I enjoyed many parts of this chapter. It inspired me to become more interested in teas and i think I want to create some sort of feather embellishment to wear in my hair on the daily as a visual remembrance of the order of Maat. I will post more about that in the Craft Circle soon. Do any of you order loose teas online? If so where do you purchase from? I am also looking for raspberry seeds, as I would like to grow a small patch of my own...any thoughts or resources of where you order herbal and food seeds off line? I wish I had a backyard, because I would go all out and create a womb garden...filled with herbs,plants, and flowers that are good for the womb..wouldn't that be neat, and have some womb art in the midst of it or womb affirmations painted on garden stones and stakes...one day...one day! But for now, I will create on the patio...LOL. Okay here are my highlights:
pg. 43: "And you've kept saying, No, thank you, Ive got to hold on to it. "I've got to hold on to it. I've got to hold on to it. I've got to keep holding on to it, even if it kills me. And then it begins to- with womb cancer or hysterectomies or radiation therapy, all caused by holding on to our hurts and pains. So many things have been done to our wombs without our conscious awareness, and some things were indeed conscious acts."
pg. 46: "If we don't relate to our wombs and resolve our inner womb conflicts, the spirit of the womb dries up, and we are numbed, or the womb releases a stench because we are bitter, or it's crowded out by a tumor and destroys our creativity. Worse, it can fester and drip and create even more serious diseases that causes our wombs to rot and then be lost through hysterectomy."
pg. 47: "If a womb is damaged in any way- if it has experienced heavy menstrual bleeding or PMS, if it has sustained numerous infections, fibroids, or tumorous growths, if the womb area has been cut or bruised, or chemically sprayed, if it has experienced invasion or abuse by a sexual partner, if it has been harmed by abortions or a hysterectomy-then a womans level of creativity and inspiration, stability, success in relationships, fertility levels, and joy are potentially impaired."
pg. 49: "You don't have to find an answer when you ask the question. Just go to sleep. When you wake up, it will come to you."
pg.52: I learned to pack mud over my pelvis. The healing properties of the mud seeped into my womb and pulled out my pain. I drank bush tea of red raspberry and dandelion. I placed my legs up against the wall at a forty-five-degree angle to send healing energy throughout my womb. By birth of my second child I had begun drinking green juices every day to strengthen my Body Temple."
pg.54: "Finally I heard a lecture that totally transformed my life. the speaker said that we absorb every man we've ever been with. that men want it all the time because they're cleansing themselves through us. we're the absorbers. So I'm walking around with everybody still in me."
pg. 55: "Don't make decisions just before your period because you can't sort things out. your hormones have you going all different ways. But right after your period, there's all that light."
pg.56: "Crying creates room for the healing to take place."
pg.61: Breathing Healing Light into the Womb: "Slowly breathe into your womb the color white for cleansing. Now breathe in red/orange for power and energy. next comes a deep shade of blue for peace. Breathe the color green into your womb for abundant wellness. Then breathe purple into your womb for spirituality, pink for divine love, violet for high womb consciousness, then gold for prosperity, and finally breathe a fine clear yellow into your womb for the higher mind."
pg.65: "Drink Sacred Women's Herbal Tonics in honor of the womb. Choose the tonic according to your need. For example, if you have tumors, use goldenrod; if you have heavy bleeding, use shepherd's purse; if your womb needs toning, use raspberry; if your womb needs strengthening, use dandelion."
I'm Feeling Myself
I really took time out to feel myself - felt like touching places I'd forgotten about. Normally when my flow arrives them hasty cramps tend to follow but this time they didnt, I was surprised! I've been consistant with my stretching/yoga and found that it does help when Bloody Mary comes to visit. I feel a lot better when I stretch, I've even started walking my dogs on the regular, just been trying to incoporate all sorts of exercise - at my own pace. Once I started doing things at my own pace, such as stretching/exercising, working out no longer felt bothersome!
I wrote down the names and bdates of folk I've come into contact with and discovered some conicidences and patterns. Me and them earth signs tend to get along rather well but its them fire signs that tend to stimulate/arouse me physically. I was born when Venus was in Leo and lost my virginity to a Leo.
With all that shared, I'm finished for the minute.
I PRAY for the predators that hunt me.
The talking womb
The most amazing experience I had with Sacred Woman on the subject of our wombs was (I forget exactly where) the part about "if you listen to your womb, she will speak to you!" I was skeptical. But when I stopped and placed my hands over my womb, she had a LOT to say about my relationships, eating habits, there was a serious stream of conversation there. I was amazed.
My girlfriend and I were talking about the sacredness of our wombs, and how in western society, part of the problem with the movement for the pill and the sexual "liberation" movement, was that it sent out a message to women that freedom in the context of their sexuality comes in the form of having many partners, changing them as we change a pair of socks. And it is absolutely right that a part of that man's essence remains within us. We definitely need to start teaching our daughters that the most freedom comes in valuing our sacred wombs, our natural power as creators, healers, and teachers. That's another thing my girlfriend and I talked about, was the messages we received growing up. As Black girls (going to a school where there were very few) we were constantly being told we were "too much". "Too tall, too thick, too nappy, voice is too loud..." And we spent so much of our young lives cowering. Slouching to hide our height, straightening our hair to fit in. I wonder how different things would have been had we been told of our power and sacredness. That would have been a beautiful thing to carry.
