Period. The Beginning.

There must be someway to celebrate the final menstrual cycle of my 20's. Some sort of ceremony or ritual involving meditation, the moon, belly dancing, donning a special menstrual garment and then burning or burying the blood-soaked shroud.

I believe there are phases in life. Entering your 30's is the beginning of a new phase. As a woman, there is no way to know which period will be your last. You're aware that you're going through menopause but only after the periods stop do you realize that last one was the last one.



We've become so removed from our bodies and it's functions (as a society, Western society especially, but not all of us). Our lifestyles have wreaked havoc on our bodies and our health. I'm a woman who doesn't dread her period. I've been fortunate to have a cycle that is predictable and I view it as a sign of health.

Motherhood is in my future.

So again, I wonder if there's an ancient ritual to commemorate the last cycle of the phase of life I'm leaving--menarche to age 29. This brings to mind a Goddess, Isis Phoenix. She's the founder of Naked Yoga NYC and I'm still touched and riveted by an email newsletter she sent this summer about her marriage. She didn't celebrate with a bachelorette party but with a "Death of the Maiden" ceremony. It marked the transition from Maiden to Priestess Mother Wife. Reading her recount of the ceremony left a mark on me.

We've entered a New Moon. A New Moon in my Sun sign. It all seems so fitting.