Displays on page: Retreat and Renewal for Women, Men and Young Adults

Finding Answers around the Fire

“After a period in my life when I was heading in the wrong direction, I turned to exploring spirituality as a path to addiction recovery. Through serendipity, I found myself talking to a woman who, through her intuition, sensed that I would benefit from a drum or fire circle. As I started asking around, a friend of mine led me to the Sacred Fire community fires hosted by Tim and Karla Cole in Poplarville, MS. Once I got there, I realized it was no coincidence that I had been led to this community specifically. I’ve overcome so much through the people I’ve met and the lessons I’ve learned around the hearth there. So many of the answers to my questions in life have come from listening to, or observing the growth in others, around the Fire. For instance, one community member participated in the Sacred Fire Community Annual Gathering of Men. I watched his journey toward claiming his more feminine/emotional side; it wasn’t easy for him at first, but ultimately the transformation was inspiring.”

I’ve come to appreciate the importance of community, and how beneficial healthy communities are to society. I’ve learned the importance of letting go of judgment. And now I’ve found the courage to take a huge leap. In March I will quit my well-paying job, and move to the Pacific Northwest where I hope to start a community-based healing center. I take with me lessons about new beginnings and the wisdom I will need to carry with me, and of the courage it takes to leave things behind.

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Drawing on Feminine Courage and Strength

“I feel as if now I have a deep core strength and courage to draw upon that manifests in the feminine, which has always been there, I just didn’t know it. I appreciate what it means to be a woman more and am able to see this in others also: our beauty, generosity, gentleness, courage, communicative abilities, creativity and more. I appreciate men more and the masculine as it plays out in my two young sons as they grow. I am now seeking out the counsel of women more in my life. I am so grateful to have been able to participate in this experience and have spoken of it to several female friends since. Five years on from the retreat, the experience continues to be a gift that keeps on giving.”

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Who am I?

“‘Who am I?’ I have meditated on this question for decades. I fell in love with a book by Ramana Maharshi in my early 20’s. What followed wasn’t a mental exercise, rather an opening to an experience of something greater, strangely mysterious and yet not.

Now in my later life, I have discovered that there is something exquisite, fulfilling and satisfying in opening to the related question, “Who am I as a woman?” that has me falling in love with the beauty of this life. Furthermore, there is something essential in gathering with other women to deeply experience this great Divine Feminine that enlivens us and moves through us, aligning us with ourselves and the Mystery of the world around us.

More than ever, I believe our world needs us to embody this deep essence and bring it forth in our lives. We need to gather with other women to sink into and align with each other and to cherish who we are. Come join us. It is important. Our world needs us to bring this forth. It’s time, and immensely relevant to the times we are living.”

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How I became a better father

“While the world needs the expression of the deeper feminine ways of being, as men we need to remember and embody a balanced manifestation of masculinity, and experience how these two different human expressions mutually support each other. I attended Sacred Fire’s Ukilái Gathering of Men in 2014 and found it to be a wonderful and pivotal experience which helped me to recognize and reconnect with the masculine. It helped me to show up as the kind of man I want to be, both in my partnership and as father to my daughters.”

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Women and Men in a World of Growing Conflict

by Sherry Boatright, Sacred Fire Carrollton, Georgia (USA)

Over the last two years, I’ve been glued to online news media. It has become altogether a questionable habit as I find myself moving from one unsettling story to the next. I’m working to get a grip. The upside, though, is that I’ve also discovered great writers and compelling studies about what’s going on in the world, from climate change to local and global politics, from women’s and men’s issues to health and family life.

Take kids for instance. Years ago, Carol Gilligan showed that girls up until age 9 or 10 are confident and expressive of their feelings. But as they move into adolescence, they begin to hide their feelings for fear of not fitting in.

Now my newsfeed tells me that boys are also born with a great talent for emotional openness, but that in adolescence they begin developing their manhood and differentiate themselves from girls.

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Sparks: Coming Soon

Around the Fire

Around the Fire is the newsletter of Sacred Fire and is published monthly.

If you’re new to Sacred Fire, here are three ways to learn more:

  1. Find a local Fire and experience it first hand.
  2. Visit our web site.
  3. Subscribe to Around the Fire and discover more about our deep community.
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Around the Fire is published by the Sacred Fire Outreach team:

Director
Sharon Brown

Strategic Direction
Karen Fernandez
Lawrence Messerman
Sharon Brown

Editorial Team
Erin Everett
Christine Staub
Linda Azar

Web Publishing
Sally Casper
Britt Espinosa

Graphic Design
Leticia Gamboa
Sylvia Law

Social Media
Erin Everett
Abigail Murray-Nikkel

Database Administrator
Linda Felch

Event Support
Heidi Griswold

Web Design and Development
Malowany Creative
Living Magic LLP

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