00:00:00.803 --> 00:00:03.220
(calm music)

00:00:16.440 --> 00:00:19.773
- The menarche, when a
young girl begins to bleed.

00:00:27.060 --> 00:00:30.510
- I don't know if she's
looking forward to it,

00:00:30.510 --> 00:00:32.193
but she'll deal with it.

00:00:35.430 --> 00:00:39.210
- The old story was pretty
much, now you have the curse.

00:00:39.210 --> 00:00:42.150
And so everybody's
working on changing it now

00:00:42.150 --> 00:00:43.653
to, this is a blessing.

00:00:46.710 --> 00:00:47.560
- I'm just trying

00:00:48.467 --> 00:00:52.477
to give her the most positive
outlook I can give her.

00:00:54.300 --> 00:00:57.330
- If I really followed the
energy of my cramps, I would lie

00:00:57.330 --> 00:00:59.220
down and rest and the cramps would take me

00:00:59.220 --> 00:01:00.990
into an altered state of consciousness.

00:01:00.990 --> 00:01:04.530
And once I was in that
state, the cramps go away.

00:01:04.530 --> 00:01:07.680
Our bodies are designed to
take us into other states

00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:10.923
of consciousness because that's
part of being a human being.

00:01:11.940 --> 00:01:15.810
- And what I would like to
share with the young ones coming

00:01:15.810 --> 00:01:19.800
into their menarche is what
it means to be a woman.

00:01:19.800 --> 00:01:24.450
Nobody told me, and boy, I hope
the word gets out. (laughs)

00:01:24.450 --> 00:01:26.310
'Cause I think it's important.

00:01:26.310 --> 00:01:27.750
And there are a number of cultures

00:01:27.750 --> 00:01:30.240
that got this wisdom piece.

00:01:30.240 --> 00:01:32.910
One of them is the Native
American Indian, some

00:01:32.910 --> 00:01:34.050
of the tribes.

00:01:34.050 --> 00:01:37.950
Another culture is the
Hindu, some of the sects

00:01:37.950 --> 00:01:41.460
and some of the sects
of Buddhism honor women.

00:01:41.460 --> 00:01:45.300
And what they say is what
I believe after a lifetime

00:01:45.300 --> 00:01:49.110
of looking at this, working
with women in counseling.

00:01:49.110 --> 00:01:52.950
I'm also a mystic, so I train ministers

00:01:52.950 --> 00:01:54.360
and we have a woman's ministry.

00:01:54.360 --> 00:01:56.250
So I work with women's issues

00:01:56.250 --> 00:01:58.710
from a lot of different angles.

00:01:58.710 --> 00:02:01.770
And according to the wisdom teachings,

00:02:01.770 --> 00:02:05.583
the essence of womanhood is power.

00:02:06.870 --> 00:02:09.480
The essence of manhood is love.

00:02:09.480 --> 00:02:12.690
And in this culture, it's reversed.

00:02:12.690 --> 00:02:15.993
I think to be woman is to be power.

00:02:19.410 --> 00:02:23.283
- Women can bleed without creating death.

00:02:25.980 --> 00:02:29.880
Young girls are growing
up not knowing the beauty

00:02:29.880 --> 00:02:31.083
of their own bodies.

00:02:32.220 --> 00:02:37.170
They do not understand
how sacred our blood is

00:02:37.170 --> 00:02:40.476
and how that connects us throughout time

00:02:40.476 --> 00:02:44.610
to all women from the beginning of time

00:02:44.610 --> 00:02:46.503
to all women in the future.

00:02:48.600 --> 00:02:50.670
- And the Native American tribes, some

00:02:50.670 --> 00:02:55.140
of them understand the
power of woman in her menses

00:02:55.140 --> 00:02:59.130
and they recognize that
through their Moon Lodge.

00:02:59.130 --> 00:03:02.910
How great the service
is that a woman provides

00:03:02.910 --> 00:03:06.450
to her culture in purifying the culture.

00:03:06.450 --> 00:03:10.170
And what happens with that
refuge that is created

00:03:10.170 --> 00:03:14.721
for women gathering together
is they share their dreams,

00:03:14.721 --> 00:03:18.543
bloodtime, moontime, dreamtime.

00:03:19.440 --> 00:03:22.502
They share their shadow journeys.

00:03:22.502 --> 00:03:26.310
And the grandmothers are there.

00:03:26.310 --> 00:03:28.980
They're the ones who have
come into the crowning glory

00:03:28.980 --> 00:03:31.350
of their wisdom years.

00:03:31.350 --> 00:03:33.570
They have turned their blood into wisdom.

00:03:33.570 --> 00:03:36.570
- And I have been dealing
with women's issues

00:03:36.570 --> 00:03:38.310
for a number of years.

00:03:38.310 --> 00:03:41.550
I've worked with young girls as a nurse,

00:03:41.550 --> 00:03:44.250
as well as have a daughter who's 10

00:03:44.250 --> 00:03:49.250
and starting, I think
the prepubescent journey

00:03:49.377 --> 00:03:51.300
towards becoming a woman.

00:03:51.300 --> 00:03:55.050
I also have many feelings
having to do with what it is

00:03:55.050 --> 00:03:57.870
to become a woman in our society

00:03:57.870 --> 00:04:01.473
and how I think that we
could value it better.

00:04:02.392 --> 00:04:04.320
I think that we tend to hide it

00:04:04.320 --> 00:04:05.153
and as an artist have
tried to bring it out.

00:04:06.403 --> 00:04:07.236
[Haunting music].

00:04:09.422 --> 00:04:13.620
The blood in the art,
it's the flow of life.

00:04:13.620 --> 00:04:18.060
It has all that protein
and all the oxygen.

00:04:18.060 --> 00:04:21.930
And I look at blood and
the richness of the iron

00:04:21.930 --> 00:04:25.950
and the oxygen and how it gives us life.

00:04:25.950 --> 00:04:29.730
And so it is a beautiful
thing to portray in paint.

00:04:29.730 --> 00:04:34.440
And I've used blood
imagery a lot in artwork.

00:04:34.440 --> 00:04:36.123
And immediately. a lot of women,

00:04:37.024 --> 00:04:38.474
when they see it, they relate

00:04:39.422 --> 00:04:43.583
because they understand the idea of blood.

00:04:43.583 --> 00:04:45.990
And we have daily experiences with blood

00:04:45.990 --> 00:04:50.990
and amazing transitions through
blood, including childbirth.

00:04:54.646 --> 00:04:57.396
(dramatic music)

00:05:12.950 --> 00:05:14.890
- If you look at symbolism
in many cultures,

00:05:14.890 --> 00:05:15.723
you find the color red showing up

00:05:15.723 --> 00:05:17.193
and you find blood showing up.

00:05:18.180 --> 00:05:22.545
And most of these is
rooted in an understanding

00:05:22.545 --> 00:05:25.170
of menstrual blood as being sacred.

