“Let us initiate our daughters into the beauty and mystery of being strong and confident women…” –Barbara Harper
Our hands are joined in sacred circle, expectant and anticipatory looks are on each face, pink fabric is draped around the room, and goddess cookies are arranged and ready to decorate. I look around at a circle of bright and beautiful mothers and daughters and announce: Missouri’s first ever Pink Tent in the herstory of the entire world is being held tonight!
It was such an honor and a privilege to hold this ritual in my community, to know we were forging new paths together, and to be willing to experiment together with a new form of sacred circle. I have held women’s circles and retreats for quite a few years and offer a monthly Red Tent 
Circle for area women. I have also facilitated mother-daughter classes and maiden rituals. But, this was new. After having spent many months together as women in the Red Tent, we decided to raise up the Pink Tent! A Pink Tent is a multi-age, multifaith circle open to women and girls of all ages. Women do not need to have a daughter in order to attend, any woman who would like to participate is welcome. And, there is no age limit on the girls who attend, but my caveat is usually: a girl who is old enough to enjoy a circle environment, meaning they do need to be capable of sitting in a circle, participating, and cooperating with the flow of a sacred circle, rather than a playdate atmosphere. The youngest girl in attendance was four and the oldest fifteen. We also had women from their sixties to their twenties present. A Pink Tent is an enriching and rewarding space for women as well as girls!
Why “Pink Tent”? Because pink is a color that will mature and ripen into red and these circles are rooted in my work with Red Tent Circles and Womanspirit Priestessing.
At our first Pink Tent, we made blessing bundles. Each person brought something meaningful–herb, flower, seed, small stones–and each girl put together a pouch of blessings. We were getting ready to do it and they each reached out for the supplies and we realized that their hands in a circle would make a nice picture! All the women and girls made a bundle, but only the girls’ hands are in this picture.
Each bowl holds one of the offerings from each woman. The center bowl holds the bags they put everything in. It is surrounded by rose quartz, a “sisterhood” sculpture and my own pink tent goddess.
After I left our first Pink Tent, feeling so connected and excited and energized and incredibly grateful for the women and girls who showed up that evening, I almost forgot to acknowledge to myself how powerful it is that I will do this! What would the world be like if girls could regularly attend sacred ceremonies with their mothers? I was captivated by the possibility and after holding several more events, I developed a new workshop, Pink Tent Rising, that begins May 30th!
In addition to the workshop, here are some resources and inspiration for holding your own Pink Tent Circle:
- The Heroine’s Club book and circle guide
- Welcoming Women: A Menarche Celebration | Creating Sanctuary, Shifting Spirit
- All posts in Pink Tent category: Pink Tent | Creating Sanctuary, Shifting Spirit
- Post about how they began their Pink Tent: The Pink Tent | Creating Sanctuary, Shifting Spirit
- Red Tent Healing offers Pink Tent gatherings for girls. I learned about them from @homesweetzooo on Instagram.
- Maiden Spirit | Empower Girls, Transform Our World!
- Women & Girls Lodge (girls 8 and up)
- Mother-daughter resources from Deanna L’am, one of the foremost leaders in the Red Tent movement: Mother Daughter
- Book specifically for girls by the delightful, resource-full, Lucy Pearce: Reaching for the Moon.
- First Moon gifts from Brigid’s Grove.
- Journey of Young Women
The Pink Tent Rising workshop is power-FULL and includes:
- an overview of different types of mother-daughter circles
- how to create and facilitate Pink Tent events specifically
- outlines and information for maiden ceremonies both for individual girls and groups
- recordings of songs and activities to use
- a “Pink Tent walkthrough” recording of exactly how to construct and facilitate a Pink Tent Circle
- recordings about “Circle Basics” and “Ritual Guidelines” that apply to all kinds of different circles and rituals, but also to Pink Tents
- handouts to copy
- journaling activities with printable journal pages and a healing meditation (all of which may be used for yourself and with the circle!)
- Pink Tent activity suggestions and instructions
- a ritual “recipe” digital mini book with complete ceremony outlines and plans for six months of circles
- templates to make a central poster for the girls to work on together for an empowerment exercise
- a coupon for a discount on my fall section of Practical Priestessing or Red Tent Initiation
- and, the opportunity to buy Pink Tent kit activity materials, hand-dyed, limited edition Pink Tent robes, and a special Pink Tent mother-daughter goddess sculpture at a discount
