Womongathering part 2
So while I was in the Being a Juicy Mother workshop, Brandy was out playing with Azure, who is the daughter of one of the presenters. She was a cutie. Brandy waited for me, and we headed to yoga. Unfortunately, yoga was cancelled that morning. So we went shopping. Brandy got a beautiful cloth that's the size of a twin bed. It has a sun & moon design. I got a shawl/cape thing that is green & very warm. I actually wore it on Saturday. We headed back to the cabin, and soon it was time for lunch.
After lunch I went to a workshop on Conscious Earth Parenting. I believe Brandy went to the Transmutation workshop. My workshop was good, but different than I was expecting. There were older women in the workshop who didn't have children. So instead of focusing on children, she focused just on things we can do to connect with the earth. Things like planting a garden, harvesting native plants, spending time in nature, etc. I got a lot of good ideas about things to do with Becca.
I met Brandy back at the cabin before dinner. It was really hot on Friday, so every time we went back to the cabin we ended up taking naps. After dinner we had quite a long nap because we didn't have another workshop until 8p.m. During that time Brandy was bit on the ear by something. We're still not sure what it was. We went to a workshop together called the Art of Wombafestation. In that workshop we made collages about things that we want to manifest in our lives. I of course made one having to do with my business. She had some good magazines, and amazingly, I found a picture of a vibrator. Gotta love it! Right before the class was over it started raining. The presenter found some plastic bags, and we took our collages back to the cabin in one. Since it was raining, we just went back to the cabin & went to bed.
Saturday morning I woke up bright & early. I had breakfast, and attempted to wake Brandy up for the Goddess Dance workshop. She didn't wake up, so I went by myself. I loved it! We did some guided dancing, and some freestyle dancing. I took my shirt off because I was so hot. I ended up dancing topless with a butch lesbian. That was certainly interesting.
Next I headed to a singing workshop. I don't remember what it was called. In that workshop I saw a woman named Collette who I had met last time. I also saw Rauncie, who is part of the mother coven of the coven I belonged to. That was really nice. We didn't sing any actual songs. We just sang vowels & sounds. It ended up being a very moving experience. Several women broke down crying. After that I met Brandy in the dining hall for lunch.
After lunch we headed to the Ritual of the Rowdy Goddess. The Rowdy Goddesses are a group of women that always share a cabin at Womongathering. I remember going to their chocolate ritual last time. Rauncie is now a Rowdy Goddess. So are her daughter & granddaughter. We made a web with yarn, by throwing balls of yarn to each other. It was quite interesting. We also danced & chanted. It was a lot of fun.
Then we went back to the cabin for a bit, and headed to the Sweat Lodge. I'm not sure how many of us there were, but it was quite crowded. A bunch of sweaty naked women practically sitting on each other's laps. And on uncomfortable roots. I never did manage to get comfortable. That sucked. Beverly Little Thunder always warns people to be careful what they ask for in the sweat lodge, and she learned the lesson the hard way. She had told the firekeepers earlier in the day that she was cold. Apparently the Gods have a sense of humor. Our sweat lodge ended up being very hot. Women who had been coming for years said it was hot. Even Beverly herself said that it was hot. We called in the elements, said prayers, smoked the peace pipe (filled with herbs, not tobacco), said goodbye to the elements & then left. The entire thing took about 2 hours. And did I mention that it was hot? And there were uncomfortable roots? The ceremony itself was wonderful. However, Beverly turned into a Smurf. She had a sarong around her waist that was blue, and because of the heat & humidity it bled onto her.
We went back to the cabin & took showers after the sweat lodge, then went to dinner. After dinner, we were too lazy to do much of anything. I had really wanted to go to the ritual that night, but I was too tired from everything I did that day. We packed up what we could & had it ready for the next day.
We got up early on Sunday, since we had an 11 hour drive. We packed up our stuff & headed back to Michigan. We actually made it in less than 11 hours. That was very cool. This pretty much ends my tale of Womongathering. I had fun, I met interesting women, I got to see women I knew. Brandy didn't have as much fun as I did. I think that's really unfortunate, but I'm glad she took a chance & went with me. Next time I'm not doing that long drive in one day. It made me too tired to do things that I wanted to do. Plus maybe next time, we can actually make it there early... and stay longer.
