What breathes life into you? In Hebrew, ruach carries the meanings of wind, breath, and spirit. The English word inspiration comes from the Latin “to breathe into.” Held together, these words offer a contemplation: to be inspired is to receive what helps us come ALIVE. Hebrew gematria offers a deeper mystical connection for us to sit with. Ruach carries the value 214. Or, the word for light, carries a value of 207. The space between spirit and light is 7, a number associated with the sacred rhythm of creation. We might contemplate this relationship as light finding movement through spirit: what is received inwardly taking expression in the living world. The light we receive becomes the life we share. Sometimes inspiration arrives through a stirring of creativity. Sometimes through the wind in the trees, a sacred conversation, or the quiet return to prayer. Here, in MONASTICA, we invite room to notice these movements—to listen for what nourishes our capacity to love, to create, and to participate more fully in life. How might inspiration become an embodied response: a word of kindness? a moment of courage? a work of art? a faithful act of care? Pause. Notice your breath. What is breathing life into you? How might you carry that life into the world? Please share, if you feel inspired😊 📸A photo from Women at the Well…our water ritual inspired life to come into areas of my body which carry tension, fear, and mis-trust. My prayer is to trust more deeply with each life-giving breath. To receive the waters of healing through each breath as a baptismal sacrament. To be made anew from the deep well of knowing…God is here for me too.

A Monthly Essene Sisterhood Gathering. Women at the Well is a virtual, monthly gathering for women who feel called to draw more deeply from the living waters of the Essene way—its contemplative wisdom, devotion to simplicity, reverence for the natural world, inner purification, and remembrance of the Divine within. Together, Essene sisters Lauren and Leah invite you into a space to step away from the noise, declutter the mind, and return to the wisdom of the soul. The Well has long been a place of encounter, a place where we come empty and leave carrying something living. This is a place to receive so that we may give. A place to replenish what has been poured out. A place to fill the cup—the holy vessel—so that we may return to our lives, families, communities, and service with greater presence and radiance. Each month, we will gather around a different theme designed to deepen our exploration and embodiment of Essene spirituality and the Divine Feminine, creating space for conversation, shared wisdom, ritual, and the mystery of what arises when women gather at the Well together. Our First Gathering is October 10th at 10:00 AM Central Gatherings will be held on zoom. Recordings will be available temporarily through MONASTICA, allowing us to cultivate a more intimate container. Portions of our personal sharing and sacred conversation will remain offline and unrecorded to honor the privacy of the circle. As this sisterhood grows, we hope future gatherings become increasingly collaborative—a place where many voices, gifts, experiences, and expressions of the Essene way can be brought to the Well. You do not need to arrive with answers. Come with your questions. Come with your longing. Come with an empty cup. We invite you to meet us at the Well. Free to attend and revisit. Zoom Meeting Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83880402748

We each encounter God in different ways, shaped by the unique relationship we cultivate with the Divine. I’d love to hear how you are experiencing the presence of Love in this season of your life. Perhaps it comes through prayer or meditation, time in nature, grief, chanting, creating with your hands, or simply sitting in silence. What draws you nearer to God? And when you become aware of that loving Presence, what shifts within you? How does it change the way you inhabit your body, meet your life, or move through the world? There are many ways to return to the Holy. What is yours in this season?

Hildegard’s prayer recalls the Tree of Life communions of the modern Essene tradition—the seven Angels of the Earthly Mother and the seven Angels of the Heavenly Father, through whom we learn to live in conscious relationship with creation. After years of faithful communion, we do not gain dominion over the elements through force, but through intimacy. Earth, water, air, fire, sun, life, and joy cease to be mere resources; they become teachers and sacred expressions of the Living God. This is the greening wisdom Hildegard called viriditas: divine vitality moving through the human body, the natural world, and the whole web of creation. Both paths remind us that nature is not simply the setting of our spiritual lives. It is a living sanctuary—and we are restored as we remember how to belong within it. Hildegard of Bingen was a 12th-century Benedictine abbess, mystic, composer, herbalist, and visionary whose wisdom still calls us into deeper communion with the living world. For Hildegard, nature was not separate from spiritual life; it was a sacred revelation, alive with divine intelligence. Her life reminds us that contemplation is not an escape from the world, but a way of learning to see its holiness again—to listen to the wind, honor the elements, tend the body, and recognize all creation as radiant with the presence of God.

For those of you who carry a strong internal monastic archetype and have experience in daily devotional rhythms, spiritual discipline, the wisdom of the feminine path of Christ, or have traveled the Essene path, I invite you to share your sacred gifts and wisdom with this community. Each month or so, I would like to highlight a WISDOM KEEPER. Ideally, this would be a live zoom, but it could be pre-recorded with me. Please reach out if you feel aligned to share your sacred service. I'm taking virtual teas with women who are inspired to facilitate for this community. https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=24477263&calendarID=9122735