IN CIRCLE Nature Masquerade

IN C I RC L E IN-CIRCLE.ORG

AUTUMN 2023

INSIDE: reflecting on nature masquerade unmasking through play artesania : economic empowerment a message from bear biodanza interview with maira

Photo by KellieWalsh

WEAVING COMMUNITY THROUGH THE WISDOM OF OUR HANDS & HEARTS

CIRCLE CREATIVE COLLECTIVE info@circlecreativecollective.org @circlecreativecollective 62 Plains Road, New Paltz, NY 12561 845-389-8318 in-circle.org

CIRCLE’S FULL-TIME DUO

Melissa Hewitt Mirabai Trent

PHOTOS BY

Kellie Walsh @ kelliewalshphotos Archil Pichkhadze @archilpichkhadze Lijah Friedman @citydoula

OUR MISSION Circle Creative Collective is a 501(c)(3) Hudson Valley women-run nonprofit organization with a mission of preserving and re-igniting the wisdom and healing of traditional craft and creativity.

We gather in Circle to weave the fabric of community, inspiring people of diverse cultures and backgrounds to gather and remember the traditions of our ancestors while embracing the wisdom of our unique expression.

If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation, be a corporate sponsor, or volunteer, we would be truly grateful. Our programs are accessible to intergenerational and diverse individuals, many of whom cannot afford to pay. Please consider giving, no matter how small a gift. It keeps our programs blooming and accessible to all.

circle’s staff, board & advisors Left to Right: Mirabai Trent, Melissa Hewitt, Nicole Fenichel-Hewitt, Claudia Sabino, Sibylle Jud, Melissa Orozco, Nati Zuñiga, Cindy McNabb, Kathleen Mandeville, Lori Ruth Federman, Madeleine Jayson, Phoebe Sumitra Lain, Erin Stewart (not shown)

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region, and is used to support more local businesses, creating a richer community.

Accepting Currents will give you the opportunity to invest in your business without compromising your cash flow.

On top of converting your overstock and unused capacity into new customers and income, you also gain access to our support to help you get the most out of your Currents!

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Register for a paid membership to get more marketing opportunities on and offline through Livelihood magazine.

free app or by logging into the website, or with our new paper currency.

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Imagine a Future with Dirt Love

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circle’s creative carnival a c o m m u n i t y r i t u a l o f p l ay

“Without ritual, a culture has an identity crisis.”

–Surviving the Future by David Fleming and Rob Hopkins

R

ituals are a feature of all known human societies. To us at Circle, ritual invokes a feeling of connectedness. The intention and form may vary, yet at its core there is something unifying all ritual, no matter how simple or elaborate.

The power of community ritual and carnival is deeply impacting and inspiring much of Circle’s current work. In 2022, we organized two community rituals that were co-created by over one hundred local artists and creatives and thousands of visitors/participants. BLOOM celebrated the rebirth of life in the spring while LUMINOUS was in honor of the cycles of death and renewal.

Through the creation of these two events as well as the gatherings that led up to both, we noticed the inherent need for communal spaces that honor the rhythms of life in playful and spirited ways.

This inspired our most recent event, NATURE Masquerade, which invited participants to join in a community ritual of play, deepening our connection to ourselves, each other, and the natural world through movement, music, and celebration.

Play is preconscious, unitive, relatable, and inclusive. It has a tendency to be a social equalizer and can bridge the distance to another person and natural world. It invites relief and a lifting of spirits

from the stresses of everyday life. Play is an outpouring of sheer aliveness. We like that.

In our fast-paced world, play and festivity is often viewed as unimportant. In our increasingly digital age, opportunities to connect in cheerful and lively ways are decreasing. We see the impact of this loss in the rise of feelings of depression, isolation, and loneliness. When these ways are lost, the sense of the pulsing vitality below the surface of other people begins to dwindle and we forget about the intrinsic humanity and innocence within each member of our community, we forget that we’re part of a shared organism.

Carnival is a form of ritual that allows people to willingly be swept up into something wonderful and out of the ordinary while reaffirming our connection to the world around us.