00:05:25.170 --> 00:05:28.140
And usually the symbolism of
blood and red is associated

00:05:28.140 --> 00:05:28.973
with women.

00:05:33.630 --> 00:05:37.143
For example, the red dot that
Hindus wear on the third eye,

00:05:38.485 --> 00:05:40.011
and I can't prove this,

00:05:40.011 --> 00:05:41.850
but I think it's
connected to an old ritual

00:05:42.737 --> 00:05:44.250
of using the menstrual blood
to open up the third eye

00:05:44.250 --> 00:05:45.603
as a psychic gateway.

00:05:53.477 --> 00:05:55.877
- Long ago, there was a great presence

00:05:55.877 --> 00:06:00.877
that has been described as swirling water,

00:06:01.440 --> 00:06:06.440
something like tapioca out
of which consciousness dawned

00:06:07.050 --> 00:06:08.316
and life began.

00:06:20.109 --> 00:06:25.109
In early creation myths, this
substance was menstrual blood.

00:06:30.006 --> 00:06:30.839
[Music intensifies].

00:06:30.839 --> 00:06:33.240
In very ancient times,

00:06:33.240 --> 00:06:36.660
when the goddess was worshiped,
menstrual blood was an

00:06:36.660 --> 00:06:40.500
object that was revered as magical

00:06:40.500 --> 00:06:42.890
and the source from which we all sprang.

00:06:48.188 --> 00:06:49.021
[Sound of liquid swirling].

00:07:02.909 --> 00:07:05.430
- The blood that was honored
did not come from injury.

00:07:05.430 --> 00:07:09.753
It was women's blood from her
menses, her moontime blood.

00:07:35.095 --> 00:07:37.890
- So the blood was a
wonderful, mysterious substance

00:07:37.890 --> 00:07:41.400
that gave life to humans and to plants

00:07:41.400 --> 00:07:42.663
and to the earth itself.

00:07:44.700 --> 00:07:47.370
- Most ancient people saw blood

00:07:47.370 --> 00:07:49.650
as being the main symbol of life.

00:07:49.650 --> 00:07:52.941
And so therefore, a woman's
menstrual blood was seen

00:07:52.941 --> 00:07:55.481
as very magical and
important and it was revered

00:07:55.481 --> 00:07:56.573
and it was used in ceremony.

00:07:57.709 --> 00:08:00.480
- And yet, menstrual blood is probably one

00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:03.453
of the last taboos of our society.

00:08:04.650 --> 00:08:07.113
Nothing is more humiliating to a woman,

00:08:08.029 --> 00:08:09.880
or embarrassing to a man than a woman

00:08:10.757 --> 00:08:13.320
whose menstrual blood slips its bounds

00:08:13.320 --> 00:08:17.043
and appears on her
clothing in a public place.

00:08:19.470 --> 00:08:22.805
What menstruating woman
doesn't live with constant fear

00:08:22.805 --> 00:08:24.901
that she would be caught

00:08:24.901 --> 00:08:26.633
with her menstrual
blood showing in public?

00:08:27.805 --> 00:08:30.060
- You know, women have to claim the power

00:08:30.060 --> 00:08:32.793
of the menstrual cycle and live it.

00:08:37.800 --> 00:08:40.800
- I used to take a reading
writing day in bed once

00:08:40.800 --> 00:08:41.633
in a while.

00:08:42.807 --> 00:08:45.958
It's been a long time,
but it's more than that.

00:08:45.958 --> 00:08:47.958
It has to do with taking a bleeding day.

00:08:48.894 --> 00:08:52.817
Something that connects me
to my grandmother, mother

00:08:56.701 --> 00:08:57.783
and young girl self.

00:09:00.149 --> 00:09:01.949
I don't have to be sick to go there.

00:09:03.447 --> 00:09:08.189
Something about taking time

00:09:08.189 --> 00:09:13.189
to be in bed, write, read,
take naps, and be healthy.

00:09:17.909 --> 00:09:19.620
- When a woman menstruates, the veil

00:09:19.620 --> 00:09:21.243
between the world's thins,

00:09:22.413 --> 00:09:25.286
so she's closer to the
spiritual world than she is

00:09:25.286 --> 00:09:26.680
at any other time in the month.

00:09:26.680 --> 00:09:29.760
And that gives her the
potential for gaining wisdom,

00:09:29.760 --> 00:09:33.330
for having certain kinds of
power and just being able

00:09:33.330 --> 00:09:37.473
to be with her sense of
herself as a spiritual being.

00:09:39.066 --> 00:09:41.280
- Young girls are raised to think

00:09:41.280 --> 00:09:45.273
that we need to act as if we're like men.

00:09:46.260 --> 00:09:49.260
So we are not to
acknowledge that we bleed.

00:09:49.260 --> 00:09:53.163
- My daughter does not
want to speak about it.

00:09:54.420 --> 00:09:57.750
She wants to remain a little girl.

00:09:57.750 --> 00:10:02.750
She says, "I am not changing,
I am still a child."

00:10:03.810 --> 00:10:07.087
And I wanna acknowledge to
her that yes, she is a child,

00:10:07.087 --> 00:10:11.280
but she is changing
and it will happen even

00:10:11.280 --> 00:10:14.433
if she doesn't want it
to, she will grow up.

00:10:16.058 --> 00:10:17.922
- I grew up being afraid of that time

00:10:17.922 --> 00:10:21.040
when I would lose my innocence
and I was gonna get my period

00:10:22.002 --> 00:10:23.543
and things were never
gonna be the same again.

00:10:26.378 --> 00:10:29.378
- And when I was trying
to give her information,

00:10:29.378 --> 00:10:31.722
she says, "Oh, that's
not gonna happen to me.

00:10:31.722 --> 00:10:33.578
That's never gonna happen to me."

00:10:33.578 --> 00:10:35.823
I mean, this child was in such denial

00:10:35.823 --> 00:10:38.530
and when it happened, all
she could do was just yell

00:10:39.490 --> 00:10:41.170
and scream and cry.

00:10:41.170 --> 00:10:42.003
What on earth would make her think

00:10:42.003 --> 00:10:46.256
that out of all the women in
the world, she would be the one

00:10:46.256 --> 00:10:48.363
that would not get the menstrual?

00:10:49.561 --> 00:10:53.100
So it was definitely a crisis for her.

00:10:53.100 --> 00:10:55.110
- And then she said, "Do
you want me to tell you

00:10:55.976 --> 00:10:56.809
what these are for?"

00:10:56.809 --> 00:10:59.592
And I said, "No, no."

00:10:59.592 --> 00:11:01.408
She said, "Well, I'll
wait till you ten then."

00:11:01.408 --> 00:11:02.968
I said, "Okay."

00:11:02.968 --> 00:11:03.801
And I just knew that
it was like growing up

00:11:03.801 --> 00:11:05.855
and I didn't want to know yet.

00:11:13.384 --> 00:11:15.870
- It was about 95 degrees
and we're in the car.

