By Cynthia Huelsmann
This year I gave myself the gift of free time, choosing not to dive back into work after my job ended in December 2007. I have long had the dream of attending as many womyn's festivals as I could manage, and I decided this was the year to do it. In a series of articles I will attempt to share some of my experiences and thoughts on three of the festivals I was able to attend this summer. This article will cover my experiences at Womongathering.http://www.womongathering.com/the_festival.htm
Held June 12—15 at a summer camp in northeast Pennsylvania, 2008 was the 20th year for this festival celebrating spiritual ritual. This was a Water and West year, honoring the Crone aspect of the Goddess. I was a festie virgin, driving alone up to the gate, after a day and a half on the road, and I was a little anxious and a lot excited about what was to come. I arrived on Thursday almost an hour after the gate opened, comforting myself in the knowledge that some friends attending were long-time festie-goers, including our own locals, Cedar and Esyule. Luckily for me, my housing assignment required changing and, at my request, the lodging assigner was happy to assign me to White Buffalo cabin with my friend Carol and her partner and friend. I felt like the goddess was looking out for me. I drove to the cabin to unload and there were Carol and Paula, and I had a home nest at fest! As I unpacked, I noticed another couple of friends setting up camp, and had another reunion. Shelley and Kathy were there to lead a singing workshop that I was really looking forward to attending.
Feeling somewhat settled, I dove into the flow of the festival. I had a bit of time to wander around the grounds and go through the welcoming gateway—a special spot with a couple of tents decorated in the water motif, occupied by womyn just waiting to give new arrivals a hug and tell them they were so happy they came. A womon could sit there and visit a while and spend a little time releasing what she wanted to leave behind and bringing her spirit together (grounding and centering) to be really present for the weekend.
Next on my agenda was finding the dinner hall and figuring out how that worked. We all brought our own plates and utensils and washed them in a communal sink area after meals. The food was great, and there was plenty of it. At dinner I joined my first workshop—a Sisters’ Sing-Along, led by an energetic group of womyn called the South Mountain Singers. They clearly loved singing and sharing their passion with all of us. I had great fun as we sang (from booklets they passed out) such standards as “Amazing Grace” (a witch version they had rewritten) and “Wade in the Water.” We sang songs that were new to me (the vagina songs), as well as many familiar chants—“We Give Thanks,” “I Thank the Earth” and “We All Come from the Goddess,” for example.
These same womyn were in charge of the procession and portal to the community ritual to light the sacred fire. So I found myself becoming Kali as I carried a large puppet with two other womyn and sang for what seemed like hours as hundreds of womyn slowly streamed through the portal to be blessed and purified. This year eight directions were recognized. In the center was the infinity symbol with fire in one loop and water in the other. Womyn took part in calling all the directions, led by Sappho as she lit the fire which she and a few others would lovingly tend for the entire weekend. We watched as it grew and we waited as it ate the big pile. The direction of its fall would indicate special meaning for our time together and for the coming year. [I think it fell to the northwest, and I have no recollection of Sappho’s reading regarding the direction’s special meaning.] This sacred fire is a real vital part of this festival and I wish I had had more time to spend there. I did go back for the closing circle which I will describe later. One thing I noticed, even this first day, was the flexibility of these womyn in their ritual and their openness to experimenting with different ways to do things. There was a joy in playing with the energy and an open inviting spirit. I felt welcome right away in this group.
Friday began for me with my turn at the sweat lodge, times having been assigned at registration. I was happy to have this purification early in the day and early in the festival. The Lakota Inipi ceremony was facilitated by Beverly Little Thunder, who is amazing and an early leader in sharing and teaching this ritual to womyn. As we arrived, we each made prayer ties to take into the lodge—one tie for each direction. We stooped as we crawled in, a prayer on our lips for “all my relations.” We entered as we had left our mothers womb into this womb of the mother earth. We were wedged in as close as possible, as we were told to “leave only the space of a tissue between you.” At final count there were twenty of us, and I think this was not a crowded lodge to Beverly.
The ritual was amazing. As we all sat in that dark hot space and sweated and prayed together, I felt our connection, heard how we had common desires and hopes. Most of us started with gratitude for all we have and then begged for a clear connection to our spirit to lead us to serve where we are needed. There were tears running down my cheeks as I heard the prayers of other womyn there and knew them as my own. It was hot but bearable. Beverly doesn’t believe sweats should be a form of torture; still, in some lodges—not ours—that weekend, womyn did have to leave. The door was opened four times to receive glowing, red-hot, local rocks representing the ancestors. I felt thankful that I ended up in a spot with a bent sapling, holding a little coolness, behind me. Leaning against it, on and off, enabled me to remain for the duration. This ritual was magic and I have not given all the details here; you need to come and experience it for yourself.
