Menstrual Magic
An Invitation to synchronise with the sacred biology of your moon cycle
The words ‘womb’ and ‘womb space’ are intended to be used interchangeably as all people, regardless of whether they have a uterus or not, have the capacity to connect with the Universal Womb through their own Womb Space, the seat of feminine energy in all bodies.
In the same breath the words ‘bleed’ and ‘menstruation’ include the ability for all (including those who have not or no longer menstruate) who wish to connect with a cyclical lunar relationship.
The Divine Feminine, The Divine YOU:
Qualities of the Feminine Aspect of Reality (not in any order of importance):
Abundance Presence
Fertility Darkness
Relaxation Beauty
Chaos Intuition
Pleasure Flow
Destruction Receptivity
Wildness Juiciness
Absorption Lusciousness
Fluidity
Taking these qualities into account, what is your connection with the feminine aspect of existence?
We are fortunate to live in these bodies that can nurture life and make it GROW. There is a resonant aspect to this microcosmic ability within ourselves and the macrocosmic harmonic of the same in Nature all the way to the outer reaches of the Universe.
Resultingly, it is possible to tap into the energetic aspects of this capacity to nurture and be nurtured and to extend that beyond ourselves to our loved ones and communities.
By embarking on a journey within, to the hidden places that hold the secret keys to our most harmonious expression, our TRUTH, we unlock oceans of energetic support that flows between us and the greater whole.
Connecting with yourself as you would a dear friend or a much-loved child, you are able to bring the frequency of unconditional positive regard and vision to your own life. What does she wish for herself? What do you wish for her? How would you help, advise and encourage her to seek out the harmonious and beautiful life that is her birthright?
Allow this frequency to be foundational in the vision you have for yourself, informing your choices and expression.
And the rest is, Magic..
Tuning In:
Becoming deeply in tune with our bodies and moon cycle is a way of synchronising ourselves with this abundant feminine energy. There is an incredible amount of information that we can derive from this synchronisation in order to guide our way forward and to flow in harmony with these forces to create the lives and the world that we wish to see.
Every season of our moon cycle holds physiological, emotional, mental, spiritual and practical qualities that we can lean into and harness for ease, flow and power in our lives. Aspects to observe include mood, energy, appetite, sleep, sexual desire, productivity, creativity, ability to focus, interest in socialising and need for movement and rest.
By tuning in we are able to understand why we feel the way we do and to relate our internal changes with our external behaviours and choices and therefore, as far as possible, tailor our lives to be in harmony with these inner workings.
Get To Know Your Hormones
The ‘average’ woman will have approximated 400 bleeds in her lifetime. There are a few hormones whose ebb and flow govern the menstrual cycle.
These include:
Gonadotrophin-releasing Hormone (GnRH)
Leutinising Hormone (LH)
Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)
We will focus our attention on the three that you may have heard about and will likely be able to tune in with and perceive in your own body as you become aware of their rising and falling waves:
Oestrogen
Physiology: Released by developing follicles in the first half of the cycle, appearance of more symmetrical features.
Emotional: Confers a sense of confidence, allure, sensitivity, fertility, feel good, swing in your step.
Practical: Picking up new skills.
Testosterone
Physiology: Peaks just before ovulation.
Emotional: Increases libido
Practical: Active, ambitious, sexy, competitive
Progesterone
Physiology: Dominates second half of cycle, released by corpus luteum which is the empty follicle on your ovary thar remains after the egg for that cycle has been released
Emotional: Quiet, calm, introspective, more cautious (sometimes anxiety, tearfulness, mood swings)
Practical: Staying in, comfort, dreaming and journalling
Seasons of Your Cycle:
Follicular phase: Menstruation to Ovulation
Your cycle is a reflection of overall health and what has been going on in your life, it is ALL connected and has an impact on how early or late, light or heavy, short or long and painful or pleasurable they are.
In fact, the effect of events and periods in your life on your cycles stretches back in time because the dormant or sleeping follicles that contain your immature eggs take over a year to develop to maturity in readiness for ovulation.
At around 190 days before ovulation they grow a blood supply and begin to respond to their environment.
The following timings are based on a 28-day cycle however normal cycles can be shorter or longer than this.
Winter
Days 0-7 (Menstruation)
Physiology: Day 0 is the first day your period is in full flow.