After lunch I went to a workshop on Conscious Earth Parenting. I believe Brandy went to the Transmutation workshop. My workshop was good, but different than I was expecting. There were older women in the workshop who didn't have children. So instead of focusing on children, she focused just on things we can do to connect with the earth. Things like planting a garden, harvesting native plants, spending time in nature, etc. I got a lot of good ideas about things to do with Becca.
I met Brandy back at the cabin before dinner. It was really hot on Friday, so every time we went back to the cabin we ended up taking naps. After dinner we had quite a long nap because we didn't have another workshop until 8p.m. During that time Brandy was bit on the ear by something. We're still not sure what it was. We went to a workshop together called the Art of Wombafestation. In that workshop we made collages about things that we want to manifest in our lives. I of course made one having to do with my business. She had some good magazines, and amazingly, I found a picture of a vibrator. Gotta love it! Right before the class was over it started raining. The presenter found some plastic bags, and we took our collages back to the cabin in one. Since it was raining, we just went back to the cabin & went to bed.
Saturday morning I woke up bright & early. I had breakfast, and attempted to wake Brandy up for the Goddess Dance workshop. She didn't wake up, so I went by myself. I loved it! We did some guided dancing, and some freestyle dancing. I took my shirt off because I was so hot. I ended up dancing topless with a butch lesbian. That was certainly interesting.
Next I headed to a singing workshop. I don't remember what it was called. In that workshop I saw a woman named Collette who I had met last time. I also saw Rauncie, who is part of the mother coven of the coven I belonged to. That was really nice. We didn't sing any actual songs. We just sang vowels & sounds. It ended up being a very moving experience. Several women broke down crying. After that I met Brandy in the dining hall for lunch.
After lunch we headed to the Ritual of the Rowdy Goddess. The Rowdy Goddesses are a group of women that always share a cabin at Womongathering. I remember going to their chocolate ritual last time. Rauncie is now a Rowdy Goddess. So are her daughter & granddaughter. We made a web with yarn, by throwing balls of yarn to each other. It was quite interesting. We also danced & chanted. It was a lot of fun.
Then we went back to the cabin for a bit, and headed to the Sweat Lodge. I'm not sure how many of us there were, but it was quite crowded. A bunch of sweaty naked women practically sitting on each other's laps. And on uncomfortable roots. I never did manage to get comfortable. That sucked. Beverly Little Thunder always warns people to be careful what they ask for in the sweat lodge, and she learned the lesson the hard way. She had told the firekeepers earlier in the day that she was cold. Apparently the Gods have a sense of humor. Our sweat lodge ended up being very hot. Women who had been coming for years said it was hot. Even Beverly herself said that it was hot. We called in the elements, said prayers, smoked the peace pipe (filled with herbs, not tobacco), said goodbye to the elements & then left. The entire thing took about 2 hours. And did I mention that it was hot? And there were uncomfortable roots? The ceremony itself was wonderful. However, Beverly turned into a Smurf. She had a sarong around her waist that was blue, and because of the heat & humidity it bled onto her.
We went back to the cabin & took showers after the sweat lodge, then went to dinner. After dinner, we were too lazy to do much of anything. I had really wanted to go to the ritual that night, but I was too tired from everything I did that day. We packed up what we could & had it ready for the next day.
We got up early on Sunday, since we had an 11 hour drive. We packed up our stuff & headed back to Michigan. We actually made it in less than 11 hours. That was very cool. This pretty much ends my tale of Womongathering. I had fun, I met interesting women, I got to see women I knew. Brandy didn't have as much fun as I did. I think that's really unfortunate, but I'm glad she took a chance & went with me. Next time I'm not doing that long drive in one day. It made me too tired to do things that I wanted to do. Plus maybe next time, we can actually make it there early... and stay longer.