Facets of being a woman

The participants of this year's ELM Women's Day experienced a creative journey to their own "self".

"Live what you are". Or, to put it another way: live what you could be, what you want to be deep down. The participants at this year's ELM Women's Day focussed on various facets of their womanhood.

"It was a pleasant atmosphere that encouraged the women to share their experiences and impressions with each other in small groups as well as in the larger group," says Indra Grasekamp (pastor and ELM consultant for global spirituality), looking back on 9 November. She organised the day together with a team of volunteers.

After the initial disappointment that Pastor Sunnive Förster, who was scheduled to speak, was unable to come due to illness, Indra Grasekamp, who took over Förster's role, quickly captivated the participants. Based on the book "Queen and Wild Woman" by Linda Jarosch and Anselm Grün, she spoke about the different archetypes of women. "Archetypes are a different kind of characters that have been associated with similar emotions and ways of thinking for many generations, a kind of basic imprint. When we talk about archetypes or archetypal images of women this morning, we are referring to an aspect of our womanhood," said the ELM speaker at the beginning of her keynote speech.

Using pictures and short texts, she presented some archetypes - the judge, the queen, the mother, the laughing woman, the priestly woman, the loving woman and the wild woman - and encouraged the participants to ask themselves whether they recognise one or other of the aspects of womanhood presented in themselves. It was easy to start a conversation about this, as pictures of the archetypes were laid out on the tables. The women were invited to talk about which of the female figures they currently feel most like or which one they would like to bring more to life in the future.

The context in which a woman grows up has an influence on how she sees herself as a woman and which side she mainly lives out. This is the case all over the world, as two very personal testimonials from women in Brazil and India showed. The archetypes presented could be discovered in both and both encouraged people to discover new sides to themselves and break through familiar patterns

Being a woman before God was the last part of the keynote speech. She had the women rediscover the well-known Psalm 139 with various listening assignments. "Does something change in my womanhood through the belief that I am created by God and accompanied by him in my life?" was the question.

The anointing, which rounded off the morning, was experienced as a particularly intense moment by both the participants and the volunteers. "It was also good for me to physically feel that I am accepted by God, with all the sides that I have within me," said one participant.

All the senses were addressed during the afternoon workshops. Horst Hinken, who has been the good soul in the background for years, offered a workshop himself for the first time. The master confectioner explained to the participants how New Year's cakes are baked. A delicious aroma spread throughout the building and all the women tasted the results of the workshop at the end.

The decoupage workshop with Marina Lubbe and Anè Müldner also produced tangible results. It was about being a "broken" woman. "Christ is the glue that holds the individual parts of our lives together," said Marina Lubbe, who showed how the torn individual parts are brought together artistically.

Astrid Lange distributed a card with the image of a queen to the participants of her workshop at the end of the pilgrimage. What dignity do I have as a woman and how can I protect it? These were just some of the thoughts that were brought to life during the pilgrimage.

Rousing sounds could be heard in the workshop with Ute Penzel. "It's a mixture of rock-pop and punk," she said, explaining the music she used to accompany the stories of three women from India.

"All in all, it was a successful day and I am going home enriched; enriched by many good conversations and the gratitude that was shown to me," summarised Indra Grasekamp at the end of the day. The ELM is also grateful for the donations that were collected on the day. A total of around 930 euros (donation pot and bazaar sales) went to the "Encourage & Empower" project in Malawi, which focuses primarily on women's rights.