{"id":4403,"date":"2010-11-01T01:10:59","date_gmt":"2010-11-01T06:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=4457"},"modified":"2010-10-25T12:08:51","modified_gmt":"2010-10-25T17:08:51","slug":"pagan-parenting-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2010\/11\/01\/pagan-parenting-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Pagan Parenting"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Celebration of Transformation<\/strong><\/p>\n

Earlier in the year I wrote about celebrating the change from Maiden to Mother with a Blessingway<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0 This month I wanted to share another new or revitalized tradition that is becoming a part of our culture; the honouring of menarche.\u00a0 Menarche<\/a> is derived from two Greek words meaning: moon and beginning and refers to the first menstrual period.\u00a0 Arguably this transition could be called the step a girl takes from child to maiden.\u00a0\u00a0 As pagans we try to celebrate the body in all its functions and this change is so pivotal and yet we often don\u2019t acknowledge it much beyond purchasing the necessary products and passing the Midol.<\/p>\n

North American society approaches menstruation with kid gloves or with disdain.\u00a0 This \u201ctime of the month\u201d is not looked at as sacred or introspective but as a nuisance that brings discomfort and pain and removes women from normal, everyday life.\u00a0 Many women do experience terrible symptoms during this time and those should be taken seriously and not judged either, but how much of these physical symptoms are reflections of our culture\u2019s views?\u00a0 Would we still feel so sick if we were able to honour what are bodies were doing rather than trying to pretend nothing is happening?<\/p>\n

For our daughters, nieces, cousins and granddaughters we have the power to change perceptions around our periods and empower them rather than allow this huge moment in their lives to go unmarked by celebration.<\/p>\n

Family covens, circles, family, girlfriends; the type of ritual created to honour that special girl in your life can be elaborate or simple depending on the person\u2019s preference.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0There are examples<\/a> out there of rituals to get ideas from and slowly the internet is starting to present options for women who choose to see the mysteries of their bodies with reverence rather than shame.\u00a0 Here are some other links for you if you plan on hosting such a party or if you want to plan one for yourself:<\/p>\n

Moon Days: Creative Writings about Menstruation<\/a><\/p>\n

Period: A film about the end of Menstruation<\/a><\/p>\n

My personal story about my relationship with my period<\/a><\/p>\n

Menarche Party Ideas<\/a><\/p>\n

Celebrating Menarche<\/a><\/p>\n

I am also interested in sharing stories about transformation rituals for boys.\u00a0 Since their change is more subtle I have not heard of a specific name that is being used to describe this time.\u00a0 Please email me with any ideas or comments regarding celebrating boy\u2019s transformations or any other comments at: stonegirl1177 AT yahoo DOT ca.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Celebration of Transformation Earlier in the year I wrote about celebrating the change from Maiden to Mother with a Blessingway.\u00a0\u00a0 This month I wanted to share another new or revitalized tradition that is becoming a part of our culture; the honouring of menarche.\u00a0 Menarche is derived from two Greek words meaning: moon and beginning and refers to the first menstrual period.\u00a0 Arguably this transition could be called the step a girl takes from child to maiden.\u00a0\u00a0 As pagans we try to celebrate the body in all its functions and this change is so pivotal and yet we often don\u2019t acknowledge it much beyond purchasing the necessary products and passing the Midol. North American society approaches menstruation with kid gloves or with disdain.\u00a0 This \u201ctime of the month\u201d is not looked at as sacred or introspective but as a nuisance that brings discomfort and pain and removes women from normal, everyday life.\u00a0 Many women do experience terrible symptoms during this time and those should be taken seriously and not judged either, but how much of these physical symptoms are reflections of our culture\u2019s views?\u00a0 Would we still feel so sick if we were able to honour what are bodies were doing rather than trying to pretend nothing is happening? For our daughters, nieces, cousins and granddaughters we have the power to change perceptions around our periods and empower them rather than allow this huge moment in their lives to go unmarked by celebration. Family covens, circles, family, girlfriends; the type of ritual created to honour that special girl in your life can be elaborate or simple depending on the person\u2019s preference.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0There are examples out there of rituals to get ideas from and slowly the internet is starting to present options for women who choose to see the mysteries of their bodies with reverence rather than shame.\u00a0 Here are some other links for you if you plan on hosting such a party or if you want to plan one for yourself: Moon Days: Creative Writings about Menstruation Period: A film about the end of Menstruation My personal story about my relationship with my period Menarche Party Ideas Celebrating Menarche I am also interested in sharing stories about transformation rituals for boys.\u00a0 Since their change is more subtle I have not heard of a specific name that is being used to describe this time.\u00a0 Please email me with any ideas or comments regarding celebrating boy\u2019s transformations or any other comments at: stonegirl1177 AT yahoo DOT ca.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/72"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4403\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}