Women’s Circles: Ancient Rituals for Modern Connection

Discover the power of women’s circles as Gemma Brady, the founder of Sister Stories, the UK's largest women's circle organisation, explores how the revival of ancient women’s circles is helping us to reconnect in modern times.

What are ancient women’s circles?

Women have always gathered in circles; around the hearth, around the fire, shoulder to shoulder with one another. The circle was the earliest ground of building belonging, a vital human way of gathering, as essential to survival as food or shelter.

Here, women told stories, shared songs, offered nourishment and tended to their communities. It was, quite literally, life-giving. 

That memory lives on in us. Perhaps you feel it even now — that sense of something ancient and familiar when you huddle around a firepit or light a single candle in the dark. 

Why do women’s circles matter today? 

In our modern world, with its pace, isolation and reliance on screens, the simple act of gathering in a Circle around a fire has largely been lost. We have, in many ways, lost our sense of how to gather well. How to centre the relational bonds that make us human. 

In this age of disconnection and AI, scrolling offers the illusion of connection, yet beneath it lingers a loneliness no screen can soothe.  A longing and an ache for slowness, for togetherness, for truth-telling and community that feels nourishing on a soul-level.

Women's Circles offer a simple yet potent antidote. Here we remember who we are together: our bodies soften, the loneliness eases, and we rediscover what our ancestors always knew: that connection is not a luxury, but something we must sustain to live well. 

What are the benefits of Women’s Circles

Belonging
In Circle, every voice matters. True belonging isn’t about being the same; it’s about having our differences welcomed. Women leave feeling less alone, more deeply connected, and reminded they are part of something bigger.

Bravery
To share a story is an act of bravery. To sit in silence and listen is an act of deep generosity. In a world that rewards speed and performance and striving and grasping, Circle invites us to slow down, speak truth and be witnessed.

Compassion
The power of storytelling is how we make meaning of our lives. To name what we carry, to be witnessed, to weave ourselves back into the wider fabric of humanity. In sharing stories, compassion grows, for ourselves and for each other.

Resilience
Resilience is not built in isolation, but in relationship. Listening and being listened to grows empathy and courage, and protects us against stress. And the strength doesn’t stop with the individual: circles ripple outward, touching families, communities, even institutions.

Societal Transformation
Circles are not just personal wellness; they offer the potential for profound collective and cultural repair. 

One woman’s story becomes community healing, and as circles repeat across homes and workplaces, they ripple outward into society. This is how change so often begins: one simple act of community building, repeated until it ripples into a society crying out for repair.

How to hold a women’s circle: A Simple Ritual to Begin

This kind of transformation sounds grand, but it doesn’t have to be far away. The essence of Circle is beautifully simple, and it can begin at your own kitchen table

Hosting a Women’s Circle does not need to be complicated either. It begins with an opening ritual, a candle, a moment of slowness and presence and a willingness to share.

Begin simply: remember the fire, the stories, and the togetherness our bodies and souls still crave. 

Here are a few tips you can try to structure your women’s circle: 

Opening Rituals

• Gather friends or family in an intentional space for sharing and listening. 
• Encourage connection by inviting the circle to share a welcoming wind-down ritual, such as a calming cup of Cacao + Collagen or True Nightcap
• Light a candle as a ritual act, your symbolic fire. 

”I’ve been drinking Cacao and Collagen every evening for almost 2 years. It feels like such a delicious treat, yet so good for you. The taste is incredible and it’s full of calming ingredients.. I adore it!” 

Gemma Brady, founder of Sister Stories 

Sharing Circle Rituals

• Share one story each (perhaps: “What are you releasing into the fire?” or “What season of life are you in now?”).

Closing rituals

• Close with gratitude.

These small rituals are more than quaint or symbolic gestures; they are acts of courage. Because to step into Circle, even in its simplest form, always requires bravery.

Gemma Brady’s Women’s Circle Journey: Stories as Soul Food

When I stumbled on the power of sitting in Circle in 2017, it changed the trajectory of my life and how I understand what it means to be human. 

I was working as a senior television executive,  helping people tell their stories on some of the UK’s most-watched documentary series. 

The more I listened, the more I witnessed the profound healing that arises through simply being given space to share. I realised what I know to be true now: story is the connective tissue of the human condition. It dissolves shame and reminds us we are far less separate than we believed.

I became curious about how this kind of space could be offered beyond the screen, a way to forge real community and connection. I wanted to bring people together in the flesh. To sit in one another’s presence, shoulder to shoulder, around a fire.

So I experimented with a Women’s Circle called Sister Stories. It was a simple gathering in my tiny flat, where we met by candlelight to share the truths of our lives. That night changed my life.

What began in my living room has become a movement: hundreds of facilitators, thousands of women. Each circle is like a seed, carried forward by the women who gather, rippling outward into homes, clinics and communities.

My mission is simple: to make going to Circle as common as going to yoga. Already, women are gathering in community centres, yurts, living rooms, and even GP surgeries. One of our trainees began holding circles in her Menopause clinic, and patients reported better outcomes. 

Conclusion:

Has this journal inspired you to host or participate in a women’s circle?  

Shaped by firelight, deep listening and the courage of women who choose to lead, Sister Stories invites every woman to come together in a joyful, ancient way.

To find out more about hosting your own women’s circle and the Sister Stories Circle Facilitation Academy, please visit https://www.sisterstories.co