Kathe Schaaf

2011-12-24T15:43:00.000-08:00

Mark your calendar and plan to join us at an exciting Bay-Area Book Event!

Featuring three of our beloved authors

from Women, Spirituality and Transformative Leadership

Jean Shinoda Bolen

Carol Lee Flinders

China Galland

January 13, 2012

7-9 pm

Book Passages

51 Tamal Vista Blvd.

Corte Madera, CA 94925

This event is FREE!

Bring your friends and join us for an evening of deep connection and authentic conversation

at the intersection of faith and feminism,women's spirituality and transformative leadership.

Book launched at Seattle events October 26 and 27!

2011-10-06T06:58:00.000-07:00

Women of Spirit and Faith

will launch our new book

Women, Spirituality and Transformative Leadership: Where Grace Meets Power

in Seattle!

Join us at these exciting events

as we celebrate the publication of this remarkable anthology of diverse women’s voices

and explore the transformative power of women’s spiritual leadership

with circle dialogues and deep listening.

~~~~~

Wednesday - October 26, 2011

7:00 – 8:30 pm

Book Event and Signing

East West Bookshop

6500 Roosevelt Way NE

Seattle, WA 98115

Thursday - October 27, 2011

7:00 pm (Doors open at 6:30 pm)

Where Grace Meets Power: A Women’s Gathering

Interfaith Community Church

1763 NW 62nd Street

Seattle, Washington 98107

From the book:

We invite you to come with curiosity into this living community of spiritual women, listening deeply as they share their personal stories of how their spiritual journeys have shaped and honed them as leaders, stories about breakdowns that were actually breakthroughs, stories of relationships with other women that were both affirming and challenging, and stories about local and global challenges that were faced with integrity and collaboration, candor and compassion. We do not offer answers to all of the complex questions facing us as a human family, but we invite you to join us as we surrender to the mystery of being open, present, and engaged together in these uncertain times.

All four editors of this book will be available at these events

to sign your books and to engage with you in a rich conversation.

No cost to attend.

No RSVP necessary for either event.

Bring your friends!

Pass this invitation along to your Seattle area colleagues and contacts.

Join me on The World-Changing Success Telesummit

2011-07-04T16:44:00.000-07:00

9 Experts. 5 Days.

Join me at The World-Changing Success Telesummit as we offer tips and advice on how to step forward and bring your gifts to the world.

Kate Siner Francis will interview me July 11at 4 pm Pacific time.

Interview on Weaving the World

2011-04-13T18:26:00.000-07:00

I recently joined long-time friend Sharon Maynard for a great conversation about women, spirituality, leadership and so much more. Check it out at Weaving the World.

Check out my interview on Circle Connections Blogtalk Radio

2011-03-28T13:30:00.000-07:00

Listen in on my juicy conversation with Rhonda Hull of Circle Connections!
Show: Exploring the Alchemy of Our Spiritual Leadership: Women Redefining Power

Date/Time: Mar 28, 2011 12:30 PM PDT

Listen: Click to listen.

Rhonda's co-host Ann Smith was not able to join us today. Ann and Rhonda anchor a great radio program and I encourage you to listen to their archived programs for a wonderful exploration of women's potential.

Enjoy this TED Women talk by Courtney Martin

2011-03-08T13:33:00.000-08:00

I am delighted to share this TED Women talk by Courtney Martin, a remarkable young woman leader who attended our Women of Spirit and Faith Retreat in November.

http://www.ted.com/talks/courtney_martin_reinventing_feminism.html

The TED folks introduce Courtney with this language: TED Talks Blogger Courtney Martin examines the perennially loaded word "feminism." In a personal and heartfelt talk, she describes the three paradoxes that define her generation's quest to define the term for themselves.

I would use this language: I am filled with gratitude for Courtney’s keen intelligence, her huge open heart and her grounded wisdom. Her talk is a lived experience of what happens when you weave together feminism with spiritual leadership. She brought me to tears and flooded me with optimism about the future of this planet.

Enjoy!

Voices of Women - Radio Show Friday March 4

2011-03-02T17:17:00.000-08:00

On Friday, March 4 at 1 pm Pacific Time, I will be the guest of award-winning host Kris Steinnes on her radio show, Voices of Women. We will be discussing ‘The Alchemy of Women’s Spiritual Leadership”.

To listen live or to connect with us during the show we have several options.

• Go to http://www.transformationtalkradio.com/ and click on “Listen Live” on the right side of the home page. A player will pop up and you may have to hit the play button.

• Listen on WBLQ 1230 in Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York

• Listener call-in 1 800 930 2819

If you want to listen later, a link to the show is available here:
http://www.transformationtalkradio.com/meet_shows.php?id=4364.

Thanks for listening!

Check out my interview in Planetshifter.com Magazine

2011-02-21T15:22:00.000-08:00

The Alchemy of Our Spiritual Leadership: Women Redefining Power.
Interview with Co-Leader Kathe Schaaf by Willi Paul.
Co-Presented by PlanetShifter.com Magazine & openmythsource.com

http://www.planetshifter.com/node/1812

"Many women are feeling restless and knowing in their bones that ‘Now is the time’. It feels like a collective preparation for an impending birth. As women, we know something important about birthing and I think we are relieved that the world seems to be asking for our wisdom and experience after so many centuries of being shut out of leadership, marginalized and unheard."

Tune in to 'Voices of the Sacred Feminine' Wednesday Feb, 16 at 6 pm Pacific

2011-02-13T13:35:00.000-08:00

Greetings Friends and Family,

Be sure to tune in LIVE to

'Voices of the Sacred Feminine'

Blog Talk Radio

Wednesday - February 16

6 pm Pacific,

or from the archives at your convenience.....

Kathe Schaaf - one of the original co-founders of Gather the Women Global Matrix, served on the leadership circle of that collaborative global community for five years. She is an Ambassador for the Parliament of the World's Religions and in 2010, she co-founded Women of Spirit and Faith, an organization to invite the many brilliant threads of feminine spiritual leadership into relationship and to support emerging patterns for transformation. Tune in and hear our discussion - The Alchemy of Women's Spiritual Leadership as we delve into how the energy of the "Sacred Feminine is rising globally among women from many diverse spiritual perspectives resulting in potent conversations at the intersection of feminism and faith - which may be giving rise to a whole new paradigms of women's leadership. We will discuss many aspects related to this theme, including how the voices of compassion, unity and hope can be more potent and powerful than those of fear and separation.

At the bottom of the hour -
James William Gibson - author of A Re-Enchanted World; A New Kinship with Nature will discuss a yearning for a spiritual connection with Nature that is making a broad comeback from Greenpeace eco-warriors to evangelical Christians preaching "creation care and geneticists speaking openly of human-animal kinship. As we grapple with dire environmental disasters, re-enchantment may be the final hope for protecting the world in which we all must live.

Time: 6PM Pacific You'll have to make adjustments for your time zone. And the show is available later from the archives where you might listen at your convenience.

To call in: 718-766-4662
To listen: Click on:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/VoicesoftheSacredFeminine

Karen Tate
www.karentate.com

Prayer request from URI Noon Friday February 4

2011-02-04T06:21:00.000-08:00

This important request came from United Religions Initiative (URI) this morning:

The URI Women's Coalition MCC is comprised of CC's around the world who are concerned about women's welfare. The Four Coordinators have been very moved and concerned by the recent demonstrations and violence in different parts of the MENA region especially in Egypt. We're aware that other countries in other regions are also currently threatened by violence and instability.

As we pray for an end to violence, we're moved to connect with the women and mothers who are fearful about the safety and well-being of their husbands and children. We ask for the protection of the Divine Mother to safeguard everyone and to restore harmony among people struggling for a better future for their families.

We're asking women all over the world to join us in a garland of prayers Friday at 12 noon wherever they are -- to join Egyptian mothers in praying for the safety and protection of their children, and for peace to prevail in Egypt and in the world.

Please join us.

Much love,
Ardey Turner
Despina Namwembe
Elana Rozenman
Yoland Trevino
Coordinators
URI Women's Coalition MCC

Join Women of Spirit and Faith at the UN

2011-01-29T15:58:00.000-08:00

Women's Spiritual Leadership: A Resource for Global Change

A Circle Dialogue at NGO-CSW 2011

February 28, 2011 ~~ 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm

Drew Room -1st floor
Church Center

(across the street from the U.N.
at the corner 44th St. and First Ave.)

777 U.N. Plaza
New York, NY

This gathering is open to the public. No fee and no UN credentials required.

Join us for this lively dialogue exploring important questions about women, spirituality and global leadership.

What is the special contribution of women to spiritual leadership?
How can we nurture the leadership and power that is emerging from women now?
How do we redefine power?
How do we speak our truth?
How do we stand for the greatness of each other?
What is waiting to be birthed in the community of women of spirit and faith?
How can the feminine voices of compassion, unity and hope become more real and compelling than the voices of fear and separation?
What can we do together that none of us could do separately?

A Good Question

2011-01-20T17:56:00.000-08:00

Recently, William Paul of PlanetShifters.com Magazine asked me What makes women’s spirituality different than men’s these days? This is my answer.

I do see something fascinating happening right now among spiritual women I know – a shared sense of excitement and urgency about showing up fully and stepping into the potential of this moment in human history. Many women are feeling restless and knowing in their bones that ‘Now is the time’. It feels like a collective preparation for an impending birth. As women, we know something important about birthing and I think we are relieved that the world seems to be asking for our wisdom and experience after so many centuries of being shut out of leadership, marginalized and unheard. We are finding our individual voices and we are weaving communities of connection so that we can listen to and learn from one another. Spirituality is the heartbeat of this organic process, which feels congruent and natural for many of us. There is a rising energy of the Sacred Feminine afoot among us and a lively discussion about the impact of having a God who is defined as masculine in many of the major religious traditions. There is a sense of remembering an aspect of ourselves, what Vajra Ma describes as ‘women’s natural spiritual authority.’ In this context, authority does not mean power over others but more an awakening to our own powerful gifts offered in service of the divine.

The men in my life are witnessing and supporting this journey and it is the same for many women I know. At our recent Retreat for North American women spiritual leaders, one of the women spoke about her husband’s reaction to her new passion: “He sees what is needed in humanity right now is a transformation in consciousness, and he sees that women are going to lead that transformation.”

I also see that sometimes men reacts with concern and confusion. They see this growing, buzzing hive of women and are not exactly sure what we are doing and what it means for them. I don’t see the same kind of collective energy or community taking form among spiritual men right now. That might happen organically if men are hungry to explore the same kinds of questions.

Invitation to Prayer

2010-11-04T13:42:00.000-07:00

You are invited to offer your prayers and intentions for our upcoming Retreat.

Women, Spirituality and Leadership:

A Collaborative Exploration

November 14-17, 2010

Thirty women spiritual leaders from the United States and Canada

representing many spiritual traditions will gather at the Mary and Joseph Retreat Center

in Rancho Palos Verdes, California in retreat and deep dialogue.

We will explore together how women of spirit and faith

are being called to contribute at this important moment in time.

What is it that wants to be birthed now?

What are the possibilities that can flow from our shared wisdom?

You are invited to hold us in prayer as we come together.

We welcome your individual prayers

and we also invite circles of women to connect in collective prayer.

We will open our retreat

at 5 p.m. Pacific Time on Sunday, November 14

and close at 11 a.m. Wednesday, November 17.

We will pause in a moment of silence to connect with all of you

who are supporting our work in this important way.

We are grateful for your prayers and intentions.

With love,

Reverend Cheen

Kathleen Hurty

Kay Lindahl

Kathe Schaaf

http://www.womenofspiritandfaith.org/

Announcing a Special Gathering

2010-08-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

Calling all women of spirit and faith!

~ Save the date ~

The Alchemy of Our Spiritual Leadership:

Women Redefining Power

April 28 – May 1, 2011

Hotel Sofitel San Francisco Bay

Opening Keynote Speaker: Sister Joan Chittister

Voted “the most inspirational woman alive” in a recent survey!

This is NOT your typical women’s conference!

Imagine the energy of more than 300 women ready for inspiration, deep wisdom and potent co-creation.

Registration opens September 1, 2010

http://www.womenofspiritandfaith.org/

Convened by Women of Spirit and Faith

~~~~

Please share this with your networks too!

A Prayer

2010-06-13T15:43:00.000-07:00

A friend has just sent me this version of the Lord's Prayer translated directly from the original Aramaic into English. I can feel the balanced masculine and feminine energies of the prayer and can’t help wonder how different the world would be today if this integrated and whole experience of God has been allowed to shine throughout history.

"O cosmic Birther of all radiance and vibration.
Soften the ground of our being and carve out a space
within us where your Presence can abide.

Fill us with your creativity so that we may be
empowered to bear the fruit of your mission.

Let each of our actions bear fruit in accordance with our desire.

Endow us with the wisdom to produce and share what
each being needs to grow and flourish.

Untie the tangled threads of destiny that bind us, as we
release others from the entanglement of past mistakes.

Do not let us be seduced by that which would divert us
from our true purpose, but illuminate the opportunities
of the present moment.

For you are the ground and the fruitful vision, the birth,
power and fulfillment, as all is gathered and made
whole once again."

Letter to Wall Street Journal

2010-06-01T08:18:00.000-07:00

Sharon Hadary
Wall Street Journal
RE: What’s Holding Back Women Entrepreneurs?
May, 17, 2010

Dear Sharon,

I was fascinated by your report on the complex dynamics affecting the revenue and growth of women owned-businesses. As I have worked globally with women for the past nine years, I have seen the powerful limiting impact of cultural expectations, existing bureaucratic structures and self-image upon woman entrepreneurs. A woman’s experience can be remarkably similar in Kenya and Kansas, adjusting for scale. Thank you for articulating some of those challenges.

