A space for stories

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The word Mutterzelt is a German word, made up by me. It consists of the words mother and tent and is a game of words referring to the German word Sternenzelt (tent of stars), meaning starry sky.

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MUTTERZELT is a space for all those who want to listen to their ancestresses out of silence and deepen their understanding and embodiment of female qualities, which are inherant within every person despite of gender. 

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I am dedicating this work explicitly to female ancestors. On the one hand, because the exploration of female principles and the contribution to female empowerment is playing a central role in most of my works, and on the other hand, because my own ancestresses have simply called me to it and are patrons of this work. 

Also, within patriarchal structures of the time, our great-grandmothers e.g. had little freedom or opportunity to express themselves freely and be heard. As a result, many words remained unspoken and a lot of potential unlived.*

Giving a voice to the female perspective means contributing to bringing the masculine and feminine back into balance – within individuals as well as the collective.

*This may be true for many of our ancestors, regardless of gender, due to social and cultural contexts.

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But a person who is made afraid to speak their truth and therefore keeps it to themselves

may have their voice taken away for the moment,

but not their truth!

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As I am sewing the nightgowns and making the tent, I am going through my own process of exploration: Feelings, sensations, stories and insights are coming to the surface and are being weaved into the fabrics of this work. This process goes along with inner dialogues between me and the women who came before me: I listen as they speak. I am sensing and processing the stories and traces they left behind.

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I have always had a conscious connection to my ancestors. And in 2021 I felt it was time to dedicate my energy to ancestral healing. So over the span of half a year I went through various rituals, accompanied by a wonderful spiritual mentor, in order to activate healing transformation in my family system and ancestral roots.

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Sometimes they come softly and whisper in my ear,

sometimes they rumble in, with bubbling hearts,

like a herd of freshly run wild horses - my female ancestors.

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During the exhibition, while spending time inside the tent, the audience is being invited to open their senses and receive whatever is being revealed to them. It can be a process of bringing the unconscious to the conscious mind.

Going into stillness, getting in touch with oneself and asking oneself:

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Who were my female ancestors? Who were they really?

What did they share and what remained hidden? 

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And what did they pass on to me?

A heritage that feels like a burden? A heritage that feels like a blessing? A bit of both?

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And is there something I had never been aware of? ... but once I start looking into it closer, my ancestresses are becoming much more alive - and therefor I am becoming much more alive ....?

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The activation of awareness

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In modern western society, the awareness of the connection to our ancestors has largely been lost.

By reactivating this awareness, MUTTERZELT aims to bring back a missing piece into the larger picture of the human existence:

The knowing of our roots and a sense of belonging.

The perceiving of a nourishing life current that flows from our ancestors to and through us,

as well as the awareness of the unredeemed shadows that have been passed on to us from our ancestors and which are seeking for redemption.

 

I believe that being truly free and truly arriving and being present in the here and now occurs when healing has taken place in a holistic sense and old conflicts do not have to be reinvented and acted out over and over again in the smaller and larger arenas of this world. 

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The shadows our ancestors left behind

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We all have individual backgrounds and family stories. And yet we share certain experiences as collectives which effect the way we live our daily lives.

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No matter if on an individual or collective level – if experiences remain unresolved and unhealed over the course of a lifetime, they may be passed on to the following generations.

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We, the individuals, are a summery of different layers, aspects and influences, all coming together and forming our human experience in this lifetime. A part of it is formed by our ancestral physical and spiritual heritage, which may feel like a blessing, or at times like a burden. But none of it is written in stone. Blessings can be received and integrated more consciously. And ancestral wounds and shadows can be transformed and released. 

 

Nowadays there is access to a lot of knowledge and resources for people to step into a deeper understanding, to heal and then actually benefit from being a part of the ancestral net. 

It can be a process of reconnection which leads into feeling more whole.

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Menstrual blood and female principles

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Some of the nightgowns I sewed for the installation have bloodstains on them. Depending on who will look at the stains, will see something different in them: the traces of giving birth, sexual violence, menstruation …

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For me personally, applying the blood is a deliberate act to bring menstrual blood into the light and visibility. Because unlike what most people have learned in the context of patriarchal structures, there is an immense amount of potential and power inherent in the different phases of the female cycle and in the time of bleeding. 

A woman's moon time can be perceived as a holy phase within her cycle.

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The knowledge of female principles and its old wisdom has been passed on over thousands and thousands of years, rebirthing, renewing and updating itself over and over again, surviving countless attacks and attempts of extermination.

A woman's conscious connection to her cycle creates one of the doorways to the embodiment of her own self worth and power. Pioneers such as Lara Owen are offering amazing education and guidance within this field.

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Creating spaces where bleeding people receive holistic education about the female cycle, female sexuality and old female wisdom can be a crucial aspect of the female empowerment movement. Bringing this knowledge and awareness into the larger context of relationships and society then enables a kind of change which can aim for the creation of a balance between feminine and masculine principles - the cyclical nature and linear thinking.

