Wow… It’s hard to believe that I’ve been facilitating my Moon circles at the Fourth Universalist Society (fondly known as 4thU) for 27 years!
We started in one of the downstairs classrooms in October 1996 with Full Moon SisterCircles just for 4thU members, then added New Moon Circles two years later that were open to the public. I think it was at that point, too, when we moved up to our beautiful sanctuary.
For the next several years, wonderful “lunar-tics“ (which we were dubbed by one of our loving partners) from the congregation co-facilitated the Full Moon Circles with me. Somewhere in there, we even made those Circles coed for awhile at the request of several men, though that was short-lived. Then my dear friend and CircleSister, Carolyn MacLaury, shared Full Moon facilitating for a few more years before we dropped them completely and I just continued with the New Moon SisterCircles.
Ritual is basically symbolic action around a particular theme so there’s a major schlep factor involved when getting all those symbols to 4thU for a Circle! I have closets and file drawers filled with all the paraphernalia I’ve collected over the years to create beautiful altars and deep ritual experiences. Candles, incense, altar cloths, goddess statues, crystals, essential oil sprays… and that’s just the basic stuff before we get into what’s needed to create magical tools and takeaways for each circle.
Life is a series of cycles
But just as we follow the Sun through the cycles of the seasons and the Moon through its cycle each month from New to Full and back again, so too, do we move through our own cycles in our lives, projects, and relationships.
And it appears now that it’s time for my New Moon SisterCircles cycle to wind down.
It’s been such an extraordinary ride. I started offering them in the mid-90s as part of my Masters’ degree program when I would critique them each month as part of my curriculum. Since then, I’ve offered wonderful workshops at conferences all over the country on the power of transformative ritual. I even created and facilitated a year-long women’s spirituality program for 10 years that evolved directly from the Circles.
Virtual Circles will continue through The Wellness Universe
I’m so, so grateful for all the people and opportunities that have come into my life as a result of my SisterCircles. I’ll sorely miss connecting in that deep sacred space each month with extraordinary women, though I’m comforted knowing that I’ll be continuing my virtual New Moon SisterCircles through a wonderful online community I’m part of called The Wellness Universe. (You’re welcome to join us there at: https://bit.ly/NewMoonSisterCircles )
So thank you, thank you, to all of you who have supported me in big and little ways through this journey. It’s been a deep, expansive, and life-defining journey in so many ways. I do hope you’ll click here to join me on Sunday night, October 15th for my last Circle.
As I say to my coaching clients who are in the midst of big life transitions, you never know what will fill the space when you release or let go of something.
I’m so curious to see what shows up!