I left in a bit of a daze. After rinsing with a little cool water and dressing, I wove my way up to a meadow in front of the sacred fire where the opening ritual was already in progress. Called Let the Sacred Waters Flow, it was priestessed by Marie Summerwood. It was a huge spectacle of a ritual, involving lots of theater. Around a symbolic river with life swimming in it, we all mourned the loss of fresh water dolphins from these waters. There was a giant Quan Yin who sent her womyn to collect our tears to add to the waters of the world. We had all brought water to the ritual from each of our personal sacred water sources; I contributed some from the lake where I live part of the year. And at the end we all took ritual water to carry home with us. I am still hoping to find mine once I get resettled from all my travels.
Over lunch I sat in on the Crone council and pondered with these womyn what it means to be a Crone. Listening to the stories of the Crones, I considered whether I am there yet. There were womyn younger than me who had been croned, though many were older. I think it is not about age, nor is it just about not bleeding anymore. I ended up deciding it is not the time for me yet, and I was happy to be part of the circle and get to see and, in some way, support the croning ritual that would happen later.
Next, I lucked into a space in Cedar’s painting workshop, and had a fun time, learning some simple watercolor techniques. Cedar managed to lay out clearly a way we can each produce a piece of art that is not half bad. We all had a good time and when we were done, our pieces were displayed on a special section of the wall. I got to show mine off to my friends for the rest of the weekend.
That evening two rituals were offered, and I decided to go to the one led by Eclipse, called When the Mermaid Sings. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a real mermaid (well, she looked like one, anyway) before joining the circle. This was another kind of theater and energy event. Again I was impressed by the pushing of boundaries and trying something different, as we went through being the ocean and feeling waves of energy. Anticipating the calling of directions to indicate the ritual’s “real start,” I was surprised to find that happening just before the ritual ended. I began to get it—I must let go of my strict ideas of what constitutes ritual. I was able to start seeing that it could be more about managing and playing with energy.
Saturday offered the only scheduled workshop about priestessing, something that had been on the top of my to-do list for this gathering. It was led by Bright Flame (last night’s mermaid), who tries to do some practicum at every gathering. The focus this year was on leading and experiencing trance. She explained how trance differs from guided meditation—not so directed and more open. Her directions: Cast a circle, create a sacred safe space and set your anchor. Shift energy to a dropped and open state and you are ready to travel. After more extensive explanation, we chose to try a group trance, and most of us eagerly lay down on the floor in a circle with our feet in the center. A few chose to sit on the periphery and take part in holding the circle. Bright Flame cast the circle and started us walking. Then off we went, flying—then diving into water. We were dolphins and more. It is really hard to explain the state connecting us. Words would come out of my mouth or was it my neighbor’s or the womon across the circle? We seemed to see and travel together and we were humming and vibrating… Finally, we were there as the earth birthed herself, and we were part of that excitement as red hot lava spewed from a crack way under the ocean, and we followed it up and burst back up through the water. I am getting a thrill just reliving it now. We did have to come back and we all made it. What a really powerful, very connecting experience! I left thinking that I wanted to try that with a group when I got home. Now, from home with the passage of time and space, it seems a bit daunting. For me this again reinforced the theme of energy management, and I was impressed again to see the way Bright Flame did this in such a low key way, yet clearly having things under control.
Following lunch I headed to a workshop called Mystic Maps, led by Eclipse Fey who had led last night’s mermaid ritual. She is a Magaian Priestess, of the Magi and Gaia, a tradition she has re-membered through her own questing. She believes a true mystic speaks her own truth yet believes in many truths, the way being about alignment and questioning. I was fascinated and challenged to follow all she was saying. The tradition’s goal is to define yourself now, accepting where you are and bring that to the horizon—your biggest goal as far as you can see. She talked of perspective in four levels—humanity, spirit, nature, myth—and what Goddess consciousness meant to her. She spoke to us of magic and power, as we sat under a line of big old trees she had chosen, and we began to see dark clouds gathering. We felt the wind growing, and as one (it seemed), we rose, knowing it was time to retreat to a building. We walked about a block and entered the building just as the first cold hard drops fell, followed by a really good downpour. So, happy to be protected from that deluge, we continued inside.
The “map” part is about looking at one’s self from all four perspectives and writing out what is found. I have to confess I haven’t gotten around to doing all that yet, though it seems like a good project. Another nugget she tosses out is “all magic is about being present.” (This powerful message has been coming at me from many sources for months.) She instructed us to find our anchors, be tuned to the energy and ask our questions; the whole world will answer, leaving messages if we are open to see them. “Stand in the gateway and walk your power.” She went on to talk of very practical energy management: how to stand aside to let confrontational energy go past you even as you are being confronted and how to slow your energy yet keep moving. She explained how to cut angry energy coming at you and avoid standing in front of someone who is draining energy. In ritual, energy management is about weaving the energy, not controlling it. Then, amazingly, she took questions she had asked us to call out at the beginning of the workshop, and like an oracle, she spoke to each one. She became a living example of the alignment in the present as she answered our deepest questions. Some of those answers I shared above and some I just listened to in amazement. How do you make magic? Be Present; it is all around you!