00:11:15.870 --> 00:11:17.070
I was in the front seat with my mom

00:11:17.070 --> 00:11:18.600
and my brother was in the backseat.

00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:22.140
I looked down and I was like,
"Huh, I guess I'm bleeding.

00:11:22.140 --> 00:11:23.670
So I guess I got my period."

00:11:23.670 --> 00:11:25.290
We're driving along, all
the windows are open,

00:11:25.290 --> 00:11:28.350
it's really hot and I
don't know what to do.

00:11:28.350 --> 00:11:29.183
I have no idea.

00:11:29.183 --> 00:11:32.250
And I'm trying to tell my mom,
I go, "Mom, got my period,"

00:11:32.250 --> 00:11:33.083
really quiet, you know?

00:11:33.083 --> 00:11:35.813
And she's all, "What? I can't hear you."

00:11:35.813 --> 00:11:37.380
And I go, "Mom, I got my period."

00:11:37.380 --> 00:11:38.220
And she's all, "Speak up.

00:11:38.220 --> 00:11:39.053
Can't you just say it?

00:11:39.053 --> 00:11:41.017
What are you talking about?"

00:11:41.017 --> 00:11:42.515
I go, "Mom, I got my period."

00:11:42.515 --> 00:11:44.820
And she's all, "What? You got your what?"

00:11:44.820 --> 00:11:46.560
- Because that's what the story is about.

00:11:46.560 --> 00:11:49.323
You see the blood, you go to your mom

00:11:49.323 --> 00:11:51.487
and how does she react?

00:11:51.487 --> 00:11:53.280
That's your story.

00:11:53.280 --> 00:11:54.570
- And you know, so I had to say it.

00:11:54.570 --> 00:11:55.620
And then my brother comes up

00:11:55.620 --> 00:11:56.453
and he's all, "What?

00:11:56.453 --> 00:11:57.510
What did she say? What did she say?"

00:11:57.510 --> 00:11:59.217
So it's like everybody's in on it

00:11:59.217 --> 00:12:01.530
and it was pretty embarrassing to me.

00:12:01.530 --> 00:12:05.580
I mean, it was still just
my family but that's like...

00:12:05.580 --> 00:12:07.680
- A study was done recently and they found

00:12:07.680 --> 00:12:09.120
that there was a very high incidence

00:12:09.120 --> 00:12:11.400
of absenteeism among
girls in the first year

00:12:11.400 --> 00:12:12.600
after they start their period

00:12:12.600 --> 00:12:14.220
because they were really embarrassed

00:12:14.220 --> 00:12:15.450
and they were very anxious

00:12:15.450 --> 00:12:17.160
about blood showing on their clothes.

00:12:17.160 --> 00:12:19.080
And they didn't know how
to manage their blood.

00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:21.000
They hadn't been taught enough about it

00:12:21.000 --> 00:12:22.290
and they were just scared.

00:12:22.290 --> 00:12:24.390
- It's natural and it cleans
you out and everything

00:12:24.390 --> 00:12:27.630
but if I could do without one thing,

00:12:27.630 --> 00:12:28.770
if I could still have kids

00:12:28.770 --> 00:12:31.290
and not have my period ever,

00:12:31.290 --> 00:12:33.150
I would probably be pretty happy.

00:12:33.150 --> 00:12:35.940
That's the one thing that ruins my mind.

00:12:35.940 --> 00:12:37.610
- They're taught that this is a sort

00:12:37.610 --> 00:12:40.200
of medical necessity that's happening.

00:12:40.200 --> 00:12:42.720
It's a biological event.

00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:45.600
It doesn't have anything
validating about it.

00:12:45.600 --> 00:12:47.640
It's just something you have
to have the right equipment

00:12:47.640 --> 00:12:48.870
to deal with it with.

00:12:48.870 --> 00:12:51.690
And so of course any girl
growing up with that kind

00:12:51.690 --> 00:12:54.120
of message is gonna think
yuck about her period.

00:12:54.120 --> 00:12:56.280
That's the way she's conditioned to think.

00:12:56.280 --> 00:12:57.543
- And bleeding, ugh.

00:12:58.620 --> 00:13:01.165
Nobody needs needs to
deal with that, you know?

00:13:01.165 --> 00:13:02.970
I'm stuck sitting here with a heating pad

00:13:02.970 --> 00:13:06.390
and like taking painkillers
and just in immense pain.

00:13:06.390 --> 00:13:08.550
And that's no fun.

00:13:08.550 --> 00:13:09.383
To me, it isn't.

00:13:09.383 --> 00:13:10.860
Maybe some people will.

00:13:10.860 --> 00:13:12.510
- And that just breaks my heart, you know.

00:13:12.510 --> 00:13:13.740
I think it's so terrible

00:13:13.740 --> 00:13:16.560
that a girl goes through
puberty just feeling

00:13:16.560 --> 00:13:18.000
so negative about herself.

00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:19.950
It's a huge indictment on a society

00:13:19.950 --> 00:13:21.990
that girls do not want to become women.

00:13:21.990 --> 00:13:23.850
It's about the worst
thing you could ever say

00:13:23.850 --> 00:13:25.080
about any society.

00:13:25.080 --> 00:13:27.512
And that when they become
women, it's not celebrated.

00:13:27.512 --> 00:13:29.340
It's terrible.

00:13:29.340 --> 00:13:30.877
- My mom, immediately
when we got home was like,

00:13:30.877 --> 00:13:32.160
"We're gonna buy you some champagne

00:13:32.160 --> 00:13:33.060
and we're gonna celebrate."

00:13:33.060 --> 00:13:35.880
And to me, that's like, I would celebrate

00:13:35.880 --> 00:13:38.340
when I got menopause, when I
didn't have my period anymore.

00:13:38.340 --> 00:13:40.170
But you know, I wouldn't celebrate now.

00:13:40.170 --> 00:13:41.820
I think it's, ugh.

00:13:41.820 --> 00:13:44.310
- So often the girl says,
"No, don't make any fuss.

00:13:44.310 --> 00:13:46.320
I don't want anyone to know."

00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:48.390
And she says that because she was raised

00:13:48.390 --> 00:13:50.490
in a culture that suppresses menstruation.

00:13:50.490 --> 00:13:54.210
If you go to cultures where
it's a part of the society

00:13:54.210 --> 00:13:56.750
to have a puberty ritual
for the girl, you find

00:13:56.750 --> 00:13:59.910
that the girl actually really
enjoys it and understands

00:13:59.910 --> 00:14:01.530
that something special is happening to her

00:14:01.530 --> 00:14:03.570
and that it's just part of the fabric

00:14:03.570 --> 00:14:05.520
of life that that should be celebrated.

00:14:08.843 --> 00:14:09.676
[Light music continues].

00:14:14.126 --> 00:14:16.470
So as a culture becomes more
patriarchal, it will more

00:14:16.470 --> 00:14:19.260
and more tend to paint that
power of the menstrual blood

00:14:19.260 --> 00:14:22.530
and of the menstrual cycle as
something which is dangerous

00:14:22.530 --> 00:14:25.020
and to be controlled and
contained and suppressed.

