Magical Menstruation
How I tune into my cycle to find wisdom and guidance.
I started my very first period on my 13th birthday. What a gift!
I was a maturity-seeker when I was young, always excited for when I’d finally be initiated into the club of period-havers. Little did I know, this cycle would be an actual initiation I’d experience nearly monthly for the rest of my life.
I experimented with birth controls to try and find relief from my mood swings, painful cramps, and exhaustion. Not one of them made it any better and some made it even worse.
In my magical work now, I am undertaking a transmutation of the trauma that my lineage has experienced around the uterus, womanhood, motherhood, and the concept of the womb.
These themes have global and interdimensional meaning attached to them and accessing and acknowledging that can be very difficult. Not everyone is called to this kind of work, but I have found it to be rewarding.
As I experience a particularly difficult period, I thought I’d share how I magically interact with my biological cycle.
I’ll name that it isn’t every month that I can tap into the structure that I lay out here. I often go months totally out of touch with where my body is and what phase I am under. When I get back into this flow, I feel more centered and more “in my power” than when I am bumping up against the circumstances of life without the input of my body.
It is not always possible to engage in this deep, attentive way. In order to survive, we sometimes disengage from the cycle so we can tend to the more material aspects of life. Be gentle with yourself as these phases occur with or without your awareness.
If it requires uncomfortable effort to engage with menstruation as magic, then don't! Only do what you feel you are capable of and ready for.
This rhythm of magical menstruation is something that is composed for me and I have a suspicion that each person will receive their own rhythm from their ancestors, guides, or the intuitive exploration of their body.
You can also participate if you do not have a physical womb by syncing your practice intuitively, following the associated moon phases, or activating an energetic womb to listen to for guidance (or all three!).
Your practice is yours to create, customize, and come to understand. I hope that my experience can inspire something that is just perfect for you!
Bleeding Phase
Bleeding can sometimes be intense for me. I experience very painful cramping and full-body exhaustion. Often, the invitation of this time in the cycle is to rest. Shedding the lining of a uterus does take energy!
I have come to associate this time with purging. I allow my blood to carry away the things that no longer serve me. The blood itself is healing and transmuting all of the things I have absorbed during my cycle, sending them off into a rich river of magical flow.
I might create art with my blood as a ritual or gaze into a dish of it for the ocular effects- Like a bloody scrying stone.
The card I call upon during this time is The High Priestess. I feel my innate wisdom and intuition showing me the “why” behind any struggles, confusions, or conflicts that occurred inside and outside of me. I see the natural cycle of laying things to rest.
I am the rebirth.
Pre- Ovulation Phase
Biologically, this is the time during which our body “chooses” the egg that will make the journey and develop. The brain and the reproductive organs are in chemical communication to begin this process as we are bleeding.
I imagine the egg as an entity in itself, becoming healthy enough to travel during ovulation as it travels.
While I don’t often feel this phase in my body, I ritually mark it by the first day after my bleeding ends. I will celebrate this day with meditations on gratitude or by doing a yogic flow that feels good to my body. Dancing is another way I can honor this egg and the DNA of future generations it carries.
The card I choose is The Magician. I am in the garden of my own manifestation power with all of my tools. I might take action during this time, like submitting content to a publication or emailing a colleague to collaborate.
I am the celebration of life.
Ovulation
During this time, I meditate with my abundance energy. This is a time that I feel magnetic, social, and beautiful. My energy is often up and my mood is blowing in the wind like a palm tree in a hurricane.
I feel the pangs of ovulation cramps and experience a rich, lovely discharge during this time. I allow myself to feel and embody all my feelings- Including the irritability that comes with the hot flashes I experience and the occasional crying at the drop of a hat.
My creative vibrations are usually in full swing and I utilize this energy to put work into my projects. I also engage with magical masturbation, interacting with my libidinal energy to do spellwork and connect with the spirit world.
The tarot card energy of this time is The Empress. Abundant and in synch with the richness of nature, I land into the reality that all of the things we need as human beings are built into us and around us.
I am nature.
Pre- Menstruation Phase
This is the phase most commonly associated with PMS (premenstrual syndrome). I share a particularly difficult experience of this time with the women in my family, so I often feel connected to my ancestors in a sweet and magical way- Even though I’m in the throws of emotionality.
During this time I will meditate with my ancestors, do card readings for myself, and indulge in lots of journaling. Conflicts may arise in my life for me to better understand my journey on Earth and, even in the midst of mood swings, I welcome them. I engage in rage rituals and shadow work.
The card I lean on during this time is Strength. I commune with my guides around themes like boundaries, expression of my divine feminine rage, and protection.
I am sovereign.
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It has been a great joy tuning into my energies and making love to parts of myself that I used to despise or resent. I have found that it is not just my mind that is a psychic instrument but my entire body. There is access to deeper perception in every cell of me and every cycle of nature.
If you have any other experiences with this kind of cycle work, please share! I would love to hear of other ways that this mechanism has been channeled into wisdom.
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