Council of European Grandmothers – Summary Report on Second Council Meeting held 15th – 18th September 2016 at Hof Rose, Altenmedingen, Germany

Thursday, 15th September 2016 We began by sitting in a circle and sharing where we are at, now after a year. We were aware that the most important aspect of our 2nd. Meeting was communication amongst ourselves, so quite a bit of time was spend in relaxed chatting and ceremony (energetic communication). Friday, 16th September 2016 For our first big ceremony Inaqiawa led a Welcoming Ritual outdoors, where we stood in a circle around Earth, Water and Fire and each Grandmother expressed her gratitude, longing and blessings. We welcomed water, soil and fire from our individual home countries. Each Grandmother was welcomed in the circle by one of the grandmothers. Those who were unable to attend were included at least by name. In the afternoon Helga Langer led a Workshop “Leading to our Intention. We worked hard on the formulation of our Intent. We took time to meditate, sitting in silence turning inwards, waiting for our inner wisdom to become known. Each one present then had time to express their thoughts. We collected “buzzwords” and “ideas which were discussed in depth. It was agreed to “sleep on it” and review the situation the following day. In the evening, we shared a wonderful and powerful Workshop on “Building Community with Helga’s voice/choir/ bodywork teacher, Imke McMurtie. We enjoyed relaxation exercises, touched each other’s bodies, connected and communicated – eventually beautiful through three songs. Saturday, 17th September 2016. We had an Open session to which the people of the communities around the area had been invited, and also the local press. Helga had prepared the ground, having been very active in publicising the event via a newspaper article, a radio interview and sessions with children in two schools There was a very proactive well-prepared journalist, who asked important questions. It was clear to everyone that this type of session is very important, both for the public and for us. It confirmed for us how much we, as “grandmothers”, are needed; how important the work is that we have set out to do. There were many very emotional moments. Much gratitude was expressed by those present and special links for the future were made! It became clear to us, that opening the circle to the world is necessary and should proceed; but slowly, in stages. This was a beautiful start of this process!

In the afternoon, our effort was directed towards the future of the circle. There was no doubt we want to continue as a Council. Having finalised the a draft of our “Intent” (See Appendix 1), we moved on to discuss how long would be required for the gestation and birthing of the next meeting. Following a voting process, we decided it should be 9 month. Everyone was delighted when Vibeke our grandmother sister from Norway invited us to Trondheim, Norway. A date was chosen: 22nd – 25th June 2017. Publicity and finances were then discussed. It was noted that we need a website, it costs money! Irene, our grandmother sister from Switzerland very generously offered to pay for the creation of a website, to honour a legacy of her parents. Honouring the ancestors was a theme that cropped up again and again. In the evening Monika Abendroth gathered us around a sacred fire, outdoors and we expressed our gratitude and asked for blessings of the power of Transformation… Monika accompanied us on harp and created Divine sounds.