Not
all, but many women menstruate. The menstrual cycle is a
contentious areas for feminists. Even men who aspire to be a feminist
tend to find it difficult to deal with it. Inappropriate jokes ensue,
and completely ignoring the issue is also a popular option.
My
journey along a feminist path and toward the Sacred
Femininenecessarily included working with my menstrual cycle. In
this, Women’s Wisdom and the Menstrual Cycles
articles and Womb Blessings by Miranda Gray have
been most helpful.
In Western Buddhism, one of the most revered and widely-taught
practices is the four applications of mindfulness (body,
feelings, mind, and mind objects – these terms have very specific
meanings in Buddhism). I argue that mindfulness of the body
should include, for women, mindfulness of menstrual cycle. Once the
need for such teaching is recognised, similar exercises may arise for
men, to acknowledge hormone-based fluctuations in their bodies, for
example, men’s response to hormonal changes in their female
partners’ bodies, to do with pregnancy and giving birth
(documented) and with menstrual cycle itself.
Western
Buddhist practitioners are encouraged to stay with their bodies,
feelings, mind and mind objects, without trying to control or change
them. The Buddha went to details as instructing monks to be mindful
at all times, including when they urinate and defecate. The fulllist is found here. And
yet, there is no specific teaching for women to be aware of our
menstrual bleeding.
I know
from experience that I am not only affected by my menstrual cycle at
the time of the actual bleeding. Every day for me is not just a
calendar date, it is also a very particular stage in a 28-30 day
cycle. One day it is the day before ovulation, so I have just
had a busy week, and I am possibly getting a bit more introverted,
and tomorrow I will feel some minor pain from ovulation. Another day
could be the first day of the last week before bleeding. I might wake
up tense, alert, with a vague feeling that something is wrong. Then I
remember I am entering the what Gray calls the Enchantress stage.
Miranda
Gray described menstrual cycle in terms of four distinct stages. And
it is usually The Enchantress stage that women are most prosecuted
for: literally in the past and present women are killed for being
witches. Alternatively, women are ridiculed and discriminated against
in the capitalistpatriarchal society. The patriarchal view is that
menstruating women are dangerous, unstable, unreliable and
untrustworthy, because every cycle they enter a stage they can’t
control, when women seem to be aggressive, moody, unreasonable,
destructive. Patriarchal adherents can deal with the bleeding phase –
the Hag, as Miranda Gray calls it – because women tend to lack in
energy and just suffer quietly on a couch during it.
But it
is the Enchantress Stage that really scares some men. And some women.
Women can get self-demeaning and distrustful of themselves due to the
fact that the menstrual cycle appears to be a problem, rather than a
blessing, to them. The reason for this is that patriarchal
society wants women and men to see menstrual cycle as a problem, so
that women are seen as inferior, as “broken”, “freak” men.
Not as stable, not as efficient, not as logical, not as productive.
These considerations become especially important in a capitalist
society, in which all people are “valued” and rewarded only as
much as they contribute to enriching the top 1 percent of
capitalists. In a capitalist society, the sacredness of life is
obliterated, and giving birth is seen as an inconvenience. (...)
However,
this is an area is where Buddhist practice and the Goddess
spirituality can work together. Buddhism offers excellent teachings
on being mindful, of letting be, of letting go of control. If only
this was taught in Western Buddhist centres to women in relation to
menstruation. Miranda Gray offers a framework that is rooted in
mythology and Goddess spirituality. With an addition of Buddhist
meditation, it would be an integrated path to body and spiritual, and
subsequently, social liberation for women.
Enchantress
is not bad. She is not crazy. She is not stupid. She is preparing the
way for rebirth. She is the one who is getting rid of everything that
is dead, outdated, rotting, damaging. She is Mother Kali. She is
autumn. Without autumn, there is no winter. Winter in menstrual cycle
is bleeding – the time of no thought, the time of ultimate letting
go and submerging into the waters of the Goddess in Her womb. This is
also very similar to many Buddhist teachings.
Without
winter, there is no spring (Virgin phase in menstrual cycle): there
is no energy, no new sprouts, no growth. Without spring, there is no
summer (Mother stage, ovulation): no fruition, no completion, no
abundance, love and caring.
In my
own experience, the infamous (in a patriarchal society) Enchantress
phase is the time of honesty. Enchantress cannot put up with the
injustices that I as a woman experience in my life – or that other
men and women experience. The Enchantress does not take crap. She is
wild, and she is unstoppable. She is the hand of justice.
During
the Enchantress stage, I am not distracted by the energy swelling up
inside me and compelling me to do, to act, to organise. I am not
concentrated on being fertile, as at the time of ovulation – the
Mother stage, when I want to be one with the world, to care and to
nurture. And I am not listening attentively to the voice of the Dark
Goddess as blood comes out of my womb. So, all the crap that I have
taken in the previous cycle, due to lack of time, not wanting to
bother, or just feeling sorry for the perpetrator – it all
resurfaces, and the Goddess tells me: “In letting patriarchy put
you down, you put me down.”
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