Throughout the ages women have gathered to share their personal stories and spiritual/creative wisdom. Circles of women have met in caves, secret attic rooms, church basements, on wind swept beaches and in one another’s living rooms. The intentions for sisterhood circles are as diverse as the women themselves. In today’s world, circles of women gather to listen, learn, and most of all witness for one another what it means to be a woman of wisdom and prayer in the 21st Century.

During the Middle Ages, the Beguine movement (an independent spiritual sisterhood) spread throughout Northern Europe, particularly Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. These were courageous, creative, and deeply spiritual women that made the choice to live independent, beyond the rule of the established Church. My historical novel, Ink and Honey, was inspired by the Beguines’ way of life.

The story of Ink and Honey depicts the medieval pilgrimage and spiritual journey of the Sisters of Belle Cœur as they make their way to Chartres Cathedral. Like the Beguines, the Sisters of Belle Cœur were midwives, visionaries, and mystics who lived outside the boundaries of Church rule. They were creative and spiritually inspired women who chose a radically independent way of life for the 13th Century. This was risky business for their day and they paid the cost.

The Way of Belle Cœur Artwork by Judith Alkema

Ten years ago, in response to requests for spiritual community from many readers of Ink and Honey, I founded a spiritual community, The Belle Cœur Sisterhood. Since that time, our Sisters from around the globe, have completed the six-month, online, independent study, The Way of Belle Cœur Spiritual Formation Program. Belle Cœur Sisters follow four paths leading to Belle Cœur (the Beautiful Heart). The pathways of Spirit, Sacrament, Sisterhood, and Service inform our lives, with Christ at the center and as we journey, inwardly and outwardly, we are held within the circle of Creation/Sacred Feminine, Wisdom Sophia. The practices of Devotion, Craft, Story and Study, inform our daily lives.

The Sisterhood of Belle Cœur is a vital and growing community for contemporary times. Sisters of Belle Cœur are sacred life-artisans, grandmothers, women retired, beloved aunties, widows, partnered, married, and single. We are women professionals, homemakers, clergy, women in transition, students of life, and seekers of the holy. We most certainly are pilgrims on life’s journey and we come together in our Sisterhood circles to learn, grow, pray, and share our wisdom.

There are days when the news of the world feels little different from the Dark Age that birthed the creative feminine spiritual movement of the Beguines. Sisterhoods are forming all over the planet. It’s time to reclaim our sacred wisdom and our rich heritage as women. The path to Belle Cœur is alive with our stories, prayers and creations and together we’re weaving a tapestry of sacred inspiration and women’s wisdom.

Do you feel called to enrich your creative and sacred practices? Would you like to explore the practices of Devotion, Craft, Story, and Study? Are you seeking Sisters on the path?

You’re invited to apply for Belle Cœur Spiritual Formation.