Hi Arduinna! I'm so glad that you are giving some thought to how you want to acknowledge this important passage of life for your daughter. My daughter and two of her friends started their moontimes within a few months of each other so their mothers and I decided to do a ceremony together. Here's what we did: We found a nice spot on the riverbank, started a fire, and surrounded our circle with rose petals. We then called the directions. Standing facing each direction with arms up and open say:
Woman power of the East,
send forth your clarity,
shed your light upon our path,
inspire us with purity of the heart,
from the beginning of our first blood
until the last.
We call forth your simplicity
to aid us with our lives.
Woman power of the South,
strong and mighty,
flame the power within our wombs,
awaken our creativity,
give it life thorugh our blood power.
We call forth your strength
to aid us with our lives.
Woman power of the West,
flowing power of the womb,
sacred blood, mystery blood,
blood of life, blood of transformation,
We call forth your sacredness
to aid us with our lives.
Woman power of the North,
the deepness of our inner souls,
strengthen our wisdom Crone
who dwells in young and old alike.
Send forth the voices of our Grandmothers
to guide us through the bleeding of each moon.
We call upon your wisdom
to aid us with our lives.
I then said this prayer:
Mother Goddess, source of all creation, we ask special blessings this night for your daughters Johanna, Chloe, and Skylee. We recognize that these three girls are sacred in your eyes and we acknowledge you as the source of their spirit. We offer our deep and abiding thanksgiving to you for blesssing them with life on this beautiful planet. Please encircle them within your loving arms this night and help them know deeply in their hearts how your gentle and supportive presence will be with them always, now and throughout eternity. Hold them closely tonight as we welcome them into the circle of femininity, join us in celebrating this most joyful passage of life from girl to young woman, and guide us, their elders, in making this a meaningful experience for them. Thank you and blessed be.
We then sat in circle and the moms told their own stories of menarche, followed by a song sung by all. Then each mom in turn lit a white candle and read something special that we had each written for our girls. I told my daughter what a gift she was to this world, how she was connected to all creation and how it was not complete without her spark of life, how much I loved her, special qualities she has that I admired, how life's difficulties always contain a gift, how I would always be here for her no matter what, how much I believed in her abilities to become her own person, and what a privilege it was to be her mom.
The girls all then cast something from childhood into the fire (they all chose a drawing done in earlier years).
They then all lined up on one side of the fire and the moms gathered on the other side. Each girl blew out the white candle that her mother had lit. We shared words of elder wisdom with them (focusing on the special blessings of being female and having a moontime every month, how their bodies and minds are sacred and must always be treated by them and others with loving respect, and how important it is to rise up female energy in the world right now--this was a whole page, I can share it if you want.)
They then crossed the fire (symbolizing that they were entering a new phase of life), lit a red candle, were blessed with a spiral of rose oil on their forehead and a pink rose was placed in their hands. They all received a gift of a bracelet made of moonstones and bloodstones. (To be worn when on their moontime--the wearer is entitled to a foot massage!) and they took their place in the circle of women.
We then let the directions go, feasted on red foods (strawberries and whipped cream, tortillinis with tomato sauce, pomegranate, etc.), and they took a quick skinny dip in the river.
All in all, it was a special and beautiful experience for all of us. The girls were giggly and self-conscious at times but that too is part of the age they are so we just went with the flow. I made sure to write everything down so they had it to put in their memory boxes. Also, the day my daughter started to menstrate I made sure that her father acknowledged it positively. He gave her a dozen red roses.
Hope this gives you some inspiration! I suggest you plan something when on your own moontime because creativity is at such a high ebb when you're bleeding. Have fun!
Bright blessings,
Mamabear
: ) Wearing it feels like a treat and reminds me of what Anne Frank wrote about menstruation being "a sweet secret".
Deb
Follow Mothering