WE ARE (all) CYCLICAL BEINGS
Ancient Mothers Weaving the World by Monica Sjöö
THE SHORTER POST: As the sap rises in the maple tree, surrounding… here begins the second 13 month cycle of A Year & Day primarily through podcasts and written offerings.
The vibe and intention of the next 13 months is to explore the cycles of women’s lives - Maiden, Mother, Mage/Matriarch & Crone (more below) though story/telling and through collaboration with some of the women folx I hold in deepest regard. We are all in for a juicy, spell-binding, shift-shaping feast!
Each month starting this month via my podcast, I will tell a story intentionally leaning into one of these cyclical seasons/phases. Then later in the month offer an emergent collaboration with some seriously brilliant women folx. And repeat - 13 times!
All are welcome here - women identifying folx, those identifying as non-binary, male identifying folx.
As always my work is emergent, experimental and relatively raw on the tech side of things.
As always this post is free, it is a labor of love, truth, beauty & integrity AND please consider supporting my work by becoming a paid subscriber. You can also support my work through Patreon.
THE LONGER POST: As harbingers of spring arrive with the rising sap (kildeers and robins are here!), as the America we once knew is systematically (and terrifyingly) dismantled, as breath still, miraculously, comes in and flows out of my lungs (and yours too!!!), and as the horizon which seems to have held a more balanced tension of known and unknown now tugs firmly towards (perhaps as it always has) a deeper abyss of unknown - for us all.
And here we are…alive & together in the River of What Is.
In all these scenarios, I am, you/we are part of cycles - ongoing and multifarious cycles of beginnings, ending and in-betweenings - internal, external, intersecting and overlapping cycles. A holographic spiro-graphic elegance of cycles of… weather, seasons, days/nights, planets, biology, digestion, relationships….on and on and on.
Ooooh, musing on this is as exciting as donkeys and disco balls for me, the scorpionic geek in me loves to slither deep into the rabbit hole of this. We are cyclical beings and as a woman, like all women, we know cycles, biologically, beautifully, powerfully and sometimes annoyingly in our bodies.
And dear reader, if you identify as as they/then or he/him…please stay, you are welcome here. You are a cyclical being too and though I might be a bit biased, there may truly be something powerful for you here, in this conversation. Your presence too is welcome here.
Being a body consciously cycling through decades of menstrual cycles has been one of the great animistic educations of my life. Though modernity might tell me/us otherwise.
Also aligning, honoring & celebrating the phase cycles (as I’ve known them) of my body - maiden, mother, and crone, biologically, mythologically and spiritually has been (still is) a powerfully connective experience within my body, and with other cycling women’s bodies.
After passing through the identity-thrashing-threshold of menopause I thought, “Okay crone-hood, here I am.” And the future crone in me said, “Not so fast sweetheart.” My intuition and biology agreed. For a spell I stayed in the not knowing, in the question of what was this next stage?
I leaned into the ancient wisdom of the living world as I always do for guidance. There are four seasons, distinct and extraordinary that my life has ebbed and flowed in and out of as a north dwelling being. To be claimed by northern places has meant a deep and abiding relationship with the sensorium of seasons; spring, summer, autumn and winter. I even wrote a book weaving with this northern conscious.
Eventually breadcrumb-like answers found me - internally knowing I was not in the winter phase of life, but an autumn time, Then I discovered the voices of two women - Adriana Forte and then Jane Hardwicke Collings . Their work revealed the missing piece - a name, an archetype, and still a mystery. The forth season of women’s lives - the autumn, the one of deep change - the Mage, or Matriarch.
Oh my whole body - physically, emotionally, intellectually & spiritually sang, “Hell YES!”
Since that moment I am a devotee to my own lived experience as Mage ….seriously the most powerful and rich season yet!
I’m also called to share more about her…and the other three phases though stories, storytelling and heart-based, groovy collaborations with other women folx here on Substack. I can’t wait to dive into this together. More very soon.
Please share this with others - the first story will be posted in the next week.
Yours always & gratefully in the ongoing,
Tracy
PS. If you are saying a holy hell yes to this delicious expansive experience in the early days of these crucible contracted times and have the means to support this endeavor this 13 month cycle - thank you, thank you three bags full!
*** image - Ancient Mothers Weaving the World by Monica Sjöö