One love, One tribe.

Driving up Wheeler Road in Grafton on a bitter cold winter night was delightful. A mix of nerves and anticipation was mixing together, rising like a wave in my womb. The moon, clearly visible, mocked me as I drove along. I was hoping to find this barn with no problem and also hoping that my tires would be able to handle whatever I drove them over. Barns tend to call my name, and as I suspected, this one was just the same. A massive barn stood just off the road, through the windows, glimpses of red shone through. I pulled into the drive without a moments hesitation.

Once I parked my vehicle, I paused for a moment to center myself and apply hand lotion, both essential things most of us don't take the time to do. I felt the red singing through the windows. I gathered my things, making sure to take as little as possible with me. The Carmel turtle cheesecake I had picked up at the grocery store was an exciting prospect to satisfy my sweet tooth. The lot had been cleared as well as the walk from the storm we had just finished hours earlier. I walked into the barn and was stepping into my next adventure.

Jillian and Amy were warm and welcoming as soon as I entered the room. Taking the time to introduce ourselves and having a chat seemed the natural thing to do. I asked Jillian her name several times, as it didn't stick to the inside of my mouth as easily as Amy's name did. She was a charming dear, as she assured me that she forgets names as well. I then excused myself to find the Goddess. Amy and Jillian told me she wasn't too far.

I went around a corner and saw the woman I had come to meet that night. She stood there with a smile on her face as she chatted merrily with another woman. As soon as I entered the room, she noticed and smiled. We had a fantastic hug. So delightful to meet someone I connected with so quickly over the confines of the online experience. She was just as I expected. The Goddess, Oceana, welcomed me warmly and introduced me to some new friends. We looked over the bounty of decadent foods. Each woman coming with a offering of food. These offerings are one of the simple ways we choose to nurture and love one another in this sacred space.

We shared the feast and some fellowship for awhile. It seemed to become quiet in the space and the smell of sage began lofting through the air. I approached the red tent space with hesitation, not quite sure what the correct protocol was for entering. I stood back awhile and observed a woman standing in front of a gong. Another woman was ringing the gong in a lovely reverberating way as the woman standing seemed to be absorbing the energy into her body, first to the front, then to the back. Another woman was standing as another woman was smudging her with burning sage. The smell was almost intoxicating to this garden loving fool.

The drum made me curious so I approached the women when they were finished to inquire about this ritual. Shirley explained that she was sensitive to the burning of sage and the gonging was another method of clearing her energy before entering the sacred space of The Red Tent Temple. I indicated that I was interested in experiencing this drum ritual and was warmly received. I was asked to stand in front of the gong and it was lightly rang. The energy and vibration felt like pure love as it drifted through my body. Turning to the other side my energy field was cleansed. Cleansed or not, I do love sage, so I accepted the smudging as well. With my energy field twice cleansed, I entered the tent space with confident humility.

Women were sitting on the floor in a circle, or more of an oval. I joined them on the floor and took a look around the space. It was as if I had just entered back into my mother's womb. The space was draped with red material of all types and textures. Shears were hanging from above and the floor was layered with red blankets and beautiful quilts. I can't remember the last time I was in such a warm, safe feeling space. We just sat in silence and listened to the sounds of relaxing music.

The music seemed to end as if on cue, Goddess Oceana was ready to speak. She took into her hands a fantastic white walking stick adorned with beads and feathers. It was the speaking stick and the floor belonged to whoever was holding it. She began to share an inspiring story with us all. She explained how we should celebrate our blood as it is life giving. Such amazing powers are bestowed upon us as women. She talked of personal experiences and I was touched with her openness.

Once Oceana had finished opening the sharing circle, we began to pass the stick around the circle. Sharing being an important part of our time in this sacred space, we also needed to honor every one's chance to share. This was handled quite easy with a person dedicated to watch the clock. We each took a minute to share what was on our hearts. A minute can actually seem like quite a long time when you speak quickly, like I do.

We finished our sharing time and then took turns deciding if we needed to give or receive nurturing of some sort. Some requested specific things, such as a massage or reiki, some just wanted time to speak amongst themselves and share wisdom. Some just needed a moment of uninterrupted quiet, which is often hard to find at home with the family. We paired up with each other based on what our needs were. Giving and receiving can both be very rewarding. I asked to share some of my new reiki touch and I expressed the need for some nurturing touch as well.

Jillian and I sat and provided reiki to Liz, which was so greatly rewarding. She talked to us while we held our hands on her. When we were finished with reiki, Liz took the time to allow me to lay my head in her lap. She stroked my hair and listened to my problems. It was the best thing I could have asked for in the moment and space I was in emotionally. This wonderful art of giving and receiving love worked so well. It seemed as if everyone had their needs met.

The lights were soon turned all the way up, signaling the end of our special time. We worked as one unit to take down and pack away, all the furnishings. The material had to be taken down, the blankets folded and stowed away in bins. Many women carried the supplies to the vehicles. We gave hugs and said our goodbyes, or rather bid farewell till our next moon. Gathering together each month for the simple purpose of unity and support is apparently what the women of our communities are looking for.