The most powerful paragraph in your article for me is the one describing gender differences in reasons for starting a business: while men want to be the ‘boss’ and to be ‘big’, women are more likely to seek personal challenge and make it a priority to integrate their careers with their family relationships. This research excites and encourages me because it validates the powerful potential of the woman business owner to redefine what leadership means in the corporate sector and to create some healthy change in this economic paradigm.

The events unfolding before our eyes on Wall Street and in the oil-soaked Gulf at this very moment have exposed the danger of defining success only in terms of financial gain at any cost . Your report would indicate that women could lead the way in modeling a more balanced bottom line, one which integrates personal well-being, family commitments, community connections and environmental sensitivity. This is the real potential of feminine leadership – creating a new sustainable paradigm rather than learning to thrive within the old boy’s club.

Indeed it is vital for women to access capital, markets, training and existing networks. Even more importantly, women need to see – and read - that their more balanced and integrated choices are not a sign of failure but define a new kind of success which may actually allow the whole planet to thrive. I look forward to the day when women entrepreneurs see that validation reflected back at them from the pages of the Wall Street Journal.

Validation

2010-04-08T14:13:00.000-07:00

I walked to my mailbox a few days ago and found a delightful surprise waiting for me: the most recent issue of Newsweek featuring the question "WHAT WOULD MARY DO?" on the cover. The subtitle "How women can save the Catholic church from its sins" was equally validating and stimulating.

Just days before the magazine arrived, I was having a conversation with my husband and teenage son about the latest scandals rocking the Catholic church. My husband, who was raised in the Catholic church and educated in their schools, expressed concern that the church may not be able to recover from this growing tide of trouble. My response was not a surprise to my family members: I believe it will be the women of the Catholic church who will help this institution remember its authentic purpose and be restored to grace.

When my husband saw the Newsweek cover, he declared that I was a prophet.. and suggested maybe I could finally find a way to generate some income with my passionate belief in the healing potential of the feminine.

It is an amazing experience to be validated by both Newsweek and my husband in the same day.

Women of Faith and Spirit ~ An Exploratory Conversation about Women, Faith and Leadership

2010-03-31T12:17:00.000-07:00

As a woman of faith and spirit, you know something important about this moment in human history. You know it from your rich experiences in the world and you know it from a place of deep wisdom within. Your unique pattern of knowing is part of a larger pattern of feminine wisdom which may have the potential to powerfully animate the spiritual leadership of North American women in service of humanity.

We are excited about the possibilities that lie before us as women and deeply curious to learn more about the current pattern of women’s spiritual leadership in North America at this moment in time. As we attended the Parliament of the World’s Religions in December 2009 and in our explorations to date:

• We observed that while there are currently many initiatives focusing on women’s leadership, most do not put an emphasis on the spiritual needs and issues that are unique to women and that may indeed represent some of the most significant barriers to activating their authentic leadership.

• We observed that while there are currently many diverse initiatives and networks for spiritual women, there exists in this moment a powerful opportunity to build a larger field of collaboration, passion and action by building bridges of understanding to connect these diverse networks in a web of spiritual presence.
You are invited to join us for a series of four ‘Exploratory Conversations’ hosted as conference calls from April through July 2010. Focusing on a series of questions, this inquiry will allow us to explore together the pattern of women’s spiritual leadership in North America.

April 15 ~ Thursday 5 - 6 p.m. Pacific/ 8 - 9 p.m. Eastern
What does it mean to be a woman of faith and spirit?

May 20 ~ Thursday 5 - 6 p.m. Pacific/ 8 -9 p.m. Eastern
What is the special contribution of women to spiritual leadership?

June 17 ~ Thursday 5 - 6 p.m. Pacific/ 8 – 9 p.m. Eastern
How might we animate women to claim their voices/roles as spiritual leaders?

July 15 ~ Thursday 5 - 6 p.m. Pacific/ 8 – 9 p.m. Eastern
What is waiting to be birthed in the community of women and spirit?

Simply RSVP to any one of us by email and indicate your interest in any or all upcoming conversations. We will send you the conference call information once we hear from you.

For more information, see
http://womenoffaithandspirit.blogspot.com/
http://www.peacenext.org/group/womensnetworknorthamerica

We would be happy to answer any questions you might have and look forward to an exciting year of listening to the wisdom of the women of faith and spirit.

In gratitude,

Kathe Schaaf - Women’s Spirit Council - mailto:katheschaaf@cox.net
Kay Lindahl - The Listening Center - mailto:thelisteningcenter@yahoo.com
Guo Cheen -Compassionate Action Network - thecompassionnetwork@gmail.com

Singing a Seed Song

2010-03-25T13:20:00.000-07:00

I have been so engaged with life that I haven't had much time to write about it!

In the past month, I have:
~ made two trips to New York
~ visited the Egyptian exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum
~ attended some of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women, the UN-NGO Beijing +15Forum and some of the parallel events
~ had dental surgery to extract a tooth and recovered from an infection
~ attended the launch of the North American Women of Faith Network and the Women of Faith Leadership Summit
~ worked in my garden, kissed my dogs and taken long walks
~ given the keynote address at the Southern California Gather the Women event to celebrate International Women's Day
~ scheduled trips to visit colleges with my son in April and join my sisters for our annual Sister Retreat in June
~ read some brilliant poetry, worked on a painting and listened in on some incredible wisdom
~ revised a couple websites, launched a blog and answered hundreds of e-mails
~ soaked up the rich collective energy of the Kalliopeia Foundation's 'Emergence' event.

At the sunrise fire ceremony at the Kalliopeia gathering, Lorraine Kahneratokwas Gray from New Mexico sang a Seed Song. She explained how in her indigenous tradition, women would sing to the seeds to help them awaken and remember.

I am singing to my seeds.

A Wealth of Feminine Wisdom

2010-03-12T17:30:00.000-08:00

I am delighted to announce

a remarkable new archive of feminine wisdom

is now available online.

Visit Jamie Walters' SophiaLogues

at www.ivysea.com/pages/sophialon_audios.html.

In this series of emerging audio dialogues, Jamie continues her exploration of the Wisdom of the Feminine with a special focus on the re-emerging Divine Feminine. Her conversations with men and women from various paths and traditions takes us deeply into some important questions for these times: What is the Feminine? What are the gifts of the Feminine? How does reclaiming and embodying the Feminine help to foster conscious living, working and leadership?

Each dialogue is a treasure.

The Women are Converging in New York

2010-02-24T12:26:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow I will be joining the streams of women converging on New York for the events and gatherings clustered around the annual session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Thousands of women will be coming from all over the world to listen and learn, to exchange information and ideas, to plan collaborative action, to develop new relationships and celebrate with old friends.

My own calendar is ripe with everything from small circle gatherings to large UN events. I will be connecting with Millionth Circle, Ways Women Lead, the Global NGO Forum: Beijing +15, the Women of Faith Leadership Summit and attending the 54th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women as a delegate of Pathways to Peace.

A friend asked me this morning: What is your intention? It's a good question ... and my answer is that my intention is to listen and learn more about the larger pattern of women's leadership in these challenging times.

And to enjoy lots of laughter and hugs.

Feast of Brigid

2010-02-02T08:52:00.000-08:00

My good friend Clare Peterson sent me this little note about the Celtic celebration of Imbolc or Candlemas - the Feast of Brigid:

Had to smile at this.. when reading up on Brigid who's feast day is tomorrow.. Imbolc~Candlemas.

"Brigid had an extensive female priesthood at Kildare, Ireland and an ever-burning sacred fire in her shrine. There were 19 priestess representing the 19-year cycle of the Celtic "Great Year." Each priestess tended the sacred fire in turn, through a 20-day rotation. On 20th day of each cycle the sacred fire was said to be tended by Brigid herself. Her shrine was likened to that of Vesta tended by the vestal virgins in Rome. Its sacred flame was kept burning.

The Irish claimed that she brought "whistling" to the world, which she invented one night when she wanted to call her friends."

It seems I can remember in my bones a time when I took my turn with my sisters to tend the sacred fire, an ancient time when it was safe to serve the Mother. May we sweep the remanants of winter from our homes and from our hearts as we prepare for the quickening bursts of spring.

Our Time Has Come

2010-01-11T20:12:00.000-08:00

I wrote this for the January issue of the Gather the Women Newsletter:

I have come home from the Parliament of the World’s Religions filled with awe for the brilliance of Mother’s plan and with a new understanding of my own role within that intricate pattern. The Sacred Feminine rose up in Melbourne and I think She is inviting all of us to join Her.

My memories are a mosaic of profound moments and distinct voices ~

~ His Holiness Ravi Shankar at the Opening Plenary reminded me that “Faith gives us the responsibility to make this a happy society.”

~ On a panel discussing Breaking Through Patriarchy, Sister Joan Chittister dreams about a time when “all things that women want will happen and all things that women fear will end.”

~ I am transported by the clarity of Cath Connelly’s harp as she played her original composition ‘Veriditas’ at our Creative Exploration of the Sacred Feminine. Veriditas is a word invented by Hildegard of Bingen which means ‘the greening energy of the creation of the world.’

~ Thanking Phyllis Currot for holding the space for Divine Feminine at the Parliament for more than 16 years.

~The Open Space session with Sister Joan that grew to be an event within the event because the attendees were so hungry for her powerful message about women, leadership, divinity and the church.

~ From Jake Swamp, a former Chief of the Mohawk people: “I don’t think the Peacemaker made a mistake when he put the women in charge of who should be a leader.”

~ Glenys Livingstone’s powerful altar created as a ‘template of wholeness’ in the workshop on “The New Archaic: Neuroscience, Spiritual Practice and Healing”.

~ On the last day, I am riveted by a narrative describing how the Parliament plenary sessions were created “not through a process of consensus by rather of convergence.” I have been meditating on that distinction ever since.

This Parliament was buzzing with feminine energy. Everywhere I went people were talking about Earth-based spirituality, the Sacred Feminine, feminine principles, women’s leadership and women’s issues. Our little pink buttons with the question ‘What happens when women lead?’ showed up sprinkled liberally among the 3,000 attendees and there was a full page of workshops listed under the Program Cluster ‘Women in Leadership’. The Sacred Feminine showed up at this Parliament as a brilliant kaleidoscope made up of the bright lights of the many women (and men) who showed up to embody Her.

I came away with a powerful sense that our time as women has come …. here and now …and I was awakened to the need for another personal shift to be ready for this moment. I realized I had grown too accustomed to the realities of arriving early for the revolution: committed to peace in a world that is still busy making war; working for social justice in a world still putting profit before humanity; passionate about the value of the feminine in a patriarchal culture. Being early meant I had good reason to become an expert at waiting and had developed a vast capacity for patience.

But that was yesterday.

Today’s opportunity calls for a new set of behaviors and skills. We each carry a unique piece of the new paradigm and every piece is important. Since Melbourne, I am aware of a deeper sense of responsibility to bring my piece with more clarity and power. Now I am excited to fit my piece into this magnificent puzzle next to yours.

A Powerful New Year

2009-12-30T15:26:00.000-08:00

It seems a few reflections are appropriate as I approach the end of 2009:

~New Year's Eve is a going to be a powerful moment. Not only does it mark the end of the year but also the end of a decade that for most us has been a wild ride. When I look at photos from the 2000 New Millenium Party that I co-hosted with a dozen other neighborhood moms for our families, I glimpse a more innocent world ... before the morning of 9/11 when those falling towers awakend us all to new dangers and called many of us into urgent service on behalf of a more compassionate future.

~ December 31 is also a Blue Moon Lunar Eclipse, what Patricia Cota-Robles describes as "the most significant New Year we have experienced since our fall from Grace millions of years ago. " I don't know about you, but that sentence certainly got my attention. I am ready for all the Grace I can get.

~My experiences at the Parliament of the World's Religions are still fresh in my mind. I felt us ease into a new age during that week in Melbourne: I believe the women are now ready to bring their wisdom, skill and compassionate leadership to the world and I believe the world is now ready to welcome those gifts.

I invite you to join me in dreaming BIG tomorrow as you toast the new year.

A Report from the Parliament: The Feminine Rising

2009-12-14T13:41:00.000-08:00

Report from the Parliament: The Feminine is Rising!
(submitted Saturday, December 5, 2009)

Three days into the Parliament of the World's Religions ... and I am happy to report that the Sacred Feminine is rising at this Parliament in the most spectacular ways. Here is a quick peek at some of the highlights in the past days:

~Our event on Friday afternoon 'A Creative Exploration of the Sacred Feminine' was a wonderful gathering. We had been assigned one of the larger breakout rooms at the Convention Center, and as people approached our space, they were welcomed by a semi-circle of wonderful volunteers holding large color posters of the Sacred Feminine from many faith traditions. (Special thanks to China Galland who shared with us beautiful high resolution images that we could have printed here in Melbourne.) Other volunteers handed out poems honoring Mother from many traditions. As soft music played and the images flowed on the large screen in the front, our room filled with more than 125 women and men. After tuning in with all of you in a Global Moment of Connection, we were blessed by offerings of poems, songs, music and dance from diverse traditions including Celtic, Sihk, Urantia, Muslim, Jewish and Catholic. It was sacred space.

~The next morning featured a panel on The Divine Feminine where women from various traditions -- Pagan, Catholic, Hindu and Buddist -- spoke to room packed with passionate delegates and a large crowd stood in the open doorway. Phyllis Courot spoke about how when she had offered a workshop on the Sacred Feminine at the Parliament in 1993, she had difficulty finding anyone who would join her panel and very few attended. She observed that things certainly seem to have changed with this Parliament and the Feminine was clearly rising! Sister Joan Chittister spoke in her usual clear and strong voice about imperative to bring gender balance to our view of God and to our world. She stressed our humanity is 'seeing with one eye, hearing with one ear, thinking with one half of our brain... and it shows.' The response was loud and loving.

~Next I attended a session called 'Men Who Love the Goddess' and listened deeply as four articulate and intelligent men described how they know and love the Sacred Feminine.

