When I heard your music, it made me feel so good. It made me feel like I was home.”

— Jack Askoty, Doig River First Nation Craftsman

  Rita di Ghent is a song/storyteller with a PhD from the school of hard knocks, having left home at the age of 15 and survived to tell the many tales! She also has a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree, a BA in Psychology, a MA in Applied Cognitive Science, and is a certified Wild Woman Circle Leader. 

Join Rita's New Moon Sister Society https://www.facebook.com/groups/1800685426678545

NEW! Pay as you go...  

Thank you to all the Wild Sisters who pre-registered for the Women Who Run With the Wolves and Art Making series!  

You can still be part of this by paying as you go. Each of the 8 gatherings are $25 and can be registered for up to 24 hours prior to the gathering. See details below.

 Next Event:  Monday, June 19.7:00-9:00EST. Women Who Run With the Wolves Series #8: Skeleton Woman, Part 2. This is the final Women Who Run With the Wolves Circle for this year. Scroll down to register!

Wednesday, March 22, 2023. 7pmEST-830pm. Women Who Run With the Wolves Series #5: The Ugly Duckling (finding our tribe). See the itinerary below for details!

Monday, February 20, 2023. Women Who Run With the Wolves Series #4. See the itinerary below for details!

Dear Wild Sisters: I've been wanting to explore this in circle for a long time. The call has become unignorable. The time is now!... 
There are two parts to each of our upcoming New Moon Circles: 
1. The theme is Clarissa Pinkola Estes' "Women Who Run With the Wolves"!!! Legions of women the world over have been transformed by Estes' Wild Woman archetype and her comparison of women's souls to the ways of wolves. Each month we'll come together in soulful Sisterhood to dig deep into a chapter of this watershed book. We'll ponder, journal, sing, enlighten, and empower ourselves with the stories and CPE's wise words. 
2. Art! Each New Moon Circle we'll create two pieces: (1) an "Ojo de Diosa" (Goddess Eye) and (2) a talisman based on the monthly WWRWTW theme (see below). During the last of our New Moon Circles, we'll assemble our 8 Ojos and our 8 talismans into a beautiful mobile or wall hanging, thus commemorating and remembering our journey through the New Moons.

Itinerary: New Moons and Themes 
Please note: All sessions are via zoom. The best is if everyone shows up live. My experience is that people's lives race away from them and they don't go back to watch videos of sessions they've missed. Also, we value and look forward to your contributions and if you're not there, we'll miss what you have to say! 
1. Tuesday, October 25, 2022, 7pm to 9pm EST: Intro to Women Who Run With the Wolves; The Story of La Loba. Crafting Ojo de Diosa and talisman #1 
2. Wednesday, November 23, 2022, 7pm to 9pm EST: The Initiation of Vasalisa: venturing into the dark to find the light. Crafting Ojo de Diosa and talisman #2 
December 23: No New Moon Circle. Happy Holidays! 
3. Saturday, January 21, 2023, 7pm to 9pm EST: The Little Match Girl: The Freezing of Feminine Intuition. Crafting Ojo de Diosa and talisman #3 
4. Monday, February 20, 2023, 7pm to 9pm EST: The story of Bluebeard: The Sharpening of Instinct/Recognizing Traps. Crafting Ojo de Diosa and talisman #4 
5. Tuesday, March 21, 2023 7pm to 9pm EST: The Ugly Duckling: Finding Our Tribe/Belonging. Crafting Ojo de Diosa and talisman #5. 
6. Thursday, April 20, 2023 7pm to 9pm EST: The Red Shoes: Exterior Traps and Freeing the Soul. Crafting Ojo de Diosa and talisman #6. 
7. Friday, May 19, 2023 7pm to 9pm EST: Skeleton Woman (Sedna), Part 1; Returning to a State of Wonder. Crafting Ojo de Diosa and talisman #7 
8. Monday, June19, 2023 7pm to 9pm EST: Skeleton Woman (Sedna), Part 2. Crafting Ojo de Diosa and talisman #8, assembling our art project!