Eclypse leads a workshop, called WomanCircles, at Rowe Conference Center in Rowe, MA. After this little taste of her magic, I really want to go, and I heard from others who have been that it is wonderful.
I stopped by crafts on the way to dinner to check on Cedar and Esyule. They had been a bit traumatized by the hard rain. I spent a minute helping to put the tent sides back up so Cedar could get back to selling. At dinner I discovered that we singers were wanted to do a singing portal and other songs for the croning ritual that evening, and I was happy to be asked. Shelly and Kathy were in charge of the singing, so I knew it would go well. That was my first croning ritual and it was quite impressive. The womyn to be croned entered in all their finery, each with a sponsor/support person. There was lots of singing around a set with a big cauldron in the middle. What stands out in my memory is each group coming to interact with the crones: The maidens, young and sweet and beautiful, sang sweet songs, as they passed by each crone and touched them in some way. Then the mothers came, stimulating a lot of cackling, especially from those already croned, letting it be known that they were glad to be done with that hectic time of raising children, being constantly busy, losing sleep, etc. The mothers sang, read poems and honored the crones in a very mature, respectful way, asking for wisdom during their years of mothering. Then each new crone was announced with her new name and got to have her say. It was emotional and powerful. I joined my singing sisters and we sang together for the new crones as they filed out.
From there it was on to the Confluence. Esyule was in charge of this community celebration for the new crones. It was a wild dancing theater event. Esyule led off the dancing and I joined Cedar and some young womyn as we followed Esyule to get everyone dancing. The energy was high and there was a lot of joy in the crowd. I soon collapsed and dragged myself to my bed. It had been a very full day.
Sunday began for me with the singing workshop, Singing the Waves of Love, and Shelley and Kathy did just that. Workshop attendees joined right in. It was so moving that I spent a good part of the time singing through my tears. We sang many of Shelley’s own songs—“Fire on the Arrow,” “I Hear the Women Singing,” “Transformation”—which I know from years of singing with Shelley and with her CD (Fire on the Arrow, which is great, by the way). When it was time to sing the birthday song, we did it for the crones. Then each got to tell her story, and all were very powerful, bringing many of us to tears. Following that, we sang to them, “When I hear my sister’s story, and I look into her eyes, I’m amazed by her beauty, I’m amazed that there is light. I’m amazed that she is loving, that she moves with open arms. I’m amazed that her spirit dances on.” We all held each other in that circle and cried together. We sang many songs to Yemaya and to the goddess, and I learned other new songs as we connected in the circle. We sang for three hours, and I did not tire. Singing is my medicine, and I hope I will always remember that.
Then it was time for lunch and the closing circle. I made my way around the infinity path, around the fire (now out), and the water and visited each of the eight directional altars. Gratitude was expressed for all the different womyn and groups making the gathering happen and so successfully. There were packets of ash from the sacred fire and rocks from the path to take home. I was too dazed and out of it to grab any of these as the more seasoned womyn scooped them up. The circle was closed and we all said our goodbyes and wandered away.
I found this Gathering to be a wonderful event and am especially grateful to Lee Glanton who began and continues to be the center of this fest. I had a chance to meet her, and I doubt she would actually want all this admiring credit. She would probably point to all the other womyn who help make it happen. And there are a lot of dedicated helpers, a testament in itself to the spirit Lee brings, making Womongathering the incredible event it is.
The day after festival I helped take down the Red Tent, a space that I did not have time to visit during the gathering. The entire space was an exotic, lush, velvety red. Womyn who entered were healed and held there. I felt the power as I helped take it all down and put it away. I got to meet and spend time with the womyn who had the vision and the energy to make this space happen, and I was moved by their intention and dreams for the space. I finally understood the excitement of all the womyn who had talked to me about the red tent during the festival.
Finally, at this festival, I found an open, mixed (lesbian, straight and bi, though no importance was placed on any of those labels) group of loving womyn—coming together to honor the goddess in her crone aspect and very happy to be together to do so. As I am writing this, I think also of honoring the water and realize that it has been a really teary year for me and for many other womyn I know. I recognize these tears are water of the goddess, too. Looking it up in the program, I see there are three waters under each of the eight directions. Wow! Tears are in the northwest (where the fire fell)! This is full fall on the circle—fog, cloud and tears—INTUIITION. So the sacred fire’s special message that I couldn’t remember earlier comes to me as I end this piece: This fall is a time of tears and a time to listen to your intuition.