~Later that afternoon, Sister Joan was scheduled for a small open space event, an intimate opportunity for conversation with her. The room quickly filled with over 100 people and hundreds more crowded the hall outside. The staff scrambled to move us into one of the large ballrooms which was filled with more than 500 people as Joan began to take questions. The first question came from a Russian Orthodox priest dressed in black robes: Please help me understand: What can men do to help heal this imbalance and bring an end to patriarchy? The whole room exhaled and Joan lovingly asked all the men in the room to raise their hands. It brought me to tears to look around and see that more than 1/3 of of the group was men opening their hearts and joining fully in this passionate moment.

A delegate sitting next to me said "Sister Joan is clearly the rock star of this Parliament." (The good news is that this humble, honest and very effective woman of Spirit is on her way to Copenhagen tomorrow!)

And I think the real rock star of this Parliament is the Sacred Feminine who is here with joy and grace and an incredible Divine Plan.

Interview on Women's Radio Network

2009-12-14T13:30:00.000-08:00

I recently had the opportunity to be interviewed by Sharon Riegie Maynard, host of 'Weaving the World' which shares inspiring voices of those creating a new culture for our world, a culture that values all life.

You can tune in to that interview on the subject Women Leading:

http://www.womensradio.com/articles/Women-Leading/4037.html

Heading for Australia

2009-11-30T17:54:00.000-08:00

In a couple hours I leave for LAX to begin my journey to Melbourne and the Parliament of the World's Religions. My bag is packed full of ribbons and buttons and poems and images to enrich our event there: A Creative Exploration of the Sacred Feminine.

I think I am ready, though I have come to recognize these last few hours before departure as the 'awkward hours', ripe with conflicting feelings. I am excited to be going and reluctant to leave home ... looking forward to spending this time in the company of some great women and keenly aware of how much I will miss my family and my dogs ... committed to being present in the moment and yet drawn strongly into the future.

A friend said to me at dinner last week "The operational task of our tribe is to bring more credibility to uncertainty, to bring more legitimacy to ambiguity. It is not flawed; it is a place of empowerment." I had to write that down.

And I am living in that place of ambiguity at this moment.

As One: We Are Our Sisters' Keepers

2009-11-24T11:38:00.000-08:00

You are invited to participate in a virtual on-line conference - As One; We Are Our Sister's Keepers - which will be available from November 25 - February 25 at http://www.weavingtheculture.com/. The conference features speakers, artists, music and poets in a unique online format which allows you to both listen in and download the audio files.

I was delighted to be able to contribute as a speaker, exploring 'Spirituality Intersects Leadership.'

This unique event is being held in conjunction with INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF VIOLENCE TOWARD WOMEN AND GIRLS.

Women at the Parliament: It Just Keeps Growing!

2009-11-10T11:35:00.000-08:00

It is hard to keep up with all the feminine energy building for the Parliament of the World's Religions which will open December 3 in Melbourne, Australia. Women's Spirit Council has created a blog to collect some the magnificent bits and pieces.

What is really wonderful is that you can join this stream of energy no matter where you will be in the world. To find all kinds of ways to join in, visit

http://www.womenattheparliament.blogspot.com.

Let us know if there is anything we should add! And please join us at this powerful intersection of gl0bal connection, women's leadership and the Sacred Feminine.

Women as 'Economic Engine'

2009-11-04T06:35:00.000-08:00

"If ever the world sees a time when women shall come together purely and simply for the benefit of mankind, it will be a power such as the world has never known."

Matthew Arnold, British poet and philosopher (1822-1888)

I have been speaking, writing and organizing women around that quote for the past seven years. I believe it to be true, and I have imagined women rising up together to create a more peaceful, compassionate and sustainable world. This somehow always felt like a spiritual quest to me.

And now I am reading an article in the November 2 issue of Newsweek which is suggesting that this global transformation may actually be coming from an unexpected direction: 'Working women are poised to become the biggest economic engine the world has ever known.'

This is the subtitle of an article Hear Her Roar (written by Rana Foroohar and Susan H. Greenberg)which describes how the economic power and future spending patterns of women will both drive the global economic recovery AND shift our planetary priorities to focus on health, education, the well-being of children and the 'development of human capital'. The article also describes a 'virtuous circle' whereby economic growth fuels greater gender equality, which in turn leads to more sustainable forms of ecomomic growth. And it describes this cycle of empowerment as a global pattern, affecting women in India, China, Vietnam and Uganda as much as those here in the U.S.

I didn't see this coming... because I wasn't even looking in this direction. Once again I am reminded that Spirit works in mysterious ways.

Honoring the Sacred Feminine at the Parliament of the World's Religions

2009-10-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

To women of Spirit everywhere:

Wonderful news! The program staff at the Parliament of the World's Religions has tenatively approved our proposal to create an event to honor and celebrate the Sacred Feminine at the 2009 Parliament. The Parliament brings together spiritual leaders from around the globe every five years and was created to cultivate harmony among the world's religious and spiritual communities and to foster a just, peaceful and sustainable world.

The next Parliament is scheduled to convene in Melbourne, Australia, December 4-9th, 2009 and presents an exciting opportunity to raise awareness about the Sacred Feminine. The idea of creating a celebration of the Sacred Feminine at the Parliament was born almost two years ago at a Gather The Women conference in St. Cloud, MN. The concept was nurtured at the Constellations of Hope gathering last fall and has continued to evolve ever since.

Individuals from religious traditions around the world have come to know and experience the Divine Mother. Her face is reflected in Kuan Yin, Tara, Shiva, the Virgin Mary, Mother Earth and many other forms. Her voice is too often missing from formalized religion so we are joyful to have this opportunity to invite visitors at the Parliament to come together to honor and celebrate the Sacred Feminine.

We plan to hold the event on the grassy expanse of lawn between the Exhibition Hall and the Yarra River, and to enjoy a creative exploration of the Divine Feminine in the music, dance, poetry and song of many traditions, co-created by women around the world. We trust the result will be a powerful and inspiring experience that promotes spiritual unity, empowers women as spiritual leaders, and acknowledges and celebrates the Sacred Feminine.

We need your help! Please share your thoughts and ideas for the celebration with us. We are particularly seeking recommendations of groups and/or individuals that might like to participate with a short presentation of music, dance, poetry or song. We are committed to having diverse spiritual traditions represented. If you know a group who might like to participate, please let us know, and if you will be in Melbourne, please join us!

There is another exciting opportunity to make feminine Spirit visible at this Parliament. A program cluster has emerged around 'Women's Leadership' and we are excited about this opportunity to build energy and awareness of the value of women as spiritual leaders. We are planning various activities and events to engage Parliament delegates in an exploration and inquiry about the many forms of feminine leadership.

We would welcome co-creators to help shape and hold these women's impulses at the Parliament. Please contact one of us (e-mail addresses below) if you would like to join one or both of these streams of activity. If you can not be physically present, please hold this endeavor in your thoughts, intentions, and prayers, for in uplifting the Sacred Feminine at the parliament, we will uplift women everywhere.

On behalf of the Sacred Feminine,

Meredith Tenney meredithhtenney@yahoo.com
Kathe Schaaf katheschaaf@cox.net

Message from Jean Bolen: Petition for U.N. 5th World Conference on Women

2009-10-16T11:40:00.001-07:00

I an delighted to pass along this message from Jean Bolen, author of Urgent Message from Mother: Gather the Women, Save the Earth:

There are new circumstances and possibilities for a UN 5th World Conference on Women. This week, I launched a petition for 5WCW. The preamble provides information and an impressive list of signatories. The petition itself says simply: We, the undersigned, call on the UN, 192 member-states & affiliated NGOs to support a 5th World Conference on Women

Click on to http://gopetition.com/petitions/support-a-un-5th-world-conference-on-women.html

I hope that you will sign the petition and then urge your friends and organizations to go to this site and sign. Ripple effects are geometric. Makes going viral possible!
Let's gather the women, save the world.

With love, hope, and perseverance,
Jean Bolen

Journey into the Mystery

2009-10-15T10:17:00.000-07:00

I am still drifting along in the jet lag two days after my return from Scotland. This was a wonderful journey into the mystery.

First there was a week on Iona, living in Grianan House with six other women and exploring both the island and the bookshelves of this home which Lucy Bruce built in 1930 as a gathering place for women who sought peace. Each evening, we would gather for dinner and circle, reading from Lucy's book When I Consider the Heavens. Like her, we explored diverse spiritual traditions and sought to weave these together with our felt experiences of the spiritual truths embodied by this ancient land. We walked for hours, climbing to the top of Dun I and to the rocky shores of Columba Bay. We collected pounds of beautiful Iona stones and invited wonderful women to join us for tea in front of the coal fire. Our conversations danced through many layers of lore and meaning. And we ate scones and clotted cream as often as we could.

And then we traveled on to Roslin, the small village outside of Edinburgh which is home to Rosslyn Chapel. We heard the delightful story, told by the local people who love and tend this remarkable landmark, who were unaware of Dan Brown's book The DaVince Code and were unprepared when the number of visitors suddenly multiplied from a handful to hundreds each day. The chapel is a feast of images and symbols, history and mysteries carved in stone. Because we stayed in a local hotel just a short walk away, we were able to visit often and come to know the rhythms of this place. Attending a service in the chapel on Sunday morning (this is also a functioning Anglican church), we experienced the juxtaposition of children playing games in the shelter of the ancient intricate stonework and witnessed the community celebration of a baptism. Sitting in the autumn sunshine later on a bench just outside, with the local cat William purring on my lap, I could feel the chapel stones telling their stories in my bones.

So many stories: legends of Freemasons and Knights Templar, of secrets buried beneath the chapel, of a voyage to North America made a century before Columbus, of links to the Arthur legends and the Holy Grail, of the intricate dance between the ancient spiritual roots of this land and the Christian structures that were laid down upon those roots.

The words came to me as a group of us circled in the crypt: There is a truth hidden in plain sight which passeth all human understanding.

Off to Iona

2009-09-28T15:05:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning I will depart for a remarkable journey to the island of Iona off the west coast of Scotland where I will join a small group of women for reflection and retreat. It is a physical journey that has many parts: planes, trains, ferries and buses will all be required to get me from here to there.

We will be met at the jetty by our loving friends, coming together from Canada and the U.K. and the U.S. I know there will be laughter and meals and circle conversation into the night around the candles on the altar. 'Altaring the world', my friend Clare Peterson calls our years of gathering around so many such sacred centers.

And then the real traveling begins. Walking and listening -- to the wind and the waves and the quiet inner voices. Stillness amid the elements and the rocks. Wisdom arising in the flickering light of the flames.

I am ready.

Good News from the U.N.

2009-09-16T19:24:00.000-07:00

Here is the good news from the U.N. as announced by Charlotte Bunch at the Center for Women's Global Leadership:

We are very pleased to let you know that the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution today that takes the next step in the process of creating the new Women's Rights entity at the UN. In the text below are the GEAR talking points on the passage of the resolution, and we must now push on our many remaining points to ensure that the entity that is created serves the rights and needs of women throughout the world. We will be back in touch after a few days with suggestions for the next steps in this process. Congratulations to all for your hard work on this.

GEAR Talking Points on Adoption of System Wide Coherence Resolution by the UN General Assembly

September 14, 2009

1. The GEAR campaign is pleased that the General Assembly expressed strong and unanimous support in adopting a resolution today that will enable the creation of the new gender equality entity to be headed by a new Under Secretary-General (USG).

2. Women and their allies from around the world have been advocating for three years for a stronger better resourced agency on gender equality and women's empowerment, and look forward to its creation early in 2010 - during the fifteen anniversary year of the historic UN Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing.

3. We urge Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to immediately begin the recruitment process for appointing a strong leader grounded in women's rights and gender equality as the USG who will lead this process of consolidating the four existing entities. We expect a broad, open search process to start promptly so that the USG is in place and the entity can be operational by the time of the Beijing + 15 Review at the Commission on the Status of Women in March of 2010.

4. Member states must also address in a timely fashion all the outstanding issues required for the entity to begin operations, including the mechanisms for governance and oversight.

5. Donor countries need to pledge the substantial funding ($1 billion) to support the proposed strong field operation that the entity must have to be successful in fulfilling the promises made by governments and the UN to the world's women.

6. As civil society has always played a vital role in the UN's work on women's rights, we urge member states and the Secretary General to commit to systematic and on-going participation of civil society, particularly women's organizations, in every stage of the process at global, regional, national, and local levels including in the governing board

7. Women around the world have waited a long time for the United Nations and member states to fulfill the promises made since the first International Women's Year in 1975, the adoption of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) thirty years ago, as well as the UN World Conferences in Nairobi (1985) and Beijing (1995).

8. This is an important and crucial step forward - now it must be made operational without further delay.

Support the U.N. 'Super-Agency' for Women

2009-09-12T10:52:00.000-07:00

This article came to me by e-mail today. Please join me in holding this initiative in your prayers over the weekend.

Canada Pushes UN on Women's SuperAgency

By Steven Edwards, Canwest News ServiceSeptember 12, 2009

Plans to announce the green light for a United Nations "super-agency" for women as early as Monday are in doubt because of opposition from three Muslim countries and Cuba.
Canada is at the heart of a frantic diplomatic effort this weekend to convince developing countries in the anachronistically named Group of 77 to break with the "Gang of Four" opponents and ensure passage of the new entity.

Support of the vast majority of the 130-member group is essential if the super-agency -- which would aim to do for women what UNICEF does for children -- is to be endorsed by the 192-member General Assembly. But the G-77, like many other blocs at the world body, likes to act by consensus. This means that the opponents -- Egypt, Iran and Sudan plus ostensibly socialist Cuba -- can hold up the measure even if it is supported by the rest of the UN's core voting body.

