We have Three Event Reports from
Santa Cruz, California, USA
(one on March 7 and two on March 8)

Santa Cruz, March 7, 2003

Submitted by: Stephanie Ulrich along with Lynn, Rhonda & Marilyn (organizers)


A sacred event transpired in a huge dome-home on a Santa Cruz hilltop, perched between stars above and city lights below. About 20 females sat in a circle before a candlelit altar, spellbound by the lilt of soft music rising--cathedral-like--to ceilings high overhead. A hush held the softness in our hearts as we watched each female (from grandmother to high school student) take time to light her candle on the altar while setting her very own silent intention.

Before she turned around to peer into the circle of waiting faces--where she would hand the taper to another woman, of her choosing--each female surveyed the array of gifts and candles on the table beneath a veiled perch, where a Goddess statue presided, amethyst crystals inside her open belly, illuminated by an inner flame from which each of us would light the taper to ignite our own candle on the table below.

This candlelight ceremony, occurring near the end of our gathering, was reminiscent of ancient rituals through the corridors of time. The tender intensity of focus in the room was palpable. Who would have imagined that a roomful of virtual strangers would be so strongly entrained after only a couple of hours together?

It took a couple of months--for 4 of us--to plan, coordinate and host this event. A rich diversity of women arrived in a steady stream to enter our 'temple' where 7 thematic altars were arranged around the perimeter of the large circular room. Greeted by females in flowing silks, earthy greens, gossamer and blue jeans, participants were ushered to the candle-making tables where females fell to the innate art of craftwork and conversation.

Our 'welcome' included a reading of Gather-the-Women's 'Vision Statement' and 'Common Threads' position, followed by a time of personal introduction. Each female told a bit about herself, what she had brought and why she had chosen this particular 'gift' to give away. After her time of speaking she stepped forth to place her gift, along with the candle she had made, wherever she liked upon the flowing cascade of fabric on the altar beneath the goddess.

As our evening progressed we traveled across time and place--each woman in her own way--via guided meditation through the rich lineage of feminine wisdom, vulnerability and support, which stretches out behind and ahead of us. We walked slowly about the candlelit room exploring each altar as we listened to an explanation of 'the 7 veils' (theme upon which our altars were based), letting music draw us even deeper into that fertile feminine field of imagination.

In smaller groups, we did what woman have always done best--we talked and listened to one another beyond the allotted time! Each of our 4 groups had a theme (from one of the altars) as a springboard. We listened to ancient cyclic stories, unique for each of us in our moment ... a widow--suddenly alone in a house where silence is deafening after a lifetime of sharing it with her husband--now held gently by her female friends and ushered back into the adventure of living on her own in the world ... a young woman uncertain how to forge her own way amongst the overwhelming impact of peer pressure from her classmates, friends, and the media ... a breast cancer survivor celebrating the relief of good news from her most recent bone scan while acknowledging the difficulty of carrying such concern from 'test to test'... a mother, a grandmother and a single woman each trapped in 'roles' which may have outlasted their usefulness ... and on and on and on...

So much packed into 3 short hours! When we reached the candlelight ceremony it felt like we had all known each other forever--one of the magic things females can somehow accomplish!!! As the last candle was lit the music shifted to a middle-eastern flavor and one of our guests (a chiropractor and dancer) reentered the room veiled 7 times to dance in the midst of our circle, casting off scarf after scarf before the mesmerized eyes of a swaying group of appreciative women. Many joined her as she handed her scarves out to all of us and then there was food and tea, while the high dome ceiling echoed boisterous conversation about the room. It was during this celebratory time--just before she would sign the guest book and depart--that each one of us visited the altar to select exactly the gift which had been "meant for her"!

For each of us present at this event it was only a beginning. For each of us linked to this event across the planet this is only a beginning. Many of us, expressed how very much it meant to participate right now as the momentum of women gathering everywhere ripples out into our world. Thank you so much to Gather the Women for all your work in coordinating this opportunity!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is something we have talked about doing for a couple of years now--your initiative gave us the boost to seize the moment and act!

Gratefully yours, Stephanie (along with Lyn, Rhonda, and Marilyn) ~ on behalf of all of us who attended our local event in Santa Cruz! ~

SANTA CRUZ MARCH 8
Women's Solidarity and Forgiveness Event
 Submitted by: Shekhinah Mountainwater, Performer, Facilitator, Priestess
Attended by 200 women

Greetings dear sisters! Below is a description of a beautiful gathering held here in my home town on International Women's Day. Produced by Greeneye Records Foundation, a not-for-profit partnership of sisters who are activists for peace, sustainability, ecology, human rights, creative living, and women's liberation. This event was held in solidarity with International Women's Day, Gather the Women, The Global Women's Strike, and all the gatherings of women happening on this transforming and magical day. All these efforts in concert have succeeded in creating a start for true peace on earth!

