Turtle Sweat Lodge

circle of sisters

Welcome!
The most recent posts are at the top of this page.
We are a circle of women who come together to share, heal, laugh and learn.
We promote life, unity and equality. Formed in the early 90's to share our stories, healings, celebrations and knowledge.
At present we are meeting on the 4 seasons to honour these cycles of our lives, and also the Clan Mother (using Jamie Sams book)of the current moon. Learning about the 13 Clan Mothers we understand ,accept, and develop their attributes in ourselves.
Zenzile has been teaches us african dance to honour the seasons.

circle of stones

These 12 Stone People came from Silver Hills, Australia.
Found just under the surface of limestone they were formed
over 120 million years ago when the centre of Australia was
covered by an inland sea. Known as "Moon Rocks" their unique formation occured by rolling on the edge of the sea.
Through a long sequence of events these stones came together to sit on our land in 1992. Placed on the compass points they form the outside circle of a medicine wheel. They weigh between one to one and a half tonne each!

next sweatlodge gathering

Saturday 21st of June
Winter Solstice
Clan Mother- Gives Praise
she teaches us how to be grateful for the truth

8 am start gathering/ start fire
10am start of celebration
dance with Zenzie
sweatlodge
shared lunch (bring vegetarian plate to share)
Also bring bottle of water, sarong, towel, bathers
and warm clothes

last gathering

Summer Solstice Celebration

clan mother guide

Clan Mothers of the New Moon 2007
based on the book "the 13 Original Clan Mothers" by Jamie Sams
adapted to the southern hemisphere

19th of January- LOVES ALL THINGS
The Mother of unconditional love and all acts of pleasure.
The Keeper of sexual wisdom and self respect.
The sensual lover, the Mother-Nuturer, the warmth of the feminine.
The guardian of the needs of the family.
She Teaches Us..
How to use respect, trust, and intimacy in all relationships.
How to love the aspects of our lives, lessons, sexuality, and physical beings.
How to be a loving woman, nuturing mother, sensual lover, and trusted friend.
How to forgive ourselves and others, developing acceptance and shunning criticalness.
How To LOVE THE TRUTH

18th of February- SHE WHO HEALS
The intuitive healer, midwife, herbalist, keeper of the healing arts.
The singer of the death song and keeper of the life and death mysteries.
The guardian the medicine roots and healing herbs, the servant of humankind.
The mother of intuition/ all rights of passage/ cycles of birth, death and rebirth.
She Teaches Us..
How to serve others with a happy heart, using our healing abilities.
How to understand and honour the cycles of birth, death and rebirth.
How to believe in the miracles of life through our connections to our spiritual essences. How to understand the plant kingdom and the healing uses of all parts of plants.
How to SERVE THE TRUTH

19th of March- SETTING SUN WOMAN
The keeper of tomorrows dreams and goals. The guardian of the needs of the next seven generations. The mother of the proper use of will/ will to live/ will to survive/will power. The keeper of Mother Earth's resources and the guardian of resources and preservation.
She Teaches Us..
How to preserve and use our resources without wasting anything.
How to prepare for tomorrow by planning today. Making and meeting goals.
How to show concern, dependability and compassion through the ways we live.
How to properly use our wills, using our intents to provide for future generations.
How to LIVE THE TRUTH

17th of April- WEAVES THE WEB
The Mother of creativity/ the Muse/ the Artist/ the Creatress
The manifester of dreams, who brings visions into reality.
The guardian of life force, who teaches women to give birth to their dreams.
The keeper of the survival instinct and the mother of creative/desctructive
She Teaches Us..
How to use our desire to create and bring our dreams into tangible forms.
How to tap life force, using energy to build, change or manifest our needs.
How to manifest our visions and give them life through our actions and artistic talents. How to create new from old and how to destroy the limitations to creativity.
How to WORK WITH TRUTH

17th of May- WALKS TALL WOMAN
The guardian of leadership and the keeper of new paths.
The mother of beauty and grace and the keeper of innovation and persistence.
The role model of health, physical fitness, stamina, and letting the heart's desire
take the lead. The keeper of personal impeccability and the guardian of all forms of inner strength.
She Teaches Us..
How to be our personal best and still be vulnerable and human.
How to keep our bodies and minds flexible and in good health through advancing and retreating. How to seek and find new paths to growing and learning, leading through example. How to develop inner strength. How to attract and release.
How to WALK THE TRUTH

