Rise Sister Rise

by Rebecca Campbell

  #RISESISTERRISE MANTRA

  I allow myself to be held by the strength of those

  who came before me. I never ever walk alone.

  WHEN WOMEN CIRCLE

  For ages, women have been gathering in circles to heal their wounds, share their stories, pass down the mysteries of womanhood, support and empower one another.

  From ancient caves to coffee shops, moonlit dancing to WhatsApp group texts, stone circles to workshops. For longer than any of us can fathom, women have been tapping into the mystical power that is activated when women circle. It doesn’t matter what our age, life experience, shape or size, when three or more women come together with a common sacred intention, you can be sure that something magic is about to happen.

  Sharing stories, holding space, and a passing down of wisdom, there is nothing more healing than being in a group of honest sisters that truly see and accept you. In a period of history where we live more separately than ever, the ritual of coming together is one that we must not underestimate. In my experience it is something that all women crave but most aren’t aware of. And when we get a taste of it we wonder how we ever survived without it.

  The Red Tent by Anita Diamant gave voice to one of the voiceless characters in the Old Testament. The red tent was a place that the women of the tribe took refuge in at the full moon and where they found sisterhood, support, and encouragement from their mothers, sisters, and aunts.

  I believe deep down we have all been yearning for that red tent. A place where we can be supported and held. Where we can share and be truly heard. Where we can let out our crazy without being judged. Where we can lay down our burdens and stop pretending to hold it all together. Where we can stop trying to do it all ourselves. Where we can be honest about how difficult life can get and how difficult it can be to be in a female body. Where we can have a conversation without someone trying to fix us. Where we can simply be and admit our deepest darkest secrets, and know that no matter what we confess we will still be seen and loved.

  To keep the spirit and wisdom alive of those who walked this path before us through sharing their stories. To remember those that we have loved and lost and gather the courage to love again. To be strengthened by what others have been able to withstand and knowing that if they could maybe we can too. A place to swim in the sacredness of being a woman. And know that no matter what, we are never ever alone.

  I believe that our society is starving for this deep feminine connection. I haven’t come across a woman who doesn’t yearn for it. This threading of support. This genuine female connection.

  Without receiving genuine sisterhood, we

  remain girls. Competing with our sisters and

  endeavoring to reach an idealized version of

  perfection that is impossible to reach.

  RISE SISTER RISE

  Do you currently have a circle of women

  that you connect with?

  If you were to organize a circle of women to

  come together, who would you invite?

  YOUR CONSTELLATION OF SISTERS

  ‘Because there is one thing stronger than magic: sisterhood.’

  ROBIN BENWAY

  When you make the decision to rise know this:

  Your support team is assembling.

  By answering the call that is in your soul, you are instantly connected to a group of sisters who have that shared mission. You may not be able to see them but there they will be. Like lights turning on all over the planet, your constellation of sisters spiraling around you. Comprised of those who have come before and those who are a couple steps ahead. United like an army.

  As you read these pages, you are connecting yourself to an ocean of women rising alongside you. An invisible thread, a string of lights, a fierce unstoppable force. If you sink into the light in the depths of your heart, perhaps you can feel the flickering of their presence? From women who you have never met and perhaps never will.

  #RISESISTERRISE MANTRA

  I allow myself to be held and deeply supported by my

  constellation of sisters. Both those I know and those

  I have never met. When I rise they rise alongside

  me. When they rise, I rise alongside them.

  CALLING IN YOUR SISTERS

  Until my late 20s I remember being surrounded by many friends and loved ones yet feeling so alone. And I couldn’t quite put my finger on why.

  I had an ancient memory of a sisterhood: A union where it was safe to share the deepest darkest parts of your shadow, as well as the brightest parts of your light. A healing circle of women whose purpose was clear. There was no separation of you or me, rather a sacred union of ‘us’ sharing our journey and doing the work together. I was searching for sisters from times past. Ones who already knew me. Ones who were looking and longing for me, just as I was looking and longing for them. Those who at soul level were made of the same stuff. As if a seed of light had been planted in each of us, like a homing device calling each other closer by the day. To do the work that we came here to do in unison.

  I prayed nightly to find them. First came Angela. Next was Sheila. In both of these women it felt like I could see my own soul mirrored back to me.

  However, at the time I couldn’t help but wonder where were my sisters of my generation. I now see how while I was longing for them I was also in hiding, not showing those around me my whole self. Once I found the courage to step out and let myself be seen, they would find me and I them. Today I am blown away by how many amazing women of all ages I have in my life. More and more appearing every day.

  The sisters you are longing and looking for are also

  longing and looking for you. Embrace your weirdness,

  own your potency and speak up so they can hear you.

  RISE SISTER RISE

  Who in your life is one of your people?

