The Feminine Lifecycle
"We don't know why we change and grow and acquire knowledge at these times, but we do - this is the Mystery. And as we share this knowledge... we reclaim the power and wisdom inherent in being women." ~Elizabeth Davis & Carol Leonard
Young Girl * Maiden * Blood Sister * Adolescent
Lover * Mother * Midlife * Change Agent
Matriarch * Wise Woman * Elder * Crone
The cultural context in which we live doesn't always celebrate or acknowledge the many stages of a woman's life - let alone the changes we encounter in between. Many important milestones pass us by, even though there is a longing in our hearts to pause, take note, and understand. We may feel confused and alone, or sadness for what is unrecognized by others, when we know there is a profound shift.
The stages of the feminine lifecycle are not absolute truths or rigid roles to hold on to, but archetypal forces women encounter - powerful characters that are both personal and universal, that can help us understand ourselves a little more. We may encounter them at specific times in life, or cycle through them again and again. The focus is not on landing at a final destination, but in excavating the wisdom in the spaces in-between to prepare us for the journey ahead. The art of becoming is always first a process of letting go.
As we move through the physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual changes of our lives, simple questions like: What is changing or dying? What is it time for me to let go of? and What is trying to emerge? can help us retrieve our narrative thread, and the stories that define us. Like coordinates on a map, our stories lead us across the threshold into the next stage of our lives. Once reclaimed, we are never the same again.
The stages of the feminine lifecycle are not absolute truths or rigid roles to hold on to, but archetypal forces women encounter - powerful characters that are both personal and universal, that can help us understand ourselves a little more. We may encounter them at specific times in life, or cycle through them again and again. The focus is not on landing at a final destination, but in excavating the wisdom in the spaces in-between to prepare us for the journey ahead. The art of becoming is always first a process of letting go.
As we move through the physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual changes of our lives, simple questions like: What is changing or dying? What is it time for me to let go of? and What is trying to emerge? can help us retrieve our narrative thread, and the stories that define us. Like coordinates on a map, our stories lead us across the threshold into the next stage of our lives. Once reclaimed, we are never the same again.
*The stages of the feminine lifecycle identified above are adapted from "A Woman’s Book of Life," by Joan Borysenko and "The Women’s Wheel of Life," by Elizabeth David & Carol Leonard.