“Once more, we will charge the air with our voices, dance, drum, sing, write and ruminate, hold creative sacred space and commune with like-minded women. Is this workshop to your liking – please join us and spread the word?” ~ Almeta
I have planned this workshop to be a condensed version of: The Sexuality and Spirituality of the Truly Free Woman…A powerful workshop incorporating chant, memory and healing that breaks down inner barriers to individual expressiveness and group interaction. * Available as a workshop for women only.”
That was the description of my then Women’s Workshop Weekend held at Points of Light Bookstore on South Clinton Avenue. Four times yearly during the Solstices and Equinoxes, we like-minded women would gather ourselves together to charge the air with our voices, dance, drum, sing, break bread together, create artistic spiritual pieces, share our dreams and writings, hold deep conversation, while counseling one another and receiving healing bodywork from knowledgeable, gentle and skilled professionals.
On Friday night, I would pass out floating candles, essential oil, sacred stones and healing Tibetan Tara incense for each woman to use while taking their spiritual bath and to complete their Homeplay – NOT homework. Saturday would open with the sharing of our Homeplay as we communally contributed to our Every Woman Love Exercise. The women enjoyed that one and their bath! At noon, we would share a communal meal, where each woman brought a dish to share. I never asked them what to bring in advance, leaving it to Spirit to determine what each woman brought to the table. In all those years, the meal was perfectly balanced, diverse fare; no two women ever brought the same dish and there was always more than enough for every woman to eat and be satisfied. On workshop Saturday, Juggler John (a male steadfast supporter of all things female) would faithfully knock at the door of our space to deliver armloads of beautiful, fresh flowers, one for each of the women, even though he could not actually enter our sacred room. Men were not allowed! They received their gift AFTER the women came home on Saturday night! The men began feeling left out and asked me to create a workshop for them, which I did, followed by a combined workshop for all genders. Both of those workshops one time only workshops were successful.
Body workers were invited to attend at no cost to set up their tables and generously donate their healing gifts and participate in the workshop. They were free to pass out cards and garner new clients as well. The workshop took place in a large, yet cozy, comfortable room, so that no one could ever miss anything that occurred. That room could only comfortably hold thirty or so dancing women and the five to six body workers’ tables. It was a magical, mystical experience, which approximately thirty women would regularly attend until I moved to Phoenix in 2003. Should at least four women register, this present abbreviated workshop will run, although the spirit is as powerful as ever. Thank you all in advance for letting me share and spreading the word.
Sign up for Almeta’s workshop here: Treasured Fragments
Almeta Whitis is a storyteller, actress, poet, writer and teaching artist who has taught elementary, middle and high school in NYS and Arizona. A former assistant professor of Theater at SUNY Brockport, in 1997, she received their “Distinguished Scholar Public Service Award”. In 1995, Phi Delta Kappa awarded her “Lay Educator of the Year” by unanimous decision. As Chair of ALLOFUS Art Workshop’s Dance Department, a MAG and UR outreach program, she expanded a Saturday class of eight children to a year-round program serving over 450 children and adults. In 2000, National Endowment for the Arts and Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation awarded her “Most Skilled and Experienced Community Artist”-Artists and Communities: America Creates for the Millennium. In 1993, Governor Mario Cuomo awarded her the “Decade of the Child Award” for “her valuable, sensitive work with the children and families of New York State”.