Forty practical yet imaginative writing exercises invite women to explore their uniquely feminine spirituality. Includes writing samples, resources, and suggestions for tailoring the exercises to group and individual use. Revised edition.
Introduction
Exercises
One Retreat to a Safe Place
Two Reconsider Who You Really Are
Three Regard Your Image
Four Redeem Your Shadow
Five Re-enter That Other Country
Six Recover Your Favorite Tree
Seven Reinforce Your Conscious Efforts
Eight Resurrect the Serpent
Nine Realign Yourself with the Serpent
Ten Review a Biblical Image
Eleven Revive Your Earlier Self
Twelve Reflect on a Childhood Ritual
Thirteen Recount a Family Story
Fourteen Refine a Seasonal Custom
Fifteen Relate a Fictional Life
Sixteen Revise a Fairy Tale
Seventeen Reform a Biblical Story
Eighteen Reverse Woman’s Sin
Nineteen Realize the Universal
Twenty Reclaim the Moon
Twenty one Remember Mothering
Twenty two Reject Distractions
Twenty three Repose in the Darkness
Twenty four Respond to Animation
Twenty five Re-create Yourself
Twenty six Reveal Heaven Here and Now
Twenty seven Resist Hell’s Trappings
Twenty eight Return to Do What
Twenty nine Require Changes
Thirty Rejoice in a Glimpse of the Mystery
Thirty one Respond to the Call
Thirty two Refuse to Go Back
Thirty three Remain in Liminal Space
Thirty four Receive Affirmation
Thirty five Reframe Your Life Story
Thirty six Recall a Historical Woman
Thirty seven Reconcile Your Worldview
Thirty eight Reread Women’s Literature
Thirty nine Restore Your Image of the Sacred
Forty Reshape Your Own Naming
Retreat:?to withdraw from something hazardous or unpleasant, fall back
As you come together for the first time, or as you begin this work alone, find a way to make the space sacred. Perhaps you’ll choose to light a candle as a symbol of the living presence that is both within and beyond our own being. It can also be a way to focus, to center yourself in the moment. Our word for focus comes from the Latin word for fireplace, the hearth at the center of the home. And the sacred fire was brought to the home from the temple of Vesta, the Greeks’ Hestia, Goddess of the Hearth who personifies the archetype of the Self.
Knowing that everything written and read in this space will remain here, how will you identify yourself? Begin by writing an introduction of yourself. You might choose to follow a standard I.D. format, giving your name, occupation, size, age, colorings, etc., perhaps adding some things you’d like to see included, such as vocation, parental status, etc. In Western cultures, we often choose to identify ourselves through what we do and give our qualifications to authorize our work. In many Eastern cultures, one is often identified through one’s relationship within a family. For instance, it has been the custom in India for the son’s new wife to change her last name to his, her middle name to his first name, and her first name to whatever new name her in-laws choose for her. My in-laws call me “Nilakshi,” girl with the blue eyes. But my brother-in-law always and only calls me “Vahini,” sister-in-law.
Identify, describe, introduce yourself, on paper. What do you want others to know about you? Or, what do you want to say about yourself to yourself? Read aloud what you have written. Remember, do not interrupt yourself or anyone else with comments, explanations, or reactions. Simply listen to what has come up and out through the hand onto the page.
?“When I was leading a women's spirituality group for students and staff of the University of California Medical Center at San Francisco, this book was just what I needed. Finding the Voice Inside gave these women a way into their own spiritual journeys. Some of them, who were sure they couldn't write a word, wrote and wrote and then shared what they had written with one another. For many, it was a transformative experience.”
—Barbara Child, minister
“I casually tried one of the writing exercises and discovered a gaping hole in my spiritual support system. As a result of that one simple exercise, I began a ten-year search that allowed me to be healed of my wounds and develop a new way to be.”
—Karen R. Clark, artist, author
“After these workshops, we've continued to meet down through the years, sharing the deep and meaningful subject matter in the safe space of confidentiality and honesty.”
—Helen Popenoe, member of the Unitarian Universalist Women and Religion Committee
You might also be interested in:
