Women’s Rites of Passage
November 9, 2023
As women, we are always shifting and changing, it's our cyclical nature! We just have to look at the rhythms of our menstrual cycle which reflect this ebb and flow throughout each month.
And just as our internal cyclical seasonal energy shifts, from Spring to Summer, Autumn to Winter, we also transition through the Feminine Archetypes of Maiden to Mother, to Maga to Crone as we move through our life phases.
These archetypes, and interrelated life seasons, are an integral part of the map of our sacred feminine rites of passages.
What is a Rite of Passage?
With each life season there is a rite of passage, or initiation that marks the end of one season, and the beginning of the next. It is a time of transformation, when we transform from one way of being to another, never to return again to our previous life season. What happens during and around this transition, whether by conscious creation or by default, sets the theme for a woman’s experience of her self in her new role in her next life season. (Jane Harwicke-Collings)
Traditionally, society had a strong role in marking life's passages, ensuring that its members knew their identity, their place, and what was expected of them.
For thousands of years, rituals and ceremonies have been an important part of initiations to mark transitions and rites of passages in indigenous cultures.
But what about in our modern-day culture?
Most of us haven't experienced ceremony, or ritual surrounding these key moments in our feminine journey, rather whatever the default was that was happening at the time - which shows us the value, or lack of value, our culture places on our new role as a woman.
Let's look at our rites of passages for each of our feminine life phases below.
“Rites and rituals open hearts and clear minds.
They help us embody reverence and allow us to get in touch with our emotions and desires.
They provide safe ways to make change.”
―
Maiden (Birth and Menarche)
Age: 0-25
This is the Springtime of our life.
Our own birth is our first rite of passage, some say our most profound one, with our spirit/soul birthing into it's earthly human form.
Your birth experience is what we call your 'birth imprint' in Shamanic Womancraft. Finding out the story of this important rite of passage can give you deep insight into how you 'birth things into the world' when you're in the creative process, helping you then to be able to 'work with it', rather than be 'worked by it' so to speak.
The second rite of passage in this phase is Menarche, your first period (first moon blood). This signifies changing from girl into woman, blossoming into your fertility.
First Moon Menarche Ceremonies are becoming popular now, with many Mothers seeking to give their daughters the celebratory experience of Menarche that they themselves may have longed for.
Mother/Creatrix (Childbirth)
Age: 25 (or when you give birth) - 50 (or when menopause occurs)
This is the Summertime of our life.
The transition from Maiden to Mother. You may have heard the term 'Matrescence' - the physical, emotional, hormonal and spiritual transition of becoming a Mother.
The initiation for this phase is childbirth. Every time you give birth, it deepens your experience as a Mother. Remembering too that all pregnancies end in a birth, whether they're a vaginal birth, a c-section, a loss, or a termination.
And to again quote my wonderful teacher Jane-Hardwicke Collings, "You have the birth that you need to have, to teach you what you need to learn about yourself, to take you to the next place on your journey of healing and wholeness."
One of the places where our red thread/motherline wounding can show up is in our rites of passage, especially at birth.
Delving into your red thread/motherline, and your previous rites of passage before you give birth, or before you give birth again, can help you to heal and bring awareness to any fears, believes or patterns that might be playing out in your life. (check out our 1:1 Shamanic Womancraft Sessions).
Mother Blessings are a beautiful ceremony to honour and celebrate a woman's sacred pregnancy journey, as well as after birth the Postpartum Honouring Ceremonies.
Maga/Enchantress (Menopause)
Age: 50 (or menopause) - 70
The Autumn phase of our life.
The rite of passage here of Menopause (when there has been 2 years without bleeding) symbolises the end of a woman's fertile years, and perhaps also the shift away from the busy mothering phase - although many women are now still busy with children when they are reaching this life phase.
The peri-menopause journey can last anywhere between 1 and 13 years, and although it is treated as a medical problem in need of 'fixing', is a deep, and profound rite of passage.
Most women's cultural imprint of this phase of life is that of being no longer valued, past their use-by date, no longer attractive, and even invisible.
Having a menopause ceremony, or ritual is a powerful way to mark this important rite of passage and help to change the way we view this phase of life.
Crone/Wise Woman (Death)
Age: 70 (retirement) - Death
This is the Winter phase of our life.
The Crone phase marks the time in a woman's life when she is withdrawing from society, as life begins to slow down.
In traditional cultures, the Crone is honoured for her lifelong wisdom and is very much still an important part of the community. Unfortunately in our Western society, most Crones end up tucked away in retirement homes.
The rite of passage for Crone, our final one, is death.
Reclaiming your Rites of Passage
You can 'reclaim' a rite of passage at any time of your life journey.
The act of reclaiming a previous rite of passage can bring deep healing to not only yourself, but the women who have come before you, and the women that will come after you - including your daughter/s if you already have them. It can also change the trajectory for your future rites of passage, so powerful!
This can be as simple as performing a ritual for yourself, having one done for you by a friend, or even a guided circle with a group of friends.
There is a beautiful re-birthing ritual shared by Minmia in her book 'Under the Quondong Tree' that you can do using some of your hair, blood and the earth.
We can also reclaim our feminine rites of passage by bringing back the ceremony, ritual and celebration to honour these important initiations. This will help to shift the current pattern of them being hidden away, often shrouded in shame and embarrassment - taking back our power, our innate feminine wisdom, and helping to heal the earth.
"By consciously participating in rituals to mark important milestones in our lives, we connect with our souls in powerful, life-changing ways.
Women s Rites of Passage shows you exactly how to use ritual to heal, grow, and celebrate".
- Christiane Northrup
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With deep reverence we acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we live, the Wodi Wodi people of the Dharawal Nation. We also give great thanks to our ancestors, guides, and teachers, and to all of the powerful women who have come before us, and are yet to come. Deep gratitude.
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