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The long history of oppression of the female sex goes so far back that 

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The power which springs from female principles has been surviving countless attempts of attack, oppression and extermination – rebirthing, renewing and updating itself over and over again. It is rooted deeply inside the grounds of existance itself and therefor cannot be destroyed. All attemps of doing so, fail.

They fail … but they also leave their marks: Moral codes, constraints, oppression, discrimination, persecution or punishment have left and do leave their traces in the collective mind and in the consciousness of individuals. They still influence most peoples nowadays realities in restrictive ways. This causes imbalances within a system.

Through their work pioneers, such as Lara Owen, explain in profound and beautiful ways ...

 

A society in which bleeding people are being truly respected and honoured and where the rhythms of natural cycles are being equally acknowledged as linear thinking, will be different from how most people's realities still look like nowad

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Creating spaces where girls and women can learn about the female cycle, female sexuality and old female wisdom can be a crucial aspect of the female empowerment movement because ...

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A woman who knows her body and the mystery, wonder, beauty and power it holds

a woman who has the right support system and who knows and expresses her boundaries, her yeses and her noes

a woman who knows her worth and speaks her truth

a woman who has a deep connection to her intuition

a woman who knows her mission here in this world

cannot easily be fooled or suppressed by others who try to dimm her light and who try to control her!

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Yet to be discovered

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Female power

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Questions

What was our ancestresses relationship towards their bodies, their femininity,

their worth, their inner truth, their potentials, needs and desires?

What did their realities look like?

What believes did they pass on to us? (consciously and unconsciously)

How did their lives effect ours – in the way we feel, think and express ourselves?

Looking from a birds perspective down onto this human life, what would they tell us to do?

What would they tell us not to do?

What would they share with us today if we met them and sat down together with them? 

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Female principles and its old wisdom already existed before time began. It has been passed on and grown over thousands and thousands of years – surviving countless attempts of attack, opression and extermination – rebirthing, renewing and updating itself over and over again. It is rooted deeply inside the grounds of existance itself and therefor cannot be destroyed. All attemps of doing so, fail.

They fail … but they also leave their marks …

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Moral codes, constraints, oppression, discrimination, persecution, punishment – have left and do leave their traces in the collective mind and in the consciousness of individuals – and influence peoples nowadays realities in restrictive ways which causes imbalances within a system.

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Not long ago, when I led a voice improvisation exercise as part of a women's seminar, I went into the exercise with the idea that the group of women would go into gentle angelic sounds. But it turned out quite differently: what the women expressed vocally sounded earthy, hissing, fiery and like destructive forces. It sounded angry and powerful.

 I realised: Yes, something wants to break open! There’s something buried underneath a thick, old crust which finally wants to break free and rise up in its radiance and full volume and power.

 At the end of the seminar I shared with the other women this thought: "We are midwives of a new time. A time that is in the process of giving birth to itself." 

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Ritual and reconnection

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When I create a piece of work which serves as a voice for femininity and old female wisdom, I also want the making process happen in a pace, rhythm and way which embodies those aspects.

Therefor, the making of MUTTERZELT is acompanied by ritualistic actions, like washing the nightgowns in specific locations out in nature.

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Female principles

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With MUTTERZELT I also would like to draw attention to female principles and the way they are or aren’t fully alive within today’s people’s inner and outer reality and living circumstances.

Every human being, regardless of gender, carries so called masculine and feminine principles. These are qualities and forces that operate within an individual person, as well as in larger contexts, such as a community and society. 

Engaging with archetypes or mythological figures is a way of accessing and understanding these aspects and identifying them within oneself or externally. 

The wide facette of female principles is found in Archetypes such as the maiden, the mother, the lover, the wise women, the warrieress, the witch, the priestess and so forth …

 

There are certain aspects which are more “accepted” in society than others. While some female qualities are being celebrated by the majority, other qualities might be doubted, critizied or even neglected. This has a historic background and has created disbalances and suffering for many.

 

Not long ago, when I led a voice improvisation exercise as part of a women's seminar, I went into the exercise with the idea that the group of women would go into gentle angelic sounds. But it turned out quite differently: what the women expressed vocally sounded earthy, hissing, fiery and like destructive forces. It sounded angry and powerful.

 

I realised: Yes, something wants to break open! There’s something buried underneath a thick, old crust which finally wants to break free and rise up in its radiance and full volume and power. 

When looking for an archetype the Hindu goddess Kali embodies this kind of destructive and renewing power, for example.

 

At the end of the seminar I shared with the other women this thought: "We are midwives of a new time. A time that is in the process of giving birth to itself." 

 

MUTTERZELT thus also wants to be a place where we can listen to the messages of the inner Wise Woman, the Mother, the Warrioress, the inner Priestess, etc. They represent qualities which have existed since the beginning of time, and even if also our ancestors weren’t always able to embody them and use their potential, they are qualities which got passed on to us and want to find their voices to be heard.

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