Moon Lodge

The Moon Lodge is the place of woman, where women gather during their menstrual time to be at-one with each other and honor the changes occurring in their bodies. Long ago, during this special time of the moon cycle, women were removed from duties of family and allowed to retreat to the Moon Lodge to enjoy the company of the sisters. It was a time to go deep into the bear cave of introspection, women's wisdom, and honoring our femininity and connection with the moon and the earth.

Traditionally, the Moontime is the sacred time of woman when she is honored as a Mother of the Creative Force. During this time she is allowed to release the old energy her body has carried and prepare for reconnection to the Earth Mother's fertility that she will carry into the next Moon or month. Our Ancestors understood the importance of allowing each woman to have her Sacred Space during this time of reconnection, because women were the carriers of the future generations. They held the dreams of the tribe within their wombs, until those dreams became reality. During the month, women were the caretakers and nurturers of the tribe, and those responsibilities were recognized by the tribe.

Women's cycles follow the rhythm of the Moon, the ocean tides, which is the water or blood of the Earth Mother. When women live together in a common space, their bodies begin to regulate their menses and all of them will eventually have their Moontime together. If you work in an office filled with women, you many notice this phenomenon. Unfortunately, our contemporary business practices will not allow women to give up five to seven days of each month, we would probably be laughed at. It also needs to be recognized that contemporary women won't willingly give up their busy lives, even temporarily, for a monthly event.

It is during their Moontime retreat that the women share their visions, dreams, experiences, and talents. It is the common bond of sisterhood.The Medicine Lodges and Moon Lodges of women are sometimes called "Black Lodges." The color black is the color of the West on the Medicine Wheel. West is the place of woman, the home of the bear and the cave to which it retreats. So did women retreat into the Moon Lodge to honor the gifts she has received from the Earth Mother over the past moon. The blackness of the night sky is dominated by Grandmother Moon and is female in nature. This is another reason why the women's lodges are called Black Lodges.

In native tradition, each stage of a females growth is cherished and explained to growing girls becoming women. The teaching begins before the girl's first menstrual flow and is marked by a rite of passage. Each female in the tribe is taught to respect, honor, and understand their role as a woman and the females honored place within their tribe. During their Moontime, women were not allowed to prepare food, dance, participate in ceremonies, or share life activities with men. Think of the relief modern women would have if she were allowed to retreat from the world for five to seven days. The family wouldn't have to deal with her mood swings, and she could have a place and time to nurture herself. This practice of retreat became misunderstood (promoted by the male priesthood), that women were dirty during their Moontime.

Contemporary women have much more information now and thanks to our sisters who began the U.S. women's suffrage in 1848. Since the 1960's womens rights movement, we have come closer to reclaiming our rights to honor our femininity, equality, and the priesthood no longer controls our destiny.