The 2014 program is being planned by women from the Unitarian Universalist Church of Ft Myers.

The theme is Women and Power.

During our weekend together we will share stories and inspirations and explore the many aspects of power in our lives and in the lives of women of the world.

DaySpring Episcopal Conference Center, located conveniently off I-75, offers a wooded setting on a cove of the Manatee River.

$220 per person covers expenses, including semi-private room and six meals. A non-refundable deposit of $20 will reserve your place.

Final payment is due by January 15, 2014.

For more information and an application, contact Rita Sizemore:
rsrsizemore@gmail.com or call 239-437-1014.

Third Annual Florida UU Women’s Retreat, March 15-17 - The weather was perfect, the setting attractive and the energy warm and welcoming for the forty women who gathered in retreat last month at the DaySpring Conference Center in Ellenton, Florida. For the past three years this gathering has brought UU women together from congregations as far north as Georgia to as far south as Fort Myers. The goal of the retreat is simply to strengthen connections and enjoy time together in a comfortable setting.

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photos by JB Conover

The Spring Retreat was a very relaxing affair for the twenty women and five children who attended.

Friday evening, after one of the Pines’ famous dinners, we gathered together around a flower-bedecked Spring altar, courtesy of Leslie Rigg. We closed the circle with thoughtful (and thought-provoking) readings provided by Katie Sill. Then Katie brought out a songbook she’d saved from her childhood, and we launched ourselves into an old-fashioned sing-along. We finally wore ourselves out around eleven and took ourselves to bed.

Saturday we had breakfast and packed our lunches for the day, and took ourselves off to…whatever. Some of us went canoeing (which was magical, despite the deerflies). Others went shopping, and came back with reports of wonderful little shops and special treasures. Some walked trails, Rebecca took two of the kids to the waterpark, and a few went for the ultimate self-indulgence: a good book and a good nap.

Saturday night the ‘Owl Lady’ came with wonderful fierce birds and many tales to tell.
Then there was Free Dancing for those who had a little energy left.

Sunday we rose to breakfast, and discussed the W&R awards while we ate. We gathered once more around the altar, opening the circle (readings provided by Katie) and bid each other a safe trip back. It was fun, which was exactly what we intended.

Inside Out: Mask Making and Spirituality

Once again, we invite you to share in Sabbath Time...
"Sabbath invites limited time
to become expansive time.
Sabbath makes spacious what is cramped.
It makes large out of small,
generous out of stingy,
simple of complex.
Sabbath is time that actively includes
the presence of Spirit...
The purpose is spiritual leisure
to make a spiritual choice
to have time for your own purposes."
--Sabbath Sense, A Spiritual Antidote for the Overworked

Together we will be creating a sense of the Sabbath by entering sacred time and space separate from our routines: time that feels "expansive, spacious, generous"

We will feed our Spirits through ritual, play, dance, laughter, creative focus, and enriching opportunities to be in solitude and community.

We will encourage the freedom to wander, explore, create, discover and have some spaces and times designed for silence and solitude.

This weekend, in particular, we will explore "Inside out", by way of creating a soul mask, guided by Maryanne's work in this area.

Facilitators

Susan Stephenson Hefte has been an active leader and participant in W&R for many years. The last W&R Retreat she facilitated was "Silence and Sharing in Community: A Sabbath Retreat" in 1998. Her work now is largely as a facilitator and trainer of "Alternatives to Violence Project" workshops in community and prison settings with her husband, Darrell Hefte. Her doctoral work in creativity and spirituality continues to be an important focus in her life and in what she brings to this weekend. Susan can be reached at 727/799-0683 or by E-mail drshefte@aol
Maryanne Hamilton has been a participant at two Women & Religion Retreats in the past. Susan is delighted to welcome her to the facilitation of this Retreat. Maryanne is a registered art therapist and writer who has been using creative processes to facilitate personal growth workshops since 1978 in Florida, New York and Tennessee. She enjoys sharing her studies and experiences in art, Sufism, and the healing arts with those who seek to unfold their inner potential. Maryanne can be reached at 727-576-8985; E-mail artxham@hotmail

Finding Your Inner Faerie

Know you what it is to be a child
It is to believe in love
To believe in loveliness
To believe in belief
It is to be so little
That the Elves can reach
To whisper in your ear
It is to turn pumpkins into coaches
Mice into horses
Lowness into loftiness
And nothing into everything
For each child has its Faerie Godmother
In its soul.

