WISDOM OF THE MENSTRUAL CYCLE
Updated: Feb 4, 2022
Women are deeply connected to nature and the moon cycles.
Written by Sahara at Modern Women Alchemy
I'm about to share a piece of ancient women’s wisdom that is so powerful it will change the way you look at menstruation (moon cycle) and your power as a woman.
Our ancestors were deeply connected to nature and the moon cycles, and as a result, they would all bleed together on the dark (new) moon. Many modern-day women have lost this connection to the moon, but it is not too late to reconnect.
Women and the moon flow together in a 28-day dance, allowing for release and rebirth each month. When we intimately connect with our menstrual cycle, we can leverage the possibility of growth and renewal found within each cycle. Embodying our feminine power and awakening our inner Goddess requires us to honour and respect all that makes us women both on a physical and energetic level.
Our womb is a creative powerhouse that births extraordinary things from babies to creative endeavours. Can you believe how freak’n powerful we are? We have the ability to birth life! Many modern-day women unconsciously deny themselves of their goddess power. This denial of who we truly are happens every time we hate our menstruation, allow our PMS to destroy us rather than reinvent us and complain that our menstruation is messy, inconvenient, and a curse.
As women it is important for us to connect with our womb and become intimate with our cycle. I recommend charting your cycle as you will gain so much wisdom about your body and be able to identify changes that need addressing. A standard menstrual cycle is 28-30 days.
Our menstrual cycle is far more than a biological occurrence, with its sole purpose to birth humans.
Ancient women used their cycle as a spiritual practice that allowed them to release the old and birth the new, every month. Our monthly cycle is divided into four phases that match the earth’s four seasons: Winter is the Wise Woman phase, Spring is the Maiden phase, Summer is the Mother phase, and Autumn is the Wild Woman phase.
Phases
Each phase is supported by different energy levels, creativity ebbs and flows, and a time for socialising or deep introspection.
Each monthly cycle brings us the opportunity to release what no longer serves us, as well as birth new ideas, friendships, projects, routines, and so on. If we harness the energies offered to us, we flow with life and our body rather than resist the flow of energy which causes menstrual symptoms, exhaustion, apathy, depression and and stressed womb.
Then four menstrual phases are a guide. You may find that some phases are shorter than one week or last slightly longer. For example, I bleed for four days so my Wise Woman phase does not last seven days. If you do not experience a cycle physically right now, your cycle still exists on an energetic level. Start becoming aware of how you feel each week and record this; a pattern will begin to emerge, and you can chart your cycle based on this.
Phase one: wise woman
Begins on day one of our bleed and is said to end around day seven; however, as I said I find it stops much sooner. The bleeding part of this week is related to winter; it is a time to be still and internal so we can tune into our intuition. It is especially useful to meditate and pay attention to our dreams, as we are being guided to let go of what no longer serves us, including emotions, limiting beliefs, and perhaps relationships. As our bleed comes to an end, our energy starts to build.
Phase two: maiden
On days eight to fourteen, we transform into the maiden, spring phase. In this pre-ovulation week, we experience high energy levels corresponding with increased estrogen levels. Our physical, creative, and sexual energies are heightened, encouraging us to be open to new adventures and challenges. We are feeling social, attractive, confident, creative, and intellectually switched on. This is a good time to plan your social events, start new projects, or schedule in your public speaking event. Women in the corporate world schedule this week as their big sales week and take more of a relaxed approach the rest of the month. They are able to bring in enough revenue to over the rest of the month!This is an example of utilising the potent high energy that maiden has to offer!
Phase three: mother
The third phase, also known as summer, begins when we ovulate around day fourteen/fifteen and ends on day twenty one. We are more expressive, passionate, and nurturing. Our outward flow of energy is motherly and supportive of the people around us. Our sexual fire is ignited, as is our fertility. We are feeling flirty, creative, nurturing, playful, and sensual.
Phase Four: wild woman
Phase four, also known as autumn, is defined by our wild woman energy and begins around day twenty-two and ends day twenty-eight. A woman is the most intuitive leading up to her bleed!
At this time, we start to feel more internal again. We prefer space, and we crave alone time as we want to conserve our energy for ourselves. We may get easily irritated with those demanding our time and energy. If we are not aware that we need to create the space to hear our intuitive whispers, we might cause fights to push people away to create alone time. As we get closer to bleeding, we move back into winter.
This phase is a time for self-love, meditation, and introspection. Some of us may experience PMS, and I suggest you sit with whatever comes up for you during this time. Your PMS might be communicating a physical imbalance, or your emotional discomfort could be asking you to let go of a way of being or situation that no longer serves you. If you deny yourself of this quiet and inward time, your body will demand you to slow down by creating symptoms. Our inner Goddess asks us to listen to the whisperings of our hearts, so we can continuously move closer to living in alignment with our inner essence by letting go of the inauthentic aspects of ourselves.
We can be affected by mood swings at this time as estrogen levels drop; however, mood swings and other PMS symptoms are heavily influenced by our health status. Keep in mind, we are sensitive to anything that is not serving us at this time, so it is normal for many of us to have less tolerance in this phase of our cycle, this can be judged as ‘moody.’ Pay attention to what is causing your ‘moodiness’ at this time.