Menarche Ritual

[shadowdancer]

My daughter is 10, heading quickly toward womanhood. I have read a lot about menarche rituals; gifts to give, who to invite, the body of the ritual itself; but I am curious to hear from all of you. Did any of you have a menarche ritual? Did you or do you plan to have one for your own daughters? Do you know of any good sites that talk in-depth about menarche rituals? Any ideas, advice, experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks sisters.

Teresa

[karen joy]

How wonderful you are planning this for your daughter! I had heard Susun tell a story about her daughter, though Justine would have to tell if it is true [;)], that she didn't want to tell her mom about the start of her bleeding... not for the usual reason of embarrassment, but so her mom wouldn't do some kind of celebration! [:D]

I think [url="http://www.susunweed.com/Book-Moon%20Days.htm"]Moon Days: Creative Writings about Menstruation[/url] has some info/stories in it on this. I'll have to think about others...

[Talamh]

Hello Shadowdancer,

My daughter is already twelve and I think she still has a few months to go before her moontime comes, but I am definitely wanting to do something. You might want to check with her how she feels about it. Like Justine, my daughter did not feel comfortable having the huge party I wanted to throw. She only wants to have the closest women of our family (my mother and mother-in-law, my sister and my sister-in-law) to have a fancy dinner where we will dress beautifully to honor our blood power.

I realized that the feast I wanted to give her was a manifestation of how grateful and joyful I am to be a woman. It would have been the exhuberant celebration of a self assuming woman in full bloom [:D]. Not that of a shy, budding woman. Out of respect for her, I will celebrate her entry into womanhood in a way that resemble her, here and now.

Maybe one day, we will celebrate joyfully together, when she is older and more comfortable! What a celebration that would be!

Keep sharing, as I am interested in anything you might find on this subject. Who knows? My daughter might change her mind in the next few months?

Blessings to you and your daughter!

[Joanne]

Hi Shadowdancer!

I think it's wonderful that you are doing this and helping her honor being a woman and moontime. I just found a couple of links to share
that you might already have seen. The first two links are rituals and the last link is books that might help. Basically, I guess it's whatever she wants to make her day special and wonderful. I still honor my moontime by setting up my space with red candles, red flowers, moonstone, etc....I just recall staying home from school, resting that day, having dinner and my father brought me red carnations.

http://www.mothering.com/15-0-0/html/15 ... rche.shtml

http://groups.msn.com/SacredOakTree/yourwebpage41.msnw


http://www.celebrategirls.com/readings.html books on women's ceremony,etc...

[Anonymous]

I found this site doing a search on menarche, and landed on the forum when the subject of menarche rituals was being discussed in mid February. I was thrilled to see my site, www.celebrategirls.com, mentioned on one person's reply. My mother and I created this First Moon Kit several years ago. This past year several of us in the San Francisco area founded The Red Web Foundation. Our mission is to provide education and resources towards a positive attitude about menarche, menstruation and menopause. We are a collective of many women providing services or products. Our web site is www.theredweb.org. We believe that honoring the first period is very important for girls. I would enjoy hearing from women who had positive experiences at menarche and how you believe this impacted how you felt about becoming a woman.

[moon-daughter]

I cannot recall where I read this, but one author celebrated her daughters first moon-time by allowing her to choose a new name to include (legally) with her own. I really love that!
I wonder what new name I would have chosen at 14 (little hippy-chick that I was)
I had planned to have my girls ears pierced, and to present her with rubies (her birthstone) but alas, she talked her dad into early piercing. The earrings will still work as a special gift.
At the one celebration that I attended, we gave celebratory gifts to honor the young woman, the foods were red (!) and we all told stories, and offered advice. It was lovely, somewhat like a blessingway for her. I hand stitched a velvet bag for her to keep her whatevers in.
The downside was that her mother did it as a surprise. I don't reccommend doing that.
Blessings on this journey!

[shadowdancer]

Thank you so much for everyone's ideas. I have bookmarked the sites and plan to visit them at time allows. (time?? LOL) She is definitely excited about her menarche ceremony and I think this summer we will take more time to plan everything out so we are prepared. Please feel free to post more ideas as they come to you and I will try my best to get back with what we come up with as we plan.

Blessings

~Teresa

[Anonymous]

Dear Teresa,

Another great resource: Joan Marais' book: A Time to Celebrate: A celebration of a girl's first menstrual period. You can find it at www.joanmorais.com. Joan has three daughters so she has had some practice. Planning everything with your daughter is fabulous. I too, would not recommend a surprise party.

Helynna

[Delicious]

It is a very old post?

[MaidenMotherCrone]

My daughter started her Moon Blood just 2 days ago at age 11.5. It happened in the evening just before bed, so after a long talk and many hugs ... and a few tears from her (she was afraid that she would have to give up childish things ... I assured her that her desire to play soccer with the boys and run around a park are normal and she should do it).

After she finally went to sleep, I went and bought her a beautiful bouquet of pink roses and baby's breath and some chocolate. I wrote a letter to her to tell her how loved she is and how special she is. She awoke in the morning to find the gifts.

We will be going out to get her ears pierced and have a special dinner together. She nixed the idea of having a gathering of Goddess-centered womyn and said she just wanted a quiet dinner. Part of me really wants to have the gathering, but it is her time and I should respect that. Right?!!

Any other ideas would be great. Will look at the Red Web info and the other links mentioned.

Thanks
Cheryl

[anita]

Sounds beautiful! Congratulations!