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Maiden, Mother, Crone....the Cycles of Womanhood Honored

Writer's picture: Stella DaviesStella Davies

Updated: Jun 28, 2024



At 55 years old, after dancing along the menopausal path for a number of years, I was diagnosed with pre-cancerous cells in my uterus, and recommended to have a full hysterectomy.


I was pretty nervous about this, for a number of reasons. First of all, I had experienced some horrendous menopausal symptoms, including having a period of time (like, a couple of months) when I couldn't sleep past 1am.....The resulting sleep deprivation I will leave up to your imaginations, but it wasn't pretty. Back then, after trying every complementary therapy/supplement/technique known to woman to get some sleep (including of course all the things I teach!) I was supremely grateful to Western medicine and bio-identical hormones for helping me through this highly traumatic patch (imagine having PTSD about going to bed!!). I also had all the other stuff no-one really talks about in the public sphere when you are going through menopause - brain fogginess, mood swings, weepiness, fatigue etc etc to name a few. Ladies, you know what I am talking about....But with all this going on, we are expected to just carry right on, regardless, juggling all the things women do (kids, household stuff, caring for your elderly parents, work etc), when all you want to do is curl up into a ball under the duvet!! Would surgery create this for me all over again?


I was nervous about surgery because it meant I was very suddenly going into post-menopause, and was I really ready for that??? How would my body respond?? My psyche?? Would I be able to keep up the levels of energy that I had been used to all my life?? It was a scary prospect for sure, and I grieved (alot, I am not going to lie) the potential loss of my organs and was fearful of this new identity. Was I ready to traverse from the Mother Archetype to the Wise Woman (or Crone) Archetype literally overnight?


But the Universe has a magical way of presenting us with exactly what we need at the right time (have you noticed that??!!) One of my oldest friends in the UK sent me a book called Wise Power (by Alexandra Pope & Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer), about the power of transitioning into our post-menopausal years and the wisdom and potent medicine of menopause, if we listen deeply enough to its message.


I was spellbound from the first page, because here were two women who saw menopause not as something to be medicalized, but as a powerful initiation into our final 'Calling', the ultimate reason our soul incarnated!! More than that, they saw each menstrual cycle that we experience as women, as a series of mini 'practices' for this rich, potent and wise time of our lives, like 'mini initiations'. And they offered ways to acknowledge and support this cyclical process.


Reading on about how they saw the menstrual cycle, I recognized myself in their words.

I had always seen the menstrual time of the month as a sacred and 'special' time of deep intuition and magic; a power time. I had also recognized the stages we go through in the month, how our energy as women peaks and troughs, and that we cannot always be 'go, go, go...' all month - that these peaks and troughs need honoring to maximize their potential power, and that they they connect to the waxing and waning of the moon, who guides our cycles (I spoke about honoring the other important cycles in our lives, the seasons, in a recent blog about the summer solstice).


Our society, however, does not honor cycles. Not at all. We live in a linear world where we are expected to always have the foot on the metaphorical 'gas'. Mentioning periods at all is still highly taboo in most circles, and so is menopause, unless you find yourself in a group of similar aged women comparing symptoms, or having a good laugh about it! I had not, however, found myself in a setting, ever, where someone spoke to me about the powerful energetic shifts both menstrual and menopausal experiences create - and how we can be with them in sacred and deeply meaningful ways to allow us to experience their full magic.

Fortunately I had sensed this myself, and found some simple rituals and ways of being to honor the menstrual cycles myself, but a whole way of being devoted to honoring them. This was new!


So watch this space dear ones. I am feeling a deep stirring in my soul to learn more from these authors who run an awesome company called 'The Red School' in the UK (https://www.redschool.net). Check them out!


I sense that something is wishing to be birthed in me around this whole topic, and I am excited to listen in deep and explore what may wish to be shared going forward!


In the meantime, although I am still recovering from surgery, miraculously (after the doc. removed a bunch of endometrial scar tissue as part of the procedure) my lower back has never felt more frisky, and I am now super excited to enter this new phase!! I am definitely a Crone in training (a Cronette!) but open to whatever Calling is wishing to be realized in me as I embark on this phase of my life. Looking forward to sharing whatever wisdom I may glean from it with the Tribe.....


Blessings

Stella xxx













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