As for womb teas, I do drink red raspberry and dandelion in the bag, although not as much as I should. The main thing I've been doing with loose herbs is a facial steam (boiling water, towel over the head) with spearmint and lavender, which feels glorious.
And don't even get me started on my desire for a garden :)
Steam Facial
Oh my...I am going to try that...I just bought some Lavender from the market and I think I have some spearmint here...maybe I will a dash of rosemary oil...here I go mixin up stuff..LOL, anyways, thanks for the insight GirlBlue!
SoulLiving ~ Every Minute Counts
drink sacred wombman womb tonic
Peace & Love my Beautiful Sistren.
I feel so blessed to be apart of this circle. It is an honor. I give thanks for all of you.
Although I love yogi teas, I prefer loose herbs. I get most my herbs at the local herb store but am in love with www.mountainroseherbs.com
I've been working with Red Raspberry, Dandelion, and Mint daily. I make my infusion every morning & drink it before noon. I'm gonna get into my stash of Womb Herbs and begin working with all that again. To be truthful, Chapter 3 really encouraged me to learn everything I can about womb medicine.
Wombs and Teas and a Tiny Queen
Mawiyah Kai EL-Jamah Bomani
I also love the yogi teas. And have found that there are times when I do everything I'm suppose to (according to the cleansing with sage and juicing and fasting and still when I'm not in an emotional space of balance the heavyness comes) I understand like Aremisa it's about talking to my womb and allowing those old deep seated pains crumble and chip away at themselves. My daughter is learning to understand and take Queen Afua step by step. She is accessing the healing power of the teas and experimenting with live juices. I believe that the best gift I can give her is the knowledge of just how sacred her womb is. The more she conquerors those stereotypes that have led women to despise their wombs the better off she'll be in years to come. Just this morning she told me "I have to keep the mucus out of my womb it's spring cleaning time." She reached for the red raspberry tea and honey like a little sacred woman. I have to say, at twelve she's proving, knowledge is power.
Sweet.
Your Daughter carries the energy of a Royal & Majestic Queen.
I love her spirit.
She's a warrior & an empress.
Sugar n' Spice
Bless Queen Mawiyah, give thanks for sharing you & your daughters stories of how she came to be a Sacred Wombman. You inspire me to be a more refined mother & every time I hear about the mystery you and your daughters share I become more drawn to procreate an empress in my womb.
~Smiling~
You are so beautiful, so awesome and so mature.
Trying to Catch Up!
Since the Sacred Woman Circle began I have since gotten a new job so I am just now getting caught up on the reading. I have been keeping a Womb Journal and it has given me a lot of insight. I have an Osun sister friend of mine who one advised me to talk to, look at and cleanse my womb with sage as often as I (or she) feels. Same methods Queen Afua uses on page 50. When we started the circle I was in the midst of a weekend womb cleanse. I used a strong infusion of Black Walnut, Pau D'arco, Echinacea, and Chamomile. I also ate raw, took my spirulina, and juiced as much as possible. I felt so good going into my new job and was even looking forward to a light menses in that folowing week. Well let me tell you that was the longest, heaviest period I had had in years. My period usually lasts about three days and is usually a bright red. This was almost as if I was back to eating meat again. So I went to my womb and was like 'What's up sis?" She informed me that because of this wonderful cleanse I did it broke up and released some old hurts. I was like....WOW! I was holding so much in my womb that needed to come out. I had old food, old cysts (something I dealt with when I was pregnant) old disease (yeast), and of course old relationships. Now here I am a month later and it is that time again. I am not experiencing any vaginal itching, no emotional outbursts, just acceptance and healing. So pages 43-65 were right on time for me.
Ladies, if you get hold to a moonstone use it (bottom of page 65). She is a very effective stone for that time of the month and for womb healing. I have two, a ring that I wear and a smaller one that I use in meditation. Very powerful stone. To answer Soul Living's question. My husband and I sell herbs so I am fortunate enough to have everything at the house and I must say I make a mean women's brew. So for this journey if anyone is in need of herbs or crystal advise, please feel free to contact me. My website is listed below as well.
I am glad to see everyone is still keeping up with the reading. Look forward to hearing more about everyone's journey. Is anyone planniing on doing a fast anytime soon?
