You are invited into circle—a space women have always known, where we gather not to perform, fix, or achieve, but to listen, to be witnessed, and to return to ourselves in the presence of one another.
At its heart, the women’s circle honors the divine feminine. In a world that has long emphasized doing, producing, and striving, there is something within us that moves differently—through intuition, receptivity, imagination, and a natural rhythm of being. In circle, that begins to return. Through gathering in sisterhood, we reconnect with inner knowing, soften out of comparison and expectation, and remember a more grounded way of relating to ourselves and to each other.
I created this circle by the ocean for a reason. Water meets us in a way nothing else does. It receives, it holds, it moves, and it transforms. To be in its presence—walking alongside it, breathing with it, listening to it—brings us into contact with something both ancient and deeply familiar within ourselves.
From May through September, we gather once a month on Sunday mornings by the water.
We begin in circle with intention and meditation, then move into a slow walk along the shoreline. Barefoot in the sand, we come into rhythm with the water—breathing with the waves, listening, and allowing the senses to open.
Along the way, we gather what draws us—small pieces shaped by the sea—and return to create a shared ocean mandala, an offering held for that morning.
Each gathering is guided by an aspect of Aphrodite and the phase of the moon, explored through gentle, embodied water rituals.
In circle, we work with oil, water, salt, and scent—simple, intentional practices that bring attention back to the body through touch and the senses. There is time for journaling and reflection, and we close with tea and a sharing circle.
This is a soft, sacred space held over time—an invitation to return to the body, to the water, to the feminine, and to one another.
Dates and Rituals We Will Explore Each Month
May 17 — Anointing Oil Ritual | Returning to the Body
In May we will create a personal anointing oil, working with a selection of essential oils, you are invited to blend your own anointing oil—guided by scent, intuition, and intention. The process is slow and sensory, allowing what your body is drawn to lead.
In circle, we move through a guided self-anointing ritual, applying the oil to the body with attention and care. Anointing has long been a way women have tended to the body—not as decoration, but as a way of honoring it. Through touch and scent, awareness returns to the skin, to the senses, and to presence.
This first gathering establishes a foundation, bringing you into direct relationship with your body through something simple, physical, and real.
June 14 — Moon Water Ritual | The Practice of Receiving
In June we work directly with ocean water, gathering it from the shoreline and bringing it back into circle to create your own vessel. You add shells, sand, or natural elements shaped by the sea—pieces that carry the movement and texture of the water itself.
This becomes your moon water, which you take home and place out under the June 30th full Strawberry Moon. It holds the imprint of where we gathered, along with the rhythm of the ocean and the pull of the moon.
We will discuss how this water can be kept and worked with over time—on an altar, in quiet moments, or as part of a personal ritual practice.
The focus here is receiving, not as an idea, but as something lived. Water receives, holds, and responds, and through working with it in this way, you begin to understand what it means to allow something to reach you without immediately reacting or moving away.
July 19 — Foot Bath Ritual | Softening into the Body
In August, we come into direct contact with water, salt, and the body. In circle, you are given a basin of ocean water, with the option to add sea salt or Epsom salt, along with a small selection of herbs and oils—creating something that feels aligned and personal.
We move together through a slow foot bath ritual, allowing the body to settle into the water.
The feet carry you. They hold weight, movement, and often more tension than is noticed. In salt water, something begins to shift. The body softens, sensation returns, and there is a quiet release that happens without force.
This is a beautiful, grounding practice—bringing attention back into the body through direct physical contact, and allowing what is held to loosen in its own time.
August 16 — Ocean Flower Offering Ritual | Release & Blessing
In August, we work with flowers as an offering to the ocean, in connection with traditions that honor the sea and the presence of Yemaya.
Yemaya is known across Afro-Caribbean and Yoruba traditions as the great mother of the ocean—the source of life, the keeper of the waters, and a protector of women and children. She is associated with the tides, with deep emotion, and with the vast, generative power of the sea.
Mid-August, and especially August 15th, has long been recognized in certain traditions as a time of blessing the waters—a day when the ocean is honored through offerings, prayer, and acts of devotion. These practices continue in coastal communities around the world, where flowers are returned to the sea as a gesture of reverence, remembrance, and renewal.
In circle, we prepare a simple ocean blessing using white flowers—roses, daisies, yarrow—chosen for their softness and their connection to healing and devotion. You will be invited to work with seven white flowers and seven shells, an offering traditionally associated with honoring the Seven Seas.
We hold intention together before moving to the shoreline—whether for release, for healing, or for honoring what has been carried. At the water’s edge, the flowers are placed into the ocean, allowing the sea to receive them. There is care in how this is done—only natural, biodegradable elements are used, and nothing is left behind that does not belong to the water.
To offer flowers to the sea in this way is both a release and a blessing—an acknowledgment of the ocean as something living, and a recognition of our relationship to it.
September 20 — Closing Ritual | Blessing the Waters
This gathering is centered on blessing the waters we have been in relationship with over these months—the same place that has held us, received us, and supported the work.
In circle and at the water’s edge, we offer a simple blessing—directing attention, gratitude, and care back to the ocean itself. This includes quiet energy work, sending healing and intention into the water and the surrounding environment.
As part of this, you will draw a personal sigil or symbol into the sand—something that holds your intention, your experience, or what you are ready to release or carry forward. At the waterline, these markings are left for the tide to take. Nothing is kept. Nothing is carried away. The ocean receives it, as it has received everything throughout the season.
This is a closing rooted in relationship—a gesture of respect, of return, and of acknowledgment for what has been shared.
Details
The following Sunday mornings:
May 17 & September 20 · 9:00–11:30 AM
June 14 · July 19 · August 16 · 8:00–10:30 AMLocation: Hammonasset Beach State Park (East Beach), 1288 Boston Post Road, Madison, CT, 06443
Limited to 10 women
$250 for the full series of five gatherings; payment plan half due at registration, remainder due on May 15th
All materials for each gathering are provided
A PDF guide will be emailed each month to support your practice between gatherings