The third and final of our Open Spirit resurrection appearances, took place in the Wood Sisters Red Tent at Quest in late July where Open Spirit hosted a full day programme on Sunday 27th of July with a theme of Welcoming the Sabbath Bride.
Our Quest weekend had started on Thursday as members of all the Living Spirit groups, Wood Sisters and friends got together to transport, raise and decorate the Red Tent as a sanctuary space for Quest Festival. It was a real pleasure to bring all these different people together, including men and women across several generations (from mid teens to great grandmothers) and create community together for the weekend.
Sam started the morning with a moving meditation on being held by the Great Mother. It was a great blessing to start the day with about 30 women gathered together in stillness. Open Spirits Juliette and Hilda then held open sanctuary space, while outside the Red Tent Katie kindly ‘womaned’ the stall and welcome desk.
After elevenses, Sam’s workshop on the Divine Feminine transported us back to the Biblical times of the Matriarch Sarah through a trance telling of her story which rooted back into Ancient Mesopotamian culture and religion, portraying Sarah as a priestess of Ur. (Based on the book, Sarah the Priestess, written from her doctoral research by Savina Teubal). For some participants this gave a whole new perspective and connection with the Hebrew Bible and the matriarchal roots of Judaism and Christianity.
More open sanctuary followed, held this time by Totnes Vicar Debbie Parsons and artist and writer, Helen Sands, with soulful harp and singing from musician and thanatologist, Abigail Robinson. After lunch our final workshop was given by Ian and Gail Adams of Beloved Life who introduced us to several female mystics from throughout the ages, from a Desert Mother to contemporary poet Mary Oliver. Quotes, reflections and original poems from Ian’s new book Unfurling were woven together beautifully with time for quiet, sharing and a simple ritual.
The day and the weekend concluded with a collaborative ceremony co-ordinated by Debbie, Helen and Sam. We gathered through silence and song and then named some of the aspects of the Divine feminine & masculine which had been invoked during the day… Nanna and Ningal, Inanna and Dumuzi, Asherah and Yahveh, Mary and Jesus… and engaged with the following words from Clarissa Pinkola Estes & the Bible, illustrated with a simple mime
From ‘Untie the Strong Woman’ (Blessed Mother’s Love for the Wild Soul)
‘The Mother I most often carry with me everywhere is the Woodsister La Nuestra Señora,
Our Lady of Guadalupe, she whose mantle is fashioned of moss from the north side of trees at sunset, she who has star shards caught in her wild silver hair.Her gown is soft, coarse-woven cloth with the thorns and weed seeds and petals of wild roses caught in it.
She has dirty hands from growing things earthy, and from her day and night work alongside her hard-working sons and daughters, their children, their elders, all.’
‘Any human being needing comfort, vision, guidance, or strength is heard by the Immaculate Heart…..And thus, Blessed Mother arrives immediately with veils flying, to place us under her mantle for protection, to give us that one thing the world often longs for so :
the warmth of the mother’s compassionate touch.’
‘…and we all, with unveiled faces, beholding the glory of the Source of all Being are being transformed into the same image, from one degree of glory to the other.For this comes from the Source who is spirit.’
(2 Corinthians. 3:18)
Then we shared a collaborative ceremony of passing on the veil or mantle of priest’hood’ and taking it in turns to give and receive blessing, closing with a final circle of hebrew song and shared prayers of thanksgiving which made a beautiful conclusion to our time in the Red Tent. Deep thanks to all who worked so hard throughout the day to offer a warm welcome, inspiration, creativity and sanctuary.
Following our Open Spirit presence at the Wood Sisters Winter Festival, another small step in this resurrection process was taken during Holy Week. Inspired by Mary Magdalene and Maundy Thursday, I and soul friend, Helen Sands, invited a group to join us for a collaborative ceremony at my home during Holy Week.
Helen had found encouragement in Clarissa Pinkola Este’s book ‘Untie the Strong Woman’ and we both drew inspiration from Cynthia Bourgeault’s writing on restoring the sacrament of anointing. So within our afternoon we wove together bible passages from John’s Gospel, of Mary anointing the feet of Jesus and Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, with some beautiful original poetry written by Helen.
Our vessel for the afternoon was drawn from the collaborative communion pattern that we have used in many Living Spirit groups over the years. So we began to gather together physically in Dartington and gathered ourselves inwardly and drew together spiritually as a group by lighting a central candle and settling into some silent meditation.
Moving on to engage with some sacred teaching, I offered some thoughts on the meaning of this spiritual season, drawing upon pagan reflections on the Spring Equinox, Jewish teachings about Pesach/Passover and the Christian inspiration of Holy Week. It was a blessing to have members of all these spiritual traditions within the group, who added their own insights and experience, such that this was very much a sharing of collaborative wisdom.
Helen then added her reflections on the Gospel passages with her poetry and passed around some beautiful images including a carved detail of Mary anointing the feet of Jesus and paintings of Mary at the foot of the Cross by Giotto and others.
Much as I’d love to include all of Helen’s writing, I’ll share just the shortest piece here:
At the Foot of the Cross
My sisters sit like ancient stones around his slumped body, ancient, eternal, as if in memory they have mourned every death since the beginning of time. Rooted they sit, wailing, weaving the cloth of keening into his shroud.
Mary his mother embraces his head, his shoulders. The weight of him is in her lap. She will never let him go from her gaze, her embrace.
I sit at his feet. I hold them, one in each hand. Stone cold. Shocking. Both feet broken, pierced through by nails, bloody and torn. Never to tread the earth again.
Rocking gently to and fro, all I can do is hold them. From my heart the oil will come to anoint him. I have nothing else. From my heart, this tide of pain and of my tears. Anointing.
After a space for everyone to contribute their own responses, thoughts, feelings and experience, we moved on to share our own washing and anointing ceremony. The group formed in pairs and each pair found their own sacred space either in the house or outside in the garden. Then we quietly took it in turns to wash and dry each others feet and then anoint them with fragrant oil, including the option of spikenard oil (or nard) as mentioned in the Bible.
This was a very deep experience of communion, of a sacred giving and receiving that really felt touched by both a very personal and a transpersonal love. It felt especially meaningful to meet in such a sensual and embodied way and for this to be happening within the greater holding of nature, beneath the sun and the trees, on the good earth in the garden.
Our afternoon concluded as we joined back together in a circle to share our reflections on the ceremony and to bless each other through singing together and pray that blessings would flow through us into our families, communities and the world. In the spirit of death and rebirth, slavery and freedom, loss and love and the re-balancing the masculine and feminine that had woven through the afternoon, we sang Down to the River to Pray, which was first published in ‘Slave Songs of the United States’ in 1867 with the following lines:
As I went down in de valley to pray,
Studying about dat good old way,
When you shall wear de starry crown,
Good Lord, show me de way.
O sister let’s go down,
let’s go down, let’s go down,
O sister, let’s go down,
Down in de valley to pray.
Our version, following this inspiration, went on to include brothers, mothers, fathers and more…and the day ended in a final agape feast of tea and home made cake. With heartfelt thanks to all who joined us.
