January 1,
2008
Peace before us, peace behind
us, peace under our feet...

Christmas eve peace labyrinth
with luminarios, Acequia Madre School, Santa Fe, New
Mexico
PHOTO COURTESY OF LOS
ALAMOS PEACE PROJECT
The message "Gather the
Women, Save the World" is about the need for women to
participate in peacemaking at every level and has to do
with feminism, spiritual activism, mother power, women in
circles with a sacred center, and three to the nineteenth
power. If three women heed the message and if they tell
three other women, there would be nine. If each of them
then spread the word to three others, there would be
twenty-seven. If each of these twenty-seven, passed this
along to three of their friends, there would be
eighty-one. If these eighty-one women talked to three
others, in just four steps there would be 243. In
nineteen steps -- three to the nineteenth power -- this
idea would reach over a billion women (1,162, 261,467).
This is how geometrical progression works, this is how a
virus spreads and becomes an epidemic, this how
consciousness-raising groups became the women's movement.
This is how a call to gather the women could bring women
together in villages, cities, in corporations, in
governing bodies everywhere, to do whatever it is that is
their assignment from Mother.
I believe that a 5th
United Nations sponsored international women's conference
would be a giant step toward a tipping point--in terms of
numbers attending, connections made, and a ripple effect.
Only a UN sponsored conference would allow women to
attend who otherwise would not be able to get visas and
support from their countries. Women would share
information about what has worked, they would find role
models, mentors, and allies. They would learn from each
other and connect with kindred spirits. The principle
that women's rights are human rights and the Twelve
Critical Areas of Concern that constitute the Beijing
Platform for Action were the accomplishments of the 4th
UN International Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995.
Half the NGOs that exist now were not in existence in
1995. Each of the 12 Areas could be a conference within
the conference, bringing together those who are working
on finding solutions for similar needs. For there to be
a 5th women's conference, we need to create grassroots
advocacy for this in the countries that belong to the
United Nations and at the UN Commission on the Status of
Women meetings. This is the reason for the website
http://5wwc.org and big blue 5WWC buttons for a 5th
Women's World Conference.
From the Preface to the
paperback edition of Urgent Message from Mother by
Jean Shinoda Bolen
A Warm Welcome
in Kabul

WBW director Stephanie Hiller reports
on her recent visit to meet the women of the Afghan
Women's Empowerment Project.