Give me shelter
This week we weave forgotten stories together with the words that were left behind to create moments of refuge; plus opportunities to gather in the tent of writing and community this fall.
“Language is the dwelling place of ideas that do not exist anywhere else. It is a prism through which to see the world."
Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass
Welcome back to The Life of H: Sarah, Reimagined. Here you’ll find poems and lyrical prose inspired by the life of the biblical matriarch, Sarah. It’s free! But a paid subscription supports this project and gives you access to exclusive content.
Where does Sarah’s Story live?
Where is her story recorded in all its fullness?
Just because it wasn’t woven into the Bible’s braid of history, myth, and poetry, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t part of the original tale.
It doesn’t mean that her legend wasn’t passed from mouth to ear for generations.
Her story was alive and vibrant until someone, some group of rulers, rabbis, or scribes decided it didn’t fit the story they wanted to tell.
Until the chain of memory was broken by the silence of unspoken, unrecorded, words.
Until the moment, when one of us, and then another touch the threads that were left to us, and wonder.
Until we pull together, word by word, the whispered hints overheard in the silence between the lines that were left by our ancestors: the matriarchs, the priestesses, the women, the wives, the widows, the handmaidens, and the slaves.
Until now, when we braid their voices with our own.
Keep reading for
This Week’s Poem
A brief meditation on why I write, why I share what I write, and why I want to support you as you write.
A fitting etymological fact that helps braid today’s themes together
Opportunities for you to weave your words into stories and poems, including new fall workshops.
This week’s poem
I wrote this week’s poem, “I Long To See You” during a 5-day writing retreat on the coast of Maine. As I sat looking out over the crashing ocean waves trying to dream myself back into an ancient desert culture I squinted into an unfathomable past seeing only mirages.
I’d been seeking Sarah out for so long that she began appearing in my dreams. I spied her in the guise of a neighbor in her driveway holding a freckle-faced baby in her arms; as a middle-aged blonde woman seated in a theater wearing a mysterious nametag; and as a patient wearing harem pants in the waiting room of the eye doctor’s office.
But I wanted to see her as she was. As I wanted her to be. As she might have been.
I kept looking and looking. But she didn’t appear.
I Long to See You
Your face is written in an
ancient cursive that has lost it way.
I want to shade the wilderness
between the lines of your skin on bone
and call it myth. But I can’t read you. Want
to see you. Why won’t you settle
your ghostly loops? Something I can
recognize.
This week’s poem, “I Long to See You,” is copyrighted, all rights reserved, by Tzivia Gover
I write for myself.
I share my writing to inspire others to discover their own stories.
I teach to encourage people like you to tell their stories!
What story will you tell?
Join me for one or more of these Autumn workshops.
But first, a moment for Etymology:
The word text comes from the Latin texere (to weave or braid).
This fall, weave a tent with your words
In the process of studying Sarah, I met a new friend, colleague, and teacher, Lisa Moriah of the Temple of Divine Radiance. I was immediately impressed by Lisa’s deep knowledge of the Mesopotamian culture that would have formed the basis of Sarah’s spiritual roots, but I was really drawn in by her linguistic knowledge of both Hebrew and Aramaic and the exciting clues they offer about the roots of feminine wisdom.
I now understand why Lisa also calls herself a mystic linguist who uses drumming and chanting to guide others have a first-hand experience of the ancient wisdom she’s been helping to unearth and bring forward.
I am so happy to be joining Lisa in offering a workshop this fall, in the season of harvest and happiness! I hope you will join us, no matter what your religious or faith background.
Sarah’s Tent: Weaving a Shelter of Words with Dreaming and Drumming
Harvest the gifts of ancient feminine wisdom through the archetypes of the Hebrew matriarchs using chant, writing, drumming, and dreamwork.
Join Tzivia and Lisa Moriah for a live workshop on
Fri 6 Oct 2023 at 8 am PT / 11 am ET / 5 pm CET / 7 pm GST / or via replay
With Lisa Moriah, qadosha (lay priestess), writer, artist, and drummer at Temple of Divine Radiance; and Tzivia Gover, Author, Certified Dreamwork Professional, and creator of The Life of H: Sarah, Reimagined and the Dreaming on the Page approach to creative expression.
$25. Get more information and register:
Join a Dreaming on the Page Writing Circle
Tues. Sept. 12, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. US Eastern Time. Discover the stories and poems your midnight mind offers up every night. Combine dreams and writing. (You do not have to remember dreams to participate.) $45 with sliding scale/pay-what-you-can for students, seniors, fixed-/low-income.
Stories from the Shadows: Giving Voice to Unvoiced Characters
Saturday, October 28th, 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Hybrid: in-person/online with Writers in Progress Studio, Florence, MA
Is there a character from a biblical story, myth, or popular culture franchise whose story got buried somewhere in the background?
Is there an aunt or grandma, a forgotten uncle or great-grandfather in your family tree who there are only scant whispered stories of — but who lives in your imagination?
Let me help you coax their voice out of the shadows and into the spotlight!
In this imaginative workshop, we’ll give voice to marginalized or misunderstood characters, restore the stories of characters who didn’t get their due, or rescue overlooked characters by giving them a plotline all their own.
Explore how to slip between the lines of familiar myths, fairy tales, or iconic stories from popular culture to find characters who have something to say, but haven’t had a chance to say it!
$75.
Read more on the theme of dwelling, huts, and weaving words:
Learn about me, my books, 1:1 dreamwork, and writing sessions at www.thirdhousemoon.com.
I long to see you is a wistful gathering of words Tzivia. While you were yearning to know Sarah in a deeper way I think we are all often searching for that thing we will recognize.