This year the five “Colei che sa” (She who knows) groups decided to continue their study of female archetypes, associated with biblical figures. The “Colei che sa” program involves women animated by the desire to talk about a spiritual life according to their own lived experiences and their own sensitivity. Every meeting enriches them and leaves them ever stronger allies with one another. This what the group from Padua is sharing here.
On the splendid springtime Saturday of April 13, 23 of us met again, accompanied by the archetype of Cora-Persephone. This goddess, who crosses the threshold of the underworld when she is still a child bound to her mother, manages to “stay” in that darkness, and, exactly because she is conditioned to be alone, she becomes aware that she is finally able to run her own life. She will choose to eat pomegranate seeds that allow her to be on earth for six months of the year and in the underworld for the other six months. Sr. Tiziana invited us to welcome life’s challenges and, within these, to work toward growth. When we are in darkness, we risk wallowing in the role of victims, of becoming demoralized by the heavy situation or always feeling “out of place.” We can learn that in the darkness we have the opportunity to cultivate wisdom by seeking the meaning of what is happening, by embracing the change, and welcoming the cyclic nature of life, savoring it in its totality.
Then, for the first time, we gifted ourselves some “pages of the Fifth Gospel” that we wrote with our lives, listening to experiences of “crossing the darkness.” Chiara, Tiziana, Martina, and Sr. Gabriella, of our team, shared heavy but regenerative moments from their lives. It was wonderful to receive, share, and to recognize fragments of the existence of each of us in these real-life stories.
During the workshop, we had the opportunity to express our situations of dark/light through a small black piece of paper on which we could write, draw, and glue images that gave us the feeling of light.
We used colors that “cross” the black, giving ourselves the awareness that color and light can bring back spring.
Sharing our personal situations of difficulty in small groups, we encouraged one another to find the threshold to cross: the participation of each woman contributed to expanding our acceptance and our hope.
During the concluding ritual, we ate six pomegranate seeds to indicate our acceptance to “stay” within the periods of difficulty with courage and hope.
The reciprocal blessing again strengthened us in spirit and concluded our afternoon of reflection but also of joy in meeting together.
Some feedback:
“We were in the company of Persephone who helped us to understand life’s challenges and, taking advantage of these moments, to grow and to change. We sought to recognize the darkness (winter) and to find passage to return to the light (spring). We succeeded in mining our lived experiences to create color out of our black cards. It was an intimate, moving, light-filled, colorful afternoon. T.”
“Truly so much gratitude to each woman for what she shared and to the group that succeeds each time in making this “miracle” of the meeting possible, among us and within each of us. Really, thank you. G.”
“There were many starting points and many signs to make me understand that life is made of romances and disappointments. All of it is useful and when we are in the dark it requires patience. Thank you for the precious sharing of our allied sisters. I discovered the Fifth Gospel, which I call words of daily life. My thanks to all of you. L.”
“I liked crossing the thresholds so much but also knowing how to stop in the trial, in the darkness. And the darkness can be a source of new resources. R.”
“It was an afternoon full of starting points for introspection and reflection. Our being together is an irreplaceable fuel to return to “life.” P.”