COST:

Can$25 per individual circle 
DISCOUNT: Register and pay for all 8 circles by October 18 and get a $40 discount (total = Can$160). Please send payment to groovecanada@gmail.com or via paypal at paypal.me/groovecanada. (note: please add $6.54 if paying by paypal). Once you've registered, you'll get a confirmation email as proof of payment. 
DEADLINE FOR DISCOUNT: October 18, 2022 
Questions? Reach out. 
I can't wait to be on this Women Who Run With the Wolves journey with you all. LOVE, Rita

Wednesday, June 29, 7:00pm to 8:30pm EST: Women's Online New Moon Gathering featuring the poetry of Anais Nin...Sisterhood, singing, soul excavation, guided meditation, stories... to join, follow the trail down to the registration button. This will take you to Paypal. It will say Groove Productions. Don't worry...that's me. Next, you'll receive an email with confirmation and details!

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Why is there a donation for the Women's Gatherings? Our world is glutted with offers, free workshops, promotions, coupons, groupons... the list goes on. I believe this has created Hummingbird energy in us...flitting from attractive flower to attractive flower. It can feel overwhelming-- all the offerings out there. The more Hummingbird-like we become, perhaps less committed we become--we cease to put our precious energy into what will feed our souls and rather flit about in search of quantity, not quality. You donation  (Can$10-$20) is a sign--an energetic commitment...to think about if this is the medicine you need and to show up and to dive in. It's also a sign of respect for the teachings and the  time and energy put into gathering and nurturing the Sisterhood. Thank you for showing up. Love, Rita

Thank you for your commitment to keeping Women's Gatherings going xoxo

You can make your donation here, Loved Ones:  paypal.me/groovecanada

 

Friday, May 6, 2022, 7pm to 8:30pm EST. Women's Online New Moon Circle: "Mothers"

We all have nurturing Mothers. Some of us had/have nurturing birth Mothers. Some os us never felt nurtured by our birth Mothers. Some of us never knew our birth Mothers. Yet, we all have nurturing Mothers to guide us. We all have Earth Mother. We also all have the loving Mother archetype within us.
 
This New Moon at the Wild Woman Project, our Gathering we'll be inspired by the poetry of Nikki Giovanni. We'll also sing, tell stories, have a guided meditation, and journal our ideas.

To register: please scroll down to the donation button and make an offering. Full information will be sent to you.

 

Saturday, Apr. 2, 2022. 4pm-5:30pm.  REGISTRATION CLOSED. Women's Online New Moon Circle: "We Are Architects of Peace"Singing, sharing, teachings, trusted Sisterhood. Scroll down to the donate button to register. This will take you to Paypal. It will say Groove Productions. Don't worry...that's me. Next, you'll receive an email with confirmation and details!

 

Friday, March 4, 2022. Women's Online New Moon Circle: "As I Gather More Years". REGISTRATION FOR THIS EVENT IS NOW CLOSED. Singing, sharing, teachings, trusted Sisterhood.7:30pm to 9pm.    Scroll down to the donate button to register. This will take you to Paypal. It will say Groove Productions. Don't worry...that's me. Next, you'll receive an email with confirmation and details!

Wednesday, February 2, 2022. Women's Online New Moon Circle. Singing, sharing, teachings, trusted Sisterhood.7:30pm to 9pm.   Scroll down to the donate button to register. Next, you'll receive an email with confirmation and details!

Sunday, January 2, 2022. Women's Online New Moon Circle. Singing, sharing, teachings, trusted Sisterhood.7:30pm to 9pm.   Scroll down to the donate button to register. Next, you'll receive an email with confirmation and details!

Saturday, December 4. Women's New Moon Fire. Prince Edward County, ON. 5:30-7pm. Singing, sharing, Cedar Tea, Sisterhood. Scroll down to the donate button to register. You'll receive confirmation and details.

Wednesday, December 8.Women's Online New Moon Circle.  7pm-8:30pm. . Scroll down to the donate button to register. You'll receive confirmation and details.

 

Wednesday, Nov 10, 2021. Online Women's New Moon Circle. 7pm-8:30pm EST. Click on the donate button below to register. ($5-$20 sliding scale).

 Thursday, Nov 4, 2021."Women's New Moon  Fire". Prince Edward County, OntarioPlease click on the "donate" button below to register!

