Feb 8-10, 2008
Mothering is a spiritual path, calling us to the deep complexities of life. Like everything in nature, mothering includes cycles of light and darkness. There are feelings of love and gratitude so pure and profound we feel immeasurably blessed, but there is also anxiety, frustration, and rage we can barely tolerate. Like Inanna’s descent into the underworld, mothering strips us of who we once were. We face profound transformation and come back into ourselves with greater perspective, compassion, and wisdom.
Being a mother transforms us: by touching birth, we also know loss; we feel the ecstasy of love and the grief of sacrifice. At any point in our mothering journey, our cups are overflowing in one area and empty in another. Motherhood is full of paradox. Our culture glorifies the joys and denies or sugarcoats the pain. On this retreat, we’ll create a sacred community of mothers that dives deeply into the full truth.
Mothers hold the power to change the world, through our own lives and through our caring for the next generation, but we cannot do this if we don’t deeply nurture ourselves. This weekend is dedicated to that deep renewal. We’ll share in small and large groups, journal, visualize, meditate, drum, and laugh a lot. We’ll embrace the natural beauty of Rowe’s forests, meadows, labyrinth, and waterfall. We’ll be well-fed and cared for. We’ll become the council of elders we’ve been craving and leave with clarity and open-heartedness that will benefit our entire family. We welcome all women on the mothering journey —from pregnancy to grandmotherhood! As Sarah says, “When women tell the truth about our lives, it is always healing.”
Annette Cycon co-founded MotherWoman Inc., a non-profit dedicated to the sacred empowerment of all mothers. She’s led groups for women for 20 years, including Soulful Journey retreats and the MotherWoman’s Facilitator Training Program. She publishes MotherWoman Journal and brings her humor, depth, soulfulness, and wildness to her work and to mothering her two teenage daughters.
Sara Elinoff Acker is a feminist therapist, writer, astrologer, and mother of a six-year-old. She has led women’s empowerment workshops for 25 years and worked in the domestic violence field for the last 22 years. She is completing her first book, Unclenching Our Fists, about recovered perpetrators. She never ceases to be amazed at the magic, depth, and beauty of women’s circles.