The Journey

I’ll be honest with you, I have always been resistant to women’s circles. Growing up, I was taught that women didn’t collaborate, that in order to get on in life you needed to be competitive, that women were bitches and talked about you behind your back. Proper old beliefs and values instilled in me. Not only from this lifetime but past ones too.

I read Red Tent by Anita Diamant in 2014, which was an eye opener for me. Women would retreat into a tent space to bleed together, whilst the elder women and younger ones would continue to tend to the community. Stories would be shared in the tent amongst the women. I attended my first circle back in 2015 with friends. I had no idea what to expect. There was some singing, some writing and some tears. I was so out of touch with my emotions back then. I wasn’t used to having space held for me. I wasn’t used to allowing myself to feel vulnerable. I didn’t go again, I made excuses. I didn’t want to be seen or heard. I didn’t feel worthy.

Back in 2020 I was asked to run an online women’s circle and there was so much resistance within me. I don’t want to do it, I told myself. I did anyway and pushed myself out of my comfort zone to hold one. When I sat with that resistance, it was because I had been killed in a previous life for holding ceremony in the woods with druids. I have been killed as a witch during the burning times with women, killed in Lemuria with a group of women. Can you see the pattern? In many lifetimes, whenever I have sat or worked with a group of women I have been killed. No wonder there was such resistance within me to run them.

My hurt and distrust in women also stemmed from being ceremoniously dumped on Facebook back in my late twenties by a group of my four female school friends. Maybe it was miscommunication, maybe I had these lessons to learn, but the pain and hurt I felt took me a long time to work through. I didn’t want to get too close to women in case I got hurt again.

I didn’t realise toxic femininity was a thing, until I received these words in a meditation. Many of us may have heard of toxic masculinity but what is toxic femininity? The way I see it is losing touch with our inner feminine and striving to be more masculine in order to fit in. I’ve been there myself when I worked in retail management. Society has long taught us to ignore our calling and intuition and to be everything to everyone, which just isn’t possible.

Over the last few years I have been able to work and collaborate with some amazing women. I have amazing female friends who hold space for me, and I them. Women who have taught me the meaning of self love and self care, friendship and unconditional love. Without these women in my life, I wouldn’t be able to offer what I am ready to now.

Temple Woman was an idea born in a field in 2021. Dancing to African drumming music, the name popped into my head. I went home and wrote all of the things that came to me. Women’s circles was one, not only for me to hold them but to teach other women how to hold them too. If you want to hear more about my greater vision you can head here https://youtu.be/txeSCoiEjiI

We go through a lot in our lives and the lessons and experiences we learn from, they shape us into who we are. We learn compassion and empathy, how to listen, when to speak up for ourselves and others. Marriage, divorce, birth, children, careers, work, parents, motherhood, sisterhood, death and illness. I have many wounds and scars from this lifetime that I bear, which have made me who I am. I am sure as you read this, you will think to yourself, I have scars too.

Having held space for others over the last fourteen years, I would like to invite you to come along and experience a circle for yourself. In our first Temple Woman circle, I will be guiding us on a journey to find a unique name for yourself, which will be sacred for our time spent in circle. There may be drumming, chanting, music, dance. All of my circles are led intuitively, guided by the energies of the group who will be there. We will be working with a variety of goddesses and female deities to connect to our intuition and inner knowing.

I am finally ready. I feel safe. I know I will not be killed for my beliefs and values. It might sound crazy, but it has taken me a lot of inner work to get to this point. I have attended numerous circles over the last six years but none have really gelled and I never stuck to them. Unwilling to commit as I didn’t want to allow myself to be vulnerable. I preferred to be a stranger. Someone on the sidelines so I never had to go too deep into my being. Avoiding myself and running away. Now is the time for women to continue to gather, to come together, to collaborate and create anew. Are you ready?

I look forward to you joining me

Lindsay x

If you are interested in joining the circle it is £10 for non members/£5 for members. Please mark your payment “circle”