Blessings to all,
Shekhinah Mountainwater

**************************

Hi everybody... it's one a.m. and I just got home from the International Women's Day event here in Santa Cruz. It went great!!! I am soooooooooo happy!!! Kelle Green did a fantastic job creating a beautiful sweet and love-filled gathering, with lots of support for women, for shifting the dominant paradigm, and honoring the Goddess. Diane's music was powerful, filling everyone with dance-abilities... a teen group theatre project charming and very pertinent on environmental issues, funny too!...Ann Simonton, veteran feminist activist who has been arrested 11 times for her outrageous public demonstrations and protests was eloquent and moving ... Suzanne Phial of Women's Alliance for Medical Marijuana (WAMM) in her wheelchair, speaking so gently saying powerful things about our sister the hemp plant...Tal, a beautiful sister who sang a glorious song about compassion... Janus Blume, wonderful sister priestess (of the God/Goddess Wiccan persuasion) who led a singalong...and the awesome women's empowerment drumming troupe Goddess of Funk... whooee!!! And then there was me.. LOL

I brought my tissues and my zinc tabs and my ocia and licorice root with me onstage, praying my voice wouldn't quit on me, (had a whopping case of flu) and sang three songs; "I Am A Woman of Women," "Lady Mother of All," a passionate psalm to the Goddess, and "The Buried Moon" which is an epic storytelling piece about the Moon Goddess coming down from the sky, getting buried under a stone, and later freed by the people... great metaphor for what's happening to women, right?

The audience was delightful... warm and open and receptive...they responded enthusiastically to everything we offered. After my set we did the spiral dance which I started with a meditation inspired by the one WalkingSheWolf sent to us earlier today (3/8)... thank you sys! We spiraled slow with lots of eye contact, and everyone could participate, including two gals in chairs... the love in that room was palpable. We said prayers for forgiveness and peace, abundance and many other good things. I called for all those still caught in hierarchies to step down and learn how to circle in egalitarian mode...to pass the rattle...share the power... with every voice heard and every presence honored...including humans, animals, plants, faeries and stones.

Kelle invited a few different groups to come set up tables around the perifory, with various offerings; sorry I didn't get a chance to go and see. But one table had prayer flags waving above it and folks were invited to go over and make their own...they looked beautiful. Clustered on stage were giant plants in big pots; kinda looked like a little forest! ...including my baby Solstice tree Treela, who we brought in search of a home for her. (Found one! :0) ) And at the back of the stage area were hung several gorgeous handwoven rugs, made by the Dine (Navajo) grandmothers at Big Mountain, Arizona. (Diane and Kelle have done many Big Mountain benefits and actions over the past 10 years. Last year I participated in three of these.) Kelle even created a backstage area for us performers, behind a theatre screen with a table of snacks, and places to sit and chill out... what a treat.

Kelle emceed powerfully, speaking in her rantish way about the changes needed on this planet. She read a great excerpt from a book called "Like There's No Tomorrow" about feminist activists... I hope to get the quote from her to send you..it was so great and really hit home to my heart... about how when a woman tells the truth in fairy tales she is rewarded and seen as a hero, but in life she is ignored and silenced. Or then if her idea does get acceptance it is carried by someone less honest or honorable than she... and if becomes widespread it is assumed everyone knew about it all along... gees, haven't we all been there!

This event was a miracle for me because of those very issues which have impacted my life profoundly. To be welcomed in my own lifetime, in my own community, singing and sharing the truth I've found, with true sisters around me... it is a dream come true. The world really must be changing, 'cause it couldn'tve happened otherwise... we're doing it systers!

Thank you systers, all of you who prayed and supported me... couldn't have done it without you, I'm sure! Together we have gathered our magic and systerly intention, and made a little more difference in the continuum. Blessed Be!!

Love and more love,
Shekhinah

SANTA CRUZ MARCH 8 GATHER THE WOMEN EVENT

Submitted by: Corrina Cop Rain McFarlane, Coordinator
Organizer/facilitator Circle of Six


I convened a March 8 GTW event in 'Seba's Rainbow Garden', a Healing Garden in the Santa Cruz mountains (Bonny Doon) where I am privileged to reside. I set the space inside the cottage which is my home. In the three days before the 8th I moved the bed and created a wall of imagery to set the scene

I was scheduled to speak and exhibit that evening on WomenRise for Global Peace, CodePink & Gather The Women, at International Women's Day Solidarity Event & Benefit Concert and I felt the need for a deeper/deepening circle prior to this big public event. I was prompted to put the call out to three other women and, later in the day, to three more. I was thinking small numbers (where two or three are gathered together...). On the morning of March 8 I set a side altar and a center-of-the-circle altar also, taking care that all elements were represented. I lit a fire, made soup, and saged the room. We ended up being six which, one of the women pointed out, was exactly the number in the main image, Penny McManigal's 'Dance the World' (millennium Dream Weaver) featured on the central altar in the circle.

© Penny McManigal e-Mail: PaxWeave@aol.com

We opened by reading GTW common intention and closed by all signing the GTW Declaration of Solidarity (now framed). Each of the women gathered are trail blazers/knowledge/faith keepers in their own right. As we emerged from our opening meditation, one who has held full moon tipi (women only) and Equinox & Solstice tipi (men & women) in this part of the mountains for more than 10 years, led us in honoring the seven directions - North, South, East, West, above, below, within. We moved into checking in, sharing, spilling forth and then at the moment I was about to strike the tibetan bowl with an invitation to take it deeper, our tipi woman shared an exquisite Hafiz poem ~ bringing up images of circle in nature... I've got the hint: there's something the beloved loves about circles....

This had the effect I was seeking and took everyone deeper into poems and songs and sharings. tears came at times, and the deep voice of grief. Our laughter was healing. We ate home made soup and tangerines together (breaking bread). We felt replenished and satisfied as we brought the circle to a close.