Lunar Eclipse
Deep indigo, no moonlight
Wholeness within, perfect time
Creative children to birth
Women's Cyclical Nature
Women are accustomed to the snake-like process of shedding
our skins and taking on new roles, identities, and even personalities. It is
part of our physical nature to go through periodic cycles, beginning with the
onset of menses.
Sometime between ten and fifteen, our bodies indicate that
childhood is over. Monthly ovulation signals that we can become child bearers.
Similar to the cycles of the moon, these monthly rhythms are sometimes referred
to as moon cycles. Each month our body prepares to nurture an egg. When an unfertilized
egg passes through the uterus, our body begins to slough off the blood it had prepared
for a placenta that would have nurtured a fertilized egg. As that cycle ends, a
new one begins.
With the onset of menses, girls give up identifying with
dolls and take on the “temptress” role. This may eventually lead to finding a
mate who will take us through another rite of passage - from fecund female to
nurturing mother.
At a deep unconscious level, this snake-like “sloughing off”
becomes second nature. And even though change is natural and even desirable, it
is still difficult. Especially since the beginning of a new cycle is often
prefigured by depression, restlessness, or unease related to a sense of losing
one’s former self.
In terms of social roles, some women go through new stages
of life as often as every ten years. For others it may be every twenty or
thirty years. The mothering identity is so strong that as beloved children
begin to leave the nest, some women lose touch with their cyclical nature and
begin to panic. They may have affairs or a late-life child in order to prolong
a role that had come to seem total and all encompassing.
Menopause represents a big moon cycle, in fact, an eclipse
of our moon. What appeared in our teenage years begins to wane and disappear.
It is mega skin-shedding time and signals that we will no longer have monthly
reminders that life is cyclical. In sloughing off our childbearing capacity, we
experience strange new energies and impulses and greater self-awareness. It’s
an opportunity to reinvent our selves.
Experiencing a peak of power and strength, post-menopausal
women find Western society’s image of “retirement” or “senior citizen” problematic.
The male model of retirement does not fit our nature. Rather than withdrawing
from social engagement to reconvene on the golf course, we are ready to
reposition our selves within a larger social scene. All our previous experience
has shown us that whether it is giving up our mothering role, transitioning a
twenty to thirty year career, or leaving a demanding 9-5 job, this is an evolution
to a new self-image, the dawn of a fertile era.
Embracing the
Fullness of Being You
At each stage of life a woman must bring all her creative
energies to bear on giving shape to her authentic self, the one within and yet
beyond the nubile young maiden, the supportive mother, or the responsible
worker. We must shed our former identities and social norms to release our
creative powers and give birth to new ventures.
It is precisely because life transitions, though natural,
are difficult that I have developed a series of seven creativity and personal transformation workshops called Something
More. Utilizing creative processes such as visual art, personal writing, and facilitated individual and group reflection, each session provides in depth conversation with other women who are ready to discover their personal wellsprings for generative living. I am offering these five-hour workshops for the first time this year here in Eugene.
Who am I? Acknowledging My Current State
Oct 12 Awakening
My Untapped Potential
Nov 16 Dreaming
My Authentic Self
What do I want? Visioning My Desired Path
Dec 14 Owning
My Personal Power
Jan 18 Visualizing
My Ideal Future
Feb 15 Realizing
All That I Can Be
Where am I going? Actualizing My Awesome Capacities
Mar 15 Opening
to New Vistas
Apr 12 Singing
My Being into Existence
Whatever transition you are in, trust that the gentle beauty
of a new moon follows the lunar eclipse. Relish it.
