According to Jean Shinoda Bolen, a Jungian analyst, clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco, and prolific author of many books, "a women's circle appears to be just women gathering regularly together, talking, laughing, celebrating, and crying. But it is more than that, too. It is a woman telling the circle of other women the truth of what is really going on in her inner life, spiritual life, and outer life." Members of these groups are equal; there is no hierarchy.
Bolen believes that circles can be containers for growth and transformation both on a private and a public level. She suggests an optimum number of seven women and recommends that members be "juicy" — women who have lived, made mistakes, and learned from them. Circles also provide a catalyst to the deepening of soul, as individuals open their hearts and minds to new possibilities for human connection and engagement. Check out Bolen's book The Millionth Circle: How to Change Ourselves and the World, the Essential Guide to Women's Circles.