  How can you let yourself be more fully seen?

  GENUINE SISTERHOOD

  ‘Your legacy is every life you have ever touched.’

  MAYA ANGELOU

  Genuine sisterhood is the capacity to truly be there for another without expecting anything in return. To rest into the raw, sacred, vulnerable power of being a woman and witness the same in another without feeling inadequate. True sisterhood is our capacity to greatly honor another. To hold and be held. To mother and be mothered.

  True sisterhood is bowing our entire being to the lineage of women who came before us and made up the very thread of all of Life. It’s about owning the crazy, wild, and unpredictable parts of us and others without judgment. It’s about knowing that our innate power is never drawn by cutting another down. It’s about refraining from fixing and healing another, rather holding the space and their hand until they can find the courage to do it themselves.

  Genuine sisterhood is more than merely supporting others through our words or mutual interest, rather it is measured by our ability to stay there at the raw, messy depths. Through the hurricanes, the floods and the fires. Genuine sisterhood is a powerful force. Untamable. Impenetrable. Unstoppable.

  It comes from the soul. Age, family, country, color, background, life experience, or success don’t matter. The heart recognizes a sister in an instant and the soul never forgets. A wild, raw, sacred, holy connection that cannot be forced or faked.

  RISE SISTER RISE

  Who in your life do you consider a true sister?

  Who in your life do you spend time with

  because you think you should?

  Who is in your life because they want something from you?

  Who is in your life because you want something from them?

  CAN YOU HOLD SPACE FOR ANOTHER?

  Can you hold space for another? Like really truly hold space for them? One of the most generous gifts you can give someone is your ability to be WITH them without trying to get them somewhere or get something for yourself.

  To hold them energetically without turning the conversation back to you.

  To refrain f
rom saying ‘me too,’ ‘in my experience,’ ‘I can so relate,’ or ‘how about this.’

  To resist fixing, guiding, saving, or moving at a different speed.

  To meet them where they’re at and for that place to be absolutely OK.

  To be the vessel for the Mother to enter.

  To allow your arms and eyes to be the arms and eyes of the Great Mother, gently rocking them back home no matter how far they journeyed off course.

  When you hold space for another, you allow them to move gently from their head to the heart. And if the heart feels safe and seen, you will witness the transformation of the soul stepping forth, which is an honor indeed. We all yearn to be witnessed like this. We all long for someone with the capacity to truly hold us.

  RISE SISTER RISE

  Can you hold space for others, without fixing

  them or turning the attention back to you?

  Who in your life has the capacity to hold space for you?

  THE NEW FORM OF PERSECUTION

  ‘The problem I have with haters is that they see

  my glory, but they don’t know my story...’

  MAYA ANGELOU

  Feminism is so loaded. We must stop nitpicking our fellow sisters, especially in the name of feminism. If a woman says she is a feminist then every one of her actions is judged. If a woman says she is not a feminist then she herself is judged.

  My friend has received complaints that she is putting feminism back by helping women reconnect with their monthly cycle and listen to their body when it tells them to slow down (so important!). While my other friend gets horrible comments saying that her extreme success is due to pushing down her feminine nature and choosing not to have kids.

  As women we have had to fight for so much, let’s not add another mountain to climb by having to rise from each other too. Before you attempt to cut another down, no matter how much you disagree, first take a moment and see if you can see a woman, who in her own unique way, is doing her best to find the courage to rise. Let’s stop pushing our fellow sisters down no matter how much you agree or disagree with the way they are doing it.

  Let’s not turn on each other.

  Let the persecution stop here.

  RISE SISTER RISE

  Who have you been judging harshly?

  What’s beneath your judgment?

  Are you able to see her as a woman who is

  doing her best, in her own unique way to find

  the courage to step forward and rise?

  Rather than focus on her or what she stands for,

  if you turn around the focus, is there something

  that you are being called to create?

  IS SHE MAD AT ME?

  How often have you sent a text or email and not received a reply, and then thought, ‘She must be mad at me.’ This paranoid feeling is rooted in an ancient distrust between women. During the witch-hunts of the Middle Ages, people (particularly women) were forced to turn on each other in order to save themselves and their loved ones.

  As women we have been also forced to push down the more powerful, darker parts of our true natures (as depicted in the darker phases of the moon and the related archetypes of the Wise, Wild Woman and the Crone) in order to fit into the box of a ‘good girl.’ So we have this ‘other’ part of ourselves – this shadow – that for many has been banished and unclaimed. And we think, if we have this part to us, then other women must too. Enter mistrust.

  In a race to get the job, the guy, the best friend, we have learned to mistrust other women, assuming the worst.

