Contributing Authors: Sacil Armstrong, Dr. Melissa Bird, Dr. Sheila K. Collins, Verna Darnel, Courtney Dorsey, Felecia Frayall, Christine Gautreaux, Chartisia Griffin, Shannon Ivey, Melody LeBaron, Shannon Mitchell, Dr. Cynthia Phelps, Tracy Reese, Carolyn Renée, SatiMa Ra, Laurel Anne Stark, JoVantreis Tolliver Russell, Shamika Wallace. Women Connected in Wisdom: A Book of Stories and Resources Rooted in the Eight Dimensions of Wellness is a weaving together of stories, experiences, and resources from a diverse group of women with a depth of knowledge. This volume is a celebration of our different life experiences, racial backgrounds, and generations of wisdom. What we have in common is a shared desire for an equitable and thriving community of collaboration versus competition. This book was born out of the Women Connected in Wisdom Podcast co-hosted by Shannon Mitchell and Christine Gautreaux. It’s a podcast rooted in the eight dimensions of wellness where we get together every week to talk about how to be well in business and life. How do we take care of ourselves and our communities in the midst of this chaotic world? How do we stand up for justice, equality, and love while juggling our health, households, and life? Grab your favorite beverage and snack and join us for a conversation, P.S.—Looking forward to being connected! In the meantime be well, be wise, and be whole.

Women Connected in Wisdom: A Book of Stories and Resources Rooted in the Eight Dimensions of Wellness is a weaving together of stories, experiences, and resources from a diverse group of women with a depth of knowledge. This volume is a celebration of our different life experiences, racial backgrounds, and generations of wisdom. What we have in common is a shared desire for an equitable and thriving community of collaboration versus competition. This book was born out of the Women Connected in Wisdom Podcast co-hosted by Shannon Mitchell and Christine Gautreaux. It's a podcast rooted in the eight dimensions of wellness where we get together every week to talk about how to be well in business and life. How do we take care of ourselves and our communities in the midst of this chaotic world? This book is for people who are looking for tools and ideas imparted through inspiring, authentic stories to help maintain wellness in all eight dimensions for themselves and their communities. Women Connected in Wisdom takes concepts and personal experiences and offers techniques to put into action #wisdominaction Written by a distinguished network of 18 experts who are intentional about maintaining wellness and thriving in their work and the world. These authors are delighted to share purposeful resources and personal stories to help others do the same. Contributing Authors: Sacil Armstrong, Dr. Melissa Bird, Dr. Sheila K. Collins, Verna Darnel, Courtney Dorsey, Felecia Frayall, Christine Gautreaux, Chartisia Griffin, Shannon Ivey, Melody LeBaron, Shannon Mitchell, Dr. Cynthia Phelps, Tracy Reese, Carolyn Renée, SatiMa Ra, Laurel Anne Stark, JoVantreis Tolliver Russell, Shamika Wallace

Wisdom is a woman. That is not just my opinion or some new academic theory. Wisdom is a woman because the Bible tells us so. It tells us that wisdom is more than just a benefit or a characteristic. In the Bible, wisdom is sometimes a person. When so personified, wisdom is always a woman. Sometimes she is Lady Wisdom. Sometimes she is Madame Insight. Most often she goes incognito; yet the shadow she casts is always a female form. Perhaps it is this very tendency to eschew the spotlight that has allowed us to overlook her for so long. It has not helped that pastors, theologians, and Bible scholars have historically been men. And much of Scripture chronicles Gods interaction with men, not women. But what if this centuries-long focus of and on men has had a subtle influence on Christian orthodoxy? What if some passages in Scripture remain unexplored, as undisturbed as the thick layer of dust that covers the top of every refrigerator in America? Wisdom Is a Woman examines just such dust-laden biblical passages. This is a journey of discovery that helps us look at things we thought we knew with fresh eyes. Luckily for us, we do not take this journey into dusty cupboards and overgrown gardens alone. Our guide throughout is Lady Wisdom, a formidable dame who knows every stone, tree root, and hidden pitfall along the way. She will take us back to the very beginnings of our world. We will focus for a time on Biblical women, from Eve to Priscilla. We will examine women in a general sense, looking for clues in our study of wisdom. We will visit the Proverbs 31 woman and tour Lady Wisdoms academy. Our journey will compare the lives and work of two wise Biblical men and end with a step-by-step correlation between women and wisdom.

Wisdom is Women’s Gift to the World. In the many cultural stories that speak about the changing of the ages, it is always Feminine Spirit which brings about the transition to new life, for Feminine Spirit knows the rhythms of life, death, and rebirth and is the “opener of the way.” In times of cultural transformation, it is also our right-brain, feminine consciousness that is our best guide, for it opens us to the creative imagination, the realm of possibility. The return of the Goddess awakens the transformative energy that births the changing of the ages. In the western story of worldwide spiritual transformation, there is a powerful image of Cosmic Woman, an image of the archetypal Feminine Spirit who transforms and gives birth to this new age. And her archetypal image gives us instructions for opening to and incarnating wisdom. This image of the awakening Feminine Spirit is an image of the Conscious Woman: a woman, clothed with the sun, standing on the moon, crowned with stars, who is in labor, giving birth to a savior. In earlier times and different traditions, this archetypal image was understood as Lady Wisdom. Today I feel this Goddess image of conscious woman can be incarnated by women everywhere. This woman clothed with the sun is Lady Wisdom, who calls all women to become her daughters. “I love Cathy’s insights into fairy tales, mythology, dreams, astrological energies, and archetypes. She makes sense of how our lives are impacted by these complex yet very beautiful elements, making them accessible and keeping them profound. Her wisdom can only enhance anyone lucky enough to have crossed her path.” —Alix Toland, Artist & Creator of Color-Scope: An Astrological Mandala

This is a comprehensive approach to honouring the integration, balance and harmony of mind, body, spirit and emotions. This holistic approach guides readers to greater levels of mental, emotional and physical well-being.

Women Leaving Prison examines the oft-ignored experiences of female returning citizens, our returning sisters, who face numerous individual and systemic barriers as they return to life beyond bars. In the age of mass incarceration, with 700,000 inmates leaving prison each year, spiritual and religious support during reentry is a crucial component of prison ministry. Women Leaving Prison describes women’s pathways to prison, their spiritual and religious experiences inside, and then utilizes interpretative phenomenological analysis, a qualitative research method, to uncover the spiritual and religious beliefs and practices of returning sisters. The findings from the qualitative study then ground the book’s call for a revised prison ministry praxis, entitled Project Sister Connect, that details how churches, as well as concerned citizens and people of faith, can welcome and care for returning sisters. Project Sister Connect offers a model for facilitating female returning citizens’ successful reentry via communal and individual spiritual care and support and by working toward the eradication of structural injustices.