OUR CYCLES
ARCHETYPAL INSIGHT
Our cycles can be seen in other terms too, not just the purely biological. Our cycles have four major phases, which can be interpreted as corresponding to the four main female archetypes (or energy patterns) and stages of life.
The Virgin/Maiden
The virgin self emerges after the menstrual bleeding has stopped, and the fresh new womb lining grows. This phase is seen as the phase of the virgin: she is full of innocence, energy and potential. She feels good in her body – flirtatious, sexy and lighter after the dark days of her blood time. Her ability to conceive and gestate is just emerging, and is still unproven. At his point in her cycle, she feels freest from her menstrual pull – she is a virgin in the traditional sense of the word – a woman unto herself.
The Mother
The time of ovulation and possible conception is represented by the mother who has the ability to nurture new life. Her fertile womb space is warm and soft. At this time a woman tends to feel loving and enjoys giving of herself fully, either by becoming a mother to a child, or in her other work, creativity and home making. This mid-cycle ovulation symbolises the ability to give and sustain life. It is the full flourishing of a woman’s life.
The Enchantress/ Wild Woman
The pre-menstrual stage is a descent from the light, outward stage of our cycle and into the dark, inner stage. Progesterone and oestrogen dance together to create dynamic swings. The wild woman dances a magical path between huge bouts of creativity and emotional storms. In becoming a wise woman you learn how to harness this powerful energy, knowing when to destroy, how to express your righteous anger, and when to go within and reflect.
The Crone/ Wise Woman
The crone emerges during the late premenstrual and bleeding time. She can be a wise woman or a destructive witch depending on how she handles this time. Her mood darkens and she becomes pulled inward, becoming quieter, more reflective and more in touch with the dream time. She is less “in the world” and like an older person is in need of more rest. This time has many gifts for the woman and her community, if she can learn to retreat and allow her visions to emerge from her darkest depths.
We live in a culture which worships the virgin, her nubile body, her hermaphrodite qualities and budding sexuality. One which side-lines the mother, not celebrating or honoring the acts of gestation, birth and child-rearing. A culture which fears the power of the enchantress and turns away from the wisdom of the elders, the value of reflection and dreams.
In order to reclaim our full selves, to integrate each of these aspects through which we will pass into our lives, we must first learn to embrace them though our cycles.
We need to take time to honor the part of ourselves which mothers and nurtures; the part of us which yearns to be girlish and free; the wise woman who watches in the wings full of wisdom and the erotic enchantress who can bewitch and create magic. Our cycles allow us to take on these roles, to live these hidden parts of our psyches – perhaps they are stages we have already passed through in our lives, glad that they are behind us, or sad for their loss, or stages we feel uncomfortable with becoming.
Our cycling nature gives us constant teasing tastes of the whole gamut of womanhood, and our life cycle, month after month. It also ensures that we deal with things which we might otherwise avoid: anger, sadness, conflict, grief and even eroticism...
We are always much more complex, much wiser than we give ourselves credit for, our potential much greater than we dare to hope or dream
Moon Time: A Guide to Celebrating Your Moontime Cycle
Purchase your copy here
Moon Time is written as a personal invitation and soulful guide for women who want:
· deeper harmony with their cycle
· natural ways of dealing with PMT
· a greater connection to the moon’s cycles
· ways to celebrate a daughter's impending womanhood
· the community connection of a red tent or moon lodge
It shares:
· creative tools to help celebrate the menstrual cycle
· rituals for self-care
· nutritional and herbal suggestions
· spiritual/ wise woman insight
It gathers voices from leaders in the field of women’s cycles including:
· Miranda Gray (author of Red Moon and The Optimized Woman),
· ALisa Starkweather (founder of the Red Tent Temple Movement, Belly and Womb conferences and The Priestess Path)
· Rachael Hertogs (author of Thirteen Moons and Menarche: A Journey to Womanhood). ... And many more...
A guide to celebrating your menstrual cycle is a book of empowerment to help you to find healing and learn to celebrate yourself as a woman. Personal, wise, gently humorous, warm and welcoming, it opens a dialogue on what is often a taboo subject.
Lucy reminds us of the things we “seem” to have forgotten about. She is one of the special whisperers, who helps us to remember our own power and sacredness as played out in our cycles. Through her writing she initiates a dialogue with her readers. She says what she has to say, and then asks us ‘What do you think?’ Her writing empowers her readers to have a voice to respond. This is a remarkable gift to us. --
ALisa Starkweather, founder of Red Tent Temple Movement
Lucy Pearce is a teacher of Woman-craft TM and creativity, a free-spirited freelance writer and mama to three young children, based in Ireland. She is the founder of a women’s group and leader of mother blessings. Recipient of the Writer’s Bureau runner up Writer of the Year 2010, she is a regular contributor to Modern Mum magazine, The Irish Examiner, JUNO and online to Rhythm of the Home and Wild Sister magazine. She is contributing editor at JUNO magazine.
Purchase here at the Wise Woman Bookshop
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