00:14:25.020 --> 00:14:26.130
It's very clear to see

00:14:26.130 --> 00:14:28.350
that when you study different societies,

00:14:28.350 --> 00:14:30.720
the more earth-based they
are, the more they think

00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:33.180
of nature as being a beneficial force,

00:14:33.180 --> 00:14:35.250
the more they also value the feminine

00:14:35.250 --> 00:14:38.460
and consider menstruation to be important.

00:14:38.460 --> 00:14:40.910
Those cultures always
celebrate a girl's first period

00:14:40.910 --> 00:14:42.180
as a joyous event.

00:14:42.180 --> 00:14:43.860
When you go to the other
end of the spectrum

00:14:43.860 --> 00:14:46.260
and you get cultures
which are patriarchal,

00:14:46.260 --> 00:14:49.290
which fear nature and
attempt to control it,

00:14:49.290 --> 00:14:52.140
which live as distant from
the earth as possible.

00:14:52.140 --> 00:14:55.886
They also fear the feminine
and will suppress menstruation

00:14:55.886 --> 00:14:58.980
and usually have myths
and taboos that state

00:14:58.980 --> 00:15:02.100
that it's dangerous, polluting, shameful,

00:15:02.100 --> 00:15:04.350
and that there's something
basically wrong with women.

00:15:04.350 --> 00:15:07.288
And that's a distortion
of the understanding

00:15:07.288 --> 00:15:08.938
that a woman's blood is powerful.

00:15:10.230 --> 00:15:13.320
- Women don't want to be
excluded from the workplace

00:15:13.320 --> 00:15:14.610
because we're on our periods.

00:15:14.610 --> 00:15:16.380
And so we wanna make sure

00:15:16.380 --> 00:15:18.450
that we're still seen as productive

00:15:18.450 --> 00:15:20.763
and this isn't gonna slow us down any.

00:15:23.430 --> 00:15:24.930
But there's something really lovely

00:15:24.930 --> 00:15:29.070
about saying, "Yes, I am
gonna take a day and not do."

00:15:29.070 --> 00:15:30.420
And that's a celebration

00:15:30.420 --> 00:15:33.123
that I think we've
cheated ourselves out of.

00:15:40.606 --> 00:15:43.200
- So when anthropologists went and looked

00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:45.330
at different tribes and
saw that the women went

00:15:45.330 --> 00:15:48.090
to the menstrual hut, they
interpreted it as meaning

00:15:48.090 --> 00:15:50.220
that the women had been banished

00:15:50.220 --> 00:15:53.190
because they couldn't
see beyond the limits

00:15:53.190 --> 00:15:55.650
of their own cultural
perception that women were going

00:15:55.650 --> 00:15:57.180
to the menstrual hut

00:15:57.180 --> 00:15:59.901
because they were doing something special

00:15:59.901 --> 00:16:01.290
and something sacred.

00:16:01.290 --> 00:16:03.900
In most indigenous cultures, it's accepted

00:16:03.900 --> 00:16:05.880
that a woman is closer to the spirit world

00:16:05.880 --> 00:16:07.671
when she menstruates

00:16:07.671 --> 00:16:10.080
and that she should be in a special place.

00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:11.400
And it's also giving her time

00:16:11.400 --> 00:16:12.960
to bring something back to the community

00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:16.470
and that's understood in
most indigenous cultures.

00:16:16.470 --> 00:16:20.790
- And the beauty of the Moon
lodge is the men know the value

00:16:20.790 --> 00:16:23.940
of these women coming
together to purify the tribe.

00:16:23.940 --> 00:16:27.937
So the father is at home
teaching his little son,

00:16:27.937 --> 00:16:31.200
"It's a sacred privilege
to serve these women.

00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:34.980
So we will serve our
women in a sacred way.

00:16:34.980 --> 00:16:37.290
We're going to clean the house for them

00:16:37.290 --> 00:16:41.580
so when they come home, they
are heroes honoring their power

00:16:41.580 --> 00:16:42.870
and they give us life."

00:16:42.870 --> 00:16:46.110
So imagine how the little
boy's attitude would change

00:16:46.110 --> 00:16:49.740
if he were given this
training by his father.

00:16:49.740 --> 00:16:53.460
You can also imagine how it
affects the woman's sense

00:16:53.460 --> 00:16:57.300
of self-esteem and value
to have men celebrate women

00:16:57.300 --> 00:17:00.090
in this way, to have women
celebrate their power.

00:17:00.090 --> 00:17:03.123
Hey, it might relieve some PMS,

00:17:04.020 --> 00:17:06.990
it might really benefit the tribe

00:17:06.990 --> 00:17:09.213
as a whole American culture.

00:17:10.448 --> 00:17:11.730
- There's something I think sometimes

00:17:11.730 --> 00:17:14.610
in the sacredness of it and
the secretiveness of it,

00:17:14.610 --> 00:17:17.340
that if we leave the men out of it,

00:17:17.340 --> 00:17:20.190
then they make choices
that are negative choices.

00:17:20.190 --> 00:17:23.280
And I'd rather include them in my stories

00:17:23.280 --> 00:17:25.803
because they are a part of it.

00:17:26.808 --> 00:17:28.140
- And then dad figures into some

00:17:28.140 --> 00:17:29.970
of the stories, not all of 'em.

00:17:29.970 --> 00:17:31.370
- They came to me to tell me

00:17:32.333 --> 00:17:33.900
that they had begun their period.

00:17:33.900 --> 00:17:37.776
And I was really flattered
that they would tell me.

00:17:37.776 --> 00:17:38.609
And I think they wanted to do that

00:17:38.609 --> 00:17:40.380
because I'd expressed
some interest in it ahead

00:17:40.380 --> 00:17:43.740
of time and showed them
the anticipatory joy

00:17:43.740 --> 00:17:46.290
that I would feel if if they did begin.

00:17:46.290 --> 00:17:48.000
And we had a good moment each time

00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:50.100
where I was genuinely happy.

00:17:50.100 --> 00:17:51.003
I was joyous.

00:17:52.583 --> 00:17:54.134
And you know, high fives all around.

00:17:54.134 --> 00:17:56.807
- You got a time out.
(child sobs)

00:17:56.807 --> 00:17:58.533
It's okay. It's okay.

00:17:59.880 --> 00:18:01.590
Dealing with all the guys
that are gonna come around

00:18:01.590 --> 00:18:02.540
and ask her out on date.

00:18:02.540 --> 00:18:04.387
So I always joke around.

00:18:04.387 --> 00:18:05.340
I say, well that's when
I move the gun rack

00:18:05.340 --> 00:18:07.590
from the back of the house
to the front of the house

00:18:09.134 --> 00:18:10.770
and polish it on dates.

00:18:10.770 --> 00:18:13.050
- I don't really think it
affected me very deeply.

