Entries by Linda

In August, I brought my seven year old daughter to the Northeast Women's Herbal Conference for the first time. It was my third conference, the first time I went was ten years ago...Three days of drumming, dancing, sharing, learning, teaching, laughing. Nearly 600 participants were there this time and it was a real treat to find(down a mosquito-ey path, in a yurt which pops up beside its mates  like a little fairy ring of mushrooms) a "Red Tent Temple".

Breathtaking beauty.

Texture.

Silence.

I read "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant years ago and have been part of independent red tent ceremonies before but this is BIG... this has gravity,unity, and power.

This project was initiated by visionary ALisa Starkweather who writes:

The Red Tent Temple Movement
is a way for women to take our inner momentum, that feeling like the
time is now and come forward with everything we are as women and give
us a place to incubate, dream, slow down, and not have an agenda or
plan. And simutaneously much is waiting for us in this not knowing
place but we need to make time for the empty space. It is also not only
empty space but woman space where we can share stories, laughter,
songs, food and honor our unique cycles that we experience each month
in our bleeding time and in our going through perimenopause and
menopause.

We
are looking for another way, a way that is more consistent with our
actual rhythms, cycles and ways of being in relationship to each other
that support, foster and give us strength and courage. Here in
the Red Tent we can journal, rest, receive or give energy work, draw,
read, share or listen to women’s wisdoms in the stories we share. We
cook one another food and drink teas for our wombs and bellies.

Learn more at www.alisastarkweather.com

Happy Moontime!

Linda

Internationally known for her empowering approach to women’s health and
wellness, Dr. Northrup is a leading proponent of medicine and healing
that acknowledges the unity of the mind and body, as well as the
powerful role of the human spirit in creating health. Following a
career as a practicing physician in obstetrics and gynecology for over
25 years, Dr. Northrup has dedicated her lifework to helping women (and
the men who love them) learn how to flourish on all levels by creating
health, prosperity, and pleasure in their lives. She says, “I’ve spent
the first half of my life studying and footnoting everything that can
go wrong with the female body—and figuring out how to fix it. I’m
dedicating the second half of my life to illuminating everything that
can go right with the female body, including teaching women how to
truly flourish.”

Her reflections on the cycle of menstruation helped me forge an understanding that blooms and bears fruit month after month at my bleeding time..and blossoms again when you read my words and let them enter you hearts.

Happy Moontime!

I am experiencing an acute case of Ovulatory Dissonance. Don't fret-- I 'm alright...it's a condition I just invented but I think it could sound familiar to many of you...

Today I am recovering from a few days with a sick kid. The projectile vomiting, the blazing fever, the body aches...Poor girl! But now that she is back to school I am playing catch-up. Blitzing the war-torn looking homefront, shuffling a mountain of work related papers, looking at looming grant deadlines and the like. I am cleaning the detrius of this disjointed week but my body doesn't like this idea.

I am ovulating.

My body is wondering where the bacchanal and bonfire are...? and where the party is?! My body wants to create, to be absolutely free, to quest. My life needs me to fold laundry, fill orders, and scramble for the answers to many, many tiresome finance questions.

So I am choosing to identify this disordered state before it swallows me whole.

What a full moon it has been!