To The
Middle East And Back
by
DeAnna L'am [©1999]
In
January, 1999 I held a series of RED MOON
&endash; RITES OF PASSAGE workshops in
Israel/Palestine, my country of origin. The main
workshop took place at Neveh Shalom/Wahat
Al-Salam, the only Jewish-Palestinian
intentional community in Israel, located 15
miles south-west of Jerusalem. 20 women
attended, about half were Palestinian and half
Jewish. A similar workshop in Tel Aviv brought
together 17 participants ranging in age from a
14 year old girl to a 72 year old holocaust
survivor.
Our work
together revealed time and again our suppressed
bond as cycling women. Palestinian and Jewish,
young and old, we unanimously reclaimed this
bond as taking precedence over such artificial
divides as nationality, religion, age, belief
system and political bias; connecting us to all
women who ever lived and ever will live on this
planet, our Mother.
My time
in Israel was devoted to facilitating RED MOON
workshops, giving private consultations and
leading co-ed Earth-based Spiritual celebrations
open to the public, that is, celebrations not
derived from the local dominant religions of
Judaism, Islam or Christianity. The response was
overwhelmingly warm, for theses celebrations
were experienced as a novelty by women and men
alike. I was particularly touched by the young
men in our circles who showed more enthusiasm
for their spiritual development than for
becoming soldiers and fighting. This was a huge
change for me to observe, given the Israel of my
childhood - which was, and still is, governed by
an army-idolizing system.
Those
who attended the circles came from a growing
number of people, mostly young, who are no
longer satisfied with political or religious
answers to their quest for meaning. This has
resulted in phenomenon like the Rainbow Movement
arriving to Israel and drawing large numbers of
people to gatherings all over the country, as
well as the general flourishing of "New Age"
thought in the out skirts of the medical,
literary, musical and psychological
realms.
The
women around the country, Jewish and
Palestinian, seemed ready to lead the way
towards a different kind of partnership in the
Middle East, as daily life runs rampant with
violence. People drive in a frenzy as if they
were at war with everyone around them and in
many ways they are, since no war can be limited
to the front only. For a country which has been
at war since its birth, brutality is the most
familiar way of making contact . . . Yet, there
is a growing number of people who are tired and
searching for alternatives. They find
inspiration in "New Age" bookstores full of
"alternative" literature from around the world
(newly translated into Hebrew), in meditation
circles and on Tel Aviv's northern beach where
young drummers gather to raise energy on
weekends. Palestinian villages, which are
largely deprived of conventional medicine, have
broken with tradition and turned to study,
practice and use a variety of Alternative
Medicine modalities.
All this
seems to provide a growing number of options for
replacing the norm of racism and violence which
still prevails in the country. The thirst for
peaceful and independent spirituality, free of
the old religious institutions, seems to move
people to an extensive search in different
directions and the women's community appears to
be extremely ripe for leading the way.
Interestingly,
the other directions explored by youth are
Eastern philosophies on one hand, and
Fundamental Judaism or Islam on the other. An
overwhelming amount of 18 - 22 year old Jewish
youth travel to India and the Far East, having
worked hard to be released from the army, or as
soon as their mandatory service is complete. The
movement back to Judaism or Islam, respectively,
is taking place in response to on-going
aggressive revival campaigns that are run
simultaneously by extreme right-wing
political/religious groups from both sides.
While these spiritual alternatives are based
primarily on separatism (geographical or
religious), the celebration of Rites of Passage
fosters a profound connection: that of all girls
and women in the Middle East. These women,
Jewish and Palestinian alike, are shifting the
region's consciousness as they shift their own,
and RED MOON is one of the only tools they have
for expressing their deepening bonds as women.
I feel
grateful in serving this wave of consciousness,
which I experience as the awakening of the
ancient Mother in the Middle East.
My work
will continue to lead me to the Middle East at
least once a year, as I feel deeply moved to
bring Rites Of Passage work to that part of the
world. My roots, however, are deeply planted
here in Northern California, where I have
arrived after uprooting from the Middle East . .
. I'm aware of my role as world-bridger and am
deeply inspired in my service.
©
DeAnna L'am, 1999.
You can
help by:
1.
Sponsoring one or more girls
2.
Sponsoring/organizing a RED MOON workshop in
your area
3.
Contributing to our Travel Fund
4.
Donating clothes for girls and women in the
occupied territories in
Israel/Palestine
ALL YOUR
DONATIONS ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE.
DeAnna
L'am holds a degree from the Hebrew University
in Jerusalem and has trained in Human
Psychology, Multi-Cultural Dialogue, Peacemaking
and Women's Spirituality. She is founder of RED
MOON - RITES OF PASSAGE and of HONESTY - A
LIVING BRIDGE BETWEEN YOUTH AND ADULTS. She is a
Labyrinth facilitator with a travelling
classical rope Labyrinth. DeAnna is available
for facilitating family or group celebrations of
Menarche, Motherhood or Menopause and initiates
self-sustaining circles of girls and women at a
local, national and international level.
She can
be reached at: deannalam@juno.com
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