The Call

A call went out. Through the ripples of time it made it’s way to my open heart and my willing mind. I’ve heard if before. This time, I am answering.

I am embarking on an adventure, a Healing Quest. It is the Native American woman’s version of a vision quest. I have done the male warrior version but always felt there was a different way. I have found guidance about the kind of vision quest that my heart has always known; that women are different and that we need a different kind of quest. That seeking our vision requires connecting with our creative, nurturing, compassionate spirit.

A Healing Quest requires a year long commitment of preparation and I am committing 2010 to my Healing Quest and my intention of creating a retreat center for women. The year of preparation entails-- 3 days of silence every month, the first 3 days of your menstrual cycle (your moon) if you are still bleeding or the full or new moon if you are not. This is the time you are the most receptive and these 3 days of silence are a time for you to be nourished, to rest and to be creative with no outside influence. No reading, music with words, tv, computer, etc. You can use this time to write, cook, garden, spend time in nature, paint, make art, etc. It’s a good idea even if you aren’t wanting to do a Healing Quest.

I am inspired by a book that I have had for probably ten years. It has traveled across the United States with me a couple of times and yet I hadn’t really read it, until a few months ago. A book about the ancient stories of the feminine, the Legacy of Women and the Sisterhood as told through the teachings of Native American traditions. Stories that are helping me to reclaim parts of myself that have been silent or missing, stories that are reminding me of who I am and what I have come here to do. What we as women are and can do individually and together. The 13 Original Clan Mothers, Your Sacred Path to Discovering the Gifts, Talents and Abilities of the Feminine Through the Ancient Teachings of the Sisterhood, by Jamie Sams.

I am also imspired by and honored by the women who created the Women’s Movement of many years ago. Women who created equality for women by saying we are the same as men, we deserve equal pay. These women have done amazing work and yet, what I have found is that the pay is not equal and we have gained the added burden of still having to do all of the domestic chores we had done before. What we need is a men’s movement!

I would like to offer a different perspective, one that says we are all equal because we ARE. As women we have special gifts and talents that make us different and by honoring what makes us different we reclaim those parts of ourselves that we had separated from; our kindness, compassion, vulnerability, intuition, creativity and our capacity as healers and leaders. We have also lost our community. Women used to form groups to help one another, to relax and enjoy each other’s company and to just BE together. Some are working to recreate this. We need to create bonds of help, support and unity and eliminate pettiness, criticism and judgment.

As we remember and reclaim our sacredness, we take back our place as equals in this world; as whole and healed women who know their true value and live in their true power. Not through fighting, competition and manipulation but through love and compassion. It’s the Legacy of Women, and a Sisterhood that was created thousands of years ago. Where women take their roles as the Guardians of beauty, harmony, equality and peace. Jamie Sams speaks of this in her book, The 13 Original Clan Mothers, the Sisterhood whose creed is, “Life, Unity and Equality for Eternity.”