Hive Mind: Women + Spirit

There is this picture of us before we were born – a picture of us running through our field of dreams. We were majestic, beautiful, the seat of sacred wisdom. This grainy image of our potential has not yet come fully into focus.
In this vision of our future, I was running ahead with you at my heels yet it was you who guided me, taught me to run free. Your loyalty to something that I could not yet see, kept me moving forward.
How many years does one remain in gestation? Does one birth end this period of growth or do we continue to labor and grow and give birth to ourselves again and again throughout our lives, from womb to tomb entering and exiting, beginning and ending, growing new eyes to see and ears to hear?

written by Beth Ann Jedziniak, Monday morning Seeker’s Writing Circle

You are always welcome to be a part of the Hive!

HIVE MIND
women* communing in the spirit of story and reimagination
summer/fall 2020 together or at your own pace

What is Hive Mind?
In the dictionary, “Hive Mind” is a term describing a “collective consciousness, analogous to the behavior of social insects, in which a group of people become aware of their commonality and think and act as a community, sharing their knowledge, thoughts, and resources.”

art + soul’s version of Hive Mind is this: An intersection of personal, spiritual and creative inquiry of your own inner Biography as a woman and the divine feminine. This intersection happens through book reading, on-line conversation (for now!) and contemplative/creative response, all at your own pace. Anyone identifying as female can be part of The Hive, as we are calling it.

Sue Monk Kidd’s astonishing classic book The Secret Life of Bees will be our center source, the big red heart we touch again and again as our own spiritual biographies unfold. Taking place in the the summer of 1964 in the Deep South, this story intersects questions of race, gender and life-giving spirituality, and unapologetically re-imagines them all...which is why this book needs to be dusted off and broken open right now.

Why This Series Now?
-Because for a year now, the Sprit has been leading me to explore women’s voices in spirituality and I wish for companions on the way....

-Because women’s voices and wisdom, both ancient and contemporary, often continue to be relegated to the very margins of the conversations and practices of “spirituality,” even though there is a very rich, diverse history of these voices...

-Because women in all cultures have always engaged in the subversive work of re-imagining and breaking open...

-Because women have the innate gifts and capacity to both disrupt and heal...

This series is an invitation to ground ourselves spiritually, tune up our soul songs and name, claim, reclaim our gifts as critical participants in the breaking open of consciousness that is struggling to be birthed in this time by offering new images, metaphors, words and stories that inspire and transform.

Tell me more...
There a thousand ways this could be done, with thousands of female voices and resources to guide us...but we’re going to keep it simple. Hive Mind offers an in-depth savory exploration of women and spirit:

-Sue Monk Kidd’s ravishing novel of spiritual discovery, The Secret Life of Bees, will ground us in themes of identity, initiations, image of the divine feminine, re-imagining the stories, grief for lost things, and unbinding.

-I will offer a different invitation each week to further unpack the monthly theme for personal reflection and if you are so inclined, expressive, creative practice.

-We will meet on-line via ZOOM twice a month: once on the first Sunday of the month for an overview of the month’s theme and on the last Sunday of the month to share inspired conversation, our writing, our art work or whatever emerged for you over the month.

How Does This Work?
My hope is that you will immerse yourself deeply into this exploration of Women and Spirit. However, you are welcome to participate in whatever parts you want to or as your schedule allows. With the exception of the two monthly conversation circles, all else can be done in your own time and pace. You do not have to purchase or read The Secret Life of Bees to participate, as the themes that arise from this novel are universal, though this book is an absolute soul gift to feminine longing and need.

Here is a sample of the monthly schedule:

Week One:
We’ll ZOOM convene on the first Sunday of the month for an overview reflection of the month’s theme, along with suggested chapters to read from The Secret Life of Bees. I will include an overarching theme from the book related to Women and Spirit, with centering questions based on the theme and carefully curated to nudge open curiosity about your own spiritual biography, your own sacred stories.

Week Two:
You will receive a visual image or symbol related to the month’s theme that opens you deeper into reflection, understanding and response of your own spiritual biography.

Week Three:
Continuing your exploration, I will send a reflection prompt on the month’s theme from another wise woman’s voice for you to encounter even more food for thought and creative practice.

Week Four:
Inviting you deeper into story and imagination, I will forward a specific story—a voice from sacred texts, an archetypal voice, a representation of the divine feminine—from a wide variety of sacred traditions and you are invited to engage with this woman and/or reimagine her story through a more current lens.

On the last Sunday of each month, we will gather via ZOOM to unpack what we have discovered and share our writing/art/creative response. You can choose to join in the ZOOM Hive or not.

When Will This Series Begin and End?
Hive Mind is a conversation that stretches from August to November, 2020. The Hive will convene via ZOOM for the first time on Sunday, August 2, from 1:00-2:15 (EST), where I will give an overview of the series and we will “officially” begin reading early chapters from The Secret Life of Bees.

Each Sunday, I will send out the week’s reflection material for you to work with as your schedule allows.

Dates of The Hive gathers via ZOOM:
Sunday, August 2, 1:00 - 2:15
Sunday August 30, 1:00 - 2:15
Sunday, September 6, 1:00 - 2:15
Sunday, September 27, 1:00 - 2:15
Sunday, October 4, 1:00 - 2:15
Sunday, October 25, 1:00 - 2:15
Sunday, November 1, 1:00 - 2:15
Sunday, November 15, 1:00 - 2:15

If you do not already have a copy of the book The Secret Life of Bees, you are encouraged to get one by August 2, if you plan to read the book with The Hive. A good used paperback of this book can be found for .99 via Amazon. I got my copy for .25 at a local thrift store. If you need assistance accessing a copy of this book, please let me know.

What Does It Cost?
I know that things are tight for many of us right now and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. Because I believe in the subversive and healing power of women gathering together to both speak and listen, and because folks have so graciously and generously continued to support the work of art + soul during the pandemic, this series is on a love offering basis as you are able. My usual sliding scale at The Nest ranges from $15-40 a class, which comes out to $60-$160 per month, depending on your financial situation, so this gives you an idea of what I usually request. But there is nothing usual about this time, and so, I choose to trust that those who want or need to be a part of The Hive will be, and those who have some financial wiggle-room will offer what they can.

Payments can be made weekly or monthly via personal check, PayPal or Venmo: http://www.artandsoulwm.org/support.html

Registration is requested, so I can forward weekly materials to you: artandsoul.wm@gmail.com