"Organizational structure and practices at the UN should not get in the way of delivering on vital women's issues," Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon said Friday. "Canada has long been a strong advocate for strengthening the United Nations' capacity to deliver on women's issues, and Monday's vote is a chance for the world body to show that it is moving in that direction."

UN reform ideas floated at the 2005 World Summit embraced the idea that more is needed to be done to tackle such gender-related issues as violence against women, women's property rights and HIV/AIDS among women. A panel subsequently recommended that the work of four smaller UN women's agencies needed to be brought together under a bigger agency, and a budget of around $1 billion US is envisioned for the new entity. But though the proposal has been before the General Assembly since 2006, Cuba, Egypt, Iran and Sudan have decided they can now use it to press for other changes they seek at the UN.

Insiders say these four have tied their support for the new agency to their demand that the UN General Assembly be given increased power over funds it collects from donor countries.
While rich countries fund the overwhelming majority of all UN activities, they currently retain power over how a significant portion of the money is spent. Canada's Stephen Lewis is among longtime proponents of the new agency who say the tactic is unacceptable because it is holding up creation of a body he and other supporters say is long overdue.

"I am deeply agitated by the effort to delay the women's agency, and to use women as a foil for other issues," said Lewis, co-director of AIDS-Free World, a U.S.-based Aids-advocacy organization.

"Women are always expendable in the minds of some countries, but we will keep fighting. Women must have the agency that was recommended by the special panel."

The delaying tactics have outraged women's rights groups, who say postponement past Monday -- the last day of the current UN session -- could lead to the idea being shelved indefinitely.

Women in the headlines

2009-09-05T07:32:00.000-07:00

Everyone is buzzing about the New York Time Sunday Magazine from August 23, which focused on women. I'd like to share the opening paragraphs of the lead article by NICHOLAS D. KRISTOFF and SHERYL WuDUNN, authors of a new book Half the Sky which will be released September 8:

IN THE 19TH CENTURY, the paramount moral challenge was slavery. In the 20th century, it was totalitarianism. In this century, it is the brutality inflicted on so many women and girls around the globe: sex trafficking, acid attacks, bride burnings and mass rape.

Yet if the injustices that women in poor countries suffer are of paramount importance, in an economic and geopolitical sense the opportunity they represent is even greater. “Women hold up half the sky,” in the words of a Chinese saying, yet that’s mostly an aspiration: in a large slice of the world, girls are uneducated and women marginalized, and it’s not an accident that those same countries are disproportionately mired in poverty and riven by fundamentalism and chaos. There’s a growing recognition among everyone from the World Bank to the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff to aid organizations like CARE that focusing on women and girls is the most effective way to fight global poverty and extremism. That’s why foreign aid is increasingly directed to women. The world is awakening to a powerful truth: Women and girls aren’t the problem; they’re the solution.~

I have to acknowledge a deep feeling of relief to absorb this validation of the feminine - both for myself and on behalf of the women and girls of the world. I am profoundly grateful to be on this planet at exactly this time to catch this wave of women's leadership with my sisters.

Fundraiser for Kenyan Women Septemeber 1

2009-08-23T14:14:00.000-07:00

Those of you who are in southern California are invited to come join the fun:

All women, Whole world, Same Same

Tuesday, September 1

7-10 pm

27711 Deputy Circle

Laguna Hills, CA 92653

$20 at the door

This is a fundraiser for Mama na Dada, an NGO based in Kunya Village, Kenya which provides a comprehensive network of services for the empowerment of women and girls of that region.

I had the opportunity to visit Kunya Village in 2006 when I attended the Grassroots African Women's Conference in Bondo, Kenya and I have the great joy of loving Mama na Dada's founder Joyce Oneko as a friend and a sister of the heart. Joyce is an incredible leader, not just in her village of Kunya but through her visionary work on behalf of all the people of East Africa.

For those of you who live far away from southern California, I know that your donation would be greatly appreciated and wisely used to directly improve the lives of girls and women in Kenya. You can mail a check made out to 'Village Volunteers' to me at the address listed above. Village Volunteers is a 501.c.3 tax-exempt organization in the U.S. which is passing along 100% of all donations directly to Mama na Dada.

This is your opportunity to act locally and connect globally.

The Illusion of Separation

2009-08-19T20:53:00.000-07:00

I spent the past weekend in Seattle at a gathering of women. Out of our circles and conversations, there arose some threads that keep dancing around together in my head:

The subject of the Burning Times kept rising in the room like smoke. First one and then another and then another spoke of the memories still carried in our feminine bones and in our DNA, of how those memories hold us hostage even now and how we white women of European descent are trying to find our way back through the smoke to remember our natural spiritual authority. I shared one of my recent art pieces that I had struggled to allow last winter .... called 'Burning Times'.

We were blessed to receive the teachings of Patricia-Anne Davis, born of the Mississippi Band of the Choctaw for the Taa Chii nii Clan of the Navaho Nation. With Patricia as our guide, we experienced an indigenous healing ceremony which asked us to name the out of balance condition in our world. Our group consensus was the illusion of separation from the Divine Creator.

It is time now for we women to remember our connection to the Divine and to come forward with our spiritual leadership. It is that simple and that complex.

New Moon, Solar Eclipse and Heart's Desires

2009-07-22T09:29:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a New Moon Solar Eclipse, visible on Earth in parts of Asia. Whether you could see the eclipse or not, the energy of this event is available to all of us. This solar eclipse is a powerful time to focus on your heart's desires. In the words of The Spirit of Water, "take advantage of one of the most fertile times in the history of our solar system for creating your dreams."

I am making a list this morning of my true heart's desires and spending some time in the next 12 hours to visualize what it will feel like when those dreams come true. It is not as simple as it sounds, because I have learned to choose carefully at these times. I don't want edit my real dreams to make them more reasonable or more acceptable to others in my life. I need to step into the fullness of my greatest vision and believe that I am worthy.

Italy: Women exploring the mystery

2009-07-09T06:33:00.000-07:00

I just returned from two weeks in Italy where I attended Satyana Institute's two-part event Cultivating Women's Spiritual Mastery. I first participate in a three day conference in Turin with three spiritual women teachers: Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo (Buddhist), Swami Abikananda (Hindu) and Sister Lucy Kurien (Catholic) and then traveled up into hills to the rural village of Vidracco for a five day retreat with 27 women to explore the theme of women's spiritual leadership more deeply.

I am still integrating all of my experiences and learnings. Among the things I am contemplating:

~Our group of spiritual pilgrams seemed more interested in Women's Spiritual Mystery than in 'mastery'. We kept surrendering to the unknown throughout our journey together and often found our deepest experiences in the spaces between the scheduled program.

~Women seem to thrive in the cracks between the defined religious dogmas. When both Tenzin Palmo and Swamiji stated strongly at the conference that spiritual seekers must chose one spiritual path and dig deeply, it stirred up waves of disagreement. Women expressed later that this felt patriarchal and dogmatic, that it was not congruent with their own experience as women who have historically been forced to find spiritual legitimacy outside the confines of traditional religious practice.

~We visited the Sanctuary of the Black Madonna at Oropa. It seems appropriate that there is no single explanation for the appearance of these powerful 'black' figures of the Mother and her Holy Child, that she too seems to live in the cracks between the official church stories.

~I met wonderful women from the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, South Africa and Europe and will carry them in my heart forever.

My heart is full and I am still digesting all these experiences and more.

InspiraLogues Offer A Deep Pool of Feminine Wisdom

2009-06-10T18:06:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to co-create an InspiraLogue with Jamie Walters of Ivy Sea. Jamie has recorded and archived a diverse collection of one hour dialogues under the banner Wise Women: The Way of the Feminine.

You can find my dialogue with Jamie as well as many other inspiring conversations about the role of the feminine at this crucial time on the planet at: http://www.ivysea.com/pages/ivysea_store_audios.html

These dialogues offer a valuable 'lived experience' of feminine wisdom which can nurture and inspire. Feel free to pass this link along to the women of your circles so that more of them can tap into this resource.

An opportunity to support Joyce Oneko of Kenya

2009-06-08T12:59:00.001-07:00

On Memorial Day, I had the opportunity to spend some time with Joyce Oneko who was in the U.S. visiting from Kenya. She and Elizabeth Stephenson were driving from Ojai to Palm Springs, and the three of us met at a Starbucks along the freeway for a lovely long chat and numerous hugs and kisses. I am delighted to report that Joyce had been resting and renewing under Elizabeth's watchful care, that she is as full of passion and ideas as ever and that she remains a remarkably clear visionary leader.

Joyce is not only the founder of Mama Na Dada, an innovative NGO in Kenya formed by and for African women to support the empowerment of the African girl child. (http://www.mamanadada.org/) She was also the organizing force behind the remarkable Grassroots African Women's Conference held in Bondo, Kenya in 2006 which brought together 513 grassroots African women to share ideas and build networks of support.

At this moment, there is an opportunity to help Joyce evolve the next layer of her own leadership, of the collective leadership of the women of Kenya and of Mama Na Dada.

Joyce has returned home to Kenya with the plan to hire a full-time director for Mama Na Dada -- a woman from Kunya Village who can begin to manage the eight projects of Mama Na Dada in a focused and collaborative way so that Joyce has the flexibility to respond to the many national, regional and international projects which have been flowing toward her. (One of these is a UNIFEM grant to provide training for women in the displaced-persons camps about their rights under the law and the government aid that should be available to them.)

Joyce feels that the work of Mama Na Dada and its projects originating in Kunya Village must become first even more effective on the ground and then be broadcast as a model for other villages in the region. Her plan is to hire and pay a full-time director who will work using a shared leadership model - empowering and facilitating more women amd young leaders to become involved in leadership roles. Joyce has given this much thought and builds upon her keen understanding of local politics, the complex dynamics among the women and the best use of local resources. She remains commited to capacity building at the grassroots level.

This project will require a fund of $5000 per year.

Your donation of any kind would be much appreciated and would directly impact the lives of rural women in Kenya. You can send funds payable to VILLAGE VOLUNTEERS (with MAMA NA DADA DIRECTOR marked in the memo line) to the following address:

Kathleen Kraemer
309 Benton Street
Santa Rosa, CA 95401

Village Volunteers is a 501.c.3 in the U.S. which has generously volunteered to pass through 100% of all donations to Mama Na Dada.

Soul of the Mother

2009-05-22T10:04:00.000-07:00

I have just returned from Soul of the Mother, the lodge where Mohawk ceremonial leader Diane Longboat and the members of her Governing Council maintain the Sacred Fire of the Great Peace. This fire has been burning continuously for more than four years and serves as the sacred center of ceremony, healing and teaching work just outside the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario, Canada.

The mission statement of Soul of the Mother can be found on their website: "Our mission is to offer Ancient Indigenous wisdom as a means of awakening the true loving essence of the human spirit. We join with the natural rhythm of the heartbeat of our Mother Earth and we are governed by the sacred world of the Spirit."

It was an honor and a blessing to experience that mission in action as one of seven white women warmly welcomed into dialogue and ceremony at the lodge. As we sat circled around the Sacred Fire with the beat of the drum sharing our visions and passions, I could feel an ancient and powerful through-line connecting me to Creator, through my own spiritual lineage and to my deep love for this Earth. As we spoke about our ancestors, each of us a complex blending of races and cultures, I could see the intricately woven web of humanity and the embodied truth that we are all One. As we spoke of the ancient past and the challenges of the future, I was reminded anew of my own divine assignment in this moment.

Soul of the Mother will carry ashes from the Sacred Fire of the Great Peace to Greenland in July 2009 for the Aasivik Fire and Ice Ceremony ( http://www.fireandice2009.org/ ) and to Africa in 2010. I strongly encourage you to make a donation to help them with this sacred work. You can find out more at http://www.soulofthemother.org/.

Reclaiming Grace

2009-05-11T16:26:00.000-07:00

Kathe Schaaf
is so grateful to announce the the birth of an impulse
and a declaration of committed intention.

Watch for new developments in the publication of her upcoming book

Reclaiming Grace:

One Woman's Journey of Remembering Her Spiritual Power

Publishing early 2010

Prayers and the lighting of candles would be lovingly appreciated!

Coming soon: http://www.reclaiminggrace.org/

Mother's Day Proclamation 1870

2009-05-09T08:32:00.000-07:00

Just in case you did not know: Mother's Day was originally started after the Civil War, as a protest to the carnage of that war, by women who had lost their sons.

MOTHER'S DAY PROCLAMATION, 1870
By Julia Ward Howe

Arise then...women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
"We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."
From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says, "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe our dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace...
Each bearing her own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God---
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

Join STANDING WOMEN on Mother's Day

2009-05-06T09:21:00.000-07:00

I am passing along this message from Standing Women.org:

Two years ago and last year, we committed ourselves to stand on the second Sunday in May, Mother's Day in many countries, to signify our commitment to a better world for our children. Many of us have continued our commitment to the world's children and grandchildren every day in many ways. Yet, as the second Sunday in May is almost upon us, this is a special opportunity, to show ourselves to each other, and feel deeply the global nature of our commitment.

Please register where you will stand on "Mother's day", May 10, at www.StandingWomen.org, and invite all your friends to register as well. Making our commitment visible is very important, especially now when crises abound.

Please stand with us again for five minutes of silence at 1 p.m. your local time on May 10, 2009, in your local park, school yard, gathering place, or any place you deem appropriate, to signify your agreement with the statement below. Please stand at a different hour with a different time zone if 1 p.m. is not your preferred time.We ask you to invite the men who you care about to join you. We ask that you bring bells to ring at 1 p.m. to signify the beginning of the five minutes of silence and to ring again to signify the end of the period of silence. During the silence, please think about what you individually and we collectively can do to attain this world. If you need to sit rather than stand, please feel free to do so. Afterwards, hopefully you and your loved ones can talk together about how we can bring about this world."

