This month I have been paying close attention to the four inner seasons that are present during each week throughout my monthly moon menstrual cycle. This concept had been something I was familiar with and had been tracking week by week in the past, but had still pushed on with daily tasks without stopping to consider that there may be another way to do life, a way that may enable me to feel empowered and in fact more ‘productive’ than before.
I went into Day 1 four weeks ago by warping up my loom in red threads. If you have already been following along on social media you will know that I also happened to end up wearing red during that phase. My creative space became a red altar and I had this wonderful experience of colour immersion and therapy.
During the first days I wove an altar cloth with hues of maroon, bright reds, and of fibres cotton, wool, and silk. Some of the fibres were up-cycled from and old woollen jumper, I used what I already had around and did not purchase anything new. In this creative process I shut off the outside world, I went in, had minimal screen/digital time and dropped into a lush dreamy space, feeling more connected to myself and something far bigger than all of us.
As the days continued on, a morning ritual formed where by I found myself lighting a candle each morning, flipping the number cards, which represented my cycle day, and tuned into my body and all feelings. I felt seen, heard, and connected. It became apparent that it is not possible to offer yourself to the world in the same way every single day; which was something I had grown up believing and had had the constant wrestle within of ~ why can’t I charge forward and show up high energy all of the time.
From this process came something of an epiphany while the steam rose from the pot of hot porridge I was stirring one morning ~ In what shape or form may I (am I able to) offer my gift today? I also might add that I was only able to ask this question as I had been contemplating purpose and meaning in the week’s prior. This enabled me to see that perhaps each day what you offer may be of the same essence but may look very different. I want to talk more to this in another post, so I will leave this here.
In the weeks that followed I continued to warp up a new piece each week and weave in a colour that I felt resonated with my inner season. As Inner Summer (day 15 – 21) came around I was so out and about ‘doing’ in the world, help others in their lives, getting stuff done, I found it harder to sit and weave the piece that would represent this phase, alas it was finished in the end.
Just as my Inner Autumn was in full swing and I was preparing myself for the tense and edgy feeling I often feel at that time, I was surprised by Day 1 again on the new moon. For the first time in my adult life, being aware of these inner cycles, my cycle had lined up with the moon by arriving a couple of days early the past two months.
As always the loom offered me the opportunity to stop, slow down, drop in, and connect through making with my hands. I now have four coloured woven altar cloths that I use to represent the inner seasons of my cycle. They are for ritual, for reminding myself of where I am at, and in the future for my family to understand more about the ebb’s and flows of life, in themselves and in others around them.
A couple of resources I found helpful during this time were from @risingwoman blog and @red.school Menstruality podcast for all ages and phases of a women’s lives.
Here is a little chart of the menstrual phases and some words I have been working with which felt aligned for me, some of which have been inspired by other online resources.
