The Wisdom of “Being Premenstrual”

When uncomfortable truths need to be shared

There are many things about the feminine that have been oppressed over the years — one of the biggest ones being the wisdom that comes to us during our monthly menstrual cycle.

This wisdom is meant to benefit the tribe. It is meant to bring insights, to bring us closer together, to root out buried issues, and to find harmony amongst everyone.

Instead, when women know something deep inside during this time, they have not been listened to. This obviously drives us crazy and we head into one of two states — sadness and despair or anger and fury. When this wisdom rises to be shared and it is ignored month after month, year after year, generation after generation, yes, emotions start to get wild… and soon, we are labelled as being “in that time of the month” — a time to be ignored, a time to just “get through”, a time to medicate ourselves, a time to turn that fury inwards… all to no one’s benefit — except those who don’t want to hear our wisdom because it will disrupt their illusions.

Energy of our Moon Cycles

Our monthly cycle is like the growing and dying moon. The beginning of our menstruation is like the new moon. This is the darkest day and the beginning of a time of growth, creation, and external focus. Our energy is effortless “out there” working, being creative, and completing projects.

This energy continues to grow until we ovulate. This is our equivalent of our full moon. From here, our energy begins to turn inward.

This is a time of introspection. It is like the tide going out inch by inch, and whatever is lying on the ocean floor is being revealed. This is not a choice. We don’t choose to go inward. This is our natural cycle — designed for the benefit of the whole.

Women naturally hold the web of society. We feel the emotional relationships within the tribe. We intuitively know when something is off — when something needs to be addressed. It isn’t always clear. But we know enough that we must keep digging.

This is the blessing of this time between ovulation and menstruation — our eyes go deeper and deeper within regarding all of our relationships — especially our intimate ones.

In the few days before we bleed, this is where we deeply know the truth. We can see nothing else. We cannot distract ourselves with whatever we normally use to pretend that things are OK. The truth about our relationships and ourselves are all we can see… and if we don’t have the freedom and safety to express it, it will all be focused inward feeding long-term depression, anxiety, and true despair.

Uncomfortable Truths

The challenge is that whatever these “unspeakable truths” are, they are very uncomfortable. They may cause conflict in our home. They may not be something that we want to be true. We might have built our lives based on many untruths in the past and are now realizing the bed that we have made.

We have also been living in patriarchy for a long time. What this means is that there are deep ancestral whispers within us telling us to keep the man happy, don’t rock the boat. What if he leaves, what if he hurts you? Even if none of these things would happen, those whispers seem to still have weight and will easily cause us to keep quiet and internalize whatever truths we are feeling.

Also, because this time of a woman’s cycle hasn’t been honoured for the wisdom it holds, anything we share at this time will easily be taken as an attack. That patriarchal energy doesn’t like to be corrected or their illusions intruded upon. They are not accustomed to taking this kind of input. The masculine ego has ironically become very fragile during this patriarchal reign… and intuitively we know this. And so, we spend energy balancing between sharing these uncomfortable truths and wanting to make our partner still feel powerful and important.

Plus, we must be careful that our wisdom does not come out with teeth either. This is one of the great challenges of being oppressed for so long. When we do finally speak, it can easily come out like a machine gun taking down everyone in its path. The floodgates open and decades of unsaid truth, pain, and fury come pouring out on our unsuspecting loved ones. And regardless of whether everything we said was true or not, this actually isn’t the way to make a change in loving, connected ways. It’s much better to start sharing in small, gentle ways each month.. not only for our loved ones’ sake but also so that we personally are clear that what we are sharing is clear truth and not just oppressed and furious emotions.

A Harmonious Village

Imagine a village where the inner wisdom of every woman is honoured.

Every woman acts as a cleanser and healer of her environment in a constantly moving cycle. For half of her cycle, she is outward in the community doing whatever she is called to do. Then, for her second half, she sits quietly, listens and observes. She takes all that she has experienced in the first two weeks as fodder for what she hears within.

By the end of her cycle, she has realized important truths about herself and her community. Those around her gather to listen. They know that what she is saying isn’t personal or emotionally loaded in any way. They know she is simply tuning into the collective for the health and strength of the whole.

She shares what she sees. Others listen. They create new pathways. They make changes for greater harmony and connection.

She then can rest easy for her time of bleeding, preparing her for the next cycle of life in the village.

Imagine how beautiful that would be.