We sat around the altar on our backjacks, not knowing what to expect but intuiting that it would be something wonderful.  Four mothers that I have sat in circle with for years brought their 7-9 year old daughters to experience a circle.  We held hands and opened our circle.  I explained to the girls that the candle in the center represented that which is bigger than us-that which grows our fingernails and the trees and beats our hearts.  We are seated in a circle which means that we are all important and necessary to the whole circle, just like all of us are necessary to life.  The girls listened without even fidgeting as their mamas nodded.

I wasn’t sure how the talking stick part would go…I mean young children are naturally self-centered and enjoy talking (just like their mothers!)  Waiting to talk until you hold the talking stick, in our case an agate heart, might prove challenging.  I was so wrong.  Fifty minutes would pass easily.

A few words about gratitude and we were off to our first go-round.  Each mother was to hold the talking stick and to thank her daughter for being in her life-then it was the daughter’s turn.  One by one our hearts opened and we could feel the energy in our circle elevating.  Being in the presence of love and gratitude declarations feels like such an honor.  A few tears flowed…how much we are all loved and what a blessing to hear this love spoken out loud.  Why don’t we do this more often?!

I had arranged some glass jewels and small cloth bags on the altar and our next go-round was to pick up a jewel and to say something that you loved about yourself as you put your jewel into your bag.  Then if anyone else felt the same about herself, she could take a jewel also.  We mothers declared and modeled self-acceptance for our daughters….’I love that I am creative, I like that I am learning I don’t always have to be right, I like that I make mistakes and then make them right’…The words that came out of our daughter’s mouths told so much about their spirits:  ‘I love myself because I am a loving person, I like that I am different, I appreciate that even when I am sick and can’t eat something, I am still okay, I love that I am a good friend’.  Three rounds and everyone’s bags were full of jewels-absolute proof that self-love, appreciation and acceptance were sparkling in everyone’s bodies and hearts!

We held hands to close our circle and I suggested that they dump the jewels onto their bed at night and put them back into the bag while they remembered things they loved about themselves.  We will absolutely circle again and invite other moms and daughters to join us.  The blessings and privileges of being a mother are too numerous to count!