditation where we poured loving kindness unto ourselves. Then we sang Air I Am. I love that song’s simplicity, with the lyrics being only the four elements and Spirit. Even with the song being so simple, it’s still hard to remember which element to sing next, so I printed copies of the lyrics for everyone. Much better!
The theme for June was Artemis. For one of our activities, we stepped into the circle to the degree we felt we embodied or connected to each of Artemis’ traits. Our sharing session focused more reflection on our connections to Artemis.
Before the close of the circle, I talked a little about alternative feminine products. Tracy Puhl was there and spoke about her company Glad Rags, which makes wonderful reusable cloth pads and menstrual cups.
After the circle, we played with a slingshot to mirror Artemis the hunter. Prizes for making the basket with the slingshot were gemstone animal fetish beads to mirror Artemis’ connection to nature and animals.
Everyone hung out afterwards for a long while -- past the end! It seems the room divider worked! (Thanks Victoria who suggested it for Feng Sui after an earlier exit last time). An aside: I just read an article about Coco Channel and how she would collect, display and use Chinese coromandel screens to hide doors so her guests would stay longer!
I am so grateful for my daughter’s and niece’s help for this Red Tent. They did so much before, during, and after the event. I love that they’re growing up with this at age 13. It is a big part of my “why” not only for my daughter and family, but for all daughters everywhere. Check out the short video my daughter, Jule helped put together for us! https://youtu.be/hXAhJqXGEHw