With the deepest gratitude for all that you do and are,
The Team at StandingWomen.org

Women's Spiritual Coalition

2009-04-26T07:22:00.000-07:00

Calling women of Spirit!

Women who call upon the Divine using many different names
and who represent many diverse spiritual traditions
are arising and gathering
united by their vision of a better world.

If you recognize yourself in these words, you are may want to explore a new collaborative community of women and organizations coming together under the banner
Women's Spiritual Coalition.

This initiative is just beginning to take shape, guided by a core circle of women who have histories with several diverse organizations and multiple spiritual traditions. This core is dedicated to:

listening deeply to the wisdom and inspiration of many
holding the space for the emergence of divine guidance and collective vision
self-organizing using feminine principles and practices
creating opportunities for inquiry and collaborative conversations locally, regionally, nationally and globally
discovering together projects, actions, activities and intentions which will nurture and magnify the spiritual leadership of women and contribute to global transformation

Over the next year, we will be hosting dialogues and conversations as an inquiry to explore this potential at a number of events and conferences, including the Parliament of World Religions in Melbourne, Australia.

You are warmly welcomed into this sacred space where we can explore together the many dimensions of the sacred feminine, the healing potential of feminine leadership and new paradigms of collaboration.

For more information, contact KatheSchaaf@cox.net or MeredithHTenney@yahoo.com

4 Girls Glocal Leadership

2009-04-05T18:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, thirty women gathered on my back patio for Afternoon Tea and Global Connections. It was a wonderful gathering. This sun was warm; the roses were bursting into bloom; there were lots of desserts; and the conversation about the local/global connection was inspiring.

Our guest of honor was Jin In, dynamic founder of 4 Girls Glocal Leadership (http://www.4ggl.org). Jin spoke of her passion for empowering girls in all parts of the world and her belief that developing the leadership potential of girls is essential to the economic and social well-being of any country. Her program is built upon a multi-generational model, training young leaders of college age who in turn reach out to do training with girls on the local level. 4GGL is currently planning a major project in Pakistan, Afganistan and India that will reach across national, cultural and religious boundaries.

Jin welcomed these Southern California women as the newest members of 1000 LEADERS, a leadership challenge to show that everyday people CAN change the world. Until Mother's Day, just as every mother makes her children a priority, YOU can make the world's poorest girls a priority by becoming a LEADER. It starts with $10 and your gift can honor your mother by naming her as the LEADER. 4GGL will acknowledge and name all 1000 LEADERS at the end of the Challenge. http://www.4ggl.org/Donate.html

Leaders from numerous other global initiatives were also involved in this gathering, including Gather the Women, Sophia 2010, The Hunger Project, and United Religions Initiative. We all had the opportunity to explore the local/global connections that are just waiting to be activated ... literally in our own backyard!

Happy Spring Equinox

2009-03-19T15:49:00.000-07:00

In the early morning hours of Friday March 20, the spring equinox will occur. This is a moment when the hours of daylight are exactly balanced with the hours of darkness and it signals the coming of spring with all of its magnificence. Days will get longer and warmer and that amazing shade of light green will begin to appear on the bare branches as the persistance of the life force rises.

I will be gathering tonight to celebrate the equinox with a circle of my friends, just as we gather to celebrate all the solstices and equinoxes. We will laugh and talk and we will definitely eat (in our usual delicious potluck style). We will also be doing a quiet ceremony to each reaffirm our dedication to our sacred calling.

May the change of the seasons awaken your senses and stir your dreams. May you discover a thriving living impulse growing from a seed that was planted long ago. I hope your Divine Assignment reaches out to enfold you in its loving tendrils and surround you in the mystery.

A Living Celtic Spiritual Tradition

2009-03-14T08:47:00.000-07:00

Last week I had the blessing of learning about the 'Living Celtic Spiritual Tradition' of Ceile De. Our teacher, Fionntulach, traveled from Scotland and will be spending several weeks in locations across the U.S. sharing stories, chants and spiritual practices from the Ceile De tradition. Her voice is still singing in my heart and the remarkably integrated spiritual teachings are still vibrating in my bones.

I found it profoundly healing to be in the presence of this balanced spirituality, where both Father and Mother aspects of God are equally celebrated and honored. Fionn relates that Celtic culture was always gender balanced, with women having the same roles, rights and responsibilities as men. Women were welcomed as warriors and leaders and spiritual teachers. This balance is woven into the fabric of the spiritual tradition, which seeks to bring equally the light of the Mother Earth and the light of Father Heaven into the human heart.

You can learn more about Ceila De at http://www.ceilede.co.uk/.

'A Powerful Noise' Comes to the Big Screen March 5

2009-02-12T14:52:00.000-08:00

Imagine my delight last weekend at the movies on a date with my husband when one of the previews was for a special film about the power of women to heal the world that will be shown across the U.S. on March 5. I turned to Doug and said, "See! It is everywhere!"

On Thursday, March 5, in honor of International Women’s Day, CARE will present A POWERFUL NOISE Live in 450 movie theatres nationwide. The one-night event will feature the acclaimed documentary, “A Powerful Noise,” followed by a town hall discussion with expert and celebrity panelists broadcast live from New York City. Go to http://www.apowerfulnoise.org/ for participating theatres and ticket information – or click here to buy tickets now!

Documentary Synopsis:“A Powerful Noise” takes you inside the lives of three women from different countries to witness their daily efforts to fight HIV/AIDS, champion girls’ education and unite ethnically divided communities. The presentation will conclude with a live panel of renowned advocates discussing how women, equipped with proper resources, have the power to help families and entire communities escape poverty.

Moving so fast....

2009-02-10T18:21:00.000-08:00

I sat down to write in this blog at least 20 times in the past month and got distracted by some fast-moving idea, question, conversation, challenge and/or possibility that jumped up to surprise me. The short version: Life is fascinating and complicated and glorious...and time is moving fast.

How to summarize: The women keep gathering and having remarkable conversations and cooking up delicious and mysterious stews. Constellations of Hope is following all Her 'yeses' to multiple new impulses and coming-togethers. Doug and I are laughing a lot at our rescued 10 month old Golden Retriever puppy, Sarah and loving on our 12 year old Lily. My boys are very tall and wonderful and they love me. Twenty friends joined me for my 57th birthday on January 20 for a 'Birth-Auguration Party' where we celebrated all the bright energy of hope and gratitude in the air - and ate entirely too much dessert.

May this Year of the Ox bring your rich rewards for following your passion all the way to your destiny.
Love,
Kathe

Mystery rising

2009-01-14T20:01:00.000-08:00

Welcome to 2009!

This past weekend I participated in another wonderful weekend of goddess painting with a small group of women. Gathered and guided by Charlotte Backman, we came together to be inspired by the quote "When order crumbles, mystery rises." (From John Shea's book Stories of God)

We could all agree that we find ourselves deep in a time of crumbling order ~ politically, economically, personally, emotionally. And yet there is also something exciting about the opportunity for new paradigms to emerge and the space that is being opened for creative new ideas.

As we flow together forward into the new year, let's really enjoy the paradox, the ambiguity and the quiet center of the deep mystery that is rising. By the way: The lunar new year is January 26 and Mercury is retrograde until February 1 ... so don't be concerned if you are still feeling a bit fuzzy about the exact shape of things to come.

Poised on the edge of something new

2008-12-30T08:20:00.000-08:00

Everywhere I look these days, someone is celebrating the good news that humanity is about to break through the old patterns into a new paradigm of collaboration, compassion and creative abundance. We are almost there! Any day now! Maybe we've already crossed over but we just haven't adjusted yet to the new energy!

At the same time, in my personal communications with friends and loved ones, many have been acknowledging that they've never felt so adrift. They have been using words like 'stuck', 'depressed', 'raw', 'unispired' ... sometimes even 'hopeless'. One friend says she is "buried in the hole that is my emerging self...a bit tender and raw as I wait for the wings to dry and the skin to toughen up a bit". Another describes she is hoping time will speed up till she gets "over the hump."

Maybe both are true at the same time. Maybe transformation does not happen as some lightening flash, some miraculous lottery win bringing instant ease and abundance. Maybe transformation happens one person at time, one moment at a time as we allow ourselves feel all of our feelings and to love ourselves just as we are.

Peaceful Solstice to You

2008-12-17T17:58:00.000-08:00

Once again I have gotten caught up in the whirl of the holiday season. Lots of parties and gatherings, lots of laughing and talking, lots of eating and drinking, lots of connecting with people I see only at this festive time of year.

My family will leave on Friday to travel back to Wisconsin to celebrate two early Christmases with both of our families-of-origin. The weather forecast in the heartland has been reading like something out of campy holiday comedy: "a high of zero degrees with a wind chill of minus 18". It takes our breath away. We are scurrying about trying to find our long underwear and wool socks.

And when I can be still in the midst of all this hustle and bustle, I do hear a quiet pulse of something new taking form within me. Something mysterious and exciting is gestating. I am pregnant with something new and different. I will find some moments during this solstice season to be alone and quiet with this feeling of being pregnant and I will surrender to not knowing where this process will take me.

I send you heartfelt wishes for a peaceful solstice, a happy holiday, an abundant new year and a joyous inauguration day!

Honoring the 'No'

2008-12-04T20:09:00.000-08:00

I had a conversation today with a typical modern woman, juggling multiple roles and responsiblities. There was an edge of exhaustion and overwhelm in her voice, mingled with determination and the remnants of her stamina.

She works full time and is scrambling to reposition her business in this sagging economy. She has been hosting events and doing presentations and developing new brochures and redesigning her website ... in addition to servicing her clients. Some days she is still in the office at 8 p.m. She is the mother of three children under the age of 9, all of whom are typical modern children who play several sports after school, take various lessons (dance, music) and sometimes need special tutoring in school subjects. She drives them endlessly to these activities most days and every weekend. Like many modern women, she lives far removed from her extended family; she has no day-to-day support from her mother or sisters or aunts. Instead, she has the additional responsibility to travel long distances by airplane or to host family members for long visits frequently in order to keep her family connected.

And now it is the holidays. She somehow has to find the time to shop and wrap and ship all these gifts. There are trees and decorations and lights that must all come together in familiar ways. She must plan holiday parties at work and birthday parties at home (all three kids and her husband were born in December). She has to work extra hours in order to pay for these extra expenses.

Today she was telling me that she needs to also find the time to make from scratch the whole array of holiday cookies that her grandmother used to make - "because it's tradition." I felt a great big 'NO' rise up into my my throat. I actually did find the courage to speak it aloud to her, but I don't think it went over so well. Tradition won the day ... and I wonder if this modern woman is losing her Self.

Just a quick reality check here: My Grandma did not work full time outside the home. She did not leave a day of work to drive her children to soccer games and piano lessons and math tutoring. In fact she never drove her children anywhere - they needed to find their own way after they had helped with the chores. She lived her life in a large extended family with sisters and aunts and cousins living in the same rural community. Her life was still demanding and challenging on every level ... but her decision to make nine different kinds of holiday cookies was anchored in a whole different set of realities.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T05:22:00.000-08:00

What a profound opportunity -- to set aside a day to reflect on all the grace and beauty in our lives, to feel our gratitude for the love and abundance of our lives, to laugh and celebrate with family and friends, to express our thanks to our Divine Source for the multitude of gifts we receive each moment.

I can't help but smile at the spiraling and evolving dimensions of this day.

Long ago, harvest festivals brought ancient peoples together to honor the Earth for her sustenance and bounty. Life in these gatherer-hunter cultures could be harsh and the only way to survive was to live interdependently with the Earth, respecting the seasons and living in rhythm with larger natural patterns. Mutuality, interdependence and balance were core values during this phase of the human journey; men and women worked together to survive as human families and humans worked together with the powerful forces of nature. Divine Source was understood to embody both male and female energies. The Earth, with its capacity to generate life, was honored and respected as the Great Mother.

And then there was a shift, an early tipping point. An agrarian culture was born and it became important to own land so that crops could be planted. Sons were essential to bring physical strength to the tasks of farming. Ownership of land introduced the possibility to store surplus harvest, to accumulate wealth -- and ironically also amplified fears of scarcity. One could never have enough - land, surplus, wealth, sons, power. Power together became power over ... and women became another form of property to be controlled. A man who was busy acquiring property and power needed a God who reflected and reinforced these values and systematically all traces of the feminine were erased from Divine Source. God was Father and Son, Lord Almighty. Religion became entangled with politics as men sought more power and more land .... and the Earth was valued only as a resource to be exploited. Thanksgiving celebrations were institutionalized within the patriarchal church and its politics, often celebrated on the same days as ancient 'pagan' holidays.

And so it has been for many generations.

I pause on this Thanksgiving Day to reflect on how the planet is shifting again --remembering balance, returning the feminine to the equation and valuing our battered Earth. I am delighted to be traveling in the company of some wonderful women who make my heart sing and my family who are the threads that make up that heart. I am excited and grateful to be on this planet for the shift back to a God who transcends gender and embodies wholeness.

An Opportunity for Authentic Conversation

2008-11-14T05:17:00.000-08:00

I was welcomed last night into an rich conversation on The Light Show, a blog radio show which is hosted by Jeanie DeRousseau, Teresa Ruelas and Bonnie Kelley on Tuesday and Thursday each week. They invited me to come and share some of my experiences from the midst of the recent Constellations of Hope gathering.

You can hear that interview at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/The-Light-Show. The show is called Across Boundaries and was recorded November 13.

Our conversation danced across some vast fields of energy and potential: women rediscovering their natural spiritual authority, creating and holding spiritual intention, working with the tension at the edge of the new, how is women's leadership woven together with their ever expanding spiritual heartbeat.

I was blessed by the opportunity.

I was there! Constellations of Hope

2008-11-12T09:18:00.000-08:00

Some day I will tell my grandchildren:

I was there!