Shared ritual is crucial for social cohesion, and is tradition as old as time, strung together on a thread of fanfare, song and dance while invoking the ancient archetypes through mask and costume. We believe that creating spaces that promote these inherent forms of expression is an essential aspect of the culture of a community. We hope you’ll join us in the gatherings of collective joy and play to come.

what to expect from circle this coming year SEASONALLY INSPIRED COMMUNITY MASQUERADES...

That recognize humanity’s inherent need to gather, connect, and celebrate while honoring the natural rhythms of the Earth. Our version of Carnival.

• TRADITIONAL CRAFT WORKSHOPS...

That promote the wisdom and preservation of craft as well as community connection, slow presence, and nervous system regulation.

• TRANSFORMATIONAL MASK JOURNEYS...

That guide participants in a program of self-discovery through mask-making and other holistic and inspired practices.

• GROWING ARTESANÍA...

To create more financial independence for recently immigrated local women with our new mask brand, Mystical Masquerades, and other products.

NATURE masquerade gratitude & reflections

by Mirabai Trent On the evening of August 26 at Kingston Point Rotary Park, our community gathered to take part in something of the Sacred.

In NATURE: A Community Masquerade, we joined hand in hand, honored our inherent connection to the Forces of Nature, and explored our place in the web of Life. What happened was a sight to behold.

All around the world, cultures have and continue to honor and revere the Forces of Nature for the unique medicine and archetypal aspects that they carry. Masks can reveal aspects of the self that are present in the psyche or ready to be explored. They place the wearer in an empowered position to release the limitations of everyday roles to explore something eternal within the self.

In times past, it was not unusual to gather in collective intention, to hold a place in a communal circle, to explore our relationship to the natural

world through movement, sound, and play.

Yet in our mainstream society today, these opportunities are becoming less available.

NATURE invited the community to reclaim this ancient way of celebration. Together we stepped out of the everyday and explored our connection to the many facets of nature, to ourselves, and to each other.

The land filled with Nature Spirits of all kinds, joyful and intimate encounters were shared, seeds of a more loving humanity were planted, and that collective energy was sent out to touch all of the Earth and Her inhabitants.

Since the event, we’ve heard so many beautiful and varying stories. We can’t wait to do it again THIS COMING SPRING with a slightly revised format. Follow our instagram @circlecreativecollective or join our email list for updates.

Photos by Kellie Walsh, Archil Pichkhadze, and Lijah Friedman

In a time when the art of true human contact is being replaced by

speed and technology, NATURE provided an opportunity for our

community to return to one of our very inherent abilities & needs, the

ability to viscerally connect with the Earth, ourselves and each other.

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ARTESANÍA:

economic empowerment for recently immigrated women

C

ircle’s leather mask line, Mystacal Masquerades, is made through our growing ARTESANÍA program. This program creates economic equity and empowerment for women that have been historically marginalized through employment opportunities in the production of handmade goods, bringing value back to their inherent creative expression as well as the traditions that many of these women carry.

This year we are continuing to focus on handmade leather masks and costume production for upcoming events that Circle produces for the community.

By purchasing a mask or putting us in touch with an organization that might want custom masks from us, you are directly supporting the growth of this program.

Through this program, Circle works with a community of women who recently immigrated from Mexico and Central America who are now living in Kingston. This initiative is focused on engaging these women in an inclusive space for participants to achieve economic prosperity and an outlet for their creativity. This program creates the opportunity to develop valuable skills that provide meaningful work and can help them to establish new income streams.

“Circle Creative provides work for these talented immigrant women who create these products with pride and independence. We feel so grateful that these women have a safe outlet for their skills, and inspiring means of support created with their own two hands.”

-Lesley Gallagher, Ulster Immigrant Defense

In this past year we offered participants employment opportunities around the production of handmade masks, craft kits and costumes for our special events, bringing value back to their inherent creative expression as well as the traditions that many of these women have brought with them from their home countries.

We’ve worked with over 30 women on this program and are continuing to develop long lasting relationships.

“For me, to work with Circle is the most important evolution of my creativity. It helps me develop my artistic side that was sleeping. Now I feel free to do more things using my creativity while also generating economic income for myself and my family.” –Isaura Rivera, Artesanía

UNMASKING

THROUGH NATURE, PLAY AND COMMUNITY

By Lori Ruth Federman, LMHC, SME

P

laying with masks can represent or reveal parts of us. We can learn from that relationship. From accepting these parts of ourselves—in shadow and in gift.

