#reconstructionists

While walking through the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam I came to the discovery that there was an all women art group based in Amsterdam in the 1900's. "De Amsterdamse Joffers" translated into: "the young ladies from Amsterdam."  

I think they were bad ass young ladies, since you know in what kind of world women of these days lived: no right to vote, not allowed to work or make their own major decisions. So the fact that nine women we're brave enough to get together and form a group in the incredible masculine world of art is awfully inspiring for me.

The group existed out of Lizzy Ansingh, Marie van Regteren Altena, Suze Robertson, Coba Ritsema, Ans van den Berg, Jacoba Surie, Nelly Bodenheim, Betsy Westendorp-Osieck en Jo Bauer-Stumpff. They all studied art at the "Rijksacademie van Beeldende Kunst" in Amsterdam and their mutual professor was August Allebé 

As one of the lucky few that could afford to study, they were also one of the lucky few that could afford dedicating their life to art. All nine of them spend their days painting, together or alone but almost never influenced by the art movements of the 20th century. They also organised commune exhibitions. 

You could say that out of an art point of view they aren't as interesting as some of the influential,world changing, daredevils that lived in the same period as them. But you can say that they were a big inspiration for a lot of girls that finally saw that art can also be created by women (and that there was more than one doing it) and that it's a great joy to and pleasure to be brave enough to dedicated your life to something you love. Not something a lot of girls knew 100 years ago. 

Witch - A practitioner of Witchcraft, Witchcraft encompasses any spirituality/religion with the practice of "low" or folk magick tied along with it.

Wizard - A practitioner of Wizardry, Wizardry is the practice of secular "low" or folk and "high" or ceremonial magick, or the practice of magick without spiritual or religious affiliation.

Ceremonial Magician - The practitioner of "high" or ceremonial magick, their practice usually pertains to invoking entities using highly sophisticated ceremonial rituals using but not limited to sigils, seals, metals and elaborate symmetric formats.

Pagan/Neo Pagan - Someone of a faith that venerates nature and the earth

Wiccan - a practitioner of the duotheistic Wicca faith invented by the late Gerald Gardner focusing on the male and female archetypal deities as a manifestation of nature, the earth and fertility encompassing asian and occult philosophies.

Merry Meet and Welcome to Trinitarian Wicca on Facebook, this group was created for practitioners of "Trinitarian Wicca" and intended for the exchange of magickal idea's and rituals. Within the parameters of the Trinitarian Tradition, we do encourage thinking in the abstract, but not confusing new comers to the path or posting conflicting topics or opinions intended to disrupt our peaceful but intelligent Wiccan path.  Trinitarian Wiccans work exclusively with the Goddess-inclusive Christian Pantheon. Our tradition is not eclectic, it is not nor is it ChristoPagan because our devotion lies exclusively with the Christian pantheon; however by the late Issac Bonewits, we are considered MesoPagan. Trinitarian Wiccans practitioners celebrate the 8 Sabbats, the 13 Esbats, and upholding the Wiccan Rede. While we are not a British Tradition or an eclectic pagan path... however, it was influenced by the Dianic and Alexandrian traditions of Wicca.

Nin was a relentless champion of the female spirit, poetically venerating “woman’s role in the reconstruction of the world” in a 1944 diary entry – a sentiment from which this very project borrows.

Her journals exude a remarkable faith in the creative spirit, a kind of optimism about life and the wisdom of the heart even in the direst of circumstances, from world wars to life in poverty to repeated professional rejection. Hers was a tireless quest for wholeness and integration, blending a cultural insider’s perceptiveness with an outsider’s sensitivity