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MOONTIME
"Moontime" is a term for menstruation that references
the similarity of women's monthly cycle to that of the moon's cycles.
Throughout all cultures, the magic of creation resides in the
blood women gave forth in apparent harmony with the moon, and
which sometimes
stayed inside to create a baby. This blood was regarded with
reverence: it had mysterious magical powers, was inexplicably
shed without
pain, and was wholly foreign to male experience. Early menstrual
rites were perhaps the first expression of human culture.
Native American (Lakota)
"Follow your Grandmother Moon. Her illuminating cycles will transform
your spirit." Begin with the Grandmother Moon at her brightest
and most open. This is a time of outward activity and high
energy. Sleep where the moonlight touches you. Walk outside
where there
are no artificial lights. Feel joy and creativity. As the Grandmother
begins to cover her face, begin to withdraw into a quieter,
less social place. Move to that inward place that is more about "being" than "doing." In
the dark of the moon, when bleeding, the veil between you and
the Great Mystery is the thinnest. Be receptive to visions,
insights,
and intuitions. Go to a quiet separate place such as a Moon
Lodge. Later, come out of the dark, a woman with a cleansed
body. As the
moon returns, come back out into the world, carrying your vision.
Customs and Traditions
- Indians of South American said all humans were made of "moon
blood" in the beginning.
- In Mesopotamia, the Great Goddess created people out of clay and
infused them with her blood of life. She taught women
to form clay dolls and smear them with menstrual blood. Adam translates as bloody
clay.
- In Hindu theory, as the Great Mother created the earth, solid matter
coalesced into a clot with a crust. Women use this same
method to produce new life.
- The Greeks believed the wisdom of man or god was centered in his
blood which came from his mother.
- Egyptian pharaohs became divine by ingesting the blood of Isis
called sa. Its hieroglyphic sign was the same as the
sign of the vulva, a yonic loop like the one on the ankh.
- From the 8th to the 11th centuries, Christian churches refused
communion to menstruating women.
- In ancient societies, menstrual blood carried authority, transmitting
lineage of the clan or tribe.
- Among the Ashanti, girl children are more prized than boys because
a girl is the carrier of the blood.
- Chinese sages called menstrual blood the essence of Mother Earth,
the yin principle giving life to all things.
- Some African tribes believed that menstrual blood kept in a covered
pot for nine months had the power to turn itself into
a baby.
- Easter eggs, classic womb-symbols, were dyed red and laid on graves
to strengthen the dead.
- A born-again ceremony from Australia showed the Aborigines linked
rebirth with blood of the womb.
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Post-menopausal women were often the wisest because they retained
their "wise blood." In the 17th century these
old women were constantly persecuted for witch craft
because their menstrual
blood remained in their veins.
Suggested Rituals for your Moontime
- Create a moon cord of thin red cord to tie around your
waist under your clothes. You could tie herbs and charms to it
to, if you wanted. Wear it each day of your period, to remind myself
of the sacredness of this time.
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Create a bath ritual: prepare the bath with candles, music, bath
salts, essential oils or herbal infusions, crystals and a glass
of water, cup of tea or red clover herbal infusion to drink from
a crystal glass - allow anything that 'pisses you off' to spin
through your head - choose one item that you can change and decide
what you will do about it that month - the second round is your
gratitude round where you express gratitude for all the things
that that you’re grateful for - the third round is new creation
- make new goals and look at where you are in relation to long
term goals - envision projects and artistic creations for the new
month - then just relax and enjoy the water until you’re
ready to get out.
- 105 Ways To Celebrate Menstruation by Kami McBride: - create a
special tea blend that you drink during menstruation - read
an inspirational book on women - make a menstrual journal by covering
a notebook with fabric or pasting pictures on it that you like
and use it to record your menstrual intuitions, inspirations
and dreams - wear red lipstick - paint your nails red - henna your
hair - wear red underwear - light red candles - take time to
write in your journal and make a list of the things that were nourishing
and made you happy in the past month - lay in bed all afternoon
just sleeping and dreaming - wear rubies, garnet or moonstone
- schedule an appointment for a massage or other healing therapy
at the end of your moontime - splash your body with rosewater
- create a pleasing herbal blend to bathe in at the end of your cycle.
Do this to signify your re-emergence into the world
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