To quote Julie Andrews, let's start at the very beginning; it's a very good place to start. I know you’re asking "Who are you and why do we need a book like Moon Rites anyway??
Well, I’m really glad you asked! Hello and welcome. Here’s why I feel we need a book like this. (It’s a fairly long answer, but bear with me. I bet you’ll be nodding your head and muttering, “me too!” before too much longer.)
When I experienced menarche (my first period) my mother -who was a primary school teacher – was away at camp. I was staying with my Nan at the time, and (Goddess bless her cotton socks) when I reported what was happening, she pursed her lips, opened her eyes wide and placed a finger over her mouth. I was mystified. Had she finally gone around the bend? I knew bits and pieces about periods, from friends and their big sisters of course, and my mother had given me ‘the talk’ about biological reproduction, but this was not what I had expected (actually, I wasn’t really sure what I had expected but it probably wasn't this!)
My Nan left me in the bathroom for a while, then led me by the hand to my room and, still looking very furtive, pushed me gently through the door and closed it.
Astounded, disconcerted and more than slightly freaked out, I turned around to see what looked like a surfboard shaped pillow and a weird looking garter-belt type arrangement on the bed.
Holey Moley.
I bet you’re laughing now, I know I still do every time I think about it. I can’t even remember if I ever worked out how to use this contraption. When Mum came back from camp she nearly had hysterics and supplied me with something slightly more modern- but I clearly remember knowing I should NOT mention it to my Nan-and hence that there must be something about it that was shameful and embarrassing. I soon realized that while it was okay to discuss the topic with my friends and some other women, in general this perception of “The Curse” was correct.
It was at about this time I began to realize that there were many different shapes and sizes and ways of being a woman, but for some reason we were living in a “one size fits all” kind of society, and that there were massive gaps in my understanding about my own female body female mind and female soul-and I began to wonder why.
Where was the information, I wondered, just for women, about ourselves- our dreams, our desires, our bodies and our power?
Like everyone else, my life got busier and busier. I worked, married, had two daughters, moved to the country, built three houses, tried to make ends meet on one income so that I could spend time with my kids and raise my family and largely succeeded for which I am very grateful. A lot of that time, also like many others, I had these niggling ideas and thoughts that would occasionally surface and make me wonder where it was all heading and what I felt was missing from my experience of life.
Most of us have these thoughts at various times but we aren't really encouraged by our culture to examine them. So we keep busy, busy, busy, and go along with what we're taught to believe. I’d always been interested in essential oils and herbal teas and when I became pregnant with my first daughter twenty three years ago I explored further, wanting to be as healthy as possible – as you do.
But I found that this exploration led me down many unexpected paths and I actually ended up discovering much more than I’d ever anticipated. Then just after my daughter was born I found that I couldn’t take the pill any more. My hormones had changed and it really made me unwell. I experienced headaches, palpitations, horrendous menstrual cramps and generally felt rotten every day no matter which variation I tried. So after a while I stopped taking it.
At the time this seemed a major inconvenience, but what it actually meant was that for the first time in years, my natural cycle returned and I began the process of working with it.
This was major turning point and the beginning of a powerful period of learning and discovery for me, because in fact, at the age of almost twenty eight, after menstruating for thirteen years and giving birth, I took my first conscious steps on what I have come to know as the Feminine Path.
What followed gradually, over many years of exploring alternative health ideas and subjects like women’s history, mythology, psychology, spirituality and ritual - was that I came up with a practical system which I thought I had invented for myself, and seemed pretty far out and weird compared to the norm, so I kept fairly quiet about it.
Then- again as many of you will have done- I had the experience of losing a close family member, which really brought home to me the need to be brave and follow at least some of my dreams if I didn’t want to regret it later.
So I began to write, which had been a dream of mine that I put aside when the kids came along. (Are you nodding yet? Don’t we all have these dreams that we put to one side in favor of “more important” things?)
I wrote about my personal theories and discoveries and what kind of world I wanted for my children. Imagine my surprise when what I had thought, felt and experienced turned out to be something that hundreds of other women were also feeling!
I wrote articles for magazines, a 351 page book, “Moon Rites- A Feminine Journey To Personal Power” and then kept writing more articles. I'll be including lots of them on this blog in a permanent page for you to access. I hope you find them useful.
I also discovered so many other fabulous women who are dedicated to creating, inspiring and giving information to any female person who is looking for more soulful connections, joy, love and empowerment in their lives.
I’m often asked-“But why don’t we have this information, these stories, legends and stuff just for women? How come?”