Saturday, Oct 30, 2021, WomynSpirit Festival, 4:15-5:30. FREE! Rita is facilitating the workshop "Song Medicine: Into the Heart of Baba Yaga". This entire weekend-long festival is free for women. To register: womynspiritfestival@gmail.com

Wednesday, October 6th, 6pm to 7:30 pm, 2021 "New Moon Sister Society Fire".  email dearsistermoon@gmail.com with the subject line "New Moon Fire" to RSVP or for more information. This is a gift. 

“First Annual New Moon Sister Society Retreat”. Four workshops, Teaching Fires, and overnight camping. For more info and to get the registration link, email dearsistermoon@gmail.com with the subject line "Retreat 2021"

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Friday, July 9, 2021. New Moon Women's Fire. email dearsistermoon@gmail.com with the subject line "New Moon Fire" to RSVP or for more information.

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Thursday, June 10, 2021. New Moon Women's Fire. Prince Edward County, Ontario. email dearsistermoon@gmail.com with the subject line "New Moon Fire" to RSVP or for more information.

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Tuesday, May 25, 2021 . Women's Healing Drum Workshop. No experience necessary. If you don't own a drum, we'll send you easy and fast instructions on how to make one. For more info, email dearsistermoon@gmail.com with the subject line "Drumming". 7:00-8:30pm EST.  

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 Apr 17, 2021 4pm-5pm EST

"Assembly of the New Moon Sisterhood". 

A call to Everyone! Many of us have been journeying for a long, long time to reclaim ourselves, end our psychic loneliness, and find healing. The answer is kinship, and you all are the Medicine Carriers.  For more info and to get the registration link, email dearsistermoon@gmail.com with the subject line "Assembly". There is no charge for this workshop.

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Mar 23,2021 7pm-8pm EST: Women's Drumming Workshop. No experience necessary. If you don't own a drum, we'll send you easy and fast instructions on how to make one. For more info, email dearsistermoon@gmail.com with the subject line "Drumming". 

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TBA Untangling Our Bluebeard Stories Workshop. “In order to banish the predator, we must unlock or pry ourselves and other matters open to see what is inside. We must use our abilities to stand what we see. We must speak our truth in a clear voice. And we must be able to use our wits to do what needs be about what we see.” (C. P. Estes). For more info and to register: dearsistermoon@gmail.com

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 Feb 27, 2021: “Assembly of the New Moon Sisterhood". A call to Everyone! Many of us have been journeying for a long, long time to reclaim ourselves, end our psychic loneliness, and find healing. The answer is kinship and you all are the Medicine Carriers.  For more info and to get the registration link, email dearsistermoon@gmail.com with the subject line "Assembly". There is no charge for this workshop.

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Feb 21, 2021 "Re-Awakening Creativity",  To get the registration link, email dearsistermoon@gmail.com with the subject line "Creativity". There is no charge for this workshop.

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 Feb 20, 2021  "Turning Our Stories Into Medicine for Others". This is a workshop for healers and teachers or those who intend to be. For more info and to get the registration link, email dearsistermoon@gmail.com with the subject line "Stories". There is no charge for this workshop.

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 "Re-Awakening Creativity" is on Sunday, February 14, 2021, 7-8pmEST on line. There is no charge for this workshop. This workshop is full. 

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 "Reviving Creativity" is on Saturday, January 9, 2021, 7-8pmEST on line. There is no charge. This workshop is full. 

Email dearsistermoon@gmail.com for more info and to register.

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"A Wintry Night of Women's Storytelling"

Dec 28, 7-9pm EST

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"Turning Our Stories into Medicine For Others". Jan 1, 2021, 7-8pm EST

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"Reclaiming Our Wild Woman Bones" .  Dec 15, 2020 7-9pm EST

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"A Day of Forest Medicine", women's circle and Sacred Fire

August 15, 2020, 10am to 4pm EST

“Thank you dear lovely Rita! So much wisdom shared by all, so amazing to hear it expressed in so many ways through words, your music, tenderness, various stages of women from everywhere. Thank you from the bottom of my wild passionate heart and soul!”  

