Ishtar Rising

~ Women's Mystery Workshops ~

A sequence of five workshops exploring and celebrating facets of women's embodied experience and spiritual lives,
as received by Catherine in an wave of inspiration during 1995.

(NB. The ideas for the Bright Blood process were trialled with great success by a small group of women in 1995,
but the other workshops/processes outlined here remain untested at date of publication.)

Bright Blood - Celebrating women's bleeding
In the Gold of Flesh - Embodying womanhood
Into The Labyrinth - Connecting with centre
Reclaiming Lillith - Passion, sex and spirituality
Bony Old Crone - Women, Aging and Death

Standard Workshop Format for the five workshops

Friday 7:30 - 9pm (Introduction, questions, bonding ritual)
and Saturday 10am - 4pm. Bring lunch to share.

BRIGHT BLOOD - Celebrating women's bleeding

PROGRAMME:

Friday Evening

Arrivals, Welcome
Self-introductions, what brought people
Introduction to the content of the workshop - what you can expect
Questions & concerns
Logistics, what to bring for tomorrow, etc
Group bonding & confidentiality ritual
- the best & worst things about being a woman
- affirming confidentiality
- giving each other space
Tea & biscuits

Saturday Morning

Arrive to start at 10am.
Opening circle.
Sharing First Blood stories - Making of menarche shields.
Drink break
Making of poppets to represent Young Self (Reflect on what messages you might want to give your young self)

Saturday Afternoon

After lunch check in.
Set up the space for the ritual
Menarche celebration ritual with poppets
(Sharing circle)
Celebratory afternoon tea
Closing circle.

In the Gold of Flesh - Embodying Womanhood

PROGRAMME OUTLINE

Friday Evening

as for Bright Blood

Saturday Morning

Arrive to start at 10am.
Opening circle.
Conception to birth process with partners (1 hour)
Sharing and tea
Respectful loving touch - group massage (45mins - 15 mins per person in 3s)

Saturday Afternoon

Check in after lunch
Making breast plates - armour for the spiritual warrior woman (45 mins)
Dressing & body adornment (30 mins)
Celebratory dance & feast (1 hr)
Sharing and closing circle.

Description of processes

Conception to birth partner process
One partner is "mother" the other is "child". An exploratory and repatterning process guided by the facilitator. Give participants permission to revisit as deeply or lightly as they are comfortable with. To start, the Child curls up under a blanket. Mother holds her. Facilitator guides child to connect with her conception & in utero experience, reflect on whatever is known of the circumstances, tune in to the feeling of it. Then let go of any unwanted or unhelpful messages & feelings, especially around sexuality/being a woman/being in a body. Then plant new information (with womb sounds tape in the background). Then invite child to be born ("It's a girl!"), and mother to hold the child.. Repeat process of contacting the messages & feelings, specifically around being born female. Mother & child then switch roles.

Respectful loving touch process
Acknowledge that many of us have experienced abusive touch and/or negative messages about our bodies. Invite women to undress only as much as is comfortable for them, and empower women to say where they would like to be touched and how they would like to be touched. Form groups of 3. Make sure that everyone is comfortable with the others in their group. Lead groups through a connecting, tuning in process prior to commencing massage. Two women giving, one receiving, for 15 minutes and then swap. Guide masseuses to connect first with the auric/energy body and seek permission from the body to move in deeper.

Armour for the spiritual warrior - breast plate
This is a decorative breast shield emblazoned with the words "I AM" and any other words the woman feels inspired to add. It is an affirmation of our innate value, our strength and pride in ourselves as women. It is a reminder and an affirmation of our right to take up space in the world, to be our unique selves. It is an affirmation of our capacity to create clear boundaries around our bodily and emotional selves. In consciously creating and wearing this spiritual armour, we declare our intention and our capacity to protect our soft selves, but also to choose when to set that protection aside.

Inspirational Poetry/Readings:

"the soft animal of your body"

INTO THE LABYRINTH - Connecting with centre

The intention of the ritual is to allow each woman to seek healing and/or the answer to a significant question, and to renew her connection with the Deepest Mystery (however she understands it).

Opening circle. Talk about the labyrinth.

Prepare the space.

Cleanse the space with water and incense.
Lay out a labyrinth on the floor (eg. Chartres Labyrinth)
At the centre place a small mirror, candle, 4 elements, a pair of chopsticks or tweezers and two bowls - one containing 33 small stones, beads or beans, the other empty.

Cleanse and prepare ourselves (eg. smudging, Tree of Life)

Guided meditation of some kind in which we tune in to our questions/what we are seeking.

Labyrinth ritual.