Well, the best explanation I can come up with is as follows. We currently live in a society that was created centuries ago to suit a dominant male culture and has been molded and influenced by male ideas, beliefs and expectations. This is nobody’s “fault” it’s simply the way things have worked out. See, think about it for a minute and let me state the obvious.
Men do not usually menstruate, give birth, breastfeed or experience menopause. Certainly not on the time and place where our society was created anyhow!
* NOTE: That is, men who were born biological men. In these days of gender exploration, that is, the thought that a person’s concept of their gender comes from their brain (or maybe dare I suggest, their soul?) and not the body they were born in- and the steps that are possible to transition, all sorts of variations are underway. I can only see this as a good thing, since eventually it will mean that we all understand each other better.
Also, somewhere, somehow, the idea that men and women are or should be equal got confused with the idea that we should be the same. The upshot of all this is that traditional women’s culture, made up of stories, ‘old wives remedies’ and women’s customs and lessons were lost and forgotten through disuse.
There are still so many unexplored and forgotten aspects of being female that can greatly influence our perceptions of ourselves and our bodies as women ; the ones that deal with
• our souls and our emotions,
• our need to be creative and inspired,
• our need for a language to express our feminine essence
• and for role models, traditions and stories support it.
From knowledge comes power, from self-knowledge comes personal power, from personal power comes self-esteem, confidence, and the ability to make the kinds of choices that create a world worth living in. That’s the kind of world I want for my children
(and everyone else’s!)
We all need to understand ourselves. It gives us the ability to make positive choices in our lives, which in turn leads to greater fulfillment, self-esteem and pleasure in day-to-day living.
That’s why we need a book like Moon Rites. (I told you I’d get to the point eventually!) We need lots of books like Moon Rites- and I hope you’ll find them. If they don’t exist yet, I hope you’ll create them!
Moon Rites is a sort of “scrapbook” of information, ideas and practical suggestions just for us women that I’ve found useful and inspiring over the years, to give to you in the hope that it will help you in some way on your Feminine Journey. It's by no means the whole story. I am "standing on the shoulders" of those who have come before and I hope Moon Rites leads everyone who reads it to these others, who have enriched and empowered my life. This blog will be the same, a kind of patchwork quilt of helpful tools and ideas that you may like to use.
Well, I’m really glad you asked! Hello and welcome. Here’s why I feel we need a book like this. (It’s a fairly long answer, but bear with me. I bet you’ll be nodding your head and muttering, “me too!” before too much longer.)
When I experienced menarche (my first period) my mother -who was a primary school teacher – was away at camp. I was staying with my Nan at the time, and (Goddess bless her cotton socks) when I reported what was happening, she pursed her lips, opened her eyes wide and placed a finger over her mouth. I was mystified. Had she finally gone around the bend? I knew bits and pieces about periods, from friends and their big sisters of course, and my mother had given me ‘the talk’ about biological reproduction, but this was not what I had expected (actually, I wasn’t really sure what I had expected but it probably wasn't this!)
My Nan left me in the bathroom for a while, then led me by the hand to my room and, still looking very furtive, pushed me gently through the door and closed it.
Astounded, disconcerted and more than slightly freaked out, I turned around to see what looked like a surfboard shaped pillow and a weird looking garter-belt type arrangement on the bed.
Holey Moley.
I bet you’re laughing now, I know I still do every time I think about it. I can’t even remember if I ever worked out how to use this contraption. When Mum came back from camp she nearly had hysterics and supplied me with something slightly more modern- but I clearly remember knowing I should NOT mention it to my Nan-and hence that there must be something about it that was shameful and embarrassing. I soon realized that while it was okay to discuss the topic with my friends and some other women, in general this perception of “The Curse” was correct.
It was at about this time I began to realize that there were many different shapes and sizes and ways of being a woman, but for some reason we were living in a “one size fits all” kind of society, and that there were massive gaps in my understanding about my own female body female mind and female soul-and I began to wonder why.
Where was the information, I wondered, just for women, about ourselves- our dreams, our desires, our bodies and our power?
Like everyone else, my life got busier and busier. I worked, married, had two daughters, moved to the country, built three houses, tried to make ends meet on one income so that I could spend time with my kids and raise my family and largely succeeded for which I am very grateful. A lot of that time, also like many others, I had these niggling ideas and thoughts that would occasionally surface and make me wonder where it was all heading and what I felt was missing from my experience of life.
Most of us have these thoughts at various times but we aren't really encouraged by our culture to examine them. So we keep busy, busy, busy, and go along with what we're taught to believe. I’d always been interested in essential oils and herbal teas and when I became pregnant with my first daughter twenty three years ago I explored further, wanting to be as healthy as possible – as you do.
