CIRCLES and CYCLES
THE CYCLE of MENOPAUSE
Circles and cycles, spiraling, flowing, swirling, opening, closing, transforming, evolving, changing, no ending and no beginning. Children innocently playing in circles, friends joyously sitting in circles, standing stones, solid and powerful in circles, families communing and eating in circles, young girls dancing in circles, gentle arms encircling babies and lovers and children, circular mazes and sacred labyrinths, representing the labia, the yoni, the womb, all containing deep stillness within the centre of the circle. Knights of the round table, round castles, round turrets, round towers, spiraling staircases reaching to the stars. Circular temples and huts and tipis and ancient stone walls encircling civilisations and communities and tribes, symbolising the womb of the earth.
Circular campfires, providing the nurturance of warm food for hungry bellies and a warm glow for open hearts. Circular vases and baskets and bowls, lovingly created from the moist clay and slender reeds of the earth, and representing the womb of life. Circular gardens, offering blossoms and fruit, towering majestic trees nurturing the life of tiny round seeds and tiny round seeds containing the life of towering majestic trees. Spinning tops, spinning wheels, spinning stars, spiraling tempests, spiraling tornadoes, spiraling wheel of life.
Spiraling whirls of delicate petals, encircling an offering of golden pollen for buzzing bees, circular spiderwebs sparkling with diamond dewdrops, delicately spiraling seashells, nestling in rock pools washed by the ever changing cyclic waves of Grandmother Ocean, spiraling circles of sun sparkled waters, eddying and swirling and dancing in whirlpools, in deep and ancient rivers, in shade filled mountain creeks, in deep and ancient rivers, flowing to the sea.
A woman’s inherent nature, like that of Mother Nature, is cyclic, circular, like the earth, the planets, the spiraling energy of her womb, the spiraling energy of her yoni, the spiraling energy of her breasts. Circular cycles of menstruation, of ovulation, of pregnancy, of birthing, of mothering, of menopause, all flowing naturally from one to the other, and yet all containing the innate potential energy of all previous and forthcoming cycles. Circular seasons of the earth, circular eggs of ovulation, circular spiraling movements of the moon in the heavens, at one with the natural cycles of the girl child, the maiden, the mother, the muse, the wise woman, the crone, each one a vitally important facet of the female essence and of life on earth.
As a woman’s body and psyche naturally flow into her menopausal phase of life, she is preparing for a powerful new inner journey, a powerful new cycles of transformation, of physical and emotional and psychic and psychological and spiritual change that is rarely honoured within the rational linear world of western society. Many ancient and indigenous cultures honour, acknowledge and are naturally at ease with all female cycles, welcoming them as an inherent part of the circular web of life, for these transform and evolve and flow in harmony with the circles and cycles of their beloved Earth Mother.
Contemporary civilisation, racing forcefully within an apparent structure of illusory linear time, does not welcome the cyclic nature of the feminine essence and her many spiraling transformations. Moving ever faster and ever forward, it races towards an illusory future created by straight lines that do not bend, do not merge, do not yield with the ways of woman, with the ways of the earth.
Existing within rectangles, squares, straight lines and boxes that delineate and confine, it ignores the naturally spiraling nature of woman and of the earth. Causing much pollution, much destruction, much distortion of natural cycles and natural values, it ignorantly denies the sacredness of the female menstrual cycle, the sacredness of menopause and the sacredness of the wise woman elder. The woman who embraces her menopausal metamorphosis with awareness, openness and love is deeply entering the wise and wild timelessness of the womb, this vast and mysterious place that knows no linear time.
For she is finding her natural place, her natural space within the matrix, the circles, the cycles of life and of the earth. Contemporary society, through its fear of the wise, raw sexual female power of the earth, seeks to domesticate, to tame, to contain all that is not natural upon this earth. And so the wise integrity of female cycles, and particularly the wise integrity of menopause is denigrated, unnoticed, undervalued as a powerful inner journey into profound depths of ancient timeless wisdom that has wisely and generously served communities and tribes upon this earth for aeons.
Dear menopausal woman, as you descend deeply within, into your wellspring of immortal wisdom, you will make peace with the inherent wisdom of all your female cycles, you will find your natural place within and without. Welcome your spiritual sisters into your circle as you recognise and honour the one wise woman within all. Know that this phase of menopause is a powerful and natural cycle that embraces the cyclic wheel of life in myriad ways that are to be honoured, to be treasured, to be enjoyed.
Breathe deeply into the depths of your womb, allow these potent waves of change to wash through you, to nurture you, to teach you, to reach you. Allow the sacredness of the wise menopausal woman, and the sacredness of all of life to nurture you throughout this important transformational cycle. Take your rightful place within the circles and spirals of life. And know that thou art blessed with much wisdom and much power.
Sophia is a wise woman who lives, writes, and paints from the heart. Her prolific articles and paintings embrace the wisdom and grace of the female essence and the beauty of the earth. She is acknowledged as a powerful and honest writer whose creative work features throughout many international websites and magazines. Her website is an abundant offering of female wisdom that nurtures and inspires.
Sophia is available for wildheartwisdom mentoring and counselling consultations via telephone or skype.
Website ~ www.wildheartwisdom.com
Email ~ sophia@wildheartwisdom.com
Copyright Roslyne Sophia Breillat ©
Not to be reproduced without author’s permission
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These one-day workshops (10AM-5PM) are taught outside among the plants, with Susun and the goats. Open to men and women, they include a wild-food lunch. 
