Our Sacred Circles*

Nash and I Thanksgiving 2008

I tell my eleven year old son, Nash, that it's time for us to eat better.  I tell him that I want to eliminate cookies and all unhealthy sweets because I love him.  I tell him that I want us to treat our bodies like royalty and eat like kings and queens.  I also tell him, as my 40s wane, that I will need his help to stay a young and vibrant mother.  His response:

             "You're young, Mommy.  You'll always be young."

When I hear his words, I want to live up to them.  I decide in that very moment to stay young in my Nash's eyes.  The sacred circle that Nash and I have created as a family is a place where our love can be a mirror to one another.  When I tell Nash he is extraordinary, he sees himself that way.  In turn, the reflection of who I am through the loving eyes of my child creates my best, most high self.       

History tells us that human beings are drawn to things circular. We are drawn to circular gatherings again and again in the form of healing circles, reading circles, giving circles, business circles, sewing circles, mentor circles and sacred circles of all types.  Lakota Indian and holy man, Black Elk, states in the book Black Elk Speaks, "The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same.... Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves."

Our power moves within our sacred circles.  With the courage to shift beyond our limiting beliefs and step into the lofty image our loved ones hold of us, we can transcend our fears and doubts to create within ourselves the extraordinary.  I'm embracing a life-long spirit of youth because the mirror my son holds up to me tells me I'll always be young.  Within my sacred circle, I have the courage to be anything I dream I can be.     

How have your sacred circles affected your life?  

*Previously published on A Woman's Place Blog July 7, 2013.  Consider making a donation in the name of someone in your sacred circle!