PORTALS TO THE SELF :
A Women’s Circle by the Sea

Isla Mujeres, Mexico

March 29 - April 5, 2009

Isla Mujeres - the Island of Women - historically has been used for retreat and healing rituals among the Mayan peoples because it powerfully evokes elemental life . . . rich, lush and alive.

On the southern tip of the Island stands an arch . . . an opening in the rocks, a portal, a remnant from an ancient time.  This place, sacred to Ixchel, the Mayan Moon Goddess, invites all women to gather here for a time of retreat and replenishment.  As we step through her portal, we recommit ourselves to fully enter our beauty-wisdom nature.

On Ixchel’s beloved Island, we invite women, each year, to gather together . . . to form a circle, to weave together our stories . . . to become midwives of our dreams and visions.

This beautiful island, Isla Mujeres, encircled by the turquoise Caribbean Sea, will conspire with us . . . breathe with us as we embody our truths, move in us as we find our dance, speak with us as we share our stories. Ixchel herself encourages us to reflect upon and explore new possibilities of connection and joy.  Together, we will create a circle of abundance and strength, as we receive Moon stories full of mythic magic.

Storytelling, yoga, movement, water play, guided imagery, and journaling will serve as forms for accessing our psyche’s depths.  By naming and sharing our gifts in our sacred circle we will be enriched and enlivened, as individuals and as a joyful and potent community of women, committed to healing ourselves, our sisters, and our world.

Our accommodations reflect many aspects of our week, for the retreat space is separate from, yet near, the mainstream of public life at Na Balam Hotel.  The rooms are set in the curve of a crescent moon, surrounded by tropical gardens which engender the wild, fertile feminine and offer a glimpse of what it might be like to dwell in a time and place of women . . . of the Great Mother.