The Glowing Embers of My Camp Fire Girl Days

The Glowing Embers of  My Camp Fire Girls Days

I am dedicating this to Janet Jones, My best Friend and Her Mother Pat Jones, Our Campfire Girl troop Leader.  Pat did an amazing job and bridged an important gap in my pre teen years.  My hat or Indian head band, is tipped to honor people who really made a profound difference in my life.

Thank You is such a puny expression for so much dedication and wisdom.

 My own mother was a leader of our Blue Bird troop and later I joined another troop in Phoenix as a Campfire Girl.  Our school offered both Girl Scouts and Camp Fire Girl affiliations and after school programs.  I am realizing in trying to re-create the nostalgia that I wish I had kept those beads and ceremonial gowns.  Camp Fire Girls was formed in 1910 by a several people who had a summer camp in the forest for girls only.  I believe they should have left it a girl’s only organization.  Since 1975 they have allowed boys to join and the name has changed to Camp Fire USA. 

I believe the younger ones who are known as Blue Birds could certainly be co-ed but even then perhaps it is not a good idea.  I believe that all Camp Fire Girls should receive a sort of Debutant Party at age 16.  After age 16 they are no longer known as Camp Fire Girls.  They need another name that suggests they are now fully emerged as females and there is a rite of passage for that. They have blossomed into remarkable women who can now hold the standard for the younger ones.  It would be desirable for some of the young women to mentor younger sisters as camp counselors. That is the way I remember Camp Fire Girl Camp. We had 17 and 18 year old counselors that were really “cool”.  I believe that females need their own sphere of development and at a certain age there is a preference to be with one’s own sex.  We as girls 8-15 are a work in progress.  We need the assurance that we are not alone with all the transformation we endure.  It is a private club so to speak.  Nature seems to be unveiling our end result at the rate of one small petal at a time and on a need to know basis.  We are evolving and there is mystery and creation in this sacred process.  It is not just hormonal and physical change. Yes, those changes are present and none of us can halt Mother Nature on her triumphant march.  There are psychological changes, and cognitive changes, that perhaps only peers of same sex can relate too.

There is so much gratitude for the organization and the friends I had that I can barely express it.  I want to present a gold medallion to our Camp Fire Girl leader, Mrs. Jones.  She created the best group experience I will ever know.  There are not enough words to thank her and I often wish I could reach all the group members and share poignant memories from our troop.  I was looking on line for some history and found that things have changed and so dramatically. 

I remember the ceremony where we all received our “Indian” gowns.  These were a brown cotton simple dress, but we added buck skin vests and fringe to them.  During the summer ritual ceremonies we used our Indian Names, wore our gowns and head bands with a feather, and received various colored beads for “good works” that we had done.  All things big and small were recognized.  Doing a book report as an individual, to going to sing at convalescent homes (as a group) are some examples of personal goals and group community service that were recognized with beads.  Camp Wamatochic was a place we went for a few weeks in the summer.  It was the absolute best experience.  We either had a group cabin or a group teepee.  The days were full of activities and we slept like logs at night.  I remember being slightly homesick at times and it was nice to get mail.  It is amazing that any of us girl friends would be homesick, but, I guess that comes with the age of being 10 to 12 years old.

I began the walk through my memories when asked a simple question. That question was:  How did I begin my training as a psychic or medium?  I remember our leader, Mrs. Jones, was ahead of her time on some subjects.  She read to us about psychic development and emotional awareness.  She was an avid reader and very creative and intelligent.  She became aware of some literature from articles she read in Reader’s Digest.  Many explorations of the occult and the paranormal were brought up in some of our back yard camp over’s on the weekends.   I became very curious about the occult and began to read and explore on my own.  I also was starting to open more intuitively especially my clairnoyant abilities as a teen age girl.  In every culture it seems there is wisdom sought from a virgin.  I believe that at age 15 I was not only a virgin but my chakras were fully open.  There is a window of time when you hit the highest point and I do think that is prior to the full maturing of a female. Quite accidentally all things came together for my personal development.

They say there are no accidents.  I agree.  The universe brougth teachers to me as this was my life path.  In my next several posts I have other teachers to talk about.  Some I have not thought about in years and I am happy to write about them.

In closing, my heart is full of the best memories and if I could wave a magic wand, it would be to deliver the same enchantment to all young ladies.  We were so very lucky back in the 60’s to have the all girl version of a good organization.