2 Photos of the lovely surroundings, taken of the area from behind our cabin:
Saturday was another awesome morning, waking up to the coolness and morning dew on the grass. I actually slept until 6 a.m. – which believe me is a miracle (at home I’m usually awake several times during the night and stay up from 3 a.m. on). I wasn’t sore or stiff which was another miracle, considering all the walking I had done the day before and all the dancing and running around the cicle I did the night before at the ritual. I spent about 30 minutes down at the sacred fire meditating and journaling. The birds were chirping, the sun was just beginning to rise. It was a wonderful experience to be surrounded by Mother Nature in all her awesome beauty.
I have notes on the meditation at the fire which I will write about in a separate post. I also awoke with a lot of images and inspirations in my head that just had to be jotted down – but they were not for me or Mama Kelly – but for one of the lovely vendors we had met the day before (I’ll post details about that in our Vendor Spotlight post later on). Under normal circumstances I would have thought I was losing my marbles a little, but here, on sacred ground and open to spirit with other like-minded womyn I accepted the inspiration and messages from spirit and passed them along.
Mama Kelly: Lady Rose is always good like that. She has on many other occassions served as a “message taker” for the Universe and happily passed on ideas and/or information to other people. Additionally her ideas were wonderful and I hope that the vendor in question uses some of these ideas in her work as I want to buy one for myself!!
Breakfast was pancakes with fruit topping optional and oatmeal, as well as the usual cold breakfast fare and of course tea and COFFEE! (nectar of the Goddess).
At 10 a.m. we were off to our Essential Reiki II class. It was as awesome as the first. It’s hard putting into words just how much it meant for us to be taking Reiki at this time in our lives. We both attended the class without taking notes – and trust me folks for Mama Kelly and I that just never happens, because we are both compulsive “A” student types. We were both a bit surprised when we realized we had no paper or pen with us, but we just smiled and relaxed and enjoyed the class. There was, of course, a handout with all the necessary information that we would need. But it was definitely a learning experience for us to just “let go” and ”experience” the class rather then jotting down every single word that the teacher said on to paper.
Mama Kelly: It was funny. As Lady Rose has implied, and I will come right and say, I am a living incarnation of one Miss Hermione Granger. I always take notes. Always!! This time around I wasn’t even tempted. I simply tried to absorb it all.
Taking Reiki for me right now is about reaffirming myself as a Witch and Priestess. For me being a Witch is about being able (and willing) to help and heal in times of need. Since our return I have used Reiki to help Miss Nibble’s with a couple of headaches and on a stranger in a doctor’s waiting room who was in a great deal of pain and emotional distress (the later with the intent that if her Spirit was not open to the energy that it move on to someone who would be).
As we left the Reiki II class we slowly walked a tree lined path that went by two tennis courts on our left and cabins to our right. We heard a rustling of leaves (like the sound you hear in the fall when the wind blows a pile of leaves). At first we didn’t think much of it, but the sound got louder and louder. When we looked over at the tennis court there was a whirlwind funnel of leaves swirling along the fence moving at the same pace we were walking. When we noticed it, the sound got louder and louder, and we just looked at each other and said “do you see that?”. At first we thought there must be some kind of blowing unit or something in the tennis court, but as we kept walking we didn’t see anything that could be causing the wind to behave like that. As we reached the last corner of the tennis court the whirlwind got bigger and bigger picking up everything from the corner, we waved and said “hello” to who ever or what ever it was, and it stopped. Just like that. No rustling, no lingering breeze or floating leaves. We smiled and waved and said thank you to the air elemental or fairies or who or whatever, as we went on our way.
Mama Kelly: Yes this really happened!! It was either the smallest (and most isolated) tornado in recorded history or it was some kind of elemental or fairy. At the time I deemed it the later and invited any friendly fairies to feel free to hop in my bag and follow me home. Fast forward to tonight while I was rearranging my freezer. A small bracelet crafted from blue (almost sparkly) metal links fell out of an open bag of frozen peas and landed at my feet. I can tell you without any doubt that this was the work of a fairy. Noone recognizes it and dare I repeat myself – it fell out of a bag of peas!!!
We had a nice lunch, though I don’t remember what it was, but I know all the meals tasted wonderful. We browsed some more at the vendors. We picked up a few things for our daughters and I decided to get a tie-dyed t-shirt with an image of a tree (I’ll have to remember to take a photo of it). I had warned the folks at work that I would wear something “weird” the first back to the office – so I just had to have at get a tshirt to bring home.
For some reason we thought our afternoon class (Mystic Maps) was at 2:45 p.m. We strolled down to the building where it was suppose to be very early, but there was a sign saying it was at an outdoor location near the dining hall. So we walked back up that way and decided to wait inside the dining hall until class time. A nice young woman sat down with us about 2:30ish and we started talking. She asked what we were up to that afternoon and we mentioned the class – she said oh that started at 2, and here they come now – the class was coming inside because it had started to rain. We decided that rather then join the class late we would just relax a bit instead.