00:18:13.050 --> 00:18:15.210
It was just something that was inevitable

00:18:15.210 --> 00:18:16.360
and it finally happened

00:18:17.934 --> 00:18:20.940
and now she's one step
closer to being a woman.

00:18:20.940 --> 00:18:23.107
- It wasn't even that you're a woman now

00:18:23.107 --> 00:18:24.382
because I was 13

00:18:24.382 --> 00:18:26.640
and there's no way I'm a
woman, you know, I'm little.

00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:28.987
- She walked into the kitchen now says,

00:18:28.987 --> 00:18:30.037
"Well, it's happened.

00:18:31.170 --> 00:18:32.700
I started bleeding.

00:18:32.700 --> 00:18:33.690
I guess I'm a woman now.

00:18:33.690 --> 00:18:36.570
Do I have to do chores?" (laughs)

00:18:37.986 --> 00:18:38.819
[Theme Music]

00:18:40.521 --> 00:18:41.910
- There's gotta be some
point to puberty rituals

00:18:41.910 --> 00:18:44.430
and I think that being initiated

00:18:44.430 --> 00:18:47.610
into adulthood may go a long
way towards actually maturing

00:18:47.610 --> 00:18:48.480
as an adult.

00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:52.440
There's this atmosphere of
immaturity about so many people,

00:18:52.440 --> 00:18:53.940
and I'm sure that is partly

00:18:53.940 --> 00:18:56.130
because they never went through a ritual

00:18:56.130 --> 00:18:58.950
which said, okay, then you
were a child, now you are

00:18:58.950 --> 00:19:01.200
in between when all kinds
of magical things can happen

00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:02.700
and now you are a grownup

00:19:02.700 --> 00:19:04.680
and you have to take
responsibility for yourself

00:19:04.680 --> 00:19:05.820
and for other people.

00:19:05.820 --> 00:19:08.010
And to have that actually
stated and surrounded

00:19:08.010 --> 00:19:10.953
in a ritual experience would
embed it deep in the psyche.

00:19:11.820 --> 00:19:13.543
- Part of the reason I
wanted to celebrate it is

00:19:13.543 --> 00:19:15.030
I didn't want Leanna to go

00:19:15.030 --> 00:19:19.260
through her life calling it
a curse or being on the rag.

00:19:19.260 --> 00:19:21.780
And it's something that we
just experienced monthly.

00:19:21.780 --> 00:19:24.540
I mean, like we menstruate
as the moon cycles.

00:19:24.540 --> 00:19:26.040
We're part of the moon cycle.

00:19:26.040 --> 00:19:27.990
- My mom made sure I didn't
think of it as, you know,

00:19:27.990 --> 00:19:31.200
really embarrassing but
something that's just natural

00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:34.560
and almost beautiful I guess
you could say, not just a drag.

00:19:34.560 --> 00:19:37.717
- It's a poem by Lucille Clifton called

00:19:37.717 --> 00:19:40.560
"Poem in Praise of Menstruation."

00:19:40.560 --> 00:19:41.670
If there is a river

00:19:41.670 --> 00:19:43.440
more beautiful than this-
- Beautiful than this,

00:19:43.440 --> 00:19:46.890
bright as the blood,red edge of the moon.

00:19:46.890 --> 00:19:47.723
If there is a river
more faithful than this,

00:19:47.723 --> 00:19:50.040
[Centle Music]

00:19:50.040 --> 00:19:52.801
returning each month to the same delta,

00:19:52.801 --> 00:19:56.081
if there is a river
greater than this coming

00:19:56.081 --> 00:20:00.690
and coming in a surge of passion of pain.

00:20:00.690 --> 00:20:03.840
If there is a river
more ancient than this.

00:20:03.840 --> 00:20:06.810
Daughter of Eve, mother of Cain and Abel.

00:20:06.810 --> 00:20:10.050
If there is in the universe such a river,

00:20:10.050 --> 00:20:14.670
there is somewhere water
more powerful than this.

00:20:14.670 --> 00:20:16.320
Wild water.

00:20:16.320 --> 00:20:19.890
Pray that it flows also
through animals, beautiful

00:20:19.890 --> 00:20:22.923
and faithful and ancient
and female and brave.

00:20:25.343 --> 00:20:26.510
- I love that.

00:20:28.265 --> 00:20:30.510
- How might it have been different for you

00:20:30.510 --> 00:20:32.430
if on your first menstrual day,

00:20:32.430 --> 00:20:35.280
your mother had given
you a bouquet of flowers

00:20:35.280 --> 00:20:37.170
and taken you to lunch.

00:20:37.170 --> 00:20:39.660
And then the two of you had
gone to meet your father

00:20:39.660 --> 00:20:42.690
at the jeweler where
your ears were pierced

00:20:42.690 --> 00:20:46.143
and your father bought you
your first pair of earrings.

00:20:47.490 --> 00:20:50.340
And then you went with
a few of your friends

00:20:50.340 --> 00:20:54.862
and your mother's friends to
get your first lip coloring.

00:20:54.862 --> 00:20:59.103
And then you went for the very first time

00:20:59.103 --> 00:21:04.103
to the women's lodge to learn
the wisdom of the women.

00:21:04.200 --> 00:21:07.440
How might your life have been different?

00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:08.910
- Oh my, yes.

00:21:08.910 --> 00:21:10.025
God, yes.

00:21:10.025 --> 00:21:12.463
Would've been different, yeah,

00:21:12.463 --> 00:21:16.637
I would've liked myself
better, a lot better.

00:21:20.520 --> 00:21:21.353
- Maybe I would've known

00:21:21.353 --> 00:21:23.403
that I was entitled to a sense of self.

00:21:25.020 --> 00:21:27.270
Maybe I would've been
able to claim my voice.

00:21:28.555 --> 00:21:31.222
(upbeat music)

00:21:39.030 --> 00:21:42.060
- We're all red, all of us on the inside,

00:21:42.060 --> 00:21:44.403
and that unites us, our blood.

00:21:46.680 --> 00:21:49.020
I think that women don't necessarily want

00:21:49.020 --> 00:21:52.920
to acknowledge their own bloody existence.

00:21:52.920 --> 00:21:54.457
And I have met women that have said,

00:21:54.457 --> 00:21:56.550
"Oh, I just can't stand
the sight of blood."

00:21:56.550 --> 00:21:59.550
And in a conundrum, I think to myself,

00:21:59.550 --> 00:22:04.110
well, how do they go
through month to month

00:22:04.110 --> 00:22:06.930
if they cannot stand the sight of blood?

00:22:06.930 --> 00:22:09.750
It is a part of who we are as women.

00:22:09.750 --> 00:22:12.810
We have no choice but
to deal with that blood.

00:22:12.810 --> 00:22:13.863
It's an every day.

00:22:15.510 --> 00:22:17.730
- There is a shift going on now

00:22:17.730 --> 00:22:20.940
where women are reframing
collectively their experience

00:22:20.940 --> 00:22:22.680
of menstruation.