I was at the first Constellations of Hope gathering, when remarkable women representing more than 40 women's organizations came together for an intense conversation in search of unity. They came bringing all the diverse colors of humanity - red, yellow, black and white. They spoke from their hearts about their yearnings and passions. They came face to face with their own assumptions about one another, about feminine leadership and about collaboration. They stepped into the fire with honest dialogue at the same time that they held the rim of our circle, committed to respecting and honoring all voices equally. They gathered around a self-organizing altar which held symbols of their hopes and inspirations and which quietly generated the heartbeat for their gathering.

It will take time for me to integrate all my learnings and to process all my feelings. For now, it is enough to know that something big happened this weekend that has already begun to ripple out across the universe. And I was there.

What am I 'feeling into' at this time?

2008-10-28T16:57:00.000-07:00

Lynda Terry, founder of Vessels of Peace, wrote today inviting people to share what they were 'feeling into' about the energy of the heart and soul of our country in this amazing moment. This is what I sent to her:

I can feel the falling apart of old patterns and paradigms keenly. I can actually hear the sound of the cracking and shifting structures and the exclamations of fear as they occur. The experience is like a series of eathquakes where everything moves violently for a time and then we pause, sometimes breathless, waiting to see if all is going to be OK.

My bones know all is eventually going to be far beyond OK - a whole new paradigm of peaceful, cooperative, sustainable and compassionate humanity - and they also know that for this time between, it is going to be complex and challenging.

My service is to continually invite women to bring forward both their deepest remembering that all is exactly as it should be and their profound wisdom about how to show up in useful ways during the challenging parts.

I trust the women to bring their highest wisdom on behalf of the greatest good.

A Message from White Buffalo Calf Woman

2008-10-25T16:39:00.000-07:00

It feels important today to share this message, which came to Beth Blevins of Sonoma County, California on March 7, 2006. You can see Beth's blog at http://sacredweb.blogspot.com/. Beth was advised to share this message with all her sisters -- the women all over the world.

I am the one of the one of the One. You are the daughter of the daughter of the One. You are the one to bring forth the light. Tell this to all your sisters, for you are the ones to bring it forth.

My energy is returning to this world. Together we will return the Sacred Feminine energy to its fullness. This fullness will be joy, compassion, love, gentleness, wise use of power, and at times, severity (the moons pass quickly now, and you must journey with the fearlessness of mother bear). Be in your power. Be not afraid to be who you are. Speak with others with knowing.

I am as the buffalo—once strong and covering the plains of the Mother Earth, then weakened and taken, dying away. But now it is time to return to fullness. As the buffalo multiply, so shall my power. As awareness returns to the people, so shall the Sacred Feminine cover the Earth, the Great Mother Earth!

Saving the World with a Bunch of Other Women

2008-10-19T13:42:00.000-07:00

I have been reminded in the past few days about the immense joy of working with open-hearted and passionate women. At the Gather the Women Southern California Regional Congress yesterday ... on conference calls co-creating November's Constellations of Hope collaborative conversation (http://www.constellationsofhope.com/) ... and in many other wonderful synergies large and small. This is why I am so optomistic and excited about what women have to contribute to our world at this time of rapid change and increasingly complex global problems.

Women all over the planet are already busy saving the world and I would like to invite many of you to tell your stories in a new book I am nurturing entitled Saving the World with a Bunch of Other Women. (Published in 2009)

It is a story that needs to be told...

...the story of how the women show up to help birth the children, feed the hungry, tend the sick, hospice the dying, nurture community and educate the children all over the world.

...a glimpse at how the global economy relies upon vast amounts of unpaid work being done by women all around the world.

...the good news about the creativity, resourcefullness and stamina of women in every region of the globe.

...how one woman become connected in service with another woman from the other end of the world or from the other side of the village.

Proceeds from sale of the book will be contributed back to the women and organizations featured in the publication.

Do you have a story to tell about your work in the world? Do you know a woman whose story must be told?

I would be honored to hear about it at katheschaaf@cox.net.

This is what a feminist looks like

2008-10-09T19:44:00.000-07:00

I live in southern California and it has been a busy week of e-mails with passionate reactions to the endorsement of Sarah Palin by Shelly Mandel, President of the L.A. chapter of NOW. Introducing Palin at a rally on October 4, Mandel says, "America, this is what a feminist looks like." Some of the e-mails are from women thrilled about this support of their Republican VP candidate and her ticket (even though they are a bit worried about Palin being linked to a 'liberal' organization like NOW); others were shocked and confused by what they experience as a blatant betrayal of everything NOW stands for, including the national organization's endorsement of Obama.

To me it seems another perfect opportunity for American women to continue to dig deep into their own knowing during this amazing exploration of feminine leadership called the 2008 presidential election. Instead of getting frozen in the polarization, let's breath into our own personal learning and expand.

Newsweek magazine featured on its cover several weeks ago large red lipstick-drawn words "What Women Want" and predicted that it will be women who will decide this election -- even though they acknowledged that historically, no one has been able to predict how women will actually vote. Apparently we are fluid and dynamic (and a bit mysterious) with our decision-making processes.

As I reflect upon this moment of opportunity for women, I have had to make room for the possibility that Shelley Mandel is correct in her assessment: Sarah Palin may be what a feminist looks like. And this may be why I have met so many thoughtful global activist women who insist that they are NOT feminists and the work they do is NOT part of any women's movement.

Over the past six years, I have met many women both in the U.S. and internationally who are passionate about feminine leadership. Many are honest that they are still learning what a new model for feminine leadership might look like. They are fumbling around a bit and feeling awkward ... and keeping their eyes and hearts open for information.

They know what feminine leadership does not look like. It does not mean women being equally successful in the old dominator paradigm, whether that is in the boardroom or the halls of government. It does not mean merely equal rights and equal pay for women in a patriarchal system. It means that somehow the collective wisdom and compassion of women are going to rise up as a mighty force to bring about a new paradigm of sustainable interdependence on this planet.

For many women, the word 'feminist' is stuck somehow back in another time. It is a word that embodies the 'fight' for equal rights, a sometimes angry reaction 'against' the male establishment. With all that angry fighting against stuff, it may have became hard to tell the feminists from the ones they were fighting against. Women did not transform the old paradigm but eventually earned the right to thrive in it.

May we find ourselves in the presence of feminine leaders who embody the qualities they wish to manifest in the world. That is what a feminine leader looks like.

The Wait is Not Long

2008-09-30T20:15:00.001-07:00

I spent the weekend in the California desert at a painting workshop, creating an image of the divine feminine. As the U.S. economy continued to fall apart ... as the political polarity of this election grew more intense and parked itself in the middle of so many life-long relationships .... as weird hurricanes battered Canada and weird heat baked southern California reminding all of us that climate change is real ... I chose to spend my time with other women in meditation and creation and spiritual retreat.

This was not a choice to bury my head in the sand and avoid the complex realities of our rapidly changing world. In fact, it was exactly the opposite. It was a way for me to reconnect with my own natural spiritual authority and to build inner strength for the times ahead. It was a time to remember who I am and why I committed to be here at this amazing time. It was a space in which inspiration and hope were magnified, absorbed and integrated. It was a reminder that the new paradigm begins with my own daily practice of compassion, forgiveness and love -- and that this gentle practice is indeed one of the most demanding and challenging things I will ever do.

Our group gathered on Sunday afternoon to study each painting and to speak into the circle what She was speaking. I fell in love with my painting, feeling both calmed and stimulated by her message "The wait is not long." She sang to me the words of an old country rock song, "Don't be thinking that I don't want you, cuz baby I do."

Nothing feels more important than my faith that all is unfolding exactly as it should be and that a new world is emerging as each of us steps empty-handed into the void. I have work to do and you have work to do and we all fit perfectly together as part of one intricate and sacred plan.

Open Letter to the Women of the World - Revisited

2008-09-21T17:56:00.000-07:00

I recently rediscovered 'Open Letter to the Women of the World' which I had written exactly four years ago in autumn of 2004. A portion of it seems the perfect wisdom for this Autumn Equinox:
~~~~~~~~~

To the women of my world,

I want to say that you are incredible. You are compassionate, intuitive, wise, creative, hard working and strong.

Now more than ever, the world needs these gifts from you. Now more than ever, you need to rely upon those qualities to guide you each day in every interaction. Now more than ever, you need to believe in your own power.

Do not be frozen in the face of these challenging times.

Now more than ever, you need to tap into the energy of hope. You need to use that energy to fuel your action. You need to ground yourself in the deepest faith that we are together in our love for this Earth and her family.

~~~
The times are as challenging as ever ... it is a vast blessing to the Earth that we are as compassionate, wise, creative, hard-working and strong as ever.

Love,
Kathe

Leading Us Away From Fear

2008-09-15T10:09:00.000-07:00

These days, I keep thinking of the Zen wisdom:

Be careful what you ask for because you might get it.

Like many, I am passionate about manifesting more women in positions of viable and visible leadership. The past days of our presidential campaign have made me realize I apparently forgot to specify the most important part of my intention: I really need my world leaders (whatever their gender) to carry the feminine qualities of nurturing, compassion, balance, intuition, integration and wholeness.

I need my leaders to function as global citizens who understand and value the intricate and delicate interdependence of all humanity. I need them to lead from a place of highest service to planetary well-being. I need them to fly high above the noisy conflicts and use the hawk's persective to see the biggest possible picture of this moment in human history. I need them to feel the fierce love of a mother for this whole fragile planet and not just our little corner of it. I need them to risk walking away from the old political playbook to show up with authenticity and creativity. And I really, really need them to lead us away from fear.

Every time I hear a political candidate caution that we need to be vigilant and isolating because this is a 'dangerous world', I turn off my television. The world where I live is only dangerous because of people who want to label, judge, devalue and attack the 'other'. I refuse to give any of my energy to a political candidate who advocates more separation and who contributes to a deepening climate of fear.

My prayer for our nation is that we each of us rise up to our highest selves and that we collectively choose to move beyond fear. My prayer is for each of us to actively participate in creating the peacefully productive world we want. And my prayer for this 2008 presidential election is a candidate who boldy and visibly begins TODAY to lead us away from fear and judgement and separation. I maintain a deep faith that such a leader will be celebrated and joined by millions and millions of wise and powerful souls who have been waiting to exhale.

A New Season is Coming

2008-08-29T21:50:00.000-07:00

I notice that the days are getting shorter and the sun is setting further south along the western horizon. Even though the weather will still be hot for much of September here in southern California, the subtle signs of fall are everywhere. The spiral is turning once again and a new season is coming.

Autumn is a season of activity after the dog-days of late summer. No more naps in the afternoon or floating in the pool watching the butterflies. It is time to put one foot in front of the other and begin creating my dreams. There is a new moon this weekend, which is always a great time to launch new projects.

What are you being called to birth in the energy of autumn?

The following message was posted August 28 on http://www.whatsuponplanetearth.com/ :

'So now is the time to examine what it is that you really and truly want to offer to the world. I can assure you, when you connect to your soul’s plan, you will be miraculously poised to offer it to the world. You need not know how, you need not plan in great detail, you only need connect to your heart’s desire, begin it, and the rest will fall into place all on its own. '

I am going to take time this weekend to meditate and reflect on this question of what I really and truly want to offer the world. You are invited to join me in that space of possibility.

Gathering locally and connecting globally

2008-08-14T10:04:00.000-07:00

Last night, 25 women gathered in my backyard to hear the personal story of Maggie Gonsalves, visiting from India. As we sat in a large circle around a fire pit, Maggie mesmerized us with stories of being one of twelve children born outside of Bombay and of her father's passionate commitment to educating his nine daughters and three sons. Though he was very poor and this education required a huge financial commitment, he told his daughters, "Your education is your dowry." Maggie was by nature inquisitive and fierce, and her education reinforced in her the importance of questioning assumptions and injustice.

Maggie followed the thread of questions in her life. She chose to enter the religious life as a Carmelite nun when she completed her post-graduate degree. Within her spiritual community, she has been a powerful catalyst for change; she believes that the patriarchal structures of the church must be challenged so that the wisdom and experience of the women can be valued equally. She has been tenacious in pursuing opportunties for more education, including a graduate degree in feminist theology in the U.S. And now she is here again seeking guidance and support for her dream to create feminist ashrams in both the U.S. and India, providing a creative and nurturing space and pace where women can bring their courage to dream. Maggie's project is called ANNNI, which means Alliance of Woman, Man, Nature and God and is the Sanskrit word meaning 'and'. You can find out more about ANNNI at http://www.annni.org/.

As the sun set last night and the big moon rose over the tree tops, the women sat in small circles to reflect on what Maggie had shared with them and to talk about their dreams. Many of them spoke about their knowing that this is the time for the feminine to rise and how they are finding their place in that lovely pattern. They experienced synchronicities which will help them manifest their dreams, and they discovered the joy of connecting with one of their global sisters.

An Invitation to Organizational Collaboration

2008-07-22T15:48:00.000-07:00

This is a call to women from the United States, Canada and Mexico who represent organizations committed to women's leadership and empowerment ~

come and join your sister organizations for a deep conversation about collaboration.

We will gather November 7-10, 2008 at the IONS Retreat Center in Petaluma, California.

To learn more and to register, visit http://www.constellationsofhope.com/.

Why is this conversation important to me?

For these past six years, I have been working with women globally and with many different women's organizations. I have witnessed the creativity, commitment and resourcefulness being poured into these many hundreds of organizations. Each one is a reflection of a unique divine assignment; each one is an crucial piece of a larger pattern of women arising to bring balance and healing to our planet.

It is now time for these many organizations to explore together the magnificence of that larger pattern. It is now time for each of them to discover new abundance and greater effectiveness by working together with other organizations. It is now time to join our voices so that we might be heard loudly and clearly. It is now time for all of us to discover what we might be able to create together that we cannot dream of creating alone.

If you share this knowing and feel your cells vibrating in answer to this call, come join us!

