Womens Wisdom Circle

Listening to My Souls Voice: Womens Wisdom Circle November 5, 2012 Boulder, CO Ola Lau Introduction to Women Studies Activism Project Professor Judith Wonstolen December 12, 2012

Womens Wisdom Circle Womens Wisdom Circle It was an absolute honor to be allowed to participate in a session of Listening to My Souls Voice: Womens Wisdom Circle on November 5, 2012, in Boulder, CO. WisdomWork was founded in 2009 to further the work of Sage-ing, a concept described by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi in his ground-breaking book From Age-ing to Sage-ing: A Profound New Vision of Growing Older. Drawing from many spiritual traditions, the intent of Sage-ing is to

give meaning and purpose in the second half of life utilizing deep meditation and reflection. The key teaching modules of Sage-ing include: images of aging (personal and cultural), life review, life repair/forgiveness, facing mortality, and sharing your gifts through mentoring and legacy. Recently, WisdomWork incorporated the circle principles and practices created by Christina Baldwin and Ann Linnea of PeerSpirit, Inc. The intent of their circle is to shift conversations from informal socializing or opinionated discussion into a receptive attitude of thoughtful thinking and deep listening. Listening to My Souls Voice: Womens Wisdom Circle, though comprised of many women who were past members of previous WisdomWork circles, is a newer group. My role in this gathering was to participate as a co-host. I contributed to the planning of this circle (3 hours) with two other members of the group. We determined that the topic for reflection would be the concept and meaning of the divine. The two questions we arrived at for the group to ponder were: What, if anything, were you taught about the divine, and what was your first experience of

Womens Wisdom Circle

the divine. I opened the circle with the reading, Invocation to the Light, December 2001 (the group meets for 2 hours). In addition, I attended the post-circle debriefing (2 hours). As previously mentioned, PeerSpirit principles are a recent addition to WisdomWork, and we spent the first hour reviewing what Circle means, the guidelines for the group, and the overall dynamics of Circle practice (an experienced Circle practitioner was in attendance). The second hour was spent applying Circle principles to the discussion of the divine. The very first page of the course text, Womens Lives: Multicultural Perspectives notes how Womens studies began as a reaction/critique of scholarship that ignored womens lives or treated women in stereotypical ways (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey, 2010, p.3). The authors clearly state their intent to emphasize the diversity of womens experiences (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey, 2010. p.17). The course study packet reinforces both of these statements by showing that when women are the subjects of study, the underlying assumption is that our perspectivesour opinions and thoughts about our experiencesare vital to understanding all of humanity (Wonstolen, 2009, p.11). Womens circles such as Listening to My Souls Voice: Womens Wisdom Circle, though not technically an academic endeavor, very clearly focus on the diverse lives and experiences of women by making them the focus of exploration. One of the intentions established by this specific circle is the celebration and honoring of each person and their spiritualityan affirmation of the vital importance of womens experiences. The setting of circle agreements that PeerSpirit writes about is worth noting as it also reflects the focus on a diversity of views. Womens Wisdom Circle The use of agreements allows all members to have a free and profound exchange, to respect a diversity of views, and to share responsibility for the well-being and direction of the group (Baldwin and Linnea, 2010). 4

The creation of time and space for personal reflection that Listening to My Souls Voice: Womens Wisdom Circle also reflects the value that womens studies places on breadth and connectedness (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey, 2010. p.5). To state that Listening to My Souls Voice: Womens Wisdom Circle (Womens Circle) is anti-patriarchal would be like me saying that chocolate is merely OKboth are huge understatements. Patriarchal systems (most of the world we live in including the major religions) are based on control and dominance (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey, 2010. p.55). Various member of this circle spoke of being taught about the divine in relation to the organized (patriarchal) religion that they were raised in. An interesting and most respectful discussion arose about Goddess. Some women thought that the divine had both male (God) and female (Goddess) energy. Other women thought that discussion of the male divine energy should not even be brought up within their circle. One of the most important aspects of this Womens Circle was the structure and principles upon which it functioned. Again, control and dominance were not the focus. Leadership was shared and rotated among all of the women. The quality of the circle experience was also a shared responsibility. The role of the guardianthe tool for aiding self-governance and returning the circle to intentionwas also a shared and rotated responsibility (Baldwin and Linnea, 2010). Confidentiality, using I statements, and listening with compassion and curiosity without interruption are other key agreements.

Womens Wisdom Circle Another major aspect of this Womens Circle was the process of self-discovery of identity at the micro/personal-level and the meso/community-level. Kirk and Okazawa-Rey (2010) note the major source of our understanding of our own lives is the ability to reflect and

compare experiences (p.60), an obvious strength of the Womens Circle. Again, despite the Womens Circle not being an academic endeavor, clearly they operate from the perspective of socially lived theorizing, that each persons experience is the starting point for new knowledge for each woman and for the group as a whole (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey, 2010, p.55). At both the micro/personal-level and meso/community-level, spirituality is a source of comfort, connection, inspiration, and meaning for many women (Kirk and Okazawa-Rey, 2010, p.55). Two important intentions of the Womens Circle are to celebrate myself and my spirituality and to use creativity, play, meditation, journal writing, ritual, silence, and deep personal sharing to deepen my spiritual work using the framework of creating connection and community. Another important aspect of both micro and meso-level identity is the concept of home. As Kirk and Okazawa-Rey (2010) note, home may be a geographic, social, emotional, and spiritual space where we hope to find safety, security, familiarity, continuity, acceptance, love and understanding, and where we can feel and be our best, whole selves (p.93). It is easy to see that the Womens Circle is both home and community.

Womens Wisdom Circle This was a profoundly moving and uplifting experience for me. My crazy life of work and school leaves me with little time for connecting spiritually with like-minded women. The collaboration and openness of the planning process reinforced my belief that the world needs more women in positions of power. Hearing the life experiences of all the different women as well as sharing my own in relation to the divine was moving and inspiring. The post-circle debriefing was a continuation of all the magic that

occurred from moment one. Again, it was an honor to be a part of this transformational experience.

Womens Wisdom Circle References Baldwin, C. & Linnea, A. (2010). The Circle Way, A Leader in Every Chair. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Kirk, G. & Oakazawa-Rey, M. (2010). Womens Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Schachter-Shalomi, Z. (1995). From Age-ing to Sage-ing: A Profound New Vision of Growing Older. New York: Warner Books.

Wisdomwork, LLC. (2012). Listening to My Souls Voice Circle Agreements. Wonstolen, J. (2009). Introduction to Women Studies. Denver: Metropolitan State University of Denver.