Elder’s Meditation of the Day - June 8

“So we are connected to the moon. That gives us power, a connection to the Earth and the moon, men don’t know about.”
–Cecilia Mitchell, MOHAWK

The Elders tell us that the Woman has access to special powers. The Earth Mother gives her love in a special way to the Woman. The Moon also gives special powers to the Woman. She uses these powers to nurture, heal, and guide the people.

Great Spirit, today, give a special Blessing to our Women.

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At one point in time all cultures were matriarchal. During those times the grandmothers taught the mothers and they taught their daughters.  The chain was never broken. The patriarchal society wants to tell us that our monthly time is a curse -  and we are like under a spell-we have forgotten what it really means to have a Moon time and we believe what media/men tell us. The time we bleed is our most sacred time. We need to go back to the old teachings and learn more what it really means to be  a  woman, our strength, and our holiness.

When I was growing up I was told you will have a monthly cycle and you can get pregnant, that was it in a nutshell.  My mother and older sister later on went more into details about cramping, bleeding, pads, and how I can get pregnant.  What was missing in their upringing and consequently in mine was the mysterious aspect of the feminine. This came to me much later in my thirties through teachings of different Elders and younger women who already were taught differently.

In the olden days we called the Moon Grandmother. Living outdoors, closer to nature, our monthly cycle was aligned to the moon cycle.

At her brightest and most open, there is the
Full Moon.
This is a time of outward activity and high energy. Magic seems to touch everything as the silver light shimmers upon the world.

Then Grandmother begins to cover her face, gently to withdraw. This is the
Waning Moon.
In a natural cycle which is very difficult to maintain in our high tech world, we women actually want to withdraw as well into a quieter place, becoming less outward and social, more being and less doing.

As the
Dark of the Moon
comes we are at our most inner place. Our menses begins. Going back to our true nature takes time and commitment. We have to stop and listen. We quietly have to listen within where our true beautiful woman lives.

The Moontime (bleeding time) is a time of retreat.

The traditional woman goes to a Moonlodge, a place of quietness and beauty, separate from daily activities. During these days of her bleeding she has the joy of doing nothing. No cleaning, cooking, taking care of others, being at her workplace etc. She is open to visions for her people, to bead, to be with other women who are on their monthly cycles and talk about life’s mysteries, and there is a time to be silly, for laughter and happiness.

Coming out of the Moontime, a woman comes back to the world. Now, Grandmother begins to uncover her face. As the tiny slice of the
New Moon
waxes fuller and fuller the time of activity starts again. And so the cycle goes on.

Within all of us is still a girl, a very young woman, hidden behind our  duties,  the “seriousness” of our lives, because we are now mothers, wives, employees, you name it. But the adventurous, mischievous girl is still right here.

Tell me about your “girl” within?

What would you tell a young woman today about becoming a woman?