  So many of us hold old wounds and programming that causes us not to trust other women. To put up our defenses rather than soften and open. To gossip as a way of developing a deeper connection, in an effort to feel safe. We must stop the persecution of other women. The competitiveness and, most of all, the mistrust.

  Being disconnected from the never-ending chalice within our womb, so many of us believe that there is not enough to go around. There is a part of us that remembers and yearns for deep and true connection with women. However, if we haven’t healed our defenses and the unclaimed patriarchy that exists within us, then genuine sisterhood just isn’t possible. We must heal our wounds around trusting other women.

  We must allow ourselves to be supported and held, by other women and also by ourselves.

  RISE SISTER RISE

  What is your relationship with other women?

  Do you trust them? If not, what caused this mistrust?

  What does this part of you need to hear?

  WHO TRIGGERS YOU?

  Do not dismiss or avoid the women who rub you up the wrong way. The ones who piss you off. The ones who offend you. The ones you mistrust. For somewhere in their spikiness or forwardness or weakness or aggressiveness or gorgeousness or arrogance or inexperience they possess a gift. A gift that, through delving deep enough, contains a gem so precious and powerful that you will one day soon, praise the day they came into your view.

  Who triggers you? Who annoys you? Who intimidates you? Who rubs you up the wrong way? Who is too harsh? Too soft? Too egotistical? Too plain? Who makes you turn into a crazy lady? Who disgusts you? Who do you find a pain? Who brings out your inner banshee? Who do you resent most of all? Who makes you feel inadequate? Who overlooks you? Who saddens you? Who do you wish you never ever met?

  RISE SISTER RISE

  Who triggers you?

  What do they trigger in you?

  What do you allow this to say about you?

  What wound are they inviting you to heal?

  What dormant power are they inviting you to reclaim?

  WHY JEALOUSY IS A GOOD THING

  ‘It’s a sign of insecurity to be hostile with the unfamiliar.’

  ANAÏS NIN

  Jealousy is a totally normal human emotion that causes a separation between She and Me. But if you allow yourself to be present with it for long enough, you may just find that your jealousy can be a valuable tool when it comes to getting clear with what you are here to contribute.

  Jealousy triggers the part of us that sees ourselves as separate. So when we discover that someone else has something we want, we believe that because they have it, it means we cannot. Jealousy shines a light on what we deeply desire for ourselves. A creation you haven’t gotten around to making happen, an experience you have been yearning to have, a decision you have been avoiding making.

  Our jealous pangs can hint at the ways we have been keeping ourselves small. They can also reveal the ways we are looking at external approval as a sense of validation. When your jealousy is triggered, it could be a big fat sign pointing to where you should be investing your energy and what the Universe is wanting to create with YOU.

  RISE SISTER RISE

  Who are you jealous of?

  Why are you jealous of them?

  How can you allow yourself to create or receive

  your own unique version of that for yourself?

  THERE IS NO COMPETITION

  The more time you spend comparing yourself to others the more similar your work will become and the further away you will get from the work you came here to do. Creating your life’s work takes time. Don’t rush it. Resist the need to rush to market, the creations that your soul has to share are much more potent if you give them ample time to bloom. Don’t rush straight into execution. Spend time hanging out with the energies that are beckoning to dance through you.

  I have a friend with a very similar purpose and message to mine. We discovered each other a couple of years ago after each of us spending several years getting to that point. The way we express our work in the world is very different because, like many people, we are very different. Our personalities, style, stories, and experiences deliver the same message and at times same energies in very different ways.

  We are not in competition; we are sisters on a similar journey. I see how committed she is to her spiritual practice and life’s work and have found a treasured kinship in this commonality, as I
have with other women who are walking a similar path. This is not to say that we must all be BFFs with everyone. That is just not possible. I can spot my sisters a mile off. It has nothing to do with what they are saying, rather what their energy is communicating. There is a soul recognition, like a subtle nod to someone that is familiar. The same goes for those whose life or message is not in alignment. Those who have gotten so excited to do the work that they have modeled themselves on the person (people) who inspired them, creating the same thing instead of their own unique creation.

  Being inspired is wonderful and necessary for art and creativity to be born. However, after we get steady walking on our own, the real sign of a true artist or writer or teacher or creator is their ability to use that inspiration to delve deep within themselves and deep into their devotion to create what is theirs to create. Not a tweaked version of someone else’s creations or style.

  RISE SISTER RISE

  Who have you been seeing as competition

  who could be a companion?

  How is your need to push or be seen causing

  you to be slightly inauthentic?

  RAISE THEM UP DON’T CUT THEM DOWN

  Raise them up don’t cut them down.

  Success is not a limited resource.

  Raise them up don’t cut them down.

  Your power cannot be taken, if you draw it from deep within.

  Raise them up don’t cut them down.