In the late 1960s, I began a journey “out of the patriarchy” towards territory unknown. Working within the context of a radical feminist collective, we identified ourselves as "radical feminist warriors/cultural revolutionaries." The radical-feminist perspective embraced an essentialist ideology, contending that there is an essential – albeit superior – nature to women and that our wisdom and intelligence incorporated and valued intuition. In our radical-feminist collective, we lived and worked together, and our rejection of private property was manifested by our “collective” closet – while we each had our own boots and sneakers, all clothing (which amounted to t-shirts, jeans, and flannel shirts) was purchased in a pre-determined average size and shared.

In the mid-70s, the collective moved to Boston to study women's history. After becoming greatly influenced by Jung, Greek mythology, and the writings of 19th century radical feminists, we wanted to facilitate a community conversation/exploration on the issues and concepts of women's expressions of spirit. In April 1976 in Boston, we organized and produced the first national women's spirituality conference, entitled “Through the Looking Glass: A Gynergenetic Experience”; approximately 1500 women from North America participated. Resource women, ranging from theologians and high priestesses to radical psychologists, were brought in from across the country to share their knowledge and act as workshop facilitators. The conference served as a catalyst for popularizing women's spirituality throughout the women's movement. Circles of women exploring women's ways of knowing proliferated across the country.