A Collective Energy is Rising

2008-06-13T10:17:00.000-07:00

I recently had the privilege to sit in circle for several days with a group of 23 remarkable people at the Lifebridge Sanctuary in the Hudson Valley of New York. This group has been convened to explore 'Serving Humanity in the 21st Century: The Cooperative Spirit and the Call to Group Cooperation'. As we sat together, sometimes in meditation and silence, in a magnificent room looking out upon the deep green of the woods and the layers of violet hills drifting across the horizon, we explored the territory at the intersection of the individual and the collective ... service and spirituality ... boundaries and collaboration ... identity and interdependence. Nancy Roof, one of the co-conveners of this gathering and editor/ publisher of Kosmos Journal (http://www.kosmosjournal.org/) describes this territory as 'resonance at the collective edge'.

Cleary, this energy of the collective is rising up strongly right now. Almost daily, I get an e-mail describing a new initiative to promote collaboration, cooperation, unity, collective wisdom, collective intelligence, synergy - all different language to describe a shared intention. I can't help but notice the paradox that there are so many diverse and separate calls to collaboration. Perhaps it is important for us to begin to explore and experience the collective in multiple smaller clusters, practicing new behaviors and learning new skills. Perhaps this is what the new paradigm of unity looks like: numerous overlapping and intersecting hubs of connection drawn together by shared passions. Or perhaps the thing that most unites us as humans is how hard it is for us to surrender our identity or our idea or our project to a larger organism.

I ponder all of this as I myself have been participating in an impulse to gather a group in service of collaboration. I am one of a core of women representing diverse women's organizations who have been meeting and talking since December 2007 about bringing representatives of 50 women's organizations together for a 'collaborative conversation' to explore what we might be able to create together that we cannot create separately. We have been guided by an instinct that this is the right time for such a dialogue and have been affirmed through many deep conversations over these past seven months. Our own collaborative process has brought us to the point where we will shortly announce a gathering to be convened November 7-10, 2008 at the IONS Retreat Center north of San Fransisco. Stay tuned for more details.

On our own journey to this particular collaborative conversation, I met Elizabeth Palmer who at age 95 can reflect with clarity upon her years of service as the president of the World YWCA. Elizabeth reminded us "If we are not together, we are not effective." I think many of us who are passionate about bringing forth new paradigms of balanced, sustainable and compassionate leadership on this planet share Elizabeth's understanding and are being pulled together into larger communities so that we can become much more effective.

I Don't See Your Feet Moving

2008-05-20T18:22:00.000-07:00

When my son Cody was about 20 months old and playing with a toy train on the family room floor, he called repeatedly to invite his dad to come play with him. Dad said yes with his voice .... but stayed in his chair focused on finishing a newspaper article. Cody walked over to look into his dad's eyes and said with genuine confusion "But I don't see your feet moving." No one present at the time will ever forget the power of this simple observation spoken from a place of innocence and truth.

In a week, Cody will celebrate his 15th birthday. While he has grown to be over six feet tall and busy with passions that range from his rock band to bodyboarding to photography, he has maintained his capacity for clear insight packaged in simple questions. Yesterday we were listening together to some music from the late sixties and talking about the activism stirred up by the Vietnam war. He got very quiet for a while and then asked "Why don't people care about this war?"

Why indeed?

Of course, the answer to that question is long and complicated. I know many people who care passionately about the state of our world and who are working creatively to bring about change. I know some people who do stand on a street corner one day every week, holding a sign inviting people to honk if they believe the war is wrong. I know some people who have come to believe that the old paradigm of protest and revolution is no longer the answer and who are exploring new energies of 'subtle activism', self-organizing action, circle dialogue and global resonance. I also know many people who feel overwhelmed and paralyzed by the enormity of the challenges facing us on the planet. I know many people who have grown cynical about governments that are too corrupt and leaders who are too uninspired and problems that are too complex.

There are no easy answers in these transformational times.... except maybe to have faith that we can find our way back to cooperation, mutuality and unity. And to move your feet in the general direction of that vision in some way every day.

Faith with feet may just get us there.

Love,
Kathe

A Reflection on Mother's Day

2008-05-10T17:15:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Mother's Day.

I want to thank my mom for all that she has been for me in all the different phases of my life, for staying close when I needed her and for allowing me to fly when I needed to spread my wings. She is and has always been beautiful, soft and loving and I love her very much.

One of my recent poems is entitled 'Me and You and Mom' and it is a reflection upon the complex relationships between mother and child ... and between our earthly 'mother' and our divine Mother. That poem says:

To be a woman
and a mother
and a daughter
covers a vast territory
of love and longing,
of self and other,
of my skin and your skin,
and a fragile, fragile space
where the boundaries blend.

It requires vast courage
to live in the ambivalence
of that borderless land.
The dragons do know this
and they smile in their sleep
as they dream of smoke and fire.

On this Mother's Day, I will be taking a moment to stand in silence at 1 p.m. with other women around the world as part of Standing Women, yet another of the millions of brilliant impulses born in a small circle of women which sends out ripples of transformation that we will never be able to fully measure. I hope you will be standing in your community. http://www.standingwomen.org

And I cannot sign off without acknowledging the brilliant words of Julia Ward Howe who called us all to the celebration of Mother's Day with these words in 1870. Julia, I hope you know that this pebble you tossed into the pond over 125 years ago is still sending out ripples ... and that the women of the world are still bringing their creativity and passion to co-create a peaceful, sustainable and loving world.

Mother's Day Proclamation
Arise then...women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
"We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."
From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says, "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe our dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace...
Each bearing her own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God---
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.

Love,
Kathe

The Freedom to Choose

2008-04-28T17:30:00.000-07:00

I was rather startled to notice today that I haven't written anything new on my blog for almost a month. I remember having the intention many times ... and then there was always an abundance of other rich and creative things to do. I realize that I am truly blessed with sovereignty: the freedom to choose.

During April, there have been several juicy meetings with wonderful women including a trip to the East Coast. New friends and co-creators from the Jaipur summit have been tuning in to explore ideas and possible projects; several visits are on the horizon. My friend Charlotte Backman invited a circle of us to join her for a new 'goddess' painting class and I discovered that I am called to create many different divine feminine images -- so many that I finally bought paints and set up a studio in my home (a much simpler solution than moving in with Charlotte so that I could have access to her paints 24/7). It is a hot spring in my gardens and there is much work to be done to keep up with the abundance of nature. I have enjoyed many sunsets, watching the hummingbirds dart from flower to flower and I have made a commitment to put bluebird boxes in my trees so that we can help contribute to the continuation of this beautiful species. And I enjoyed a nap now and then on a quiet afternoon.

I was sharing a wonderful lunch recently with Vivian and Audrey Heredia, the mother- daughter team that has nurtured the McCharles House in Old Towne Tustin for the past 25 years. We are all three enjoying a new phase of our lives, having gently set down some old responsiblities and allowing nature to inform us with more space and freedom. When I remarked that I have fewer commitments on my calendar than I have had for years and yet there is so much creativity flowing out of me that my time is full, Audrey replied: "Just like taking off a girdle ... you can relax and expand."

Saturday I will facilitate a workshop on feminine leadership called At the Intersection of Sovereign and Sacred. An intimate circle of women will gather in a lovely garden to explore the abundance of our gifts and the mysteries of our unique cosmic blueprints. When I first birthed the idea for this workshop, I thought that because of my own experiences with leadership I had something important to teach. Now I realize something more about the real power of living at the intersection of sovereign and sacred ... and I am excited to show up on Saturday to listen, to relax and to allow myself to expand.

Good News from Jaipur: 'God is not a patriarch."

2008-04-02T09:59:00.000-07:00

Global Peace Initiative of Women invited 450 global citizens to gather for a summit in Jaipur, India from March 6-10, 2008. They carefully selected leaders from more than 50 countries representing business, education, politics and civil society. More importantly, they invited spiritual leaders – both men and women - from almost all of the world’s faith traditions. For four days under the gold and white roof of a large open sided tent, we were all together in our commitment to ‘Making Way for the Feminine for the Benefit of the World Community.” I had the privilege to be in that tent and I am still integrating all that I learned and experienced in that faith-full community.

One of my new friends from Jaipur recently wrote “There is still such a powerful fragrance from the conference. Are you finding this too?” There is indeed a lingering fragrance from Jaipur and like any good perfumes, it is complex blend of scents with base notes, top notes and excellent binding agents.

The base note for this Summit was provided by our host country. India is herself a complex blend of ancient spiritual traditions and modern economic challenges, of beautiful landscapes and brutally difficult living conditions. Everywhere I traveled I saw breathtaking paradox and juxtaposition: women dressed in delicate, brilliant saris and bangles carrying baskets of wet cement on their heads as part of a road work crew; children begging in the street in front of state-of-the-art medical centers; lumbering up the steep hill to the Amber Fort on the back of an elephant while the ‘driver’ chatted on his cell phone; large Tata trucks making way for a single cow or a herd of goats on rural roads. I needed to be able to hold an internal space for the contradictions of India in order to be present for the people and the evolving human story of this land. Our host India required all of us to remain flexible, patient and alert – an interesting combination of qualities as the foundation for our gathering.

The complex middle range of the summit’s fragrance is made up of the many diverse voices of the participants. There are some that stand out for me:

~Yangjin Lamu is a beautiful young woman from Tibet who sings prayers in a voice that rings with the clarity and mystery of her land. The first time I heard her sing was at an informal gathering in one of the hotel rooms several nights before the summit convened. She stood with her back against the wall and closed her eyes and began to create the most powerful sounds I have ever heard. I could literally feel my DNA vibrating into a new pattern.

~Sister Joan Chittister is a fearless truth-teller and I hung on every word as she invited us all to step into responsibility: “Half the world is invisible and mute and the other half doesn’t even notice ….The greatest burden is to have no burden to bear at all…. No seed ever sees the flower… If you are wondering is your life work is over and you are still alive – it is not!” In fact, every nun I met in Jaipur embodied clarity and honesty, whether they came from Australia, India or North America.

~Dr. Tho Ha Vinh who is the head of global training for the International Red Cross described how the human story to date has been about men shedding blood and women shedding tears to wash that blood away. “The women are constantly redeeming our violence.”

~From a panel of African women: “Women are capable of doing very foolish things in the name of love.”

~From a discussion of material and spiritual development in India: “There is enough for everyone’s need but not enough for one man’s greed.”

~From a circle on spiritual economics: “A natural leader simply walks through any door that opens.”

~From a circle on visionary leadership: “Leadership is an alignment of strengths that makes weakness irrelevant.”

~Truth and wisdom was brought by a team of youth leaders from all parts of the world. These young people have been mentored and nurtured by GPIW over the past several years and stand ready to lead in a new way. One of them had the courage to observe that this conference on the feminine was actually organized in a masculine way, with very little open space and few opportunities to be in dialogue. He pointed out that the real feminine energy at the event unfolded during the breaks, when people were drawn together organically for spontaneous connection.

And indeed the top note of our lovely fragrance was definitely provided by love. People were falling in love with each other all over the place -- at breakfast, lunch and dinner, during tea breaks and during inspired conversations on the sofas in the lobby. It was food for my soul to be able to hug a laughing, relaxing Joyce Oneko and to share stories with my roommate Janet Pinto like teenage girls at a pajama party. I am excited about the new relationships I developed and hints of new creative collaborations on the horizon. It was a miracle to spend so much time in a frequency of love.

Binding all of this together was a God called by many different names, an incredible master weaver who brought us all together in this one place and who held us in a loving embrace so that we could relax into one another and into a vision of another kind of world. There was a feminine and fluid aspect to the God who brought about the real miracles of the summit in mysterious and unexpected ways; there was a soft and warm divine lap into which we could all snuggle. We had a lived experience of the words of one of the summit speakers: “God is not a patriarch.”

I am brought back to one of Joan Chittister's questions from the first day: "Everyone is speaking truth -- then what?" The real impact of the summit will be brought into form by each of who attended and will manifest in a nesting holographic pattern of deeply personal transformation, individual action, organizational collaborations and global connections. I am responsible for bringing my own threads into that complex pattern.

Report from the GPIW Summit: Half the World

2008-03-12T17:35:00.000-07:00

It seems appropriate that my intention to write more often from the midst of the Global Peace Initiative of Women summit in India was subverted for multiple reasons. The internet service at the hotel was disabled for days in a row; the schedule of the summit was packed with sessions; and it was just too much fun to linger in those long and glorious conversations with remarkable women, both cherished long-time friends and delightful new ones.

I am home now, after a long journey with many parts. I am experiencing that wave of gratitude for the familiar comforts of home at the same time that parts of me are lingering in the energy of the gathering I have so recently left.

A few glimpses at some of the memories etched into my heart:

The experience of breathing in the prayers from so many faith traditions that went on for more than five hours the first evening. I will never forget the image and voice of Yangjin Lamu, a beautiful young woman from Tibet who sings haunting and powerful prayers in her language that resonated with remembrance in my bones.
Sister Joan Chittister speaking in her strong and clear voice during the opening session about how half the world is invisible and mute ... and the other half doesn't even notice. Her metaphor, that life is a two-winged bird which cannot fly until both wings are equally developed, became the through-line for the entire gathering.
Joyce Oneko speaking so eloquently in a session called "Listening to Africa" and describing how the women of Kenya are responsing to the current crisis in her country: "They are doing what women do best -- trying to bring back sanity."
The impressive spiritual women leaders who shared their insights included Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, H.H. Sri Mata Amiritanandamayi Devi (Amah), Anandmurti Gurumaa, H.H. Dadi Janki, Rabbi Namaah Kelman, Venrable Dhammananda Bhikkhuni, and Maa Chee Sansanee.

I cannot begin to describe with words the priviledge of learning at the feet of so many spiritual leaders, the incredible synchronicity that graced my personal conversations, and the loving heart space we all created together. It is best to to simply say that God surely showed up at this gathering and held us all in a nurturing and loving embrace ... a lived experience of a divine Mother.

