Use some of these examples about sacred gatherings around the world to celebrate Menarche.<\/em><\/p>\nMany societies have specific Menstruation rituals associated with it. Most developed world countries do not celebrate the onset of a girl`s moontime. Neglecting to celebrate this important time in a young woman`s life we miss a valuable opportunity to strengthen her ties to her family and community.<\/p>\n
In many cultures the first menstruation signifies a change in status.<\/p>\n
On the west coast of Canada the\u00a0Nuu-chah-nulth\u00a0(also known as the Nootka) believe that physical endurance is the most important quality in young women. At menarche girls are taken out into the Pacific Ocean and left there to swim back.<\/p>\n
In Latin America the quincea\u00f1era, or the celebration of a girl turning 15 years old,\u00a0is a party that is similar to a menarche celebration, except that a specific age marks the transition rather than menarche. When\u00a0 girl gets her moontime in\u00a0Morocco she is thrown a celebration. All of her family members are invited and the girl is given money and gifts.<\/p>\n
While a special dish called sekihan is made for <\/em>Japanese girls when they\u00a0have their first period. \u00a0Sekihan <\/em>is a dish of rice and beans.\u00a0The celebration is kept a secret from extended family until the rice is served, at which point everyone attending knows the reason for the party.<\/p>\nIn some\u00a0Indian\u00a0communities, young women are given a special menarche ceremony called\u00a0Ruthu Sadangu or Pen Vaisu Vanthachu. The Ceremony is usually witnessed by close family members. These coming of age rites must be performed on the very day the girl attained puberty.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Mescalero\u00a0Apaches regard the menarche ceremony as the most important ritual. They hold an eight-day annual event celebrating all of the girls who have begun to menstruate during the past year. The days are divided between feasting and private ceremonies celebrating the girls on their new womanly status.<\/p>\n
In\u00a0Australia, the\u00a0Aborigines treat a girl to “love magic”. She is taught the ways of womanhood by the other women in her tribe.<\/p>\n
The Ulithi tribe of\u00a0Micronesia\u00a0call a girl’s menarche\u00a0kufar<\/em>. When the girls of this tribe first have their moontimes they go to a menstrual house, where the women bathe her and recite spells. Women must live in these menstruation huts every time they menstruate until they are married.<\/p>\nIn\u00a0Sri Lanka\u00a0an\u00a0astrologer studies the stars when the girl experiences menarche as it is believed that her future can be predicted at that moment.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Navajo\u00a0have a celebration called\u00a0kinaalda<\/em>\u00a0in which girls are expected to demonstrate their strength through footraces. They also make a cornmeal pudding for their tribe to taste. The girls who experience menarche wear special clothes and style their hair like the Navajo goddess “Changing Woman”.<\/p>\n![\"goddess\"](\"http:\/\/www.unitariancongregation.org\/ceremonies\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/goddess-161x300.jpg\")
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Have a Goddess figurine wrapped in red tissue paper to present to the girl who has become a woman. Then pass the statue around and allow each person to speak.\u00a0 They can share a story about an experience they have had with their moontime. Please also say that you may ask for a minute of quite time instead of speaking. This gives everyone a chance to absorb the stories.<\/p>\n
Have a ceremonial walk laid out with red ribbon. (You may need to tape it to the floor to keep it in place).\u00a0 All the women gather at one end and the girl who is being celebrated stands at the other end. As she waits to walk down the aisle to be welcomed into the circle of women speak about the fact that she is no longer a child.\u00a0 She has become a woman.\u00a0 Ask her if she is ready to become a woman. \u00a0Then ask her to set her token on the altar and walk into the circle of waiting women. Who all say \u2013 welcome to the circle of women. Pout a bit of earth on her feet and say \u2013 may the earth always support you.\u00a0 Circle her with a feather and say \u2013 may you grow wings to help you soar. Pour water on her hands \u2013 may this water bring you health and life, light a candle for her \u2013 may this light always illuminate the dark for you.<\/p>\n
Give a few drops of lemon juice on a spoon, then give her a spoonful of honey or maple syrup \u2013 may the bitterness in life never overwhelm the sweetness.\u00a0 Give her a red fruit \u2013 raspberry \u2013 and say \u2013 may you never hunger, and a drink of a pomegranate juice \u2013 may you never thirst.<\/p>\n
![\"red](\"http:\/\/www.unitariancongregation.org\/ceremonies\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/red-garland.jpg\")
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Place the flower garland on her head \u2013 today you are crowned as a woman.\u00a0 Now that you have begun your moontime you are welcomed into the circle of women.<\/p>\n
Present her with the piece of red jewellery \u2013 help her to put it on and say: – may this _____ give you strength and courage as you become a woman. May it remind you of this day as you were held in love by a circle of women.<\/p>\n
