One of the most frequent questions I get is how to create a sacred gathering or a women's circle. I get it. It's hard to do and yet it's something all of us so deeply crave. So I invited my dear friend, Katina Mercadante, to join me on the Belonging podcast. Katina and I have been collaborating on sacred gatherings for years now. We started our monthly moon circle together and we've collaborated on ritualizing celebrations and gatherings from birthdays to Bealtaine festivities as well.In this episode, Katina and I talk about remembering and feeling those ancestral ways of gathering and celebrating rather than reading about how you're "supposed to" do them. We talk about the power of being a host and being the one to extend an invitation for sacred gatherings even if you're in the process of figuring out how to do it yourself. We talk about how we both came to Jean Shinoda Bolen's work and how we began to collaborate to start our own circles and gatherings in our lives.We hope this episode inspires you to begin to gather your community in a way that feels meaningful to you.Find show notes for this episode here: https://beccapiastrelli.com/katina-mercadante/Follow Katina on Instagram: http://instagram.com/atinakaFollow Becca on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beccapiastrelli/Credit for the phrase "be a good ancestor" goes to Arianna of https://www.quwutsunmade.com/My book Root & Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the Self is now available wherever books are sold! My intention with this book is for it to be your guide to reconnecting with the earth, your ancestors, and your communities as you come home to your whole self. Despite our best efforts, our modern world leaves so many of us feeling isolated, unworthy, and alone. We’re unrooted from the land, untethered from our lineages, disconnected from our communities, and separated from our deepest sense of self. Root & Ritual is meant to be a pathway back to connection and wholeness through rituals, recipes, and ancestral wisdom. Find more information at: http://rootandritualbook.com/