Love,

Kathe

India: The Grace in the Space Between

2008-03-05T05:56:00.000-08:00

I have been traveling now in India for two weeks and have just settled in the hotel in Jaipur where the Global Peace Initiative of Women will convene it's global summit of women tomorrow.
I have not looked at a computer in that time, but just stayed focused on the experiences as they came to me.

It has been a magical journey so far with so many incredible moments of connection; I have not begun to integrate all of the brilliant pieces yet but in the next week will try to sit down here and share some of those moments.

For now, all that seems important to say is that I have been awed by the power of the grace in the spaces between the many flowing elements of life in this country. There is a constant movement of camels and cows, of big trucks lovingly decorated with bright colors and shiney streamers, of millions of scooters and motorbikes and rickshaws and tiny taxis, of women floating past in their bright saris, of herds of goats and sheep, of tractors pulling huge loads of grain or grasses wrapped in enormous pouches of canvas. There are moments when it does not seem possible that all of those elements could possibly coexist, and yet they do with an ease and a flowing grace that reminds me that there is indeed a strong divine force of love and protection here.

More to come about the people who have been a blessing along the way and the women who gather here for the Summit.

Love,
Kathe

Journey to India

2008-02-18T12:19:00.000-08:00

In just a few day I will depart for a three week journey to India. I have never been to India before, except in my dreams.

My trip unfolds in two distinct parts. First I will travel for twelve days with my husband, celebrating our 20th anniversary by touring the incredible historical sights of the Rajasthan region: the Taj Mahal; Ranthambhore National Park; the Amber Fort and City Palace in Jaipur; Mehrangarh Fort and Umaid Bhawan Palace in the "Blue City" of Jodhpur; and Devigath Palace, Eklingji Temple and Nathswara Temples in Udaipur. These names feel so rich and exotic on my tongue and it feels like a dream that I will actually walk on their ancient pathways.

Then I will travel back to Jaipur to participate in the 'Making Way for the Feminine for the Benefit of the World Community'. This global summit of 400 women, men and young people from around the world will bring together leaders from a variety of diverse communities - spiritual, governmental, academic, policy makers, development professionals, human rights experts and young community leaders - to reflect upon what women have to offer that is different that can help steer the world community onto a new course. It is being organized by Global Peace Initiative of Women (http://www.gpiw.org/) as a celebration of their five year anniversary.

Joyce Oneko of Kenya is traveling to Jaipur so she can speak about the intense situation in her country; women in the U.S. donated the funds to make her trip possible. Janet Pinto from Mubai will be my roommate and Indira Ghale is coming from Nepal to represent Dalit women. Elinore Dettiger and I plan to share a pot of tea and have a long chat.

I realize I have entered that interesting phase on the cusp of a grand journey that my friend Clare Peterson describes as the 'antechamber' -- the space between two radically diverse points in time and space. I feel I am not quite here and I am not yet there. The only option is to float along with the current and enjoy the ride.

Last night I gathered in sacred circle with a group of friends who each contributed a small treasure to a 'traveling altar' for my trip. Ginny, who tuned in by speaker phone from her new home on Vancouver Island, sent a small copy of a painting she did recently with haunting images of hands reaching out to make connection. Barbara was able to join us from Juneau, Alaska and brought a card describing the goddess quality of "Strength". Andrea's gift was a brilliant blue heart within a heart and images of three powerful Hindu goddesses. Joy shared an amulet that I can wear around my neck reminding me that I am protected by angels. Charlotte made a tiny folding paper altar with the words of Confucius: 'Wherever you go, there you are.'

I know that somewhere in India at some time in the coming weeks, I will set up my traveling altar and invite magical women there to light a candle and link their hearts with the hearts of these wonderful women from home. We will have a lived experience of the wise words spoken by Fred Molle, our driver in Tanzania in December 2006:

All women

Whole world

Same, Same.

I am so blessed.

Love,

Kathe

The courage and wisdom of the world's women

2008-02-07T10:07:00.001-08:00

In the past few days, I have been deeply touched by the courage and wisdom of two remarkable women I know in different parts of the world. Their stories are as different as the challenges they face, yet both are showing up fully to do what needs to be done.

My friend Joyce Oneko is a remarkable woman leader who is at this moment waking up every morning to the daunting realities of life in Kenya. She is working to try to bring food and basic supplies to the 'displaced persons' living at Mathare Camp near the slums of Nairobi; she is helping to plan a complex effort to transport 1,200 women and children out of camps and back to their ancestral homes; and she is personally sheltering women from ethnic violence in her home.

In a long report she just broadcast to her friends in the U.S. and Europe, she describes "Everyday of the week, I keep thinking we will wake up and find all this has disappeared and we are back to normal again. There are such horrific stories that sometimes it is like we are in a movie theatre, watching horror movies. ... How do I stay sane, and how do I stay the course? "

I know Joyce and I know that she WILL stay the course. It is what Joyce has always done day in and day out in the face of incredible challenges long before this particular nightmare began in Kenya. She stays the course and she does it with a lovely smile, with keen intelligence and with a deep understanding of the heart of the people and the land of her beloved country.

On another continent, my good friend Janet Pinto in Mumbai, India is living out another kind of feminine story of 'staying the course'. She is providing full time care to her elderly mother who has experienced a series of serious health problem over the past year. Janet has stepped away from her work in the world as an organizational development consultant; she has declined numerous invitations to travel internationally and to participate in global leadership opportunities; and she has focused her attention on providing consistant and loving care for her mum 24 hours a day.

Janet and I talk every Friday, and she tells me about the challenges and joys of this kind of commitment. "Sometimes, I feel like I am disappearing," she says. "Yet, this is the kind of sacrifice my mum made for me when I was little and this is what I will do for her."

I don't think that Janet thinks of herself as courageous or bold at this moment. I know from my conversations with her that she has begun to feel quite 'invisible' to the rest of the world, just as millions of women on every continent feel invisible as they commit themselves day in and day out to the details of caring for dependent loved ones. Our diverse cultures seem to share in failing to acknowledge this powerful form of leadership which requires great stamina, patience, self-sacrifice and compassion.

To Joyce and Janet: I am honored and blessed to know both of you. You and your loved ones are in my prayers.

To all the women of the world: Your unique leadership contributions are seen and valued. You are NOT invisible as you 'stay the course'.

Love,
Kathe

At the Intersection of Sovereign and Sacred

2008-02-01T11:08:00.000-08:00

Now is the time and we are the women who have come to lead our Earth back to Herself.
Now is the time to fully surrender to your own leadership.

Join Kathe Schaaf

At the Intersection of Sovereign and Sacred
A Journey of Surrender to Your Most Authentic Leadership

This is a unique opportunity, limited to 25 brave women…
to gather in sacred space and explore
your own edges of creative impulse and persistent resistance.

Saturday ~ May 3, 2008
9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
$85 includes lunch
≈
The McCharles House ~ A Center for Living
335 South C Street
Tustin, CA 92780

Come together
in the energy of the new moon at the heart of Old Towne Tustin
surrounded by the peaceful beauty of the McCharles House and its gardens
in the company of deeply wise women
to explore your emerging identity
and celebrate your commitment to your divine assignment.

Register online at http://www.katheschaaf.com/workshop050308.html
For inquiries or information, call 949- 300-7060

This is the first workshop of a three part leadership series being offered by Kathe Schaaf in multiple locations across the U.S. in 2008. Kathe is a co-founder of Gather the Women, a global community of grassroots women leaders who have both inspired and informed her understanding of authentic leadership for the past six years.

For a peek at the remarkable venue where we will gather, visit http://www.mccharleshouse.com/

What can one woman do to help the women of Kenya?

2008-01-24T07:46:00.000-08:00

In December 2006, I was blessed to be one of thirty- six U.S. women who had the remarkable experience of attending the first Grassroots African Women's Conference in Bondo, Kenya. This gathering brought together 513 rural African women leaders to share information, idea and resources. During our two weeks in Africa, we were able to witness firsthand the courage, commitment and competence of the women of Kenya.

As all of you know, Kenya is caught in the grip of conflict and violence at this moment. In the words of my friend Joyce Oneko who anchored that women's conference "We have taken our 40+ years of peace for granted...we realize that the election violence was just a symptom of something that has gone terribly wrong." Joyce has been doing what Kenyan women do every day: she has been showing up to do whatever needs to be done in the slums of Nairobi and the the Mathare Camp where many displaced people have settled.

This is a remarkable moment in time... and a perfect opportunity for women everywhere to communicate their support for the women of Kenya as they face the challenge of restoring peace and sustainability to their communities and to their beloved country.

You are invited to step into this opportunity for global sisterhood in any of the following ways:

FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO RESTORE KENYA

You can contribute directly to the Kenya Restoration Fund, a special fund that has been established by Global Partners for Development. This fund will allow money to flow through Kenyan partners of GPFD directly to women's projects for the purpose of restoring their communities.

http://www.gpfd.org/global_pages/global_conference.html

ENABLE THE VOICES OF KENYA WOMEN TO BE HEARD ON A GLOBAL STAGE

Joyce Oneko has been invited to participate in a global women's summit being convened in Jaipur, India in March 2008. This event, 'Making Way for the Feminine For the Benefit if the World Community", is being anchored by Global Peace Initiative of Women (http://www.gpiw.org/) and will bring together 400 world leaders from religion, government and civil society.

A special fund has been created to allow Joyce and two rural Kenya women leaders to travel to Jaipur so that their leadership may be acknowledged and their voices be heard in this global forum. This opportunity to go to India is not a frivolous thing in this time of crisis in Kenya; it is a powerful way to gain visibility and generate the global support that African women need to continue toward self-sufficiency and caring for their extended families.

You can send a check made out to Gather the Women
(with the notation JOYCE in the memo line)

Gather the Women
P.O. Box 80026
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688

SEND A 'LOVE NOTE'

At the Grassroots African Women's Conference in Kenya, we were able to give each African woman a personal handwritten 'love note' from an American women ... and to experience how treasured these personal messages were to women who received them. It was a deeply personal and uniquely feminine connection which was received with tears of gratitude by many of the African women that evening.

We will again be collecting hand-written notes of support and encouragement to be delivered directly to the women of Kenya.

You can send your note to:

Gather the Women
P.O. Box 80026
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688

ANCHOR A PRAYER CIRCLE

In one of Joyce's e-mails sent from the midst of the conflict, she asked "Please pray for our beloved country Kenya." One way you can support the women of Kenya is to anchor a prayer circle on their behalf.

We are so blessed to be living at this time

when we can act locally and connect globally.

I trust the women of Kenya to show up and do what needs to be done in this moment,

and I trust each of you to do the same.

Love,

Kathe

P.S You can read a collection of recent letters from our Kenya friends at a special Gather the Women Africa website

http://www.lightpages.net/lp/welcome.cfm?login=463172&sno=1

Invitation to a remarkable dialogue

2008-01-11T10:06:00.000-08:00

On Saturday January 26 from 1-5 pm,

women of southern California will have the opportunity to participate in

Women, Politics and Leadership:

A Trans-Partisan Dialogue for the Women of Southern California.

Women from all perspectives are invited to join in a unique dialogue to explore the common ground beyond our political differences.
The event will be held at the UC-Irvine Student Center.

This is not a typical 'political' event to promote any candidate or issue. It is a rare opportunity to be part of a conversation about the many facets of the relationship between women and politics.

We need great women like you who can contribute valuable insight and unique life learning to this important conversation.

Students from area colleges and universities may register at no cost by contacting harrietadams@cox.net.

You are encouraged to register early.

The $30 registration fee can be paid online or by check.

You can register online with a credit card at:
http://www.gtwsocal.org/

or by sending your e-mail address and a check to:

Gather the Women So Cal
P.O. Box 80026
Rancho Santa Margarita, CA 92688.

Women, Politics and Leadership is co-sponsored by:
UCI - School of Social Studies
UCI - Center for Citizen Peace Building
UCI - Department of Women's Studies
UCI - International Studies Program
and hosted by Gather the Women- Southern California.

We sincerely hope that you will join us on January 26 and help spread the word to your network of women.

The Trans-Partisan Planning Team
Joy Adams
Deborah Avant
Lynn Daucher
Lina Kriedie
Joan Lars
Rima Nashashibi
Kathe Schaaf
Suzie Swartz

On the occassion of the first new moon of the new year

2008-01-07T21:37:00.000-08:00

New moons are the perfect time for new beginnings, for launching new creations into the world. And so it seems perfect to launch my blog in the energy of this first new moon of 2008.

My first post is not going to be a long one. I just want to say thanks for signing on to be on this wild ride with me. Things are falling apart faster than I had expected ... and things are also falling together faster than I had expected. Sometimes I have to listen carefully and look closely to see the 'falling together' part ... but when I do, I see grace and miracles manifesting in surprising ways all over the place.

This lovely message came to my inbox in the first week of 2008 and it seems to say what needs to be said~

From the Hopi Elders:

You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour. Now you must go back and tell the people that THIS IS THE HOUR.

And there are things to be considered:
Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relation?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.

It is the time to speak your Truth,
Create your community,
Be good to each other,
AND DO NO LOOK OUTSIDE YOURSELF FOR THE LEADER.

This could be a good time!

There is a river flowing now very fast.
It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.
They will try to hold on to the shore.
They will feel they are being torn apart,
And they will suffer greatly.

Know the river has its destination.
The elders say:
We must let go of the shore,
Push off into the middle of the river,
Keep our eyes open and our heads above the water.

SEE WHO IS IN THERE WITH YOU AND CELEBRATE!

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves.
For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.
The time of the lone wolf is over.
Gather yourselves!

Banish the word “struggle” from your attitude and your vocabulary.
All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.
We are the ones we have been waiting for.

The Elders of the Hopi Nation
Oraibi, Arizona