Form circle around the outside of the labyrinth.
Call in the four directions, lighting candles.
Charge of the Star Goddess.
Each woman in turn is blindfolded, turned 3 times, led to the entrance, interacts with the gatekeepers, and has her blindfold removed. The other participants hold the energy around the outside of the circle. (Music - Kore, Libre Vermeil de Monserrat, or similar). The initiate makes her way through the labyrinth. At the centre she connects with the Mystery, places her offering, lays her question/seeking in the lap of the Goddess. She may choose to use the transferring of the stones, one at a time, from one bowl to the other as a centering meditation to allow her to receive an answer.. When she feels ready, she makes her way back through the Labyrinth. The next woman is then blindfolded, and so on..
When all have completed, we give thanks for the Mystery in some way, ground and take down the labyrinth.
Sharing.
Closing circle. Each woman is given a pendant with the image of the labyrinth on it.

Reclaiming Lilith

PROGRAMME OUTLINE

Friday Evening

as for Bright Blood

Saturday

Ideas, still forming:-

Opening circle.

Lilliths story

The experience of pain in our relating with men

Passion, sexuality and rage.

Mask making

Sharing circle on contraception and abortion.

A ritual to make friends with Lilith.

Bony Old Crone - Women, aging and death

I think this is potentially a life-changing initation process, potentially very confronting.
It would be a pre-requisite to have done at least 2 of the preceding four workshops.

Programme

Friday Evening

Arrivals, Welcome
Self-introductions, what brought people
Introduction to the topic
- hand outs on croning rituals
Introduction to the content of the workshop - what you can expect
Questions & concerns
Logistics, what to bring for tomorrow, etc
- light lunch (& juice/nibbles if you need to sustain yourself during ceremony)
- feast food for after the Healing Fire Ceremony
- cushions/meditation stool (to sit comfortably for approx 3 hours)
Group bonding & confidentiality ritual
- affirming confidentiality
- giving each other space
Tea & biscuits

Saturday Morning (10am - 12pm)

Opening circle (30 mins)

Wisewoman receipes (1 hour)

Of crones and croning (30 mins)

Saturday Afternoon & Evening (1pm - 9:30 pm) Physical preparations for the ceremony

Healing Fire Ceremony (Begin around 1:30pm)

In a private, preferably dark, space (eg. a tipi, sweatlodge or cave)

Women sit in a close circle around a small ceremonial fire.

Goddess is invoked.

Each woman brings herself into the circle. (~ 30 mins)

The ritual intention is declared.

Rounds with a sacred (old woman) rattle:

Pain
Loss
Madness
Isolation
Dying

Women speak from the heart of how these expressions of the Dark Mother have touched their lives, their fears, or honour the silence (3 - 4 hours?).

After each round the fire is fed with twigs and herbs.

Ritual dismemberment of a Goddess icon, which is then given to the fire, followed by ritualised expression of grief. (30 mins - ideally this would happen at around sunset eg. 5.30 in midwinter)

Trance dance (with drum) (30 - 45 mins)

Group visioning (from the dark spaces between - seeing outside the wheel of time, seeing how the cycle returns upon itself to connect with its beginning) (30 mins)

Reconstituting the Goddess in our own hearts and minds,
- the women together then consecrate each woman's body as a living temple of the Goddess. (45 mins)

Feasting (45 mins)

Closing circle (30 mins).

(eg. Finish approx 9:30 pm.)

GIVEAWAYS Crone ritual material (photocopies?)

Certificate (for any woman who has attended all 5 workshops)

Invitation to a Women's Circle Weekend, 199?

Dear Friends,
You are invited to share in a
Women's Circle Weekend
from Friday evening (12th July)
to Sunday afternoon (14th July 1996)
at beautiful Milmeray,
Gidgegannup
I'm calling together a small gathering of friends for an experimental women's retreat weekend, and would be delighted if you
were able to join us!
The intention is to spend some time in a gentle exploration of the Mysteries of Womanhood, with the possibility for deep sharing and affirmation of our essential selves. I will be facilitating the weekend, with a minimal amount of structured activity, and a maximum of being together in a loving, affirming space. Babies and little ones are welcome, and will be an integral part of our sharing!
The weekend is bound to include some ritual, dancing, drawing, massage and healing, possibly some divination, drumming and music making, & whatever else we can fit! Above all lots of listening and sharing from the heart!!
...Moon-blood... Sexuality... Partnership... Conception... Pregnancy & Birthing... Motherhood... Midwifery... Grandmotherhood... Aging... Dying... the sky is the limit!
$25 covers cost of accomodation plus any incidental expenses, Bring food to share.
I'm a little late getting invites out, so RSVP (443 3746) as soon as you can, please.
Bright blessimgs! Catherine

* Catherine de Garis ~ Priestess *