Our blood rites or Rites of Passage are not recognised in modern western culture generally out with the typical 18th/21st birthdays, hen parties and baby showers, yet there is so much more to recognise, revere and celebrate. The rites of the Old Ways are beginning to re-emerge and woman are reclaiming their rites to themselves, their power, their autonomy, and are gathering with their sisters and elders to reconnect to the community, to the village, to the multi generational wisdoms and teachings. Celebrating each other and rejoicing in our life’s journey . We each change, evolve and grow continuously, this is life and it is beautiful.
The rites are identified by the Women’s Mysteries, the blood mysteries, acknowledged as you reach each milestone on your journey through life, or maybe identified by the archetype appropriate for you at this time i.e. you don’t have to 30 to have the Mother ceremony, you could be 17 or 45 or whenever it is appropriate for you, similarly for any of the Rites of Passage transitions.
Rites of Passage ceremonies ( Maiden, Mother, Wild Woman/Mage, Crone) can be conducted in a Sacred Circle format with your chosen guests (where discussion is encouraged and the sharing of experiences and stories from the different women present), as a 1-2-1 ceremony with me or as a ceremony where your guests witness you crossing these profound and sacred thresholds and share in the celebration of you at this special time.
Each ceremony is created specifically to the needs of the woman being celebrated and so is as personal, individual and special as she is.
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your
one wild and precious life?
Mary Oliver
::: Maiden (Menarche) :::
Menarche (pronounced “men-Ar-kee” or “men-arsh”) is our first and quite possibly most important of the Rites; this is when we honour our first blood and stepping into our cycling years and womanhood.
The Menarche is one of the oldest and most significant of the rites. The ceremony centres around the power of personal sovereignty, understanding how and why our bodies work the way they do and establishing the circle of women who will be there to guide, support and mentor this girl/young woman through her life. It is a gift of recognising her own needs in terms of physical and emotional health & well being, her capabilities, and establishing who she is and who she will become.
This ceremony is appropriate for young girls of 8 starting her period as it is for a young woman of 14, or even a woman of 73 who wishes to retrospectively celebrate and honour her rite of passage into womanhood. This is also a different and unique way to celebrate an 18th birthday, standing at the threshold of the rest of her life.
By acknowledging the importance of Menarche, we acknowledge and honour what being a Maiden means to the individual young woman. The gathering of women important to her (friend or family members) can learn from her, as well as teach her, by passing on the tools/skills/ wisdoms, they can equip her as she walks her path to fully realising the wonderful woman she is, celebrating her rite of passage and honouring her blood rite. Empowerment and sovereignty begins with connecting to and understanding the importance of body autonomy, of mind and of soul.
::: Mother (Birth) :::
Mother; such a loaded word. We all have one. We were all birthed from our mother’s womb, whether or not we know her. Mother; we will all be one whether or not we have have children.
That which you birth is that which you create.
The Mother archetype is the second phase in a woman’s life, following on from the Maiden phase. Typically, the Mother years span our 30’s, our caring, protecting, nurturing decade when we are in full bloom. This phase is archetypal of and embodies the mindset, maturity, emotions and feelings of the “Mother”.
The Mother phase may not seem applicable to you if you have chosen not to, or are unable to have children, but that does not rule out the Mother in you. She is the Creatrix of life; be that of children, career, project, your family of fur babies, and even of yourself! However you choose and what ever you create in this life, you are the Mother of that creation.
Ceremonies available to you to (re)claim and honour your Mother phase are:
Mother’s Blessing Celebration : awaiting the arrival of your child. We gather to share in your honour, as you are about to embark on your transition into Motherhood. A sacred baby shower, where the focus is on you and how we are celebrating and supporting you, today and into the future, post birth! The Mother’s Blessing is a beautiful and gentle ceremony.
30th Birthday Celebration : crossing the threshold from Maiden to Mother archetype; the caring, nurturing, creative years, whether that is regarding family or career or personal growth and expansion.
Ceremony to acknowledge and celebrate YOU and your accomplishments & achievements – Been awarded your PHD? Bought and moved into your first/own home? Healed your Mother Wound and are now being the Mother to yourself? Let us recognise you for who you are and what you have birthed into being in this world.
::: Wild Woman (Perimenopause) :::
::: Rite of Passage – Wild Woman (Peri/Menopause years) :::
Who is Wild Woman? Is she Lilith? Jezebel? Mary Magdalene? Asherah? Salome? Medusa? Rhiannon? Morgain Le Fey? Cerridwen? The Morrighan? Artemis? Diana? Samantha off of Sex and the City? Is She the one who runs with the wolves? Is She …You? Welcome the Wild Woman. The Enchantress, the Queen, the Witch, Matriarch or Mage. It doesn’t matter what you call her. She is real and this phase of your life needs acknowledging. You hold your power once you reclaim it and honour it for yourself.
The Wild Woman phase roughly spans years 42-63, but of course can be celebrated when it is appropriate to you!
This phase of life represents the journey into the autumn years of life, that magical time when you are in transition between the Mother and the Crone; the perimenopausal years moving from your fertile mothering years into that where you connect truly with who you are as a woman, owning your own person.
Many of us were wild and free in our Maiden years, wild with abandon and lack of responsibility. The wild of the Wild Woman years is wild from self empowerment, self knowing, from casting off the shackles of expectation and conditioning. The Wild Woman comes in to her own when she respects herself and doesn’t placate others to the detriment of herself.
Taking back your power as is your sovereign right. It’s a metamorphosis; a thing of beauty, but, in reclaiming this wild it may mean leaving behind those who will not support or “approve” of your growth. And wild is being okay with that. Acceptance. The wildness is yours to reclaim, embrace and own. Step into yourself, there is your power.
Ceremonies available in ceremony or circle format :
Menopause/Moonpause Celebration upon entering into the peri-menopause years and the wonders that these hold and/or rejoicing at the completion of the menopause.
40th Birthday Celebration : crossing the threshold from Mother to Wild Woman archetype. The step into midlife and the shedding of the skins to reclaim and revere and embody your inner wild self.
::: Crone (Postmenopause) :::
The Grandmother, the Elder Woman, the Sage, the Wise Woman with her crown of grey and white hair, the Crone. Who is she? She is a life time of memories, of life’s ups and downs. She has weathered storms a plenty and got the wrinkles and scars to prove it! She is the sum total of all she has experienced and is shaped by those experiences. She is a lived, aged, seasoned woman of worth.
The phase of the Crone comes into herself post menopausally, she is the guardian between the worlds, between life and death. She is not to be feared but revered. Now the mentor, the matriarchal figure, the woman who knows; she shares her knowledge and teaches her wisdoms with the younger women of her clan, her family, her community.
Menopause celebration – 365 days since your last period. Menopause has arrived and this is your celebration of Elder woman you are. You are standing at the threshold of the rest of your life and it’s a whole new phase to experience and explore, with new freedoms and new ways of learning to live within a cyclic life without an obvious cycle, whilst honouring the bloods you have shed and the sacred waters you have carried.
65th Birthday Celebration : crossing the threshold from Wild Woman to Wise Woman, the Elder archetype
Retiral celebration – crossing the threshold into your time; the phase of life that is yours live the way you want to, to do and experience the dreams you’ve been putting off all these years. The doorway to glorious possibility is open to and waiting for you to step forth and welcome you through.
All Rites of Passage ceremonies are priced from £125, including a non-refundable deposit of £50.
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