Circle Time: An Introduction

Hello, lovely ladies! How are y’all doing? Welcome. ♥

As you may already know, or have recently become aware of, I have been leading a monthly women’s circle since November 2018 . (And if you didn’t yet know… surprise!) I wanted to continue making these experiences available during this period of “distancing”, so I’ve decided to offer an online version of these events. I’m not entirely sure how all this will actually work… but we’ll figure that out as we go. 😉 As an added bonus, more women can actually participate in circle now – those who are working, who are ill/isolating, or who simply live too far away, can still enjoy these offerings even after a circle “gathering” has taken place (or not, whatever the case may be).

If you’re new to circles… let’s start with a little background as to why and how it all began for us, and what we’re all about. (Unless you want to just jump ahead to the next post, which is about the circles themselves…)

Growing up, my mother liked to dabble in various “new age” pastimes: yoga+meditation, visiting psychics, past life regression, NLP, Reiki… She was a single mum, so I often tagged along and had some… well, very interesting experiences at a relatively early age. 😉 I’ve always been a curious and nature-loving gal, and by the time I got to university I wanted to know even more about how this crazy world worked. I studied Zoology, Psychology, and Art… and came away with more understanding, but also many, many more questions.

After I moved out, I was introduced to tarot cards by a roommate. I had a very negative experience with them and have kept my distance from the Rider-Waite deck ever since… However, from a psychological and symbolic standpoint, I really loved the idea of using a tool such as these to provide a gateway into someone’s thoughts and emotions – ones that they may not be entirely conscious of themselves. I started researching a variety of modalities: the I Ching, numerology, oracle cards, astrology, meditation, even various aspects of witchcraft and druidry (as they appealed to my love of nature), but from more of a scientific frame of mind. I continued to explore for years…

Then I found a nice boy that my dog and I both loved. And we got married. And we had kids. Kids who required a lot of extra time and attention due to their health issues… and all of my exploration came to an abrupt halt. With the exception of mixing my EOs into soothing perfumes for myself, that is. 😉

Then, as the sleep-deprived veil of motherhood began to lift once more, I felt a deep need to heal. I started doing yoga again. I attended retreats in the mountains. I started updating my journals, and reconnecting via social media… and I once more started to explore a lot of new and interesting ideas. (And creating/making things… which is what the majority of this blog has been dedicated to previously, if you’d care to snoop. 😉 )

Along the way, someone invited me to attend a “full moon circle” that a friend of theirs was hosting. I totally loved the idea of women joining together in community, and honouring the beautiful full moon was right up my alley. Well… it was absolutely wonderful! I continued to attend regularly for well over a year. The rituals we performed, the discussions we had, the exercises we explored – it all combined into a beautiful (though sometimes messy) journey towards self-discovery. My heart broke a little bit when the hostess of these circles moved to the west coast and the circles abruptly stopped. I spent years afterward searching for another such group to join – without success.

Fast forward to March 2017. I was going for treatments for a frozen shoulder when I met Julia. Over several sessions, we got to talking about all sorts of things… Long story short, she encouraged me to create the circle I wanted to attend. She even offered to help me get one going! I would come up with the rituals and exercises and such, while she would provide a space for us to meet and touch on the more spiritual/metaphysical aspects. (Julia has a very interesting background which makes her perfect for this aspect of circle… but I will leave it to her to tell her own story if and when the time comes.) Anyhow. We tossed around ideas for months until the fall of 2018, when we planned on joint-hosting our first full moon gathering.

Sadly, the first two circles we tried to offer completely fell through! But I was SO determined to make this thing happen, that I ended up conducting a “circle of two” with my lovely friend Thyra instead. 😉 It was a great way to test out ideas, hear my own voice out loud, and get a feel for how things would work best in a bigger group. Practice… don’t you know.

By November, the stars finally aligned and we held our first official full moon “Infinity Circle” gathering. Of five fabulous ladies! Woo-hoo!!! And the rest is her-story. ♥ If you would like to learn more about the circle gatherings we’ve held (and are planning on trying to hold via the interwebs during the coming months)… please check out the next post. 🙂

Stay well, my friends. ♥