-Frances Thompson

Faeries of all ages,

Join us May 16th for a magical weekend at The Pines where we will become Faeries and contemplate Faerie lore through the mediums of dance, song, and art.

The wonderful vocalist Elaine Silver will lead our Friday evening ritual. She will conduct a “Faerie Gathering” Friday night where we will explore the infinite possibilities of the realm of Faeries.

Dress in your best Faerie or Goddess attire as we call the directions and honor women as goddesses. There will be a chance for each woman to express herself and her ideas, encounters, stories, etc. . . involving Faeries.

Think about what you would like to share Friday evening. If you wish, bring a poem, a Faerie figure or other objects related to Faeries to add to the altar. You will also be asked to choose a Faerie name.

On Saturday night Elaine will provide a special concert of Faerie music and sacred songs. Lots of participation will occur naturally as our hearts and minds open to the love and blessing that surround us.

Our Saturday workshops will delve into Faerie lore allowing the creative spirit to emerge through writing, collage, clay and other artistic means. Workshop choices will be available for signup during dinner Friday night.

Wee Faeries may join their Faerie Goddess-mothers for some of the workshops.

Co-Facilitators

Elaine Silver
Leading the evening celebration will be Elaine Silver – Faerie Elaine who sings a cappella and play stringed instruments. Elaine has been nominated as the Garden State Outstanding Folk Performer and has accompanied such noted folk legends as Arlo Guthrie, Suzanne Vega, and Tom Paxton. She has made numerous recordings, and her newest release Faerie Goddess has been very well received. Please visit her website at elainesilver.com to hear samples of her music. Her assistant for the Friday night in-gathering is Fran Kaplan.

Susan Pendergraft
Susan has been attending UUW &R retreats for approximately 15 years. She is a teacher of Gifted Education and is currently teaching at a private Montessori school. She has experienced many years of wonderful retreats. It is her hope this retreat, Finding Your Inner Faerie, will be a great success and that everything her foremothers taught her over the years will culminate this weekend. She has called upon many Faerie Goddess-mothers to help her in this endeavor.

 A Storytelling Retreat

To prepare for this Retreat, think of the stories which you learned as a child/teen -- the Latin/Greek/Celtic/other Goddess stories. Secondly, think of the "stories of your life" -- Siblings, Moving, First Day of School, Graduation, Marriage, Baby(ies), Divorces, Single Years, Best Year, Worst Year -- what "characters" did you play in these stories? Who were you 20 years ago? Who are you now? What's YOUR Story?

THE ART OF STORYTELLING

Lynn Carol Henderson and UU women from around Florida invite you to share this weekend of ritual feasting of womanspirit and adventuring into sacred space. Step up to the table and explore for yourself women’s ritual art in action.

• Friday night graze through fields of the Goddess in an opening ritual combining storytelling performance and the creation of a group mandala.
• Saturday morning digest the art of storytelling, empowering yourself as you create ready-to-tell Goddess tales from your own life.
• Saturday afternoon dip into the workshops and try your hand at Storytelling through DANCE, IMPROV!, COLLAGE, and STORYBOARD.
• Saturday night – BE the Banquet – Sharing Circle filled with laughter and group connections.
• Sunday morning - stay with us for dessert -- the closing mandala ceremony.
  • Religious Affiliation:
    • St. Petersburg Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Registrar)
    • Greensong Grove (1st Degree Wiccan)
    • Reformed Congregation of the Goddess (Attender)
    • Daughters of the Earth and SisterSpirit (Pan-Indian Spirituality Circles)
  • Education:
    • BA: Art and Art History, University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia
    • MFA and teaching certification K-12: Washington University, St, Louis
    • Ph.D. Art History and Women's Studies with a focus in Women's Ritual Art, Union Institute and University, Cincinnati, Ohio
    • Foreign Studies: Art, Language, Shamanism and Healing Modalities Italy, France, Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Chile
  • Work Experience
    • 1980-Present: Ritual leader in Women's Spirituality Groups and Drumming Circles
    • 1989-Present: Adjunct Professor, Eckerd College Courses: Magic, Myth and Ritual in Art Collage, Art Appreciation, Altars and Mandalas Adjunct professor, U. of Tampa Courses: Insider/Outsider, Multicultural Art
    • 1973-Present: Expressive Arts and Storytelling Workshops (all ages): Eckerd College Guest Lecturer, University of South Florida Guest Lecturer, The Salvador Dali Museum, the St. Petersburg Museum of Fine Arts, The Tampa Museum of Fine Arts, Florida Elder Hostel Programs, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco and Manatee County Schools, Pinellas and Hillsborough County Arts Councils, Florida Humanities Council , all the Art Centers in Pinellas County (sampling)
    • 1980-Present Storytelling Performances: Tampa Recreation Festivals: International Festival, Santa Fest, Hillsborough County Storytelling Festival, Tampa Bay Storytelling Guild Tellebration (sampling)
  • Professional Associations:
    • PAVA Pinellas Association of Visual Artists
    • Tampa Bay Storytelling Guild
    • Florida Storytelling Association