We ended spending the afternoon helping peel sweet potatoes for that night’s dinner. It was a fun time sitting around a big table and chatting with the other women. It also felt good to be getting in our volunteer time. (Note: Womon Gathering is a community affair, everyone pitches in to make the event happen.) So our afternoon was well spent. And it was good for us to not have to fill every single minute of the day with a class or ritual, which in the past has been that way we attended conference decades ago cramming in as much as we could into every minute.
The rain storm was pretty awesome. The generator did go out for a few hours – which meant no electricity (so no pump which meant no water) – but candles and flashlights were gathered and everyone was prepared to deal with the situation. Some of the young girls and women danced in the rain a little. Others gathered in the dining hall in a circle singing songs. Power and lights were restored in time to cook dinner and the air was fresh and crisp from the rain.
Mama Kelly: When they made the announcement that the lack of lights also meant a lack of water I heard that inner voice that I associate with the Goddess. (I happen to believe that the Divine speaks to each of us often we just rarely pay attention.) This time she spoke of the need for all of us to realize how easily we could all find ourselves lacking those necessities of life which we take for granted. How easily we could all find ourselves living in a world where water is rationed, where water has to be hauled once more.
Dinner tasted especially good, tofu and roasted sweet potatoes and small red-skinned potatoes, with the usual salad, soup and bread fare.
After dinner some of the students from the Reiki class met up for a “reiki share”. Since everything was wet outside we couldn’t meet in the arranged outside location and other accommodations had to be found. Half the class ended up back at our cabin in the unused room and the other half ended up at a different location – but our instructor found both groups and stopped in. We practiced Reiki in groups for awhile (with 4 or 5 sets of hands on one person) for a little over an hour. We decided that we all really enjoy giving and also receiving (“reiki sponges”). One lovely womyn (also a “reiki sponge” hehehe) who had taken reiki the year before stopped by for the reiki share, we had her lay down on the bunk with at least six pairs of hands on her. When our instructor stopped in she told her, we were all “A” students. Afterwards we spent some time just hanging out and chatting with the other womyn.
Mama Kelly: The Reiki share was wonderful. So much so in fact that Lady Rose and I found ourselves wondering if we could work something out next year involving something a little more formal and bring along her massage table as the beds were a difficult height to work with comfortably.
Mama Kelly and I were so relaxed we decided that instead of going to the ritual that night we would rather spend more time at the sacred fire. Having the time to sit quietly in a sacred space, to meditate, watch the flames, and just “be” was extremely renewing and healing for our heart, mind and spirit.
Mama Kelly: It was during this visit to the Fire that I found a way to finally make use of my prayer beads. It is not yet complete as there are still beads as yet “unassigned”. But I walked away from the fire with the words for one prayer that seemed so right for me.
“Elemental Spirits, Guardians & Guides, Gods & Goddesses make me more aware of your presence in my daily life.”
Afterward we left the sacred fire space we sat at the nearby gazebo. We ended up doubling over in laughter over something, and it was the kind of laughter that just welled up in giggles, snorts, drippy nose and eyes, and any attempt at stopping it only increased it’s intensity. We laughed so much our cheeks and tummies were hurting and we loved every second of it. It was a true gift to ourselves to have time to relax, enjoy each other’s company, and drink in the sacredness, beauty and peacefulness of our surroundings.
Mama Kelly: This attack of the giggles was truly one of my favorite parts of Womongathering. It was the kind of laughter that just skirts the edge of sobs. It opens up your heart and allows you to thoroughly feel yourself and the moment and eliminates the possibility of worry or angst.
Before bed we did our homework (40 days doing self-reiki). After I rolled over on my side and got comfy under the sheet I thought about doing some reiki as I drifted off to sleep, but didn’t want to lay on my back so I could place both hands on my abdomen, since I don’t fall alseep well when on my back. As I lay wondering whether I should roll over, I felt two hands lightly touching my back. If I hadn’t been facing Mama Kelly’s bunk and knew for sure that she was in bed, I would have sworn she had read my mind, gotten up and was doing reiki on my back. Thinking I must be imagining things (“again”), I adjusted my shirt and the sheet thinking that they must be laying in such a way that it just “feels like hands on my back.” Well even after pulling the sheet down and adjusting the shirt I was wearing I could still feel the light pressure of hands and a glowing warmth from them on my back. I decided to get comfy and stay on my side, said “thank you” to who ever it was and promptly drifted off to sleep.
The level of relaxation, openness and connection to “spirit” while at Womon Gathering is truly amazing.
Bright Blessings, Lady Rose and Mama Kelly
Note: More posts about Womon Gathering will be coming for the next few days.
Written by Lady RoseTags:womongathering