15th of June- GIVES PRAISE
The mother of all acts of thanksgiving and keeper of abundance.
The guardian of ceremony and ritual.
The keeper of magic.
The mother of encouragement and the guardian of celebration.
The wisdom keeper of the art of giving and receiving.
She Teaches Us..
How to return thanks for the abundance we need before it arrives, making space to receive it.
How to celebrate every victory in life with joy- ours as well as the accomplishments of others.
How to use right attitudes to create magical changes in the self.
How to create magical changes in the self.
How to create abundance through praise, giving, and receiving.
How to be GRATEFUL FOR THE TRUTH

14th of July- TALKS WITH RELATIONS
The mother of nature.
Keeper of rythm, weather, and the seasons. Guardian of the languages of the trees, stones, and creatures. The maker of relatives/ keeper of the earth's needs/ mother of the planetary family.
She Teaches Us..
How to understand the unspoken languages of nature.
Kinship with all the life forms and how to enter the sacred spaces of others with respect. How to honour cycles, rhythms, and changes of the seasons and weather.
How to meld with the life force and rhythms in all dimensions, learning the3 truths of each.
How to LEARN THE TRUTH

13th of August- WISDOM KEEPER
The protectress of sacred traditions.
The keeper of the stone libraries and earth history.
The guardian of "the remembering" and the art of memory.
The mother of friendship, planetary unity and mutual understanding.
She Teaches Us..
The arts of self-development and expansion.
How to access planetary memory, personal recall, and ancient wisdom and knowledge.
How to understand the wisdom that every life form holds and its missions.
How to be a friend and to restore friendship by honouring the viewpoints of all life forms.
How to HONOUR THE TRUTH

11th of September- WEIGHS THE TRUTH
The Keeper of equality and the guardian of justice.
The fair judge of divine law and the destroyer of deception.
The mother of truth and proctectress of the underdog.
The mother of self-determination and responsibility.
She Teaches Us...
How to find the ability to respond and how to be self- determined.
How to feed the positive, not the negative, by using divine law.
How to use equality with justice, being accountable for our actions and words.
How to use personal integrity, ethics, and values to find healing solutions.
How to ACCEPT THE TRUTH

11th of October- LOOKS FAR WOMAN
The seer/ oracle/ dreamer/ prophet
Keeper of the golden door and the crack in the universe.
The mother of visions, dreams, and psychic impressions.
The guardian of the dreamtime and the keeper of inner potential.
She Teaches Us..
How to understand our visions, dreams, feelings, and impressions.
How to enter dreamtime, go into other realms through the crack in the universe.
How to properly use our psychic abilities and gifts of prophecy for humanity.
How to use spiritual boundaries, psychic self-defense, and respect those boundaries in others.
How to use our inner potential to become healed healers.
How to SEE THE TRUTH

10th of November- LISTENING WOMAN
The mother of Tiyoweh, the stillness, and inner knowing.
The keeper of discernment and guardian of introspection.
The interpreter of messages from the spirit world.
The counselor and advisor, the keeper of hearing.
She Teaches Us..
How to enter the stillness and hear our heart's small, still voice within.
How to find and understand the inner knowing we carry in our spiritual essences.
How to listen to the viewpoints and opinions of others and the voices of the Ancestors.
How to understand body language and unspoken thoughts, hearing with the heart.
How to HEAR THE TRUTH

10th of December- STORYTELLER
The guardian of the medicine stories.
The keeper of Heyokah medicine and humour.
The teacher who teaches without pointing a finger.
The preserver of speaking from personal experience and truth.
She Teaches Us...
How to teach through telling stories that contain lessons.
How to balance the sacredness with irreverence/ using humour creatively.
How to speak from our personal experience without judging others or being self righteous.
How to be a student in life as well as the teacher, preserving the wisdom gained.
How to SPEAK THE TRUTH.

This shows the "shell" pattern around the edge
with the stone wall showing beneath.

The shell pattern on the top.

While the cement was still wet we added smaller black stones as an inside border and then we added broken pieces of slate ( from our old kitchen floor). Then for a touch of magic we added some coloured glass stones. Zenzi and her son are shown here creating the "shell".

To start I used chalk to outline my design, then glued the light green stones on the top to form the borders of the shell pattern. Next we formed wet cement inside each border.
Zenzi is shown here smoothing the cement around the rock border.

I added a special piece of art for the top. This slab design piece of stoneware was
made for us by a visiting potter from Canada. She appeared to make the perfect "goddess" to be riding on the back of the turtle. Along with some other clay figures made by women in the circle, crystals and gems they were cemented in to finish off the entrance and top of shell.