Women Gathering

Making Ceremonies Honoring Together the Cycles of Nature.

I live in Zimbabwe in the Southern hemisphere. Autumn is at its beginning. The rainy season is close to the end and one of the most beautiful times of the year is approaching. Everything is blossoming and the colors are so rich and saturated that I often get lost in a creative day-dreaming.

I used to say that in this period a flower is not red but double red, not orange but double orange. With the light changing it’s possible to see hundreds of different greens, each one a different lyric singing to my heart.

This morning a dear friend of mine invited me among a group of powerful women to celebrate the coming of the Autumn Equinox, with the making of a Mandala.

We shared our intents, mine was to honor this time of the year when the fallen leaves become mulch on the ground protecting and feeding the soil, where seeds will find nutrition to start their life again.

As peacemaker I prayed for our leadership to acknowledge and recognize that we cannot always live in summer, that it’s not possible to harvest at all times. Crops are not always there to be taken as everything has its own duration. When things don’t change following the natural life cycles, they stagnate and then fester.

We began our quest by connecting to Mother Earth to receive guidance with the support of All Elements, Water, Air and Fire. We dispersed in my friend’s fairy garden full of magic. For fifteen minutes we silently gathered flowers, leaves, dried fruits, pods and herbs.

I felt a strong pull towards a grape vine on a pergola. Perfect timing! Its leaves were turning brown, they asked me to be picked. I knew those leaves meant for me a coming home and wanted to be placed in the outer circle of our Mandala. I come from Sicily and this is the time for vendemmia, the harvesting of grapes to make wine. It’s the time where you can see in the field all shades of green, red and purple.

Then my feet walked me to the kitchen side of the house. It was a triumph of granadilla fruits hanging by the pergola on the porch. Some were on the floor. I picked some of them and then I moved to a flowerbed full of old stems of at one time blue agapanthus. I collected those green stars.

After being called, we made our way back to the fire pit that was going to hold our creation. We commonly created a centre piece and then we started to place all our findings. One decided that she needed to start from the centre with an outward spiral, made with orange bignonia flowers. Then we were all dancing and weaving all these natural elements on the ground.

We finished, we admired it and everyone shared her intent. I learnt that there is so much beauty into fallen leaves, that there is so much perfection in the imperfection. We need to let our growth open, spiraling out and at the same time, we need to be held by a secure outer circle, so that we can allow our strength and vulnerability as women, to be expressed in a safe space.

Our intents were sealed one by one with a shower of dates to enrich our Mandala. We celebrated and drank coffee and went back to our day with a full heart.
Recently I read a post mentioning that whenever a group of women comes together the planet heals a bit more. I know that our ceremony today did that in ways that are not clear yet. Once our heart and intent is there, manifestation can only happen.

I know that many healing circles are happening all over the world. We are honoring what for centuries now has been disrespected and abused by Man. I strongly believe that everyone in our own small way, has the responsibility to bring back balance to this planet as well as ourselves.

I would like for you to share in the comment section what you are doing today to bring balance in your life and on this planet.