00:22:22.680 --> 00:22:26.580
And I think that the whole
issue is very tied up

00:22:26.580 --> 00:22:28.210
with environmentalism

00:22:30.120 --> 00:22:31.980
because when a woman
honors her menstruation,

00:22:31.980 --> 00:22:33.870
she honors the natural cycle in her body.

00:22:33.870 --> 00:22:36.540
She honors her connection to
the moon and to the earth,

00:22:36.540 --> 00:22:39.570
and she feels a part of nature.

00:22:39.570 --> 00:22:43.200
She's in touch with the wild
and eternal part of herself

00:22:43.200 --> 00:22:45.210
that has always, always, always been part

00:22:45.210 --> 00:22:46.653
of a woman's experience.

00:22:49.110 --> 00:22:51.926
- So in order for feminism,
I think to really mature,

00:22:51.926 --> 00:22:54.660
which is really female validating

00:22:54.660 --> 00:22:56.130
rather than female negating,

00:22:56.130 --> 00:22:57.690
people are now talking about menstruation

00:22:57.690 --> 00:23:00.210
as a valid experience and
beginning to understand

00:23:00.210 --> 00:23:03.000
that honoring the cycle
that happens to us naturally

00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:06.330
as women is a perfectly
valid way of living.

00:23:06.330 --> 00:23:09.030
Now we're able to say,
perhaps the natural processes

00:23:09.030 --> 00:23:11.070
of being female have
something inherently right

00:23:11.070 --> 00:23:12.840
and useful and wonderful about them.

00:23:12.840 --> 00:23:15.450
And that if we start to
live from that place,

00:23:15.450 --> 00:23:18.750
we'll all be healthier and
happier and wiser as people

00:23:18.750 --> 00:23:21.069
and girls will come to their maturity

00:23:21.069 --> 00:23:23.460
without feeling like they're
about to start doing something

00:23:23.460 --> 00:23:25.143
which is horrible and stupid.

00:23:32.130 --> 00:23:35.490
People often ask me how I got
so interested in menstruation.

00:23:35.490 --> 00:23:37.650
What was so fascinating about
it to me that I would spend

00:23:37.650 --> 00:23:39.565
so many years studying it

00:23:39.565 --> 00:23:41.640
and writing about it
and teaching about it?

00:23:41.640 --> 00:23:43.890
And there've been several influences.

00:23:43.890 --> 00:23:46.920
I think the first one
was really the experience

00:23:46.920 --> 00:23:48.180
of my own periods.

00:23:48.180 --> 00:23:49.560
Especially when I was a younger woman,

00:23:49.560 --> 00:23:51.720
my periods were quite
heavy and very painful

00:23:51.720 --> 00:23:53.730
and they seemed like this wild animal

00:23:53.730 --> 00:23:55.560
that would just take me over every month.

00:23:55.560 --> 00:23:58.320
It was very disturbing and
I always had this feeling

00:23:58.320 --> 00:24:01.147
that there was some way I could
get into better relationship

00:24:01.147 --> 00:24:02.730
with my periods.

00:24:02.730 --> 00:24:05.280
And then I studied Chinese medicine

00:24:05.280 --> 00:24:07.140
and I found out that it's considered

00:24:07.140 --> 00:24:10.590
that your period is a
time for rest and renewal

00:24:10.590 --> 00:24:12.720
and that the healthiest thing to do is

00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:15.210
to spend some time lying down and resting.

00:24:15.210 --> 00:24:18.600
And it's not a time to be
charging around the world working.

00:24:18.600 --> 00:24:21.510
So when I began to integrate
that into my lifestyle,

00:24:21.510 --> 00:24:25.620
I stopped having cramps and
my PMS became more mild.

00:24:25.620 --> 00:24:29.130
And I just started to feel
like somehow I was honoring

00:24:29.130 --> 00:24:31.080
something that was just
natural instead of trying

00:24:31.080 --> 00:24:34.429
to pretend like I was a man
who didn't have a cycle.

00:24:34.429 --> 00:24:36.840
And then I came across a teacher

00:24:36.840 --> 00:24:38.250
in the Native American tradition

00:24:38.250 --> 00:24:40.057
and one day he said to me,

00:24:40.057 --> 00:24:43.440
"Did you know that in my
tradition a woman is considered

00:24:43.440 --> 00:24:45.720
to be psychically and
spiritually more powerful

00:24:45.720 --> 00:24:47.370
than anybody else at any other time

00:24:47.370 --> 00:24:49.110
when she has her period?"

00:24:49.110 --> 00:24:51.390
And that completely turned me upside down.

00:24:51.390 --> 00:24:52.620
I mean, it was incredible.

00:24:52.620 --> 00:24:54.570
As he said that, I could feel all the cogs

00:24:54.570 --> 00:24:57.420
in my brain just turning
and everything going, whoa.

00:24:57.420 --> 00:24:59.970
But I'd been trained to think
that I'm weak and pathetic

00:24:59.970 --> 00:25:01.260
and useless at that time

00:25:01.260 --> 00:25:03.960
and that I should hide it and
pretend it's not happening

00:25:03.960 --> 00:25:05.910
and suppress all my symptoms

00:25:05.910 --> 00:25:08.460
and think of everything
around my period as being bad.

00:25:08.460 --> 00:25:11.460
And I began to realize that
all the ways I've been trained

00:25:11.460 --> 00:25:14.730
to think about my period
had come from a philosophy

00:25:14.730 --> 00:25:16.680
which didn't honor the feminine,

00:25:16.680 --> 00:25:18.390
which wanted human beings to be

00:25:18.390 --> 00:25:20.880
as much like machines as possible,

00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:24.150
and which didn't have any
sense of the natural processes

00:25:24.150 --> 00:25:26.160
of the human body as being sacred.

00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:28.560
I realized that everything
that happened in my period

00:25:28.560 --> 00:25:31.020
that I thought of as
being bad was actually

00:25:31.020 --> 00:25:33.120
if I turn things upside down, good.

00:25:33.120 --> 00:25:35.190
Like my PMS was the way

00:25:35.190 --> 00:25:37.230
in which I would get emotional clarity.

00:25:37.230 --> 00:25:39.660
The feelings that came up
premenstrually were feelings

00:25:39.660 --> 00:25:42.540
that I needed to recognize
and needed to know.

00:25:42.540 --> 00:25:44.160
And they came up in such an extreme way

00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:47.280
because I was in denial about
them the rest of the month.

00:25:47.280 --> 00:25:49.050
And if I paid attention to what came up,

00:25:49.050 --> 00:25:51.510
then I could start making
changes in my life instead

00:25:51.510 --> 00:25:53.220
of thinking that I was just some lunatic

00:25:53.220 --> 00:25:55.061
for a few days every month.

00:25:55.061 --> 00:25:55.894
[Soft music]

00:25:55.894 --> 00:25:59.910
- So I felt this great
responsibility, this is my job

00:25:59.910 --> 00:26:01.350
to make this a blessing.

