Madien's Retreat 2025 (Photo Gallery)

Words from Carrie Michelle We just returned from the Maidens Retreat on the Holy Land with Sister MorningStar it was so special to bring my daughter.

This was Nayah’s first time joining the maidens. She’s just shy of two, and yet she knew she belonged. She was the youngest maiden there, and it was pure magic watching her bond with the older girls, being held, guided, included.

The maidens ran wild under the open sky, barefoot and free. They sang songs, bonded, braided one another’s hair, created flower crowns and maidens tea brew. And mostly they belonged.

Some of the older maidens entered the Red Tent for the first time, an ancient space of reverence, mystery, and sacred initiation. It was a remembrance of the sacred feminine ways when we use to gather this way.

While the maidens ran wild and played, we mothers gathered around the fire. We had discussions on how to not imprint our maidens with our own beliefs and how to build trust with our daughters so they feel comfortable to share challenges or uncomfortable phases of their lives with us. Plus many more spiraling questions.

This is how the sacred feminine is preserved not through books or theory, but through embodied belonging. Through songs sung under stars. Through generations gathered around the fire.

Thank you, Sister MorningStar, for creating a space where all of this could unfold so beautifully.

And thank you to the maidens for reminding us what it means to be free, to belong, and to remember.