The Red Tent
With thanks to Sheridian for allowing us to reproduce her painting
At the last Wood Sisters meeting for Lughnasadh, we entered both in story and in meditation under the flap into the red tent. The red tent, like the moon hut or the women’s lodge in other cultures, was the slightly-apart place where women traditionally went to give birth and for three days every month to bleed.
Living in close community, with no artificial light at night, they would all ovulate at the full moon and bleed together at the dark of the moon, so they would enter the red tent together to spend three days free of chores and young children before emerging once the new moon was in the sky. In the red tent, food would be brought to them, so there was time to meditate, to tell stories, to worship and sing, to educate teenage girls and to discuss the key issues of the community and carry their collective wisdom back out to the camp so that governance came from a balanced place.
The story we heard paid homage to Anita Diamant’s extraordinary book “The Red Tent” by retelling the Biblical story of Leah and Rachel as well as the story of Uttu who brought the arts of weaving and spinning to the women of the world and the story of the argument that broke out between the goddess of grain and the goddess of flocks, the latter two of which were recounted as they might have been 3000 years before the Birth of Christ in a red tent in Canaan.
In the meditation, we entered in our inner worlds into the red tent and were collectively moved by the intense experience of being in that space. It was a place to which we all wanted to return and in which we all wanted to spend more time.
The Wood Sisters have been seized by the idea of making a red tent, from canvas and poles – we have a design to follow; the possible loan of an industrial sewing machine; a largish space in which to sew and plenty of friends who have the knowledge to help us. We particularly want it to be a tent made by women with beautiful hangings and floor coverings inside.
The tent could have many uses, but it would definitely be for story, meditation and discussion (or filling the collective wisdom pot as we tend to call it at Wood Sisters). In just over a year’s time, the Westcountry Storytelling Festival will take place near Exeter and Wood Sisters would like to inaugurate the red tent there, where it would be at times a women-only venue and at times an open venue.
We need to raise some money for the materials and one thought we had was to take our Wood Sisters Imbolc celebration in early February next year and run a small scale Wood Sisters Storytelling Festival in the Totnes area, which would be open to all. Our 8 annual gatherings are always characterized by a wonderful bring and share feast in the middle of the day. We are hoping that the 60 or so Wood Sisters on the mailing list, might be willing to make some food which we could sell at the festival to help raise funds.
If you have any thoughts about this and if you would like to:
- make a financial contribution to red tent
- help to make the red tent or decorate it
- help to organise the festival or take part in the festival as a performaer
- make a pledge that you will help to cook for the festival
Do contact Sue (01548 521207)
or Sam (01803 865199)
livingspirit@btinternet.com