MotherRoot: An Ancient Tradition is Born Anew
First Rosh Chodesh Gathering March 11, 7pm in the Allen House
Jillian Goldstein and Lauren Jones
In defining what it means to be an African American feminist (womanist),
Alice Walker uses these words:
"Love's music. Love's dance. Love's the moon. LOVE'S THE SPIRIT. Love's love
and food and roundness. Love's struggle. LOVE'S THE FOLK. Love's herself.
REGARDLESS."
As women who, from different pasts and religious backgrounds, each with
unique characteristics, came together in a Women's Studies class fall
semester and became friends, we wish to appropriate Walker's words and make
them all inclusive to apply to who we are and what we wish to gain from
starting a women's group called MotherRoot, under the umbrella of Hillel. We
want to invite each and every woman to join us while we embark on the
journey of celebrating our own experiences as women.
As college students, busy with homework, classes, jobs and extracurricular
activities, we sometimes feel overwhelmed and disconnected from who we are,
from our spirits, and from our women ancestors. Everyday life creates
stressful situations and fast-paced routines that are not conducive to
embracing our spirits as women. The goals of MotherRoot are to foster the
importance of community for women, to connect with ourselves and each other,
with nature, with the divine (whatever that might be for each unique woman),
and to get in touch with our heritages.
After discussing the prospect of these group gatherings with other women,
both in our classes and in our personal lives, we have come to the consensus
that it is essential for women to have support systems. We hope that
MotherRoot can be an extension to the other arenas of support for women in
the UVM community, a place where they can feel welcome and learn something
new.
We hope to lead the group in activities such as: learning how to bake bread,
meditating, learning self-defense, making mini patchwork quilts, going into
nature, doing activism within our community, participating in Sexual
Violence Awareness Month, and getting involved with the clothesline project,
in addition to other activities that will be arranged along the way.
In the theme of Rosh Chodesh (that we just learned about ourselves) we will
meet once a month around the time of the New Moon. Rosh Chodesh is defined
as follows:
"Ushering in the new month. Rosh, meaning "head," and Chodesh, meaning
"month" in Hebrew. An ancient Jewish women's holy day to embrace the
feminine spirit, coinciding with the new moon, the essence of this monthly
ceremony is to honor the rebirthing process in our lives. As women we need
to embrace of feminine souls and get back to balancing our energies - the
energies of giving and receiving."
If you are a woman who is interested in being part of a community of women,
who wants to learn more about herself and other women, and if you want to
have fun doing it, we'd like to invite you to our first MotherRoot gathering
on March 11, at 7pm in the Allen House. Just bring yourself!
As participants in MotherRoot as well as its facilitators, we hope to
encourage an eclectic group of women to enrich each other with what is
sacred in each of us. If you are interested in finding out more about
MotherRoot and/or would like to R.S.V.P for March 11, you can contact Lauren
Jones at [log in to unmask] or Jillian Goldstein at
[log in to unmask] Hope to see you there!!!
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