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Love, compassion, beauty, wisdom, sisterhood. The second New Brunswick Womyn’s Summit, the beautiful brainchild of my dear dear friend Natalie Arsenault, took place last weekend, in Caissie Cape New Brunswick.
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It began, for me and our close network of birth-workers, with a day-long workshop with Sister Morningstar. Sister is a Priestess, Witch, warrior, bridge-builder, healer, midwife, from the woods of Missouri. She is magical and beautiful in every way.
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In the space of about five minutes, I grew to love her, and over the following several days, we hobnobbed above and beyond, and I feel like she gave me a lifetime of teachings. I unabashedly aspire to acquire even a sliver of her brilliance. In such a short time, she taught me, and all the other women present, so much about equanimity, life, and how to love, and how to be a better birth-worker.
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My life is already full of ceremony and ritual—all our lives are. The ceremony of scrambling to find my car keys in the morning. The ritual of guiltily buying coffee at the drive-through when the afternoon fell apart, and I forgot to bring my packed lunch. Etc. Everything is all right as it is, really, and at the same time, there is space, room, time, to focus on spirit.
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Ritual, not rigidity.
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Sister sprinkled us with her word-medicine, and imbued us with confidence, and gave us some serious skills and insight, especially into shoulder dystocia. She called us her “northern sisters”, and we all just basked in her presence, waiting with bated breath for the next golden nugget (seriously).
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The summit itself began with an opening ceremony led by Georgina, an elder of the Mi’kmaw first nation, who blessed our gathering, and in particular the glowing pregnant mothers, and the mothers of little ones. Sister Morningstar helped to lead with her drum, and her songs, and I had an opportunity to chat one-on-one with Georgina later on that evening. She told me a little bit about her family, and about her father’s experience at residential school. Her presence was warm, loving, and so generous.
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I gave my talk—a lecture, really—on pornography, titled “Who is Afraid of Pornography”, and I think it was very well received! There was a lively discussion afterwards, and I got a lot of positive feedback from several women. (And I will be posting it on youtube, as well as in podcast and transcript form, stay tuned).
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Highlights for me, in terms of the many other workshops that took place, included the yoni steaming, which I had spent the weeks prior rolling my eyes about, but loved (and Nat got to laugh at my skepticism, fun!) yoni steaming for everyone!
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I was blown away by Heilkunst Homeopath Allyson McQuinn, who practices in Saint John, and who I would recommend to anyone dealing with emotional or physical illness. She was hilarious, deep, raw, and wise, and she has huge, delightful plans for New Brunswick—look out.
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Pam Rubin, a friend that I have known for several years, first through my work as a potter, gave a workshop on Buddhist meditation for activists (for all, really), and the hour I spent with her was a refuge. Her voice and her presence are a gift. It was wonderful to see her there. Pam is trained as a lawyer, and works now as a counsellor in the Halifax area. Pam also wrote a stunning tribute to the summit, herself, here.
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Katie Burke gave a fantastic, thought-provoking presentation on cultural appropriation, which, for a gathering that took place in rented yurts, with plenty of Ikat and embroidery to go around, was challenging and necessary. So many people came up to me after Katie’s talk, to tell me how great it was. My contribution to the discussion ruffled some feathers, but hey—some people like me and get me, and other people don’t.
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I got a chance to better get to know women, colleagues, and sisters who I have loved for a while, but hadn’t had a chance to really hang out with. Kate Varsava, (as so many others remarked about her, to me, at the summit) is a Renaissance woman, of so many talents: glorious singer-songwriter, hempcrete natural building expert, yoga instructor extraordinaire, and of course, the best birth-worker in Nova Scotia. She is also *ridiculous*, and I don’t think I laughed so hard, so much, since grade 5. Basically, we would have been making trouble in detention together 20 years ago.
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I was also able to connect with soul-sister Mara Panacci, Yoga renegade. Mara is exactly as gorgeous, wise, witty, and wonderful as everyone who sees her suspects her to be. She has two beautiful daughters, and in my state of baby-withdrawal, I had the privilege of chilling with her sweet little bean Selah during some of the week, which was magical. Mara’s base is Halifax, but she travels the world leading yoga retreats and teacher-trainings all over the place.
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Mid-conference, Lee arrived with the kids, and they played on the beach, well into darkness, Horus especially relishing the sand and the surf, and the sweetness of unencumbered summer.
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Sigh. There is so much more to say, so many more wonderful women to celebrate, and no way to properly capture how magical the summit really was. I did come home and contact all the friends who weren’t able to make it, to tell them that they *must* be there next year. I think I was experiencing a little bit of organizer’s burnout in the weeks leading up to the summit, and sort of, well, just wanted to get it over with (I was nervous about my talk, too!). Not at all. The experience exceeded my expectations to a massive degree, and I can’t wait for next year. You really *must* come, if you can.
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Five of us went out for dinner with Sister the evening before she had to take off, back to her cottage in the woods of Missouri, and she initiated us into our own little council of witchy women warriors– a council, a wolf-pack. I have never felt so loved, so clear, and so at home in my community.
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I don’t want to forget to mention the 3-day long Home Abortion workshop that I attended after the summit—but I’m going to save the details for another post. It too, was deep and wide, and gave me so much in the way of insight and practical skills.
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I hope you’re all enjoying your stunning summer!
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xo
Yo
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(PS: I have not received official clearance from everyone in each of the photos above, to share their image, so if you’re in a photo and you don’t want to be up there, please let me know, and I’ll remove it immediately!)
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Oh Yolande…..how I love thee! It was more super, fantastic than I ever dreamed it could be. And like you I went into it burned out a bit and hoping it would be over soon. But as we all parted ways on the last evening, I wished that our time together would have gone on and on. She has given me so much clarity. all the other womin have loved me so much, my heart is full. I feel complete. I hope all womin have the opportunity to experience such a thing in their lifetime.
Oh I hear you on the magic of Sister Morningstar. I was blessed to be able to sit in on her talks when she came over to Australia last year. Loved every minute of her.