Right Blood
By
Haipule
Strains of the haunting chant,
‘Returning…returning to the mother of us all’[1]
could be heard through the door, decorated with a colorful life size collage of
images and words that spiraled from an expectant womb and explored the key phases
of womanhood in ever widening circles. Both mother and daughter were dressed in
red. Shandra put her arm around her daughter, Nalani:
“ Ready to join the circle?”
Nalani nodded. They entered the
room. Women of all ages also dressed in shades of red, sat on pillows strewn with
red throws of varying hues and textures. They smiled as Nalani sat down between
her mother and grandmother.
As the chant came to a close, there
was a brief pause before the deep unwavering voice of Nalani’s grandmother,
affectionately known as Nanna, invited:
“Let’s close our eyes and focus on our
inner worlds. With gratitude we breathe together – in and out – feel the breath
energize our hearts and the blood it circulates and purifies. The same breath sustains
us all, and energizes our blood. Energizes our hearts. Imagine cutting the
threads of any stories from the past that do not respect, honor and celebrate
menstruation: a time of letting go.
Let go of concerns for the
future - it is only by being fully present right now that we breath life into
stories that can circulate …can remind us who we are and why we are here. Stories
that sustain. Today we gather to celebrate Nalani’s transition from girl to
wo-moon. I use the word wo-moon deliberately. Today we reclaim that it is we whose bodies follow the cycle
of the moon that birth both men and wemoon. [2]
We come from a long and rich heritage of bleeders that bless the world. At
ceremonies like today we remember the etymology of bless[3]
is ‘bledsian’ or blood. Let’s take a few minutes to sit in silence and remember
the wemoon that came before us, and to whom we owe our lives literally- for
without them and their ability to conceive and nurture life, no one would be
here.”
In the center of the circle was a
low table draped with a deep red velvet cloth. On it stood a large round wooden
box, carved with the phases of the moon. Surrounding it were the
voluptuous Venus of Willendorf, symbol of fertility; the compassionate Kwan
Yin, and photographs of Nalani’s grandmothers: Nanna and Granny.
Shandra spoke: “Thank you for coming
– for taking the time to welcome my daughter into the circle of life. As
mentioned in my invitation: each of you has a gift - your wisdom – something you now know,
that you wished you had known when you first became a woman. While your
physical gifts may be too large for the box, let’s imagine your wisdom and
dreams filling that box. I hope each of you has had time to create a card or
write a note of blessing to go into that box. ”
Nalani’s godmnother, Aunty Stelle
began. She smiled at Nalani, made eye contact with the wemoon in the circle and
said: “I wish for you a culture that acknowledges and supports the rhythms of
nature. I invite you to enjoy quiet, alone time so that you can honor the sweet
secrets your monthly visitor can bring. Thousands of years ago, and even in
some cultures today, wemoon go to a separate gathering place to support each
other, sing, share and be reminded that it is up to us to treat our bodies as
sacred. I have printed out an article published in The Guardian in 2017 to
place in your box. It shares about the Yurok and Kalasha People and about ‘balashas’
– communal gathering places for wemoon. [4]
Remember that we are connected to the greater cycles and wisdom of the moon,
the oceans, and the seasons and that your intuition is stronger at this time:
to hear it, you need to make space for it. My gift to you is a journal and
various art supplies. Truth can be spoken in a gentle- perhaps even artful way,
when it isn’t bottled up and has to burst out.”
Kimbo asked if she could play Dominique
Christina’s spoken ‘The Period
Poem’[5].
The circle listened as this mother of a young girl answered a tweet to a young
boy reminding us how bodies have mysterious intelligence, can sync to each
other, can conceive and birth life and that letting go is a vital part of
cycles. Kimbo envisioned Nalani living a life that honored her passage through
the various cycles and stages. Her Wemoon calendar gift allowed Nalani’s to
‘know thyself’ as she tracked her monthly cycle: know when she was fertile or
when she might want to retreat and be more inward focused. In conclusion Kimbo
reminded all: “ Informed, grounded womoon, who honor cycles- not just ours- but
the greater cycles- restore much needed balance and create healthy communities
that remember we are part of a much larger web of life”.
Aunt Faye’s gift was a diva or
menstrual cup and The WomanCode by
Vitti. She suggested that instead of using tampons, Nalani learn to ‘read’ her
blood: the color gives information about the balance in our hormones. She also
shared that returning menstrual blood to the soil is not only more environmentally
friendly, but that it replenishes the soil.
Debra’s gift
included Judy Grahn’s book: Blood, Bread and Roses: How Menstruation
Created the World.” and The Wild
Genie: The Healing Power of Menstruation by Alexandra Pope. These evoked
much discussion and laughter, and Shandra thanked all for the gifts and dreams
of how we can create and tell stories that support and empower wemoon and their
essence.
Many more gifts
and wise words were shared, before Shandra invited Nell, the last person to
share.
Nell, Nalani’s caftan clad, great aunt
said, “I wish I’d known Marianne Williamson’s quote about how our playing small
doesn’t serve anyone – the more wonderful, the more you give others permission
to be wonderful. I see a woman
that finds her own style and is not tortured by fads and fashion. My gift is a mirror inscribed
with these words: Relish your
multi-faceted unfolding at all stages of life.
In closing, while Shandra placed a halo of fragrant red roses and pikake in Nalani’s
hair, and the song isn’t she lovely began to play softly, Nalani said, “Dad
also gave me a gift to mark becoming a woman.”
Everyone
looked at Nalani. She pointed to the anklet. Dangling from it were two small
charms: a yin/yang and a crescent moon. Nalani smiled and said “He took me to
lunch to celebrate my becoming a woman.”
She
looked at Shandra and said, “He said you two spoke about this, and that the
charms might make even more sense after today. When he asked me if I knew what
they might mean, I knew the moon linked to how our cycle is like the moon’s 28
day cycle. Nanna calls us wo-moon, so that charm makes even more sense now…and
the other one …Dad said it was to remind me that both men and wemooon are
critical to create balance?”
Shandra
put her arm around Nalani and added” Hopefully after today- now that you’ve been
welcomed into the circle of wemoon, you have more information and when you
share your story – or speak about your period, and what being a woman brings- you
can create more respect – harmony- balance- about the equal but different roles
men and wemoon have. ”
The
conversation and sharing continued over a potluck where wemoon enjoyed various
red eats like beet salad, stuffed red peppers, seared ahi, pomegranates,
strawberries, cherries and so many more, while they drank cherry juice, pink
champagne or red wine.
[2] The word "menstruation"
is etymologically related to "moon". The terms
"menstruation" and "menses" are derived from the Latin mensis (month), which in turn relates to the Greek mene (moon) and to the roots of the English words month and moon
[3] Old English blēdsian, blētsian, based
on blōd ‘blood’ (i.e. originally perhaps ‘mark or consecrate with
blood’). The meaning was influenced by its being used to translate
Latin benedicere ‘to praise, worship’, and later by association
with bliss.
[4] https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/feb/11/if-the-body-isnt-sacred-nothing-is-why-menstrual-taboos-matter
