Rituals ~ First Menstruation

 

Do you remember the first day of your menstruation? I do, and I think most women have this day seared in their memory. It was the day that we left childhood behind and became something magickal and remarkable...Women.

From the moment that I first learned about menstruation through a fifth grade class film, I looked forward to this momentous experience, this amazing and beautiful transition. I was prepared for it, I was impatient for it, I was awed by it, and I welcomed it, and all that came with it-- the discomfort, the inconvenience, it didn't matter. All that mattered was the miracle my body had become.

It's a sad fact that our culture, our western society, tends to be very secretive about this topic in general, and a girl's first menstruation in particular. It's all hush-hush, like some dirty little secret best kept under wraps. How awful that we make our girl-children self-conscious and maybe even ashamed of such a stupendous event, a once-in-a-life time "first".

So let's change this. Let's celebrate a girl's entrance into womanhood with congratulations, cheer, laughter, and merriment. Whether it be your daughter, granddaughter, or niece, prepare a celebration to mark this first major milestone in her young life.

Ritual Suggestions:

• First, let's establish that this celebration is for women only. It's our moment, it's all about the feminine perspective. It's a celebration given by women for a new young woman. Those gathering should be female friends and relatives.

• The moon phase will be the full to waxing moon; and it would be delightful if the young woman's first period coincided with this phase of the moon, but if it not, you can improvise. Either plan the celebration around the actual date of first menstruation, or plan the celebration around the appropriate moon phase, or the Full Moon following this event.

Items needed:

• 1. a white lace tablecloth
• 2. three pillar candles: white, green, and red
• 3. flowers: primroses, for the table
• 4. Incense: patchouli
• 5. matches

How do we decorate the table for a First Menstruation Celebration?

One way is to choose one of the goddesses who will be invoked and honored during this celebration, and in this case, I'm going to choose the maiden goddess Artemis. This celebration will actually be bidding her, and this first phase of life, good by. We're going to use candle colors, herbs, and such that align with Artemis to honor the Maiden this young woman is leaving behind, emphasizing that each magickal phase of a woman's life gives her an opportunity to learn and to grow into the mature woman she is meant to be, and each phase moves along naturally, according to nature, transitioning smoothly.

The table will be decorated with a white lace cloth, pretty and feminine. The flowers will be pink primroses; the candles will be green and white and red; the incense will be patchouli.

Fill the table with favorite goodies and sweet treats. Light the white and green candle and the incense.

• Keep everything casual, light-hearted, and fun. But at some point during this celebration, the young woman and her mother, or a chosen female friend representing the Mother, should stand together at the table and in unison, their hands joined, extinguish the white candle and light a red pillar candle in honor of the occasion.

This is representative of the Mother welcoming the Maiden; it's representative of a girl's transition from childhood to womanhood. By extinguishing the white candle, we bid adieu to one phase of life and set out on a path that will lead to another. Other women gathered at the celebration can come forward to hug, kiss, and congratulate the young lady on her passage, perhaps giving her presents (a significant pendent necklace, perhaps), flowers, and such.

(O' Joy, I am the woman I dreamed of being!)

The most important thing is that this milestone, this awesome all important event in a girl's life is celebrated and acknowledged.

SOURCE:

The Spiritual Feminist

"So many people throughout my life have told me who I am, what I must do, what I can't do, what I have to complete, and what I will never be able to accomplish, and then I met the Goddess." (From The Spiritual Feminist) ...The Spiritual Feminist empowers today's modern woman through the Goddess, connecting her to ancient matriarchal divinity and spiritual practices which invoke this energy. It embraces the essence of womanhood in its entirety, through mental, physical, and spiritual affirmations, connecting personal energy and lives through the four elements--Earth, Air, Water, & Fire, with affirmations and invocations.