I am missing my octopus mask, and yet feeling it daily. It represents what I have been grappling with this year-the seeming impossibility of multi-tasking for me and the sensitivity and expansiveness of my mind.

Now, with the expected frenetic start of the school year for my kids, I find myself visiting with this octopus mask frequently.

In accessing her, I interface differently in the multitude of tasks and work… when I call her to mind, or she just arises on her own initiative… and I feel into this archetypal mask…and I allow it to represent “a part of me” that I learned how to dance with...I flow, I swim, I have 8 limbs.

I met her three weeks ago. I met her on a divine night when I attended NATURE: A Community Masquerade. I had made it a priority to get back from a family holiday in Niagara Falls. I felt purpose in this event, and felt called.

First, I was greeted near the gates of Kingston Rotary Park, entering into a playful and tender dimension. There was a rainbow being accompanied by a tantalizing fox to begin transporting me into an evening of connection.

And then, there she was waiting for me, displayed in the sunlight at the masquerade tent amongst many, many beautiful animal and plant leather masks.

They were handmade by Circle through their ARTESANÍA Program, my delightful 8 limbed octopus. I placed her on me… ”Yes!” said every cell of mine, and this seemed to reverberate in all the beings around me delighting in my new appearance.

I would be with her for the next three hours. What would this creature teach me?

Nature Masquerade was, for me, an opportunity to make

This masquerade was, for me, an opportunity to make amends with parts of myself...

amends with parts of myself and to reconcile my tendency for introversion with my draw towards extroversion. Although creative group movement is its own bridge to connection, movement with a mask provided more of my essence to travel into my gaze, to come out of my head to connect without fear, or shame of intimacy. There was a magical and tender intimacy available that was tangibly different from the other movement modalities I have explored. Behind that mask, with the protector octopus attuning me to my archetype—the octopi nervous system extraordinaire, my own human habitual nervous system could breathe a little differently and allow myself to connect to others in subtle ways that matter.

My embodiment, and wholeness mattered for the others I connected with, and I could feel that. That by my becoming more available, they too became more available. There was nothing frenetic about the evening for me, nothing over-stimulating. That is rare, for an event.

For me, there was a serene sense of sweet connection and this was available with those others I connected with.

The Hudson River was rippling by and changing in each moment’s shifting light, and small flocks of birds, and the occasional gull flew by. The breeze whispered through the trees, and tugboats and boaters and even spectators passed. All seemed to be orchestrated into the dance—the dance we were entering. All seemed to be supporting us deeply connecting to Nature and ourselves AS Nature—all the elements—all the beings.

This magical orchestration flowed through Mirabai, one of the dreamers of the event, and the co-founder of Circle. She carried us in her grace and her wanting to bring this connective experience to the community.

She called on Maira, the co-facilitator and a beloved Biodanza instructor, to weave in the intimate movement and connection that would co-create this experience.

In the pauses between her words, and in her breath, we would deepen into the expe-

rience of Being. There was nothing to do, it turned out, nothing to become. It was just a matter of being and unfolding, and meeting the gentle invitations of Mirabai, Maira, and our masks.

There was a circle of over a hundred others moving with masks. The percussionists, vocalists and the circle we formed merged with the natural sounds, the hums, the buzzes, the whispers of wind and the almost vocal sound of sunset. All here supported us, carried us into Presence.

We held hands, and through invitation underwent some sort of initiation into being a part of something really, really big in our ritual of grief and praise for the Earth. Through connecting to ourselves within the mask, under the mask, and showing ourselves in touch and silence, we joined in a communal dance.

Like the bees, the birds, the fish, we synchronized into

group movement patterns as directed by Maira. It seemed simple— my two sometimes left feet could grasp it…or maybe the octopus part of me was truly at work…coming forward with grace in moving my own limbs just right. We were swimming in that circle and energizing its center in rhythmic “one, two three steps one way, cross, and one, two three steps the other foot in front”.

Red and gold gilded bird, white mask flowing into a gown, gold lotus with a green stemmed dress, a wasp mask intently gazing, a surreal mirage coming alive—stepping into reality—we danced.

