☥* Blood Rites *☥
HER daughter walked
toward the Red Tent
to learn the wisdom of women.
She had just started her first MOON.
Blood dripped into her undergarments,
caught by a piece of fabric her mother stitched together for her.
She had no idea what this blood meant,
except that coming to Tent meant something special…
SHE was greeted at the door, and an elder marked her third eye.
“WELCOME MY DAUGHTER! 🌙
The time has come for you to learn the power that lives in your belly.
YOU are connected to the moon & to the stars.
You are the Earth and linked to every woman in this circle.”
Around the girl are women in all phases of life.
Maidens, Mothers, and Crones.
Women about to have sex for the first time.
Women ready to conceive their first child.
Mothers with many children.
Elders who no longer bleed, and who are ready to share their wisdom.
~~~~
The ☥* Blood Rites * ☥ mark the phases of woman’s life journey.
When women go through Rites of Passage it is often associated with the Blood.
Menarche, First SEX, and Giving Birth–→
for example, all involve the shedding of some blood.
In conscious cultures, these are times of celebration~
Though! They are also times of great change.
In order to move from child to adolescence with menarche,
or to move from maiden to mother when we give birth,
Aspects of the old self dies, so SHE may transform into something new.
~~~~ 🌙
Today, in the Red Tent, the girl will be initiated into her adolescence. She must understand that in order to become a woman,
she has to give up the naivety of being a child…
The elders in the tent wrap her wrists with a red thread,
and explain to her that her moon time is more than just blood!
Within her, lives the stories of her ancestors and her potential for future children.
Her womb is linked to every woman’s womb.
Her experiences mirror all women’s experiences.
And each woman is living out an archetypal myth.
Now that she has had her menstruation, she will learn that her work in the world is both in the seen, and the unseen.
Because with each moon time she will feel the collective pain,
and she will be asked shed that which does not serve her.
This happens within herself, in her own darkness, moving it into the light.
She holds a GREAT POWER! And a responsibility to respect her body as a temple space.
🌙
The women adorn the girl with Henna and jewels depicting symbols of spiritual potency.
Henna and tattoo have been used by tribal cultures to celebrate our Blood Rites for a very long time ~
whether it be Menarche, or loosing one’s virginity (which has often been linked with marriage), or giving Birth.
Henna is painted on women to infuse them with “the mark of GOD.” This protects them from spirits during vulnerable life shifts, and it reminds her that she is sacred.
~~~ ☥
The women CHEER as they celebrate this girl, who is now a WOMAN!
She will be invited to the Red Tent every New Moon.
A time when women go inward and celebrate themselves.
A time when we link our moon blood to the darkness in the sky, and also to each other.
Together in circle, we will share stories of each other’s
First Blood, First Sex, Marriage, and Births.
We will celebrate women in menopause as they step into Elder.
We will learn the Women’s Mysteries and “the Things We Don’t Talk About.”
Together, we will disconnect from a patriarchal society,
and remember that WE ARE THE GODDESS.
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