“Your zest was palpable over email and in person. You’re the real deal, wow. Here is my feedback: Laying down rules was essential. It cut out lots of potential friction. I loved your musical interludes more than anything. In a circle [inspired by] a book [“Women Who Run With the Wolves”] could have been reading, which would have fatigued that part of my brain because I was emotionally exhausted. I’ve been to numerous women’s circles and this is the only one in which I’ve felt 100% connected.

You’re a talented leader. I’m not saying my personal opinion is what I judge by. Rather I am so sensitive to others’ energy and yours was so wonderfully clean and neutral and loving. It bounced lovingly off of others and what is usually torturous for me (feeling others’ stuff until we all settle in) just never happened. The room was pure ease.” 

 “I had such trepidation coming...I didn’t know what to expect... It was a big step for me to sit with a group of women in an atmosphere of openness. Your guidance allowed that opening to begin and my connection to women and my womanhood to begin again.” “Very profound workshop...Many thanks!” 

“Truthfully I almost didn’t show up today because I’m feeling so raw and vulnerable with grief. I’m so glad that I took the leap. I felt fully held and supported and connected. It was deeply healing to hear (and relate to) everyone’s stories, insights, fears and dreams. Rita, your voice and songs and bass riffs were such a delight. Much gratitude.” 

“This gathering has touched me in new ways and old ways. I’ve put my past in a perspective that has finally allowed me to release it. Thank you!” 

“Songs, images, stories and personal reflections in a safe, comfortable, open and feeling-filled afternoon and space, transformed by sacred intention. Taking away an expanded field of relationships. Muchisimas gracias!” 

“Dear Rita, so much you have opened my eyes and being to express the emerging crone who doesn’t have to be so nice and continue to be kind.” 

“Dear Rita, I’ve had the loveliest time with you and our sisters today. Thank you for sharing your words and music with us and giving us a chance to put our courage into action and share our own.” 

“I loved the flow of activities--discussion, sharing, music (awesome songs, voice, lyrics, message!) I feel gratitude for your devotion to women and for sharing your creativity and talent! Thank you for making it possible to share important thoughts, ideas, and feelings in this circle of women.” 

 “I feel so much gratitude for all who were present in this beautiful experience and will hold in my heart and thoughts going forward all that was shared and expressed so genuinely and the sacredness and Blessing of being in circle with all of you very Wise woman!  Thank you!” 

“Rita, a heartful special thank you to you for bringing this all together and for the important questions, for sharing some of your story, for sharing your wisdom, for sharing the stories you chose to work with from “Women Who Run With the Wolves” and for the gift of your music and lyrics that hit home in the heart, while at the same time bringing joyfulness!  Beautiful!” 

 I have deep gratitude in my heart for all there yesterday and the mercurial ability for my sisters there to articulate so eloquently and respectfully in word and song,”

“I really never trusted ladies/women as they have always hurt me in my life. Today these soul sisters showed me a different side of them (women). I can start to trust them also speaking from the truth and not being taken advantage of...Loved this workshop.” 

 Song Medicine breathes Rita's trademark musical soul  into
Clarissa Pinkola Estes' "Women Who Run With the Wolves"


 For  WORKSHOPS   &   CONCERTS  contact  dearsistermoon@gmail.com

 

The #WiseNotNice Movement 

#WiseNotNice

copyright, 2019, Rita di Ghent

We need to school our daughters.  Sheltering them has its own way of harming them. 

I was listening to the radio on the drive home. A show was featuring a retrospective of a famous music producer. I won't perpetuate his fame by mentioning his name. Suffice it to say that he has created some of the world's most memorable and beloved tracks. As a musician, my interest was piqued. I wondered why I didn't know a single thing about someone so famous, someone whose music was woven sparkling and profound into the fabric of my youth. As soon as I got home, I researched and found a documentary on him. I sat down and watched. I wasn't prepared for what I learned.

The man, now in jail, is a modern-day Bluebeard. The man who could conjure such beauty on record was the same man who regularly held women hostage and threatened  to kill them if they left him. I guess in both cases those endeavours require charm...and intelligence...and most of all, power. The kind of power that many women wish would rub off on them so that they can finally stop struggling for survival, get a break, be recognized for who they are.