Your period is triggered by a drop in progesterone and oestrogen which causes a release of prostaglandins which constrict the blood vessels in the lining of the womb. The lining of the womb is deprived of oxygen, the cells die and are shed through your vagina as your period. Prostaglandins also stimulate the contraction of the smooth muscle layer of the wall of your womb to assist in the expulsion of the endometrium.
Once shed the lining of the womb is at its thinnest of approximately 4-7mm.
Physical: In this phase it is common to feel like you want to move more slowly, to spend less time out and about in groups and to tend to your own needs more. It may be a time to choose to do less or different physical activity than you are used to and to acknowledge the restorative nature of slowing down, even if entirely is not possible for you any small gesture of space-creation and self-care will be appreciated by your system and pay dividends.
Emotional: Can vary between feeling drained and feeling quietly contemplative. The former can be due to expecting yourself to do the things you do in the other parts of your cycle to the same extent without acknowledging the need for rest and self-care. This period in our cycle can be the only time we feel we have permission to legitimately slow down and say ‘no’ to things.
Spiritual: This is a magical phase during which we are most receptive and porous. If we are able to create some space to go inward and receive the wisdom of the Universe we are able to emerge from this phase with new insight and direction to guide how we use our energy in the new cycle. This is the time to set your intention for the next cycle.
Challenges: Feeling like you are unable to create adequate time for yourself, pushing through without being aware of the need to regenerate, feeling guilty for taking time out, starting up too quickly.
This is also a beautiful time for shedding and letting go. With our moon blood we are also able to let go emotional and mental patterns of thought and behaviour that are not serving us in order to create space and alignment within our whole systems for our most harmonious reality to magnetise closer to us.
Spring
Days 7-14 (Pre-Ovulation)
Physiology:
Here oestrogen produced by the dominant follicle (the one that has been selected to release its egg at ovulation) is at the forefront.
As the dominant follicle continues to ripen oestrogen levels climb and the lining of the womb thickens to about 10mm.
Oestrogen also encourages the production of cervical mucus by the glands in your cervix resulting in sometimes significant amounts of cervical mucus.
As you can imagine, this follicle that is producing oestrogen wants to be fertilised on a biological level hence the feel good, confident, sensual vibes that can be experienced in this high-oestrogen state. If you are not in a place where you are using this energy for procreating then you have a delightful opportunity to divert it to other aspects of your life that require hopeful, sensual, fertile energy such as business projects, art, playing with friends and children and moving your body in more powerful and challenging ways.
When oestrogen levels peak the ovum (egg) is released from the dominant follicle and you ovulate.
Physical: increased energy, motivation to move, increased cervical lubrication and fluid, increased sexual desire
Emotional: feeling vibrant, hopeful, excited, motivated, impulse to create and make things happen, light-heated, playful
Mental: the shoots of many ideas, potentialities and possibilities budding in your mind. This fizzing energy can sometimes result in distraction therefore being aware of this can help you to distil where this energy is best applied. This is a time to explore new possibilities and play about with them without committing yet
Spiritual: this is a moment when you can tune into the essence of what you are creating and bringing into the world. At this point you can use some of this blossoming energy to attune to the possibilities that speak to your heart in preparation for nurturing them into being as you move further into your cycle.
Challenges: overextending/overexposing yourself, tiredness, lack of focus.
Luteal Phase: Ovulation to Menstruation
Once the follicle has released the egg it retracts a bit, develops its own blood supply and becomes a progesterone-releasing corpus luteum (Literal translation: yellow-body).
Summer
Days 14-21 (Days leading up to and beyond Ovulation)
Physiology:
The first part of this season comes before ovulation when oestrogen is at its peak and it extends past ovulation when progesterone is on the rise and oestrogen levels are starting to drop.
Testosterone also peaks at this time, increasing your libido.
The progesterone output from the corpus luteum that governs the second half of the cycle.
Progesterone supports pregnancy in the event of fertilisation and has other benefits including reducing inflammation, calming the nervous system, soothing mood, improving sleep, slows everything down including the bowels and increasing appetite.
By the end of this season the lining of your uterus is approximately 18mm in preparation for the possibility of the implantation of a fertilised egg.
Physical: increased libido, increased physical stamina and energy, suppressed appetite due to higher oestrogen then increased appetite later on due to high progesterone, also possible diarrhoea due to increased oestrogen and possible constipation due to increased progesterone.
