by Donáh Ollila

Why are we trying to control what nature has created? It is one thing for us have the option to control pregnancies, women have been doing this since the beginning of time. Even when we did not have the option of the pill, we used herbs.

There use to be a time that we honored our menstrual cycles. We saw it as a gift from the mother. It allowed us to create new life. It was an honoring that we had left the hour of the maiden and entered into the second cycle of life – the mother. Then when this cycle ended, we entered into the time of the crone, and became the wise women of the village. During our cycles, we went to a place called moon lodges. This was a time to move inside of ourselves and be still. Women took that time off from daily chores and taking care of others. We went to the moon lodge to rest and connect to our intuitive selves. It is during this time that we received visions from the world beyond. These visions came to us in dreams, and were messages to bring back to the villages. Our menstrual cycles were considered sacred. Read more…

by Jessica Schafer

When I first read Anita Diament’s The Red Tent three years ago, I had never thought about what menstruation was like for women thousands of years ago. If I had thought about it, I probably would have shuddered at the idea. The Red Tent made me think again. Sure, it was probably messy, with no tampons and only homemade rags as pads. It was also probably really unhygienic considering how little people bathed in general. But Diament weaves a really compelling picture of what menstruation might have meant to women in pre-modern times.

Because The Red Tent is an incredibly rich and complex historical novel, I will just focus on two things that intrigued me about Diament’s description of menstruation:

• It was a communal experience. The title refers to the tent women retired to at the New Moon at the onset of their period. They stayed together in the tent, sitting on straw, resting, relaxing and eating sweets for three days. During those three days they didn’t have to do any work and simply enjoyed being together and celebrating their days of rest. Read more…

The environment and the economy drive women to reconsider
the negative impact of their feminine hygiene choice

Tough, uncertain economic times coupled with continued concern for the environment is driving consumers to reevaluate every aspect of their purchasing power. In particular, an overlooked culprit of landfill waste and pollution has the attention of women, worldwide. Disposable feminine hygiene tampon and pad products are coming under scrutiny as alarming statistics point to how they significantly contribute to landfill volume, as well as pollution. Diva International Inc., makers of The DivaCup® (www.divacup.com), a silicone menstrual cup, see the momentum for the revolutionary concept growing.
Read more…

Why have 12 lame periods a year when you can have just one, extremely violent, psychologically damaging menstruation?

You can also watch the clip HERE on The Huffington Post.

I was one of the lucky ones. My mom sat me down before the big red day of surprise came, intent to give me the big talk about my body and how it was going to be changing soon. 

It was a summer day, not much earlier than my 9th birthday. I don’t know if she sent away to Good Housekeeping or if it was from the dollar store, or what, but she brought home this now-you-are-becoming-a-woman-kit, filled with: a 1974 booklet complete with drawings of women and their bodies (that looked nothing like mine), stories about what an amazing and scary time this is, a belted and belt-less maxi-pad, a tampon, instructions on how to use these items, and some really smelly bubble gum lip goo from Bonnie Bell (not sure what the inclusion of this last item was about). She sat me down, looked at me in a sort of I-am-SO-sorry mashed up with oh-how-precious-is-my-little-girl-woman, and told me about how my body was going to change. She said that it was going to grow things like hair in funny places, breasts, and I would smell funny. She told me not to worry, that all women go through it, I was not alone. She would teach me how to shave (which is a whole other horror story) and be there to answer my questions. Then she sent me to my room to with my new menses kit, to read and “play” with my new womanly stuff. Read more…

We can reclaim the wisdom of the menstrual cycle by tuning in to our cyclic nature and celebrating it as a source of our female power. The ebb and flow of dreams, creativity, and hormones associated with different parts of the cycle offer us a profound opportunity to deepen our connection with our inner knowing. This is a gradual process for most women, one that involves unearthing our personal history and then, day by day, thinking differently about our cycles and living with them in a new way.

- Christiane Northrup MD, Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom

from NWHRC’s Your Menstrual Cycle guide

the reminder
brown first
faint warning of blood
so many hues of red and eggplant
impossible that only half humanity knows
this mystery exists inside
tangible
alarming

I am capable of miracles

- Jess is a Soulsister, as well as a writer and poet. Her review of The Red Tent is part of this blog series.

This week at LivingSexuality.com, we’re going to be talking about all things period-related. This may seem an odd choice — why would I pick menstruation as the theme for my first ever blog series? Isn’t that something most of us try to avoid thinking about?

(And why isn’t there a better word? Period … Menses … Menstruation … I mentally trip over these words every time I type them.)

Well, I have been thinking about it a lot lately, precisely because my menstrual cycle has been completely out of whack. I didn’t have a period all summer, and then when I got it, I had it for 15 days. I went from scared (baby #4? Oh dear God…), to relieved (the Dollar Store pregnancy test was right! No preggers!), to annoyed (seriously? 15 days?). My period trouble was due to a medical issue (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome), which I am now addressing, but the experience of riding that emotional roller-coaster made me realize how much power periods have.

If you’re a woman, you’ve probably experienced both the relief of getting a period, and the crushing disappointment. When we don’t want a baby, we pray for blood. We are desperate for blood, cramps, the whole shebang! All we can think about is how badly we must have a period … But when we do want a baby, getting our period can feel like failure. Our body has turned against us, depriving us of what we want most.

For some, monthly menses is a celebration of womanhood — a common thread that weaves through all our lives. A connection to past, present and future generations.

And for others, a menstrual cycle is a monthly reminder of a part of themselves they want to forget.

I hope to capture all of this varied emotion around menses, hoping that we can find a way to honor ourselves and our bodies. I hope you will join me in learning from wise women who have experiences and knowledge to share. And I hope you will share your story as well.

View all posts for the series