The Harvest
Moon Gathering took place
October 9-12, 1998 in Fort Qu'Appelle Saskatchewan. Women from the four western
Canadian provinces joined with Carolyn McDade, Chris Ouimet, and Marian Shatto to launch
the Women~Land~Spirit Sacred Web Project. The following are some reflections on the
Harvest Moon Gathering from women of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.
Annick Goodwin preparing a feast at Harvest Moon
Photo by Susan J. Sorensen
Carol Breitkreutz lives in Camrose, Alberta.
What a deep and resonating experience to join my voice and spirit with 50 other women from across the western provinces and explore the undercurrents of meaning in Carolyn's music. This is just the beginning of our journey to find creative expression of the theme Women~Land~Spirit...just the beginning!
Anne Baird lives in Vancouver, British Columbia
I was drawn to the Harvest Moon Gathering for two reasons: first I love Carolyn McDade's music; and second , I thought "When will I have another chance to visit a place like Fort Qu' Appelle, Saskatchewan?"
Impelled by those irresistible urges, I bought my plane ticket, and borrowed a pair of winter boots (we don't need such things in Los Angeles, where I came from).
I didn't know what to expect. I had never seen the Prairies and I had never been to a Gathering of Women. The Prairies and Carolyn's new songs were awesome.
"Hills of Grass" "Trilogy" Will I ever look at a prairie again and not hear this music singing itself, expressing my journey---our journey as women?
"The broken and unbroken of the land
The broken and unbroken of my life"
Yes. That's how it is.
Land and lyrics spoke to us in unexpected ways. Spirits expanded in the prairie's open, undulating expanses, with its gentle hills and frozen coulees. Spring runoff, we knew would follow winter's bitter freeze. The prairie would come alive again with living streams of water and fresh growth. So it would be with us, if we could only answer Carolyn's question "Who goes the way, never to fall away", with a resounding "We will"!
During our prairie time, we wove a Sacred Web of music, and shared stories. We were blessed with healing ritual, dance, art, history. The sharing of meals, laughter, tears.
Each woman has her special memories. Mine include the dawn smudging ceremony, where we gathered around a campfire at daybreak, stamping our feet in the cold, and learning to pray to the four corners of the Earth. Making new friends, holding hands as we sang and swayed to "Uprising of Hope". Admiring the gallery of Significant Women who traveled with us to Fort Qu'Appelle in our hearts, and in our wallets, and photo albums. Visiting a First Nation Residential School, and praying for healing for all who lived and suffered there. Learning a sacred circle dance. Talking till the wee hours of the morning, then rising to sing again.
It was powerful beyond measure.
Norma Luccock shared a poem with me, its last line sums up the experience I carried away with me from Fort Qu'Appelle:
"I hear the choir of women
And through them I hear You."
Yes. That's how it is.
Janet Silman lives in Beausejour, Manitoba
I came to Harvest Moon Gathering exhausted in body and spirit. Faced with the systemic ravaging of Creation, my hope was depleted. In the sacred, singing community of women, I was given balm for my battered soul, re-grounded in the wondrous power of Creation. The truth and beauty of Carolyn's poetry carried on melody tapped the woman-spirit in each of us, harmonies evoking Harmony, yielding an Uprising of Hope, authentic hope to sustain and transform.
Sue Cooke lives in Regina, Saskatchewan
I arrived at the Harvest Moon Gathering in the midst of mourning my mom's first round of chemotherapy for lung cancer. The spirit of the place, the participants,the project and the music carried me, buoyed me, filled the empty places inside me, touched me and fed me.
During this process the parts of my body which I was most aware of were my breasts. Perhaps I usually shield my breasts in order to protect the feminine aspect of my being. However here, they were open and full of energy.
This was most evident to me after one of the meals. Dishes had been cleared and we were still sitting at the table. I realized that both of my bra-less breasts were resting on the table, reaching out to absorb the various conversations around me. I smiled to myself as I realized this and slowly recognized the presence of the goddess Diana, the many breasted on.
The Sacred Web Project continues to model and mirror for me many lesson and gifts of nurturing.