Open to the Goddess
It’s been an emotional month. I took part in two workshops, the first run by Pam Carruthers over the Spring Equinox in London. A very supportive group, we found ourselves healing and sharing deep ancestral patterns of guilt, loneliness and betrayal. Many of us were from immigrant families (Eastern Europe, Ireland, West Indies), displaced peoples searching for truth and justice, but we didn’t even realise these were the blocks we needed to transform in order to break the patterns in ourselves and ultimately for future generations in our own families.
The week after the workshop, I had a follow-up session with Pam and she handed me a leaflet about a women-only retreat in Wales: Open to the Goddess. The workshop was the next week! I really needed to get out into nature and I trusted the divine guidance and of course there was one place left on the course, just for me.
Pele the Hawaiian Volcano goddess
After a seven hour train journey, arriving at dusk to the 16th century farmhouse, with the mist rolling down from the hills, it felt like stepping into a different world. A warm welcome from our host Anne Ziman put us at ease and we spent the first evening choosing at random our Goddess archetype. I was ‘Pele’ a fiery Hawaiian volcano goddess, which seemed strangely appropriate (other Goddesses picked from the Greek, Indian, Celtic, Eastern European, Japanese and Chinese traditions).
Over the weekend, we dressed-up and role-played in the secret gardens, with its beautiful streams and ponds. We made camp fires and told stories under the stars. We cried and laughed, walked like princesses, cackled like witches and danced as goddesses. There is something profoundly powerful about the Goddess — the strength of women coming together to celebrate being female, using nature, ritual, music and other shamanic traditions to heal and to have fun. It took about a week to come down from the festivities and I know there is more to come.
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April 14, 2010 12:21 pm
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By steph t, April 14, 2010 @ 4:41 pm
Cool! Like the thing about women coming together. Hey but how about mentioning goddesses from Native American backgrounds. Ahem…Corn Woman.. !XXXSteph
By rifa, April 14, 2010 @ 4:57 pm
Of course the other goddesses were awesome and I am so sorry I missed out the Corn Woman, she was the best! I am Corn Woman, hear me roar!