Menarche Ceremony (a retrospective healing of the maiden for all ages)

Having smudged everyone we shared in the circle and we sat in silence. We placed our right hand over our naval and the left hand on our neighbour and as we did we called to consciousness the unbroken line of women between us and the first women.

Then we lit the central red candle invoking the Mother and all our maternal ancestors, we called in the elements, the directions and those that gather to witness the work.

We held our tokens of childhood to our chests, the teddies, photos and drawings. The youngest of our group read the blessing of the maiden…

"Child, daughter of Gaia, you are not gone but spring eternal in our dancing hearts, we give thanks for what innocence you have retained and draw deep on this well of healing for any innocence lost. Change is here. Like the turning seasons; we are at once both powerless to prevent it and all the more powerful for it. At this point of transition may we celebrate all that childhood held and continues to give us…"

And we took our time to lay our childhood tokens in the care of the central altar. Beautiful song accompanied us.

I took the wine and held it, blessed it with spontaneous words I now can't recall but naming it Blood. And we passed it about the circle - with beautiful song once more - each of us holding the chalice of blood to our hearts and blessing it.

Once the cup had made the circle we stopped. The eldest of our group read the mother's blessing…

"Maiden, like the spring buds opening, your blossoming is to be held in time - take time - may the changes you observe in your body and emotions bring charge to your passions. A million, million women before you have spilled their sacred blood and as the cycles of the moon draw the great tides… know that within you is an ocean of infinite love. May you never fear your fierceness nor allow your sensibilities to be dulled. Always find your true north within you, the compass of your heart"

The silence we held for some time. The metaphor of the silence is the chrysalis of adolescence - to be upheld. And in that silence we called in the healing for any loss of youth that we experienced ourselves.

The silence ended with a chiming bell and we passed the wine to the left giving a gentle and whispered blessing to the next who then drank. When the wine had passed around the circle it was laid upon the altar (and later drunk).

We stood. Taking each others hands we sang together… There is So Much Magnificence in the Ocean and drummed and clapped to close the circle.

Then we ate.