00:26:01.350 --> 00:26:02.280
How am I gonna do that?

00:26:02.280 --> 00:26:04.376
And there's all these books out

00:26:04.376 --> 00:26:06.450
and stories of women making red cake

00:26:06.450 --> 00:26:08.190
and inviting their friends over

00:26:08.190 --> 00:26:09.780
and wearing red velvet dresses

00:26:09.780 --> 00:26:13.860
and having rituals where
they tie their legs together

00:26:13.860 --> 00:26:15.840
with their daughters and
they run across the field

00:26:15.840 --> 00:26:17.910
and at a certain point,
they release the string

00:26:17.910 --> 00:26:19.200
and the daughter keeps on running

00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:20.730
and the mother stays there.

00:26:20.730 --> 00:26:23.160
There was so much happening like this

00:26:23.160 --> 00:26:25.983
and I couldn't quite see my place in it.

00:26:27.270 --> 00:26:28.470
- When you get your period,

00:26:28.470 --> 00:26:30.360
then you're differentiated from men

00:26:30.360 --> 00:26:32.010
because men don't get their periods.

00:26:32.010 --> 00:26:33.453
And so that was a big marking of the way

00:26:33.453 --> 00:26:34.410
that you were different

00:26:34.410 --> 00:26:35.880
and then the way that you were powerful.

00:26:35.880 --> 00:26:38.668
- That's absolutely true and
I'm glad you got that message.

00:26:38.668 --> 00:26:40.350
- If I have children
and I have a daughter,

00:26:40.350 --> 00:26:42.180
I will have a party for my daughter.

00:26:42.180 --> 00:26:43.947
I don't know if I would've thought of it,

00:26:43.947 --> 00:26:45.330
but my mother did that.

00:26:45.330 --> 00:26:47.460
I really liked it and I
thought it was a great idea.

00:26:47.460 --> 00:26:50.223
In a way I'm kind of proud,
like on the cutting edge.

00:26:51.705 --> 00:26:52.553
- [Both] Thank you, Mommy.

00:26:54.150 --> 00:26:56.160
- That's a really wonderful validation.

00:26:56.160 --> 00:26:58.710
- And I told a variety
of women that I knew.

00:26:58.710 --> 00:27:00.870
They lived together, living together

00:27:00.870 --> 00:27:02.503
who had begun their cycle.

00:27:02.503 --> 00:27:05.245
- I didn't quite understand
what the point of it was,

00:27:05.245 --> 00:27:07.500
but it was a good excuse
to get my mom out here.

00:27:07.500 --> 00:27:09.688
- I knew I wanted to do something,

00:27:09.688 --> 00:27:13.260
but I couldn't figure
out what it would be.

00:27:13.260 --> 00:27:15.277
And I started to ask the girls about it,

00:27:15.277 --> 00:27:16.440
"Oh, what do you wanna...

00:27:16.440 --> 00:27:18.690
I'd like to do something
to mark the occasion."

00:27:18.690 --> 00:27:20.840
And they were kind of funny about it.

00:27:20.840 --> 00:27:23.220
So I did feel that it was up to me

00:27:23.220 --> 00:27:24.673
to come up with something.

00:27:24.673 --> 00:27:28.200
- I was looking around for
things that might mark the ritual

00:27:28.200 --> 00:27:31.293
from my standpoint as a dad,
taking them sail planing.

00:27:32.189 --> 00:27:33.960
You know, put 'em in a cockpit

00:27:33.960 --> 00:27:36.829
and we'd go up to 10,000 feet or whatever

00:27:36.829 --> 00:27:41.829
and soar around as a larger
experience of the world.

00:27:42.060 --> 00:27:46.740
- He mentioned the hang gliding
idea or climbing a mountain.

00:27:46.740 --> 00:27:48.330
And all I could think of is, you know,

00:27:48.330 --> 00:27:51.480
the day your period starts
and you climb a mountain?

00:27:51.480 --> 00:27:54.330
- They really didn't have
a strong interest in it

00:27:54.330 --> 00:27:57.660
and I thought if it didn't
mean anything to them,

00:27:57.660 --> 00:27:59.100
if it only meant something to me,

00:27:59.100 --> 00:28:00.840
then it really wouldn't be a ritual

00:28:00.840 --> 00:28:03.720
that would form a bond between us.

00:28:03.720 --> 00:28:07.500
I concluded that their turn
to womanhood was a mark

00:28:07.500 --> 00:28:10.440
of separation from me.

00:28:10.440 --> 00:28:13.410
And what I wanted to do
is to maintain contact,

00:28:13.410 --> 00:28:15.000
when in reality what it means is

00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:16.650
that they begin to live on their own

00:28:16.650 --> 00:28:19.549
in a way that can't include their father.

00:28:19.549 --> 00:28:20.382
- I mean, there's part of me

00:28:20.382 --> 00:28:24.568
that did feel left out that
here was something going on

00:28:24.568 --> 00:28:25.587
with my daughter.

00:28:25.587 --> 00:28:28.170
It was my idea, and yet I
couldn't participate in it.

00:28:28.170 --> 00:28:29.380
- That they put me

00:28:29.380 --> 00:28:32.250
in a jacuzzi.
- A water ritual.

00:28:32.250 --> 00:28:35.160
- She decided that she
wanted to have a fire circle.

00:28:35.160 --> 00:28:38.970
The grown women in our community
and a few of her friends.

00:28:38.970 --> 00:28:40.735
- They were all really close to me

00:28:40.735 --> 00:28:42.930
so I wasn't really
embarrassed to be, you know.

00:28:42.930 --> 00:28:45.330
- One of her aunts is a
fundamentalist Christian

00:28:45.330 --> 00:28:47.190
and I was a little concerned

00:28:47.190 --> 00:28:49.590
that this might seem too pagan for her.

00:28:49.590 --> 00:28:53.043
And she was so awestruck
by the whole thing

00:28:53.043 --> 00:28:56.430
that she participated,
she was just enchanted.

00:28:56.430 --> 00:28:59.340
- They bathed me, brought
me into the circle,

00:28:59.340 --> 00:29:02.575
and some things were said.

00:29:02.575 --> 00:29:03.873
And my mom wrote a poem for me.

00:29:03.873 --> 00:29:07.230
Well my mom said probbly
is what brought the  tears.

00:29:07.230 --> 00:29:08.550
- So it was a point of sadness

00:29:08.550 --> 00:29:10.300
and it was a point of understanding

00:29:12.210 --> 00:29:14.250
but the sadness lingers.

00:29:14.250 --> 00:29:16.293
- One of the things I do remember is

00:29:16.293 --> 00:29:17.700
that remember her saying
she wasn't quite sure

00:29:17.700 --> 00:29:19.800
at the time what it was about.

00:29:19.800 --> 00:29:21.780
Afterwards, we actually had an argument.

00:29:21.780 --> 00:29:25.020
She accused me of trying to
make her grow up too fast.

00:29:25.020 --> 00:29:28.200
So I think it's one of those
things that did have an impact.