Mirabai invited different groups of creatures to explore the space, to mix, to enter and exit the center. Then after some time, we were to connect with whomever presented to touch index fingers and slow down movement, to gaze and hold each other in a gaze while staying connected, moving and

The breeze whispered through the trees, and tugboats and boaters and even spectators passed. All seemed to be orchestrated into the dance, supporting our connection to nature.

inhabiting space. We entered the micro-world. The one experienced when parting the grasses to gaze up close at an insect in its environment—noticing the incredible furriness of a bee, the almost smile of a caterpillar…that was the pace, and space that became available…. one that can be very difficult to find with humans….when do we get to part grass and observe up close and intimately connect with each other this way?

into the root”, “I AM the sun just as it is setting.” This was the atmosphere we occupied.

The words showered forth like a gentle rain.

Then we gathered in groups that became larger and smaller, making some kind of matrix or hive that could carry our messages into the Earth- our gratitude, our spontaneity, our hopes, and our pain, and make something of it… something beautiful.

The night culminated in the revealed moment of insight in connecting with our mask. We were to de-mask and behold the spirit of the mask and allow it to see us, with complete acceptance…the mask witnessing us…our own reflection. Place the mask on again…and off again…play…ask questions…feel into it “What is the teaching here?” The gift was that a-ha moment where things click into knowing and a truth arises… one that may be difficult to articulate, but leaves a path to continue traveling down in harvesting the experience.

We settled into circles and were invited out of the silence…to enter back into the verbal realm through a short embodied expression directly connected to nature. Expressing “I AM…”.

There was no “How are you?”

“How was that for you?” No rush back into the small verbal exchanges that often automatically by habit occur. Rather it was a re-entry through the poetics, a portal into a new night.

“I AM the ground water tapping

The experience is held within the context and intention of Circle which is here to continue creating with us and dreaming into being. For me, this became evident that evening... I had grown attached to those tentacles. When I went to purchase the octopus mask from Melissa, the co-creator and Mama bear of Circle, she announced, “I am not yet done with it!” She had just the night before decided that amongst all the birdlife,

plantlife, and insect masks they had spent months developing, they were missing a sea creature. She created an unfinished octopus, the only sea creature of the evening, on the spot allowing her creative energies to flow into her intentions as she practices daily. I just happened upon it, seemingly awaiting me in the tent housing the available masquerade masks. I was touched that I had inhabited that particular mask- that likewise almost did not make the event- and was meant to…There is no doubt that my dance will fill the final creation, and at some time it will hang upon my bedroom wall, under my blue silk tent, swimming into my dreams and waking life.

&

Seek for Yourself

FIND YOUR PERFECT FALL

Fall in love with autumn at the season’s headquarters.

Put on your favorite har-vest outfit when u-pick your own fruits and berries. Who is the best picker among your crew? We need a de-cider! You won’t be-leaf how many colors you see on your leaf-peeping adventures. Discover crisp fall nights and crackling fires of Ulster County, NY. Plan your trip at VisitUlsterCountyNY.com ® I LOVE NEW YORK logo is a registered trademark/service mark of the NYS Dept. of Economic Development, used with permission.

a message from bear

s e t t l i n g i n to t h e t i m e o f i n t r o s p e c t i o n

P

erhaps one of the most powerful mammals on earth, bears have long been admired for their fearlessness and awe-inspiring strength. From ancient legends connecting bears to unconquerable warriors to teddy bears which guard and comfort children, Bear is an animal which inspires courage.

At this time of year, Bear is preparing to hibernate, to rest deeply through the cold months. For us, Bear’s greatest gift is in accepting his natural need for slowness, to rest when it’s time to rest, taking time alone to go within. Introspection.

For inspiration, here is the text that goes along with the Bear card from one of our favorite oracle decks, Medicine Cards by Jamie Sams and David Carson.

bear: introspection “The strength of Bear medicine is the power of introspection.

It lies in the West on the great medicine wheel of life. Bear seeks honey, or the sweetness of truth, within the hollow of an old tree. In the winter, when the Ice Queen reigns and the face of death is upon the Earth, Bear enters the womb-cave to hibernate, to digest the year’s experience. It is said that our goals reside in the West also.

