Yes we mean you. You, wonderful you. March enveloping is us with its manic energy as we rush towards the spring equinox with all the new beginnings that it brings. So please be kind to yourself with a gentle nod to the ebb and flow of our cycle that guides us to step up and when to step back. Whether you bleed or not, whether you track the seasons or live in a cave, whether you reach up to the stars or sit still in the quiet… we want to invite you in to sit beside us on cushions and drink tea.
As International Women’s Day gracefully holds a candle for women, it sees us, it hears us, it says ‘we are all wonder women’ By that I mean women in wonder and super hero magnetic forces for good. But this doesn’t always mean being everything to everyone. Sometimes it is about honouring what it is to be woman, a theme picked up by our sitting in circle feature from Lucy-Anne Holmes. In which she chronicles her own incredible journey to produce her first book on feminine sexuality called ‘Don’t Hold My head Down’ a frank memoir about how she found feminism through sex.
Lucy has kindly shared an excerpt from her book with us for this month’s newsletter, which she also shared with her red tent group, opening up about what it means to her to be both a woman and a red tent sister in the most raw and soul bearing way.
So this month we’re asking what womanhood means to you, throughout the spectrum, as we draw on the experiences of those who have gone before us, those we share our experience with now and the experiences of those to come. With red tents across the land holding a safe space to share this rich, cultural tapestry of womanhood across the ages. This month we welcome Rotes Zelt Gera in Germany and Uxbridge Red Tent in England. Thank you for joining us.
In other news we are skipping on the spot as we celebrate becoming a Community Interest Company. That’s means that it is official. After 6 years we can say we are fully formed, living and breathing and legally viable. If you are a donor you can knock on our door to support us and maybe one day this love filled project that we give so freely our time and pocket pennies to will be sustainable. Now there’s a wish for next time you see a shooting star!
Sitting In Circle with Lucy-Anne Holmes
I find it hard to explain the magic, healing and strong sense of sisterhood that Red Tent gives me. It is such an honour to witness and hold space for other women on their path of
The rituals of my youth involved kneeling before ‘holy men’, proclaiming myself sinful, unworthy, and asking for forgiveness. This is oh so exquisitely different. We women mark the moon’s new cycle by sitting in
And we rise.
Over the months and
I wrote the following words one morning, and a voice in my head said ‘read this out at Red Tent tonight’. I’d never shared anything from my book at this point. I was shaky to do so. But since that moment my RT sisters have cheered me, and the project, on. I was asked to read this passage again before the book officially launched, as they wanted to bless it into the world.
I honestly don’t think I could have published such a book without the support of my Red Tent sisters, with them I continue to be braver and bolder in the world, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart.
When I stand
When I stand in front of another and I love myself entirely, when I love my face and my thighs and my breasts and can ignore all the bullshit that people trying to sell me stuff tell me.
When I love the woman that I am.
When I take the stories of all those who have gone before me, and all those who are here now, who suffer because they are women, those who are raped, murdered, beaten, cut, denied a voice, a vote, an education, when I take their stories and hold them to my own, when I draw on the strength of the women who fought for my rights to vote, to earn, to own property, to be able to have sex for pleasure.
When I stand in front of another knowing that my body is miraculous and that I am wonderful. I am love. I am truth. I am strength. I am woman. I am mother, daughter, sister, ally, healer, visionary, mystic. I am fucking magic.
When I look into the eyes of another and I accept their love and their respect and their wonder.
And I say,
‘Come, touch my breast, gently with your fingertips.’
Well, when we do that, I think the earth moves a bit, and the tide turns a touch quicker.