00:29:28.200 --> 00:29:30.576
- I bought two rings.

00:29:30.576 --> 00:29:33.600
They would at least remember
the day I started my period,

00:29:33.600 --> 00:29:36.630
my mom gave me two hands over a heart.

00:29:36.630 --> 00:29:38.724
And she came to me in the morning

00:29:38.724 --> 00:29:41.580
and said, "I started my period."

00:29:41.580 --> 00:29:44.280
And the first thing I said
was something really stupid.

00:29:44.280 --> 00:29:47.310
Here I had been waiting
for this sacred moment.

00:29:47.310 --> 00:29:49.650
And I said, "You're kidding."

00:29:49.650 --> 00:29:51.810
I think it was something
like that. (laughs)

00:29:51.810 --> 00:29:56.810
And I hugged Sarah and started
to cry, just really cry.

00:29:57.992 --> 00:30:01.410
And I said, "I don't know why I'm crying."

00:30:01.410 --> 00:30:03.387
And she said, "Oh, I think you do."

00:30:04.380 --> 00:30:06.030
There's just a lot of tears.

00:30:06.030 --> 00:30:10.663
It felt that I was welcoming
her into all of that,

00:30:13.020 --> 00:30:18.020
which can't be spoken really
of woman and blood and mystery.

00:30:20.100 --> 00:30:25.100
So this is a picture of Sarah
swimming in a mountain pool.

00:30:25.530 --> 00:30:28.380
There's just a a beauty about it...Her...

00:30:28.380 --> 00:30:33.380
exuberance and blossoming into the world.

00:30:33.420 --> 00:30:36.780
And then on the back it says,
"Sarah's first Moontime."

00:30:36.780 --> 00:30:40.020
I have no idea what it means to her now,

00:30:40.020 --> 00:30:41.460
or could mean later.

00:30:41.460 --> 00:30:43.983
It was something I needed to do.

00:30:44.820 --> 00:30:46.080
- This is what my mom wrote me

00:30:46.080 --> 00:30:48.360
when I had my ceremony.

00:30:48.360 --> 00:30:49.860
"For my daughter.

00:30:49.860 --> 00:30:51.871
Well my girl, you're growing up

00:30:51.871 --> 00:30:56.871
- Like it or not, you're
doing just that, growing up.

00:30:58.470 --> 00:31:03.470
Your old mom resents it,
loves it and envies it.

00:31:03.990 --> 00:31:05.760
Lots of feelings for me.

00:31:05.760 --> 00:31:09.090
Now it's time for you to
grow up and be an adult.

00:31:09.090 --> 00:31:12.000
You may not like it,
but you have to grow up.

00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:14.250
In many ways, you may love it.

00:31:14.250 --> 00:31:16.200
Having children is nice

00:31:16.200 --> 00:31:19.653
and sadly they go away
and leave you behind.

00:31:20.730 --> 00:31:23.460
But they need to go and be and grow.

00:31:23.460 --> 00:31:24.783
That too is their job.

00:31:25.800 --> 00:31:28.770
Don't forget child of
mine, you are my baby

00:31:28.770 --> 00:31:30.210
and will be forever.

00:31:30.210 --> 00:31:33.240
Don't ever forget you jumped outta my body

00:31:33.240 --> 00:31:37.680
and we are two...
different, but two women.

00:31:37.680 --> 00:31:39.240
Never forget I love you.

00:31:39.240 --> 00:31:40.073
Love, Mom".

00:31:40.073 --> 00:31:42.903
- Yeah. Still makes me cry.

00:31:44.010 --> 00:31:46.632
- And every person who came
painted a piece of silk,

00:31:46.632 --> 00:31:50.590
I was so enthusiastic about
her doing something like this

00:31:50.590 --> 00:31:53.910
as part of the fire
circle, kind of symbolic of

00:31:53.910 --> 00:31:54.860
what we were doing.

00:31:55.704 --> 00:31:57.300
- Well we all sat around
like the fire circle

00:31:57.300 --> 00:32:00.330
and people gave me little gifts and tokens

00:32:00.330 --> 00:32:04.860
and they talked to me about
the passage and gave me advice.

00:32:04.860 --> 00:32:06.600
- We worked on it for
about an hour, I think,

00:32:06.600 --> 00:32:08.880
and socialized and ate.

00:32:08.880 --> 00:32:10.530
- I had a lot of fun.

00:32:10.530 --> 00:32:12.690
I got a lot of little jewelry boxes,

00:32:12.690 --> 00:32:14.243
but they all had some
kind of meaning, you know.

00:32:14.243 --> 00:32:18.750
Some of the jewelry had faces
on 'em of a woman of wisdom.

00:32:18.750 --> 00:32:19.583
- And we finished off the
whole ritual with the song,

00:32:19.583 --> 00:32:20.416
[Women singing

00:32:22.267 --> 00:32:24.717
"Let The Women Be There,"
which Leanna had chosen.

00:32:26.189 --> 00:32:29.940
♪ Let the women be there ♪

00:32:29.940 --> 00:32:32.863
- I had experienced a lot
of what people said to me

00:32:32.863 --> 00:32:36.581
and it was more clear to
me after the fire circle

00:32:36.581 --> 00:32:39.390
and I accepted it more, you know,

00:32:39.390 --> 00:32:42.993
that is just a part of,
you know, being a woman.

00:32:43.980 --> 00:32:45.933
- She looked different the next day.

00:32:46.980 --> 00:32:49.470
There was something
about her the next day,

00:32:49.470 --> 00:32:52.170
there was a kind of air about her.

00:32:52.170 --> 00:32:57.170
She seemed more sure of
herself or more ...just taller.

00:32:58.320 --> 00:33:01.680
I was really struck by it and
it was a kind of a passage

00:33:01.680 --> 00:33:05.220
for me because it was like
I had a young daughter

00:33:05.220 --> 00:33:08.818
who now was a young woman
and it was dramatic.

00:33:08.818 --> 00:33:10.802
It was really dramatic.

00:33:10.802 --> 00:33:13.553
♪ Let the women be ♪

00:33:13.553 --> 00:33:15.357
♪ Let the women ♪

00:33:15.357 --> 00:33:17.474
♪ Let the women ♪

00:33:17.474 --> 00:33:18.471
♪ Let the women be...yhere ♪

00:33:18.471 --> 00:33:22.490
- The word ritual from
the Sanskrit 'Ritu'is

00:33:23.730 --> 00:33:27.033
any act of magic towards purpose.

00:33:27.990 --> 00:33:32.990
"Ri," meaning birth is the
root of red pronounced read

00:33:34.290 --> 00:33:35.703
in old English.

00:33:36.771 --> 00:33:40.670
Matu means menstrual suggesting

00:33:40.670 --> 00:33:45.670
that ritual began as an act
of recognizing menarche.

00:33:47.687 --> 00:33:50.104
(calm concluding music)

00:34:57.533 --> 00:35:00.283
(ethereal music)