To accomplish the goals and dreams that we carry, the art of introspection is necessary.

To become like Bear and enter the safety of the womb-cave, we must attune ourselves to the energies of the Eternal Mother, and receive nourishment from the placenta of the Great Void.

The Great Void is the place where all solutions and answers live in harmony with the questions that fill our realities. If we choose to believe that there are many questions to life, we must also believe that the answers to these questions reside within us.

Each and every being has the capacity to quiet the mind, enter the silence and Know.

Many tribes have called this space of inner knowing the Dream Lodge, where the death of the illusion of physical reality overlays the expansiveness of eternity. It is in the Dream Lodge that our ancestors sit in Council and advise us regarding alternative pathways that lead to our goals. This is the power of Bear.

Photo by Matt Petricone

The female receptive energy that for centuries has allowed visionaries, mystics, and shamans to prophesy is contained in this very special Bear energy. In India, the cave symbolizes the cave of Brahma. Brahma’s cave is considered to be the pineal gland that sits in the center of the four lobes of the brain.

If one were to imagine an overview of the head, the top of the it would be a circle. The South would be the forehead, the North would be the back of the skull, the West would be the right brain, and the East the left brain.

Bear is in the West, the intuitive side, the right brain. To hibernate, Bear travels to the cave, which is the center of the four lobes where the pineal gland resides.

In the cave, Bear seeks answers while he/she is dreaming or hibernating. Bear is then reborn in the spring, like the opening of spring flowers.

For eons, all seekers of the Dreamtime and of visions have walked the path of silence, calming the internal chatter, reaching the place of rites of passage – the channel or pineal gland. From the cave of Bear, you find the pathway to the Dream Lodge and the other levels of imagination or consciousness. In choosing Bear, the power of knowing has invited you to enter the silence and become acquainted with the Dream Lodge, so that your goals may become concrete realities.

This is the strength of Bear.”

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biodanza interview with

maira martinez

by Mirabai Trent Biodanza facilitator, Maira Martinez, joined the Circle team this past August in co-facilitating NATURE Masquerade. She brought with her the deeply impactful and transformative gifts that she offers in her workshops to the Hudson Valley community while weaving a lifetime of experience in ritual, movement, and connection. This conversation with Maira is just a taste of the incredible wealth of wisdom she holds, and the power of the practices she offers to the world with a focus on her work with Biodanza.

what is biodanza?

Biodanza to me is a practice that cultivates humanness. It is a beautiful way to soften ourselves and our way of relating to people and the world. It is a full invitation into embodiment, heart opening, and connection. Connection to self, to others, to the world around us, to a greater reality, to the mystery. It is a joyful, deep dive into connection with the mystery of life.

All of this happens through movements, music and

group situations which invokes vivencia, meaning the deep experience of feeling profoundly alive in the moment. It’s an invitation into this through sets of movement that take us out of our habits to bring us back into our true nature.

how was it created?

Biodanza was created in a gentle, slow process.

The creator’s name is Rolando Toro Araneda, he was an anthropologist, psychologist, poet, and musician as well as an educator.

In the 1940s and 50s he created an education system in Chile. He believed schools should be places where children learn to be in contact with the earth, to study the stars, to be with the elements, to be in deep contact with nature and with each other.

In the late 50s and early 60s he was invited to gather scientific research on how to better the quality of life of patients in psychiatric wards. He was in charge of the impact of music and movement on the states of mind and endogenous moods. This is where he established the foundation of the theoretical model that the whole methodology of Biodanza is based, which is this pulsation between a strong sense of identity and regression to oceanic trance states.

At the same time, he was conducting research on the impact of LSD on creativity with a group of artists. This was when LSD was just discovered and still legal. So he was leading psychedelic investigations and experiences.

Biodanza comes from his research and education.

The research on psychedelics and the use of modified states of consciousness as well as the research on the impact of music and movement on mood and wellness.

He also had a very profound and difficult experience with his father dying in his arms. Chile in those years was very hard. There was a dictatorship, a very right wing government, and a lot of danger. His dad was killed by a stray bullet and nobody came to help them because everyone was too scared.