The Red Tent Temple is a very easy to duplicate concept. It was the inspiration of a woman named Alisa Starkweather, that every community in every city would have this safe, nurturing space for the community. That we would spend this time reflecting on our unique gifts we process by being women. The gift of cleansing each month with our cycle, the gift of creating life within. The gift of nurturing those around us. Since 2007, The Red Tent Temple Movement has spread as a grassroots movement. There sacred spaces are created by the women, for the women. Tents are inspired by other tents, creating a family of mothers and grandmothers as we go along. The organizers of tents are usually willing to also support the building of another tent in another town.

The Red Tent Temple of the Twin Cities is a work in progress. The army of women are planning and collaborating on what elements we wish to encompass in our tent. Planning the space, schedule and even what rituals we wish to partake of, is a labor of love. Many hands make light work. I am truly inspired each time I see these groups of loving, nurturing women taking the time to replenish themselves with love.

The Red Tent Temple of the Twin Cites could use donations of red furnishings. Blankets, material, pillows are all desired. Please contact Charity Parrott at maternalinstinct@hotmail.com for information on where to donate. For more information on the nationwide grassroots movement, or to help create a Red Tent Temple in your area, follow this link http://alisastarkweather.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=25&Itemid=48

Faith & Hope
~Charity~

Show Thy Sister The Way!

Do you remember how you felt about yourself when you started your menstruation cycle as a young woman? What was said to you when it happened the first time? Were you celebrated for the amazing woman you are? Where you scared? Did you have anyone to show you what to do?

I remember when it happened to me. My stepmother, Donna, cried tears of joy. This said it all to a young girl who had arrived at this pinnacle time in my life. I realized  not only was this a big deal to me, but it was also a big deal to her. She gave me a hug and smiled at me. Sometimes that is all it takes to normalize what is going on inside of your body.

One of my passions is the support of women during pregnancy and birth. I am a birth doula and childbirth educator. I teach natural childbirth and Hypnobirthing classes.  Another thing that makes me tick, is the mentoring of younger ladies. Not all girl have someone to lean on during this time. In days of old, the women would go spend this special time in The Red Tent. When a girl finally got her first period, she was finally able to go away with the mothers, sisters, and friends. What a milestone this was.

Part of the driving force for me to want to help organize and bring The Red Tent Temple to the Fitchburg/Leominster area, is so my daughters may know this amazing tradition. They inspire me everyday to make the world a little better, so when they are on their own, they will have a better chance at survival.

The Red Tent Temple is a sacred space that is safe for ladies and women to come and spend time just being. Sharing what needs to be shared, and hearing what needs to be heard are some of the gifts the tent brings to us. Another gift it gives us, is the gift of nurturing others, and being nurtured by others. Younger ladies learn from our example. We show them how to live, feel, think. We show this by example. Taking care of yourself and others is the best way to demonstrate the value you place on life.

Some of the wonderful things that happen in the tent are easy to talk about. Sharing a potluck meal is such an amazingly wonderful thing to do. As women gather in the kitchen, magic seems to happen. Enjoying some time sitting in a warm space, talking with other women about whatever feels right at the moment is sometimes missing from women's lives. The struggle of balancing work, family, home, and all the other demands of life can be draining. Your wellness will suffer if you don't take the time to nurture yourself. Songs are sung, poetry is read, yarn is knitted. People are available to give you massage, reiki, or even a tarot card reading.

Feel free to gather all the special ladies in your life and find your way to our tent. Bring the younger ladies with you so they may learn of a place of community and support. This will help to build their self esteem and help them be better prepared for life in this crazy world.

The Red Tent Temple of the Twin Cities is a work in progress at this point. We are gathering red furnishings of all types, rugs, blankets, pillows, and any red material that you may wish to donate. No material is to small or large as we are decorating the interior of our tent in red. We are also using smaller scraps to put together a quilt. If you are a practitioner who might be interested in volunteering some time during our monthly meeting of TRTT, please contact Charity Parrott at maternalinstinct@hotmail.com

As soon as we have a space secured, we will schedule our opening retreat. Please follow this blog for continued updates on The Red Tent Temple of the Twin Cities. Looking forward to making this magical thing happen in our community, for you all, and for our daughter.

~Faith & Hope~
Charity Parrott, CLD, CCCE, HCBE

Conception of the Red Tent Temple of the Twin Cities!

