Recently I was reminded of an energy healing workshop I produced a number of years ago during which I held space for one of the most profound healing-through-prayer experiences I have ever witnessed. On one side of the room, standing shoulder-to-shoulder and facing the women, was a line of fifteen men; and on the other side of the room, standing shoulder-to-shoulder and facing the men, was a line of thirty women. The facilitator lead the prayer (below) first guiding the men to address the women, then the women to address the men. The healing in the room was palpable, not only between the men and the woman in the room, also, between the Divine masculine and the Divine feminine within each participant, and by proxy, every man and woman past, present, and yet to be.
Amends Between Men and Women
From Illuminata, by Marianne Williamson
Prayers of forgiveness work on the personal level as well as politically and socially. Mutual forgiveness is the key to healing between men and women. Until we have healed the bitterness and misunderstanding that still underlies the relationship between the sexes, we will continue to project our conflicts onto the canvas of the larger world.
(Men to Women)
If I or any other man has ever done anything to
hurt you or offend you, and for the manifold
transgressions against women, you and every
other, I apologize.
Please forgive me and please forgive us.
If you have ever felt demeaned, uncherished, or
your womanhood betrayed in any way;
If I or any other man has failed to see the
light of your sex and the brilliance of your
female spirit, on behalf of all of us, I am
so sorry.
May the beauty of women and the power of
women and the vision of women now burst
forth in our world and in our consciousness.
May the mind of man be healed.
May the heart of women repair.
I commit to you and to God that I am, and
shall be, a man who sees your value.
I see your light.
God bless you and your sisters, our mothers and
our daughters.
I shall teach my sons to honor you.
May we never go back.
Amen
(Women to Men)
If I or any member of my sex has ever done
anything to hurt you or offend you or any
man, please forgive me and please forgive us.
If your life as a man has been stunted or
thwarted by any woman, I now stand in her
stead and apologize for me, for her, for all
womankind.
May God give us a healed vision of what it
means to be a man.
May men receive this healing.
May women receive this healing.
May we see your strength.
May we not emasculate.
May we honor your power and respect your
mind.
I shall teach my daughters well.
May your past be healed, your future made new
and strong.
May you reach your fullest joy.
Go with my love, and the love of all women,
Forever.
Amen.