This created in him a desire to change society. So in a certain way, behind Biodanza is a real desire for social change. The philosophical base of Biodanza is called the biocentric principle, which invites all of us to put life first. Creating, caretaking, protecting and honoring all forms of life with love and kindness.

how were you introduced to biodanza?

I was introduced to Biodanza by one of my sisters.

Before that, I was teaching the art of ritual and I was training women healers. I myself was an acupuncturist and doing some herbalism and different neuromuscular techniques. I had created my own work of healing through rituals and creativity.

At the time I was looking for more movement in my practice. I thought the only part that was missing in my work was interesting, impactful movement.

I started searching, and met wonderful people, and had beautiful experiences. I brought some of these experiences into my work, but something was missing for me.

One of my sisters who had trained with me wanted to share something she found incredible, so I joined her for one evening. I was looking for a movement practice, but I was not looking for a new job.

I went to an introductory evening, I remember it was a Wednesday night, and I thought, “Oh, my dear goddess, what is happening?”

At that time in Quebec, there was very little Biodanza. We had to fly teachers from Europe or South America. There were no experiential weekends. If you wanted to do more, you had to go to a school training. So I asked if I could go for just one weekend.

I went and started the training to become a teacher right away. I had done that one evening and I entered a very deep three year program, and I’ve never gotten out of school since. In the time that has passed I became director of the school I was trained in. It’s been an incredible love story.

what about that experience was unique for you?

I had been teaching the art of ritual for many years. I think one of the first things that I realized was that we live in a period where a lot of people are doing rituals in all kinds of ways. One of the things I was teaching is that all great sacred rituals on our planet are created on the same kind of curve or pattern. There are certain things that follow others. And there I was, dancing and playing and entering very ecstatic spaces, but that wave was the exact same as all great sacred rituals.

I was amazed that this practice could create rituals that are so accessible, non-religious, but have the same power. Even if I had the impression that I just played and rested, I could see the pattern in it.

Biodanza holds all the things that I love the most

what was special about nature masquerade for you? (images shown here)

I feel that NATURE called upon us to reclaim the reality of living and interdependence, and to occupy that space with your neighbors. To be deeply moved by the gaze and the eyes of somebody that lives in this same area as you do. And that in another situation, is a human being you might never have encountered, or maybe you’ve crossed that person a million times, but you never really saw them. We entered into a space that evening to see one another, the beauty of one another.

on this planet. Music, dance, ritual, science, and love. I think everything that is important for me and everything that interests me, my greatest loves, are all there in one discipline.

what has been particularly extraordinary to witness through your years of facilitating?

Twenty years later, the moments of witnessing the fleeting encounters, where people are flowing from one another and offering their gaze, and everybody is in such a space of presence, the magic of that never stops for me. To see people just bursting in their own beauty, honoring the beauty of life inside of them, and recognizing that within each other.

I see people regaining their trust in one another.

I regularly feel tears during a class I’m giving because what I witness is humanity at its most beautiful. And for me, it makes me see how easy it is for all of us to come back to this.

To be in a community of so many different backgrounds, people who would not necessarily be drawn to the same practices, but that could meet at the grocery store or be neighbors, and to dare to visit spaces of human intimacy and meet in such a profound connection. That was what was so beautiful about NATURE for me.

One day I met a woman from San Paolo who came to teach when I was just beginning to be a Biodanza facilitator. She worked with people in the street and she told me that recuperating the ability to look at one another in the eyes is a profound political gesture. Because once you’ve looked someone in the eyes, you cannot let them die without acting.

Having had one hundred people or more looking into each other’s eyes at NATURE and restoring this ability between us is the most beautiful opportunity I was given that evening and am given every time I’m invited to offer what I do.

For more information about Maira’s offerings email biodanzaberkhv@gmail.com

mystical

masquerades

BY CIRCLE CREATIVE COLLECTIVE

ONE-OF-A-KIND HANDMADE LEATHER MASKS Each leather mask is handmade, hand painted and made with the intention of bringing the spirit of the mask TO LIFE! You can use this mask for years to come and even pass it down as an heirloom.

Our masks are created by CIRCLE through our ARTESANÍA Program which creates economic equity and empowerment for women that have recently immigrated to the United States.

ETSY: mysticalmasquerades.etsy.com CIRCLECREATIVECOLLECTIVE.ORG