These circles are here for The Return that follows life’s thresholds, life’s rites of passage. They are a place to speak the stories that are so often carried in solitude. Many of us find ourselves alone, in the moments following initiatory and the most sacred passages of life. And what is often pathologised is the natural unfolding of returning to life without witness, without the sharing of our story, and without the presence of our community.
These circles are for women come to share the story of birth and the mother they became through it; to speak the grief and love of pregnancy loss and stillbirth; to honour the death of a partner, parent, or beloved; to mark the crossing into menopause; and to tell the story of a life as we enter our crone years and begin to face our own mortality.
Rites of Passage follow an arc, you leave what was known, you pass through the liminal space where the old falls away and the new is just beginning to form and you return carrying something back. Without The Return, the rite of passage may remain partly unintegrated, and untethered, as though something transformative has happened but has not yet been fully received by the self, the community, or the wider culture. There’s something profound that happens when we speak our story, held in ceremony, as a way in which we honour life, and to anchor the gifts for ourselves and our communities.
In circle, we practise deep listening as a form of allowing. Here, life is met without judgement, and in that meeting, its blessing can be received. We allow a woman’s words to land fully, without interruption, without rescuing, without translating. Storytelling becomes a way of being with what is arising, together, so that whatever is asking to witnessed can do so at its own pace, in its own way, with its own intelligence.
When we focus on healing, we unintentionally are saying that something is wrong and needs to be fixed, and we may place ourselves as authority over a territory that is inherently not ours. Even with the best intentions, this can subtly override sovereignty and in those moments, attention shifts away from the woman and begins to orient toward the one who is guiding. In circle, we practise something else, the circle makes space for what already is, to be received and held as holy.
It’s a lived practice of being with what is here, together, of allowing whatever is arising, and trusting that the circle can hold it all. In circle, the familiar dualities begin to dissolve and what remains is something more spacious, where all of life is held sacred. Here, life’s experiences are no longer viewed through the lens of right or wrong, but are the honoured as blessings of this divine life we’re living.
Circle offering:
Honouring The Return Circle
Between $595 – $1250
Your circle may include:
- a pre-circle planning call
- personalised shaping of the gathering
- up to 2 -4 hours of facilitation
- simple ceremonial elements woven through the circle
- ceremonial bowl to hold your story and blessings received
- Afternoon or morning tea
- organising of meal & continuing community support
- Bodywork – massage and acupuncture
- Drum journey
- follow up conversation
A note on each circle
No two circles are the same. They all centre around storytelling and deep listening, and honouring The Return, the telling of a birth story, a loss story, or the story of a life change that needs witness.
We begin with a conversation and create something that feels true to the woman, the threshold, and the women gathered around her.
Booking a Return Circle
If you are feeling the call to mark a threshold in this way, you are welcome to get in touch via email. We can begin with a conversation about what you are wanting to honour, who you would like to gather, and the kind of circle that may best hold it.