But I found that this exploration led me down many unexpected paths and I actually ended up discovering much more than I’d ever anticipated. Then just after my daughter was born I found that I couldn’t take the pill any more. My hormones had changed and it really made me unwell. I experienced headaches, palpitations, horrendous menstrual cramps and generally felt rotten every day no matter which variation I tried. So after a while I stopped taking it.
At the time this seemed a major inconvenience, but what it actually meant was that for the first time in years, my natural cycle returned and I began the process of working with it.
This was major turning point and the beginning of a powerful period of learning and discovery for me, because in fact, at the age of almost twenty eight, after menstruating for thirteen years and giving birth, I took my first conscious steps on what I have come to know as the Feminine Path.
What followed gradually, over many years of exploring alternative health ideas and subjects like women’s history, mythology, psychology, spirituality and ritual - was that I came up with a practical system which I thought I had invented for myself, and seemed pretty far out and weird compared to the norm, so I kept fairly quiet about it.
Then- again as many of you will have done- I had the experience of losing a close family member, which really brought home to me the need to be brave and follow at least some of my dreams if I didn’t want to regret it later.
So I began to write, which had been a dream of mine that I put aside when the kids came along. (Are you nodding yet? Don’t we all have these dreams that we put to one side in favor of “more important” things?)
I wrote about my personal theories and discoveries and what kind of world I wanted for my children. Imagine my surprise when what I had thought, felt and experienced turned out to be something that hundreds of other women were also feeling!
I wrote articles for magazines, a 351 page book, “Moon Rites- A Feminine Journey To Personal Power” and then kept writing more articles. I'll be including lots of them on this blog in a permanent page for you to access. I hope you find them useful.
I also discovered so many other fabulous women who are dedicated to creating, inspiring and giving information to any female person who is looking for more soulful connections, joy, love and empowerment in their lives.
I’m often asked-“But why don’t we have this information, these stories, legends and stuff just for women? How come?”
Well, the best explanation I can come up with is as follows. We currently live in a society that was created centuries ago to suit a dominant male culture and has been molded and influenced by male ideas, beliefs and expectations. This is nobody’s “fault” it’s simply the way things have worked out. See, think about it for a minute and let me state the obvious.
Men do not usually menstruate, give birth, breastfeed or experience menopause. Certainly not on the time and place where our society was created anyhow!
* NOTE: That is, men who were born biological men. In these days of gender exploration, that is, the thought that a person’s concept of their gender comes from their brain (or maybe dare I suggest, their soul?) and not the body they were born in- and the steps that are possible to transition, all sorts of variations are underway. I can only see this as a good thing, since eventually it will mean that we all understand each other better.
Also, somewhere, somehow, the idea that men and women are or should be equal got confused with the idea that we should be the same. The upshot of all this is that traditional women’s culture, made up of stories, ‘old wives remedies’ and women’s customs and lessons were lost and forgotten through disuse.
There are still so many unexplored and forgotten aspects of being female that can greatly influence our perceptions of ourselves and our bodies as women ; the ones that deal with
• our souls and our emotions,
• our need to be creative and inspired,
• our need for a language to express our feminine essence
• and for role models, traditions and stories support it.
From knowledge comes power, from self-knowledge comes personal power, from personal power comes self-esteem, confidence, and the ability to make the kinds of choices that create a world worth living in. That’s the kind of world I want for my children
(and everyone else’s!)
Think about this for a minute if you will…There are millions of us normal average women (who may think 'Well, I'm just a Mum" or "I''m just a...whatever else it may be...)
If we all start making choices that reflect our authentic needs, desires and expectations it could do more than just make us happy-
it could change the world.
We all need to understand ourselves. It gives us the ability to make positive choices in our lives, which in turn leads to greater fulfillment, self-esteem and pleasure in day-to-day living.
That’s why we need a book like Moon Rites. (I told you I’d get to the point eventually!) We need lots of books like Moon Rites- and I hope you’ll find them. If they don’t exist yet, I hope you’ll create them!
Moon Rites is a sort of “scrapbook” of information, ideas and practical suggestions just for us women that I’ve found useful and inspiring over the years, to give to you in the hope that it will help you in some way on your Feminine Journey. It's by no means the whole story. I am "standing on the shoulders" of those who have come before and I hope Moon Rites leads everyone who reads it to these others, who have enriched and empowered my life. This blog will be the same, a kind of patchwork quilt of helpful tools and ideas that you may like to use.
I hope this has answered the questions above. I'd love to hear from you and how the ideas on the site work for you- or if you know of something better!
Take my hand, get ready to travel the Feminine Path with me.
Here we go!