This past week, I made a journey. A well needed journey to the wooded area of the Berkshires. I had been invited by my dear friends, Angelique, the lunch goddess, and her new sidekick, Alisa. Those two are more trouble then a litter of kittens in a china shop, but I digress.
The place they invited me too needed no explanation to me. I am a birth doula, and childbirth educator and midwifery student, I am quite familiar with the concept of "the red tent". The tent, they told me, would be a place for women to gather and be nurtured. The culture in which we live has placed so many demands on us women, and gives us few opportunities to just spend time being supported and nurtured. Most other cultrues have support networks in place for their women. This sacred space has been created by women for other women to come to. I hear that strange things can happen in the tent, but only understood what this meant when I arrived and looked with my own eyes.
Along my journey to the tent, I was honored to pick up a friend of mine. I met this friend, Leah, in midwifery school. She is quite a hot ticket so to speak. We talked on the way, about what we thought it might be like. We arrived, finding that the tent was located in a large, lovely meeting room of a UU church. The lobby was adorned with many shades of red material. A small table was prepared and some lovely ladies were waiting to check us in. We wrote our names on the list, and made a small donation of ten dollars each. We were then shown another piece of paper. It had the names of practitioners who provided services such as reiki, massage, spiritual readings, and so on. We were told to write our names down under what interested us, and to go enjoy the tent.
Coming into the tent, I immediately say what was clearly the strangest thing I had seen in a long time. Women, of all ages, were sitting around and doing nothing! Nothing! I just wanted to repeat it because it is so rare that we as women not only shown the value of doing absolutely nothing, but also encouraged to do nothing.
Smells of foods started to draw me toward the kitchen. I walked through some doors and into heaven. I can't remember the last time I had been in a kitchen full of women, just eating, talking, and laughing together. It was a potluck, so the varieties of choices were endless. A little of this, a little of that, and a cup of tea seemed the way to go. Chatting with new friends I was meeting along the way, was so inspiring to me. I took my plate and my tea back out into the tent and settled myself down onto a lovely red floral rug.
We sat and talked, always pausing to introduce ourselves to anyone new who came along. A woman named Shari picked up a drum and started to bang it, another woman picked up another drum and started to chant and sing the most lovely song.
It never occurred to me, at this point that I was about to have a new project. Clueless as ever, I just continued to enjoy the day. Friends were going into side rooms and having massages, and reiki treatments. There was a young lady sitting in a chair and writing in a journal. Over across the room on the floor, two women sat and read tarot cards together. A very talented, and even more patient woman was sitting on the couch and doing needlepoint. There was knitting going on, and little conversations were buzzing everywhere.
We just spent the whole day relaxing together and encouraging each other.
Around 7 o'clock something truly magical was about to begin. My friends Angelique and Alisa came into the room and started lighting candles on the alter. We were called to the circle for the reading of an amazingly inspiring piece of literature, that completely made me start crying. I started crying then, and pretty much continued on and off for most of the evening. We sang as a group, songs such as Lean on Me, and other songs of unity and love. We took turns coming into the center of the supportive circle of women, and celebrated our unique lineages as women, naming our mother, our grandmothers, our greatgrandmothers, and our children. We shared something with the group, or we didn't. The choice was ours to take what we needed and to leave the rest. After we had our share, we were encouraged to cut a piece of the "Goddess Cake" which was an amazing chocolate truffle cake, rich and decadent. The cake had the picture of the goddess on it. It was truly beautiful and delicious. Some shared a poem, some shared a heartbreaking story, some shared and inspiring story. We shared for quite a while, relaxing and listening while everyone had time to share their heart.
Angelique and Alisa then asked us to now come up and write down on a piece of paper, something that no longer serves you. We were to write it down, share it with the group and add it to the bowl to be burned. We did this with enthusiasm. Writing and sharing all these things in our lives that we were looking to change. Empowering it was, to see all the women nurturing and supporting each other this way. Once the last person had a chance to share, we took the bowl together and went outside into the snowy world. We had all removed our shoes and ended up coming outside barefoot or in socks. It didn't matter to anyone, we burned the papers, danced and sang songs as they burned. We left it all behind and reentered the tent refreshed and renewed.
 At this point I was hearing about the date for the next tent. I didn't realize it was a monthly thing. Something in my spirit told me I had to come back here to feel this again. The reality set in, and with much disappointment I told myself it was fine. I didn't need this in my life. That thought entered my head, and was quickly discarded by the surprisingly loud voice inside me that set me straight. The voice told me, the women in your own community need this space and energy in their life. The voice told me that it was just another project, and it was no big deal.
Before I left to go home from the tent, I told Angelique that I was interested in building a Red Tent Temple in my community. She told me, I went to one in November and had this one up and running by January. This to me was just simply amazing. She told me how they put word out for help, and help came. They  put word out for material, and furnishings and they were quickly donated. I was so inspired and have been ever since that day.
I came home after driving for hours in a terrible snow storm. I immediately started posting my intentions to my friends on FB and they were all very supportive. From there, I started a FB page for  The Red Tent Temple of the Twin Cities.
I thought we needed to incorporate both Leominster and Fitchburg in this particular tent. These sister cities are closely located and have the resource to do so much good. I plan on tapping into as many of these resources as I can until we have our own sacred space to nurture in this Twin Cities area. Space needs to be found,  red material and other furnishings need to be donated (blankets, pillow, etc.). Practitioners who are willing to donate some time are being called. Word is being spread, and hope is being created. I hope you follow us on this amazing journey till every town and city in the United States has one of these Red Tent Temples for the women of the community. For more information, or to donate email Charity Parrott at Maternalinstinct@hotmail.com

This is the first meeting of The Red Tent Temple of the Berkshires GROW