Emotional: increased confidence, sex appeal, enjoyment, vibrancy, sense of ease
Mental: talkative, outgoing, communicative, adventurous, sense of capability, motivated, saying yes to things, productivity, getting things done easily, taking up opportunities, feeling unstoppable, receiving constructive feedback, starting a project or course of study, networking
Spiritual: feeling expansive, hopeful, manifestatory
Challenges: overloading yourself (especially at other times in your cycle when you might regret having said yes to that engagement), restlessness, distraction
Autumn
Days 21-28 (Pre-menstruum)
Physiology: If there is no implantation the corpus luteum disintegrates and stops secreting progesterone which causes a drop in progesterone and oestrogen in preparation for shedding the lining of the womb and starting your sacred cycle once again for another turn around your embodies spiral of ever-becoming.
It is possible that transition into Autumn can feel a bit ‘wobbly’ as your oestrogen levels and all the va-va-voom they hold begin to decline. Being aware of this in your cycle gives the opportunity to be compassionate in your experience of yourself and to be prepared for the temporary mental and emotional states that go with this hormonal change.
Also oestogen makes us outgoing, libidinous and accommodating to those around us, sometimes beyond comfortable boundaries.
The removal of this rose-tinted oestrogenic stimulus can reveal our lives in the clear light of an Autumn day, helping us to see where we are overextending ourselves, what we are tolerating that does not need to be and the things that actually ‘get to’ us without being swept under the oestrogenic carpet.
Therefore this is an amazing time to review our lives and environment from this standpoint and make aligned and compassionate moves to re-arrange various aspects in order for the next cycle to feel more balanced and even more juicy.
Physical: decreasing physical energy, reducing libido and physical energy, bloating, painful breasts, constipation, headaches
Emotional: withdrawing and becoming more detached, reactive rather than responsive, more boundaries
Mental: more critical, less productivity, less ‘positive’, clarity, angst, irritation, exasperation, little tolerance for rubbish, deep thought, decision-making, editing and organising, speaking candidly
Spiritual: clarity, seeing things as they are, feeling into what serves you/not, setting boundaries
Challenges: keeping going as usual, emotional pain, being too harsh/critical, cutting things/people off aka. burning bridges
Deeper into Winter: Our blood is SACRED
Our wombs and womb spaces are microcosmic representations of the Womb of All Creation, the Universal Portal through which All Life has been birthed. As such, every womb space is connected to Pure Life Force.
When we still ourselves enough to allow the consciousness of our womb to guide our movements in the world we can trust that our actions are harmonised with the flow of pure life force feminine energy whose Nature is to be nurturing and abundant.
Throughout our cycle, by meditatively connecting with our womb space we can seed prayers and intentions into our ovae and moon blood and in this way we are literally praying with our bodies to align ourselves with this feminine life force and to communicate our deepest desires with her.
Suggestions for Noticing
When entering this practice it is useful to observe and be curious about the thoughts and feelings that arise in response to the shedding phase of our menstrual cycle. Some things to consider feeling into and journaling or creatively expressing about include:
· How you feel and relate to the notion and reality of your own blood. How do you respond when you see it up close?
What does it feel like to touch it and be intimate with it?
Do you feel inclined to flush it away without looking or can you marvel at what it contains and represents?
Where have your ideas about your moon blood and how you treat it come from?
· What are your beliefs (and what are the collective beliefs that have informed them) around moon blood and magical practice?
What is your relationship with taboo and questioning the origins of it?
What parts of yourself does taboo promise to keep you safe from?
Do you need to be kept safe from any parts of yourself?
· What is your relationship with the feminine aspect of Life/God/Spirit/Source Energy/Oneness?
What are the parallels between that relationship and your relationship with yourself?
· What is the expression of unconditional nurture, beauty and abundance that come through you?
What are your feelings about your deserving to receive that which you give?
Do you feel able and ready to access and receive the same?
How do you feel about creating space for rest, replenishment and receiving in this season of your cycle?
Consider a journey of contemplation of the Hermetic principle of
‘As within so without, As Above so Below’
in relation to this practice.
Coming Soon (if you want it I will create it so let me know via the contact form!):
Yoni steam practice
Menstrual Yoga and Journalling Practice
Vaginal and cervical anatomy