Throughout the weekend savor the atmosphere of woman space, dip into the suggestions for future projects, and fascinate yourself with the many ritual sourcebooks from Lynn Carol’s lending library.

Facilitator: Lynn Carol Henderson

Co-Facilitator: Leslie Rigg

Biographical Statement of Lynn Carol Henderson

More can be seen at: http://www.enigmaartstudio.com

Leslie Rigg has been attending UUW &R retreats and conferences for approximately 8 years. In the course of her life, Leslie has studied/participated in Arica, Unity, Iroquois medicine, A Course in Miracles, Sufi dancing, and multiple styles of personal growth training including dance and movement. She has previously led workshops in a variety of disciplines, from IT training to 12-Step weekends. She is currently exploring the offering of a new personal growth venture, YAGATTAWANNA, which may be seen at http://www.yagattawanna.org

AT THE ROOT OF LONGING

Florida Women and Religion's Annual Spring Retreat

April. 22-24, 2005

at U.U. in the Pines, Brooksville, FL

Sisters, many of us are feeling an intense longing in our lives for serenity and calm and, indeed, a deeper sense of the spiritual in our lives. We are longing for the restoration of power and energy that seems to be drained away in these chaotic times. We are constantly faced with schedules that are over-burdened. We note that our desires to take care of ourselves are too often pre-empted by our need and wish to care for others.

This retreat begins on Earth Day, April 22, 2005. We will come together to reconnect with the earth, with our thankfulness for the grounding and inspiration that is abundant in this realm, and with ourselves as spiritual beings.

We will come together for a weekend with no demands and yet many opportunities. Opportunities for your creative self to be expressive; for your spiritual self to reconnect with a deeper consciousness within you; for your Earth-being-self to give service to the Pines as we help heal the grounds. Read further to learn more about these options.

There will be the opportunity to enter a period of silence at the end of Friday's gathering and to emerge from it at 5:00 PM on Saturday, both by way of a guided meditation. Connecting with friends, old and new, can be significantly different and satisfying through non-verbal expressions. Speak to some of the women who participated in the last silent Women & Religion retreat at the Pines and discover their appreciation of time with no verbal demands. This is a brief taste of silent community that we believe will leave you refreshed and wanting more. This retreat cannot claim that it will satisfy your longing but it does claim that it will give you a window of opportunity to tap into that root and find some ways of healing and nurturing your life.

At the Root of Longing – the Saturday Experience

North The direction of the earth, of the body, introspection, mystery, the power to keep silent.
Experience: creating a Secret Garden triptych, a 3-panel collage that begins with the edges folded in to form a gate on the outside, opening to your spiritual garden. Basic materials supplied.
East The direction of the air, of light, of the emerging soul, of the power to know.
Experience: writing in answer to questions that will help your inner light to emerge and your soul to speak. You may want to bring a journal for this, or some special writing papers and instruments.

South The direction of fire, of energy and spirit, of the power of will.
Experience: creating your Spirit Candle to light your way on your spiritual journey and to add to the altar for the Saturday evening experience. Basic materials supplie

 

West The direction of water, of emotion, of the power to dare.Experiences: creating and decorating a medicine bag to heal yourself and the earth (basic materials supplied). Working at the Pines to heal some hurricane damage, in silence (after instructions given).

