What a much-needed piece of work!
Moon Mysteries: Reclaiming Women’s Menstrual Wisdom is delivered with the most soul-satisfying art, anecdotes, advice and ancient wisdom.
Separated into 13 chapters, reflecting the 13 lunar months in a year, Nao Sims and Nikiah Seeds’ honest and profound words interweave eloquently with Eyan Myers’ flowing, powerful paintings and drawings that remind us of divine feminine energy.
Here are some of our favorite excerpts and summaries of the thirteen chapters:
Chapter 1: Cycling moon ~The Moon & Menstruation
This chapter starts out with exploring the etymology of the “menstruation” and the history of the lunar/menstrual cycle going from being honored as sacred to being buried by patriarchal oppression. It is about reclaiming and realizing the power of the cycle that is our birth right. There is detailed suggestions on how to chart your own moon cycle chart (the charts also come in the book – 13 for the whole year).
Chapter 2: Earth Moon ~Woman’s Connection to the Earth
This chapter reminds us of how deeply connected we are with the rhythm of nature: “The Great Mother was celebrated and respected throughout the ancient world, as were women, because of the shared qualities between the female body and that of the Earth.”
Chapter 3: Wolf Moon ~Reclaiming the Wild Soul
This chapter explores the untamed, instinctive spirit of the wild woman. This is about celebrating the wildness of the divine feminine. We love the part where the authors re-name PMS to PMT = pre-moon time! Instead of the stifling and negative connotations that pre-menstrual syndrome have. “Our pre-menstrual rage can actually be a healthy way for the body and soul to clear out what is no longer serving us.”
Chapter 4: Blood Moon ~The Sacredness of Menstrual Blood – a History
The power of the menstrual blood was honored in many ancient cultures as the blood of life. Menstruation provided women to connected to other women to create a support network. It is a sacred event that even men recognized, as in the Navaho tribe of men inventing sweat lodges to purify themselves because they did not have the ability to bleed like women.
Chapter 5: Ritual Moon ~Creating Our Own Menstrual Customs
This chapter introduces ideas for having a ritual during our menses, along with Nao’s personal story of her first moon, as well as choosing healthy menstrual products.
Chapter 6: Dreaming Moon ~The Dream World and the Blood Cycle
How are dreams and our menstrual cycles connected? This chapter encourages the practice of observing dreams in relation to the cycle of the body. Nao’s personal dream work reveals the deep connection between dreams and our bodies.
Chapter 7: Green Witch Moon ~Healing Our Bodies with Women’s Wisdom
This is a chapter dedicated to midwives, witches and herbalists, the healers of the world. It contains several healthy & delicious recipes that use herbs and vegetables (even a dark chocolate cake!).
Chapter 8: Lovers Moon ~The Moon of Sacred Sexuality
We cannot talk about our cycles without recognizing our sexuality. This chapter delves into the varying sexual desires and changes that occur throughout our cycle, and even about love making during menstruation, which is something that is not openly talked about by most. Nikiah’s personal story about learning to be a sexual adult concludes this chapter with great insight and self-awareness.
Chapter 9: Fertile Moon ~Reclaiming Our Fertility
This chapter talks about ovulation, about knowing when you are fertile, about the pill, and becoming fertile again after giving birth to a child. Fertility is not just physical, but affects us in emotional, spiritual and mental ways. A beautiful chapter, full of personal stories that make the reader think about her own relationship with fertility.
Chapter 10: Mother Moon ~Women as Mothers
What is Motherhood? From Nao’s exploration of making a choice to be a parent or not, to Nikiah’s look at motherhood as a spiritual practice, this chapter shows us the incredible initiation that is a part of becoming a mother. The end of the chapter talks about our own mothers, and about making space and taking care of ourselves.
Chapter 11: Shadow Moon ~The Shadow Side of Our Blood Cycles
This chapter reveals the sadness and hurt that we can experience during our cycles. Inanna (also known as Ishtar, Astarte and Enheduanna), a goddess who descends into the underworld, appears in this chapter to challenge us to look at our own dark sides, to empower ourselves to claim all aspects of who we are as a woman, as a mother, as a being.
Chapter 12: Temple Moon ~The Inner Temple of Woman
Our wombs, the sacred temple of our bodies. This chapter shows us that our inner temple and physical temple reflect each other, that we need boundaries around out temples in order to give, that it is important to look at the state of our inner temples as well as our outer temples.
Chapter 13: Serpent Moon ~The Feminine Cycle of Death and Rebirth
The last moon of the year, the thirteenth one, represents the end of a cycle, which is also the beginning. The book ends with the voice of a wise gypsy grandmother, who is the vessel for the poetic, potent words that the authors deliver to us throughout the journey of Moon Mysteries.
Reading this book is like waking up to a whole new level of awareness about your own body, psyche and spirit. It is an enjoyable read as much as it is practical, full of personal as well as historical background information and insight, including an immensely helpful resources guide.
All around, this is an important, valuable book, and it is with great honor and confidence that we recommend it to all women, no matter where she is in her cycle of life.
Click here to purchase the book in Canada
Click here to purchase the book in the US/all other countries