She stands in the middle of the circle and each woman gifts her with a wish for her future.<\/p>\n
Read<\/p>\n
On the Road to Womanhood <\/strong>by Colleen Sell<\/strong>
\nBe free to be you<\/em>
\nBe strong, yet gentle,<\/em>
\nBe proud, yet loving.<\/em>
\nMay your body always be<\/em>
\nA blessing to you,<\/em>
\nA sacred grove of love and pleasure.<\/em>
\nSo care for your body<\/em>
\nAs you would for a beautiful garden.<\/em>
\nYour womb can now bring forth new life<\/em>
\nBut remember yours is the power<\/em>
\nTo open or close the gates of life<\/em>
\nIn your garden.<\/em>
\nTherefore yours is the responsibility<\/em>
\nTo be a conscious gardener.<\/em>
\nOpen to the embrace of love<\/em>
\nWhen you find the one<\/em>
\nWho is truly deserving.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Or<\/p>\n
Your Children by Kahlil Gibran<\/strong><\/p>\nYour children are not your children.<\/p>\n
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.<\/p>\n
They come through you but not from you,<\/p>\n
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.<\/p>\n
For they have their own thoughts.<\/p>\n
You may house their bodies but not their souls,<\/p>\n
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
\nwhich you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.<\/p>\n
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.<\/p>\n
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.<\/p>\n
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
\nand He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.<\/p>\n
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;<\/p>\n
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
\nso He loves also the bow that is stable.<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
To end the ceremony, have the woman who has been celebrated blow out the candles on the altar. After she has blown them out she can walk around the circle and present a candle to each participant thanking them for their wisdom.<\/p>\n
Finish with the words: The circle is open but not unbroken<\/p>\n
Have a feast: Serve red foods \u2013 red cabbage, beets, borscht, tomatoes (Soup or salad), red peppers, salsa, cherry pie, strawberries, raspberries (a summer pudding). Toast the new woman with red wine or red juice.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A ceremony of Menarche \u2013 for a girl as she becomes a woman Also known as a Red Party You will need \u2013 all things red.\u00a0 Set up and altar with: red beads, red ribbon, red candles (have enough to … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":308,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"kt_blocks_editor_width":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-events","category-ceremonies-for-women"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":20,"label":"Life Events"},{"value":21,"label":"Ceremonies for Women"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/www.unitariancongregation.org\/ceremonies\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/red-garland.jpg",194,259,false],"author_info":{"display_name":"Amanda Tarling","author_link":"https:\/\/www.unitariancongregation.org\/ceremonies\/author\/atarling\/"},"comment_info":1,"category_info":[{"term_id":20,"name":"Life Events","slug":"life-events","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":20,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":10,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0","cat_ID":20,"category_count":10,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Life Events","category_nicename":"life-events","category_parent":0},{"term_id":21,"name":"Ceremonies for Women","slug":"ceremonies-for-women","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":21,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":5,"filter":"raw","term_order":"0","cat_ID":21,"category_count":5,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Ceremonies for Women","category_nicename":"ceremonies-for-women","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unitariancongregation.org\/ceremonies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unitariancongregation.org\/ceremonies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unitariancongregation.org\/ceremonies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitariancongregation.org\/ceremonies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitariancongregation.org\/ceremonies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitariancongregation.org\/ceremonies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":409,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitariancongregation.org\/ceremonies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298\/revisions\/409"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitariancongregation.org\/ceremonies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.unitariancongregation.org\/ceremonies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitariancongregation.org\/ceremonies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.unitariancongregation.org\/ceremonies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"red](\"http:\/\/www.unitariancongregation.org\/ceremonies\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/red-candles.jpg\")
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