Held Within the Divine
In a Supportive Community we will feel the anchoring of the Divine Mother who is always ready to help us.
You will receive a booklet describing meditations, lyrics, and practices we cover.
It has been life-changing to feel the Divine Mother with me each day. It’s increased my ability to find my kindest voice towards myself and has given me large support when speaking with others, including during conflicts. This workshop is a time of sanctuary for nourishing our authentic voices, our sacred voices, in all the ways we use them including singing. We’ll explore the different energies of Quan Yin, Mother Mary, Durga and Portia as well as encourage each person’s close connection with the aspects of the Divine Feminine where you are drawn. Songs can be guideposts, and we’ll begin each session with meaningful songs ranging from “Peace Train” by Yusuf Cat Stevens to “Turning of the World” by Ruth Pelham. We’ll also create short songs ourselves.
Each session will also include movement, journal time, and a meditation that takes us to the Universal Heart. We’ll learn basics of how to do a “talk it out,” have time working in pairs, and practice the way that linking with each other instead of ranking gives a chance to grow and connect. As we sing together, claim your right to use your voice. You’ll learn songs of courage and songs that orient you to your kindest voice of loving yourself.
I will share a wide range of intersecting practices I’ve worked with for thirty years to bring us into sacred belonging. At the same time I’ll respect your own language for the sacred. We’ll create a circle where we encourage each person’s own unique discoveries. As an Interfaith Minister and songwriter, I will weave together many modes of learning to help you discern what aids you in feeling reset, rooted, and resourced.
“Every blade of grass has its angel bending over it that says – grow, grow.”
—The Talmud
We are each that beloved blade of grass, and we each can hear voices that give encouragement. We belong to the earth and to each other. There’s a river from our hearts that flows into the Heart of the World. Feeling that sensation and knowing that reality, re-centers us to hear our inner voice and hear the largest voice that wishes us well.
SARAH PIRTLE
Rev. Sarah Pirtle has directed the Discovery Center for Peacebuilding since 1992. Having taught peace education in schools in eleven states, three national peace organizations asked her to create books for them detailing the methods she uses in classrooms. She is the founder of the Children’s Music Network. She is an ordained Interfaith minister who for forty years has led services and ceremonies. She is the author of five books; her novel An Outbreak of Peace received a national book award. She has ten awards for her nine CD recordings. She became steeped in dialogue as a member of Hands Across the Hills, connecting folks in eastern Kentucky and western MA, which has been featured on NPR and in the NY Times.
She led graduate courses on conflict resolution at the University of Vermont and at Lesley University taught ways of using singing to welcome everyone. She worked closely for a decade with Joanna Macy on “Despair and Empowerment” now called “The Work That Reconnects.” She also worked for Equity Institute and Communitas leading programs on interrupting racism.
She is a published poet, and often wakes up hearing a song in her dreams. Participants will receive a booklet with song lyrics and essays. Her best-known songs of the 200 songs she has recorded are “My Roots Go Down” and “Two Hands Hold the Earth.”