 

Center The point of transformation, of pure essence, of timelessness, of the power to go.
Experiences: Meditation in any form that helps you access your spiritual center in addition to what we are providing. If you want to bring meditative music we will have a space provided for this. The Center, of course, is the invitation of the rituals that we will be doing on Friday and Saturday nights.

 

Other spiritual activities that you might choose to experience: Readings from selected books we will provide, on loan for the weekend only, on women’s spirituality and nature – see our book list for suggestions in case you want your own copy. Yoga in the outdoors, in the early morning and other times, led by experienced teachers. A creative project that you bring to the retreat. Silent communication with other women at the Pines. Walks in the woods. Breathing.

Remember: Bring small objects with special meaning to you to decorate (or use in) the spirit candle, the medicine bag, or the Secret Garden triptych – such as beads, charms, crystals, shells, stones, feathers, etc. Also bring 2-3 favorite magazines to use and share, for cutting out pictures.

 

Our Retreat Leaders
April 22-24, 2005 at U.U. in the Pines, Brooksville, FL

Retreat Facilitator Biography:

Susan (Stephenson) Hefte has been involved with Florida Women and Religion almost from its beginnings. She was W & R co-chair (with Emily Williams) for two years and has facilitated many W&R retreats at The Pines, including the very first one in November 1987. Her background is in transpersonal psychology with an emphasis on creativity and spirituality. She is a retired licensed mental health counselor and currently facilitates Alternatives To Violence Project community workshops in the Tampa Bay area and monthly at Coleman Federal Correctional Complex. She is also an experienced quilter and textile artist.
Susan has loved facilitating women's retreats and groups since the mid-70's and finds the focus of this retreat particularly valuable. She looks forward to seeing you there.
Sarah K. Snyder is a national consultant and trainer living in Seminole, and has been active in women’s groups and spirituality for over 25 years. She has participated in and led women’s retreats and groups, including some at the Pines. She led one of the national test groups (in Pinellas County) during the final completion of the “Rise Up and Call Her Name” UU curriculum. She counts herself very fortunate to be a part of the truly heady days of the growing women’s spirituality blossoming starting in the mid-70’s, and is excited about continuing the tradition.
Sarah has been having a great time planning this retreat with Susan, and can hardly wait to be silent and spiritual with you!

... has been cancelled.

Florida District Women
are invited to join together in retreat

March 15-17 2013
Annual Florida District Women’s Retreat, DaySpring Episcopal Conference Center, Ellenton, FL

DaySpring, located conveniently off I-75, offers a wooded setting on a cove of the Manatee River. Bring UU women together in a setting which provides opportunities for conversation, sharing herstories, laughter and music, add nature trails, rocking chairs on screened porches, bicycles, a campfire, drumming, more laughter and conversation and you create a memorable experience! We gather together to create and enhance our connections to one another. We will also enjoy good food. Special dietary concerns can be met with prior notification.

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Important Things to Remember:

• We will be renting inexpensive folding chairs for outdoor seating under the tent/canopy. If you would be more comfortable bringing your own outdoor chair for whatever reason, please do so. Remember to put your name and number on it, just in case...
• Item(s) for outdoor altar. (please mark them discreetly with your name)
• An anecdote about a favorite ancestor to share at the campfire.
• Any kind of noise-maker for the opening ritual. Drums and instruments for our fire pit celebration.
• Books to donate to our book sale (proceeds go towards W&R scholarships)
• Snacks, fruit, cheese, drinks to share in the Social Hour Friday or Saturday afternoon .
• You may want to bring a flashlight. Favorite drinking mug. Extra beverages for your cabin (refrigerator available).
• Basic comfort clothes (shorts, slacks, walking shoes, P.J.s, sweater), sunscreen. Insect repellant may be important to you, since we are meeting outside in the evening. NO PERFUMES PLEASE!

Optional:

• “goddess clothes” (loose, swirly, colorful outfit suitable for dancing, comfortable for outdoor wear) for Saturday evening.
• Money to spend at the artisans’ bazaar, at the W&R used book sale and for refreshment/snack donations.
• A mat or a towel for yoga.
• Binoculars or camera for nature walking.
• You don’t need to bring: sheets or towels