So, this modern-day Bluebeard (MDB) got away with his sinister behaviour for 20 years. And then he got caught. The first jury had one member, an engineer, who believed there needed to be exact proof, like an actual video of MDB killing the victim, before he would submit a verdict of guilty. And so it was that MDB walked. The District Attorney was a good and principled man who wouldn't quit, and he successfully brought MDB to trial for a second time. This time, MDB was found guilty and thrown in the slammer. 

I watched the documentary yesterday. It was the same day I found out about a certain rapper who was arrested for criminal sexual abuse with minors. 

All this got me thinking about my youthful past. How many close calls I had. How free-spirited I was. How I left home at age 15. How I left again at age 18 with a knife shoved in my boot and a broken-off car antenna hidden inside my jacket. How the men circled around me and jockeyed and inwardly drooled. How on one level I was naive and oblivious to it all and drawn to the attention like a shooting star is drawn to the Earth.

Wanting attention is a powerful operator. It can drive us to achieve our potential. It can also drive us to our deaths.

In the case of the woman who MDB killed, she was a then-40-year-old very beautiful, very kind, and much-beloved woman who never quite reached her Hollywood dreams. To make ends meet, she was working as a door person at a club. One night, MDB showed up.  The woman refused him entry because she didn't recognize him right away. Another staff member pointed out her folly, she let MDB in, and for the rest of the night the woman was uber "nice" to MBD--in order to make amends.

Girls are taught from an early age to be "nice". Niceness is our currency. Nice is what we're expected to be. Niceness is also a dark force that leads us to our emotional or even our real deaths. It trumps our Intuition. It makes us choose the wrong mates, the wrong jobs, the wrong paths. It makes us second-guess our true, highly instinctual natures. It opens the door and beckons to Bluebeard.

At the end of the evening, at 2:00 a.m., MDB was leaving the club. He suggested the woman come to his place for a drink. He had to cajole her. Cajole her and exert his power over her. Meanwhile, her intuition was jumping up and down in her apron pocket saying "Don't go! Say no! There's danger ahead!" But the woman felt bad and thought she should probably be "nice". After all, she had embarrassed him. She also thought that this powerful man might somehow rub off on her; that a new corner might be turned; that her gifts might--finally!-- be recognized. That was her big mistake. 

Once at MDB's house, she didn't even take off her coat. Her handbag was still over her shoulder. Now she was following her Intuition, but alas--too late. When she wanted to leave, MDB commanded her to stay with him. When she refused, he ran upstairs, grabbed a revolver, and killed her dead. 

I remember being a young woman walking home alone at night and hearing footsteps behind me. I knew it was a man because it was unlikely that another girl would be walking home alone in the dark. I knew, because the footsteps were determined. I knew, because of the nearness of them. At the time I was too "nice" to cross over to the other side of the street. I didn't want the man to feel bad about himself... Now, not all men who walk behind you at night are gauging the waters. Some are just oblivious. But the thing is, the crucial thing is, that every single time that a woman hears footsteps behind her on a lonely street at night, she must choose to not be "nice".  

As Mother Wolves (or Auntie Wolves, or Guardian Wolves), we need to school our girls that "wise" is better than "nice". That doesn't mean we should squelch our girls' natural loving and loyal hearts, or their tenderness, or their easy way of smiling, or their willingness to care. It means that we need to teach them to hear their Intuition when it talks to them. We need to teach them "If something twigs your 'Spidey senses', run!" "If someone is talking to you in a convincing tone, run!" "If someone says that something bad will happen to you if you don't do what they say, run!"  We need to teach them to listen to their Intuition first and ask questions later. 

So how do we get this out? How do we reach the masses of Older Women Folk who need to do the teaching and the Young Women Folk who need to receive the teachings? What if we started a new social media movement for girls:  #WiseNotNice? Wouldn't that be nice?
 

Musical fable-telling that's penetrating and wide-awake.”
Rita paints lyrical pictures with color and detachment, pulling you in and leaving you wondering.”

— Eye Magazine, Toronto

Stay tuned for the upcoming CD "New Moon Sister Society"...