Aremisa
www.indigenousremedies.com
teas and thoughts
i've been working with the teas for a while
lately i'm doin pau d'arco for cleansing and to remove yeast from my body
once i drink the cup i insert the teabag and that works nicely
i do dandelion for my iron...i'm CRAVING molasses tho!
and kava to help me relax...
i haven't done loose teas in a while...
i love the yogi teas because they always have lil wonderful sayings on the tags...
i've been doing sacred woman for about 6 years now...sometimes i'm adhereing more stringently than others...but it's like a spiral for me...i cycle up and down and through the gateways again and again...sometimes weekly...i use my pendulum and track my progress and i make my altars...
gateway 0 is an initiation EVERY time...somethin major ALWAYS pops aloose...
through my journey i have discovered something...if you just DO the thing...somehow the people around you are transformed just like you are...they might not call it gateway 0 or whatever...sometimes it takes years...
but i have watched a change in the diets of my brother my mother AND my father...and i live in a different STATE from them! people that i've worked with come in tellin me that they're inspired by seeing me drink water and so they start drinking water...people feelin inspired by seeing my eat kale etc etc etc...
if you do the work...the people will come...the support you need will arrive...you have everything that you need...you are in a state of perfection NOW...
this may be a bit of a stray away from things...but i find that mama gena's school of womanly arts is a really nice compliment to the sacred woman diet...
her main premise is that women who learn how to receive pleasure are not only really happy but they light up the world with their goddessy goodness...
really when i'm doin sacred woman i find it difficult to "do" another process/book/whateva...but the two of these...i love em deeply...like if i do gateway 0 and then do week one of mama gena...maybe i might make myself a lil curriculum of em or something...
maybe i'm doin too many things *smile*...but i'm not happy unless i have a stack of books *smile*
some women wait for themselves around the next corner and call the empty spot peace but the opposite of living is only not living ... Audre Lorde
Maferefun Osun!
I feel
like I am on the right track again. I have done a lot of soulsearching and allowed my ancestors to once again lead my way. There were a lot of surpressed feelings that came up and I am dealing with them one at a time. With my rite of passage a lot of wisdom was shared with me on how to take care of my womb. I turned away from these believes because somehow I confinced myself that this was not do-able for me. I allowed my womb to speak and this time I listened carefully. My womb was missing the ritual steam baths that I had been taking at least once a month after my rite of passage. She was angry because I was not allowed to rejuvenate my spirit monthly wich was so stressed by the women in my family at my rite of passage, this grudge had manifested into my womb causing abnormal paptest results and a miscarriage. It also caused friction in my relationship because dh was the one who did not allow me to rejuvenate. In my culture women do not cook and work when they have their period. Other women in our circle take care of our families and homes in those times so we can rejuvenate. Since we moved away from my family and surinam friends and moved to this lil dutch village no one took over my household these days. In the beginning I begged dh to do these things and he did take over the cleaning but simply refused to cook claiming he could not cook and left it at that. I allowed my womb to speak frankly with him and he listened this time! I think mainly because the disatisfaction was becoming real to him because it had found it's way into our sexlife. He promised to take over the cooking and all other aspects of the household on these days and he even started practicing in the weekends. He felt quite ashamed caus eventhough he is a dutch man the men in my family and his friends (mostly from surinam) thought him a whole lot about our culture when we got serious in our relationship. In 2005 he was taken into the rainforest and stayed with a marron tribe for a week to learn about herbal healing and rituals and the ways of the forest. This is something that is done for initiates only and my dh knows that he was blessed to peek into traditions that were kept hidden from white man for centuries.
"Crying creates room for the healing to take place." This really hit home with me as well somehow I had not allowed myself to cry for ages because I did not want to show weakness.
I have been drinking dandilion tea (mixed with mint) since friday and starting today I will drink it twice a day. I had no idea that dandelion had so many healing qualities!
Yesterday was my very first vegan day! It was quite a switch but I felt so empowered at the end of the day! I started recipe journaling adapted some recipes and am really enjoying the process.
I want to start a healing herb garden as well! My father is coming to the Netherlands next month and I will ask him to help me create one. I think the process will be a healing one for our relationship as well.
@Tinkybell: The women around me are not willing or able to participate either. This was one of the main reasons I was so excited about this YMIB circle. Since I started reading Sacred women again I started talking to my cousins about it and eventhough they have no intrest in the book we are having really stimulating conversations about wombrenewal and rejuvenation. Last week I had an conversation with one of my cousins about our rite of passage it was hilarious and healing at the same time. I finally had the revelation that I was born within my sacred women circle and eventhough the rituals we practice are different ultimately the goal is the same.
Blessings,
Chayil
http://chayil-sacred-woman.blogspot.com/
Like you Chayil, I have begun talking about renewal
Mawiyah Kai EL-Jamah Bomani
My sister and I have been talking about how to heal our wombs. And how healing the womb can heal who we have come to be on the outside. It's funny I thought that she would find the whole idea a bit warped because she has always bounced back and forth into a spirituality system (Christianity) that is not so approving of female exaltation. However, she wants more feeling that as a woman why should she be viewed as a floor mat. Our talks have fueled her with an inspiration to go after her dreams while healing the essence of her feminine solar system (the womb). We can teach others better to love themselves when they have first found themselves.
Ase