Gather the Women
More on the inspiration for this upcoming women's retreat...March 21-24, 2024
One morning in 2022, I was asleep in my cabin at Rhine Valley Farm when I heard a voice from within me, but not belonging to me, say, “Gather the women.” Each word was clear; packed with force and meaning. The phrase rang through me like a thunderclap and woke me with a start. I hadn’t received a message, I’d received a command.
Gather the women.
To gather.
Together.
To get her.
Gather…
I sat up in bed and began searching frantically for the sender. I had questions! Gather the women…for what? Which women—how will I know who? When should I gather these women? I need more information here!
I also had doubts. Thoughts began to stir: “I’ve already done this. I’ve convened women’s circles and retreats for years. I’m done gathering the women. I want to gather men, too.” The most biting protest came from a place of disenchantment: “Alright. I can gather the women, but what’s the point?”
Of course, this otherworldly command wasn’t meant to be understood at the level of mind or adopted by my ego. As I settled into the resonance of the voice over the next few days, I began to feel it working on me. I remembered how many times I’ve prayed for guidance and I began to feel grateful…even awed by the clarity of Grace when it comes. My resistance dissolved. I realized it was out of my hands, beyond me. As I asked for further guidance and received none, it became clear that I would only understand it in the doing—as it unfolded or even only in retrospect. Wrapping my mind around it wasn’t the point, anyway. So, I began (again) to gather the women.
My first few attempts were like fumbling in the dark. I tried to gather women and they dispersed. They weren’t the right women or the call wasn’t right…no blame, no judgment. I gave up trying to make anything work. I turned myself over completely to the process unfolding through me. I took my ego out of it. I stopped worrying about making “mistakes.” I just kept trying. Over and over. There was always something beautiful about the gatherings and the women—of course! Nothing was lost of wasted. And I learned something about coherence, intention, and the creative process each time.
I won’t say I have answers to all my questions, but I will say that these Sacred Heart gatherings feel more and more to me like the reason I received that command in 2022. My job is to “gather the women” and then forces greater than and beyond me will meet us—have met us already (in October at the first retreat), and will continue to meet us.
Who is meeting us? I hesitate to say it because I know how it must sound. When we gather with the intention to Enter the Sacred Heart—to open the heart—I feel our own higher selves present; our souls in full expression, embodied. I feel “the future” coming through us. I feel us being pulled through the eye of the needle of this climactic time by ourselves, by us. I feel that we have the angels on our side, and boddhisattvas, deities and cosmic masters. There is so much help available to us…all we have to do is open, step forward, meet it, receive it here and now. We don’t have to know how—we can’t possibly. It’s a leap of faith in the true sense.
We are being gathered. We are being opened, healed, awakened and if I am really honest…I feel we are being prepared for something.
Prepared for what? When? By whom? I can hear that voice in your head because it’s in mine, too.
We may not get to know what we’re being prepared for, yet. Maybe it will also be revealed as we walk and as we gather.
~~~~
Enter the Sacred Heart is a woman’s retreat happening in the Hudson Valley of NY in just a couple of weeks: March 21-24, 2024. If you feel called, RSVP now. We only have a few spaces left. If you are curious or feel you’d like to speak directly with me, meet me, or share anything about your process, reach out and we’ll schedule a 30-minute conversation: schuyler@artofemergence.com. I’d love to meet you.
Do you feel the call to gather?