Shift the shame around menarche, menstruation and menopause
85% of menstruating womxn in the western world suffer from PMS, often in a severe form. That’s a huge and widespread health problem that does not get enough attention. We have forgotten that menopause is the age of wisdom for womxn. Also there is a lot of unnecessary physical and emotional suffering. And your first bleed, did you live it as something you were prepared to and welcomed?
However advanced we consider ourselves as a society, there still lies an enormous burden of shame and guilt on the themes of menarche, menstruation and menopause. The rites of initiation for each of the stages in a WoMan’s life need to be re-installed.
A word about menstruation. Note that you can replace the word ‘menstruation’ by ‘menopause’. The word ‘blood’ then becomes ‘inner wise spirit’.
WoMen are expected to let their menstruation go by unnoticed, take a painkiller or hormones or birth control pills, and just continue their daily business as if nothing had happened. This pejorative view has adverse effects on our well-being. Many WoMen think that PMS, cramps, emotional pain and other menstrual symptoms are normal. No, they are not!
Menstruating doesn’t have to be painful. Shame and taboo around the theme of menstruation and femininity causes a disconnection with the body with all its consequences.
It’s time to reclaim the power and wisdom of the womb, the FeMinine cycles and the blood!
By working consciously and ritually with your cycle for a few months, the pain and irregularities decrease. As soon as we begin to honor the moontime, little and big miracles take place physically, emotionally and energetically.
Menstruation then becomes a blessing and “inner adventure” instead of a curse.
Our cyclical nature is an empowerment tool. Something that is so present in our daily life might as well be a beautiful experience for us, right? We can put the energy released during this transformation at the service of our planet and the New World that we dream of.
By the way, we may wonder why our cycles became a taboo in modern society. Perhaps simply because it is so powerful and vital?
There was a time when menstrual blood was considered sacred even in Western societies. As late as the 17th century, the menstrual blood was believed to be a magical elixir and aphrodisiac, and women let their blood flow freely down their legs. In the lore of the Irish goddess, the first blood at the altar was menstrual blood. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, menstrual blood is called “heavenly water.” When a girl bleeds for the first time in South America, she begins to “florecer” (flor is flower). To this day, Tibetan lamas use menstrual blood in their rituals for the goddess Tara.
Fun fact: The original meaning of the word ‘taboo’ was ‘sacred’ and ‘katharsis’ meant ‘menstruating’.
If you are suffering from menstrual pain, consider vaginal steaming as a complementary therapy.
I have seen WoMen sigh with relief and astonishment at the improvement their next moontime showed.
It can be so easy.
This women’s ritual with herbal steam has put my cycle back in order (3 years after the birth of my daughter!!) and further healed my pelvis, which had been painful all along.