The Change

The Change

by Linda Heron Wind, Ph.D.

I know the real cause of global warming. It's not all the emissions from cars and refrigerators depleting the ozone layer, although those may be contributing factors. Scientists will never find the real cause because they are looking in the wrong place.

My insight on this issue came in the middle of the night. As I was sleeping in my tent at a women's gathering, I unzipped my sleeping bag for the tenth time to let the cool night breezes carry the heat from my sweaty body once more. I heard the zipper of the sleeping bag in a women's tent nearby as I lay waiting for my body to return to a normal temperature. It was 3 AM—a good time for insight.

How many women are throwing off the covers and unzipping their sleeping bags at this very moment, I thought. I began to visualize a wave of heat rising into Earth's atmosphere and encircling the globe. Baby boomers everywhere moving into menopause! The heat alone from these power surges could change the way we live.

I suspect that someone else has become aware of this phenomenon and considered the magnitude of its impact. Otherwise physicians would not be passing out estrogen to women at the first sign of their hot flashes in attempts to suppress their rising power. Global warming is only a side effect of the real changes taking place.

Heat is cleansing. I have remarked more than once that the transition through menopause is like living in a sweat lodge. It is cleansing on more than just a physical level (cancer cells are heat sensitive). These waves of heat bring awareness of emotions that need healing, thoughts and beliefs that need transformation, and the deep spirit song that lives within the heart, like a bird waiting for release after being caged for many years.

Among tribal people around the world, initiations required a person to leave behind the old self, move through a test of some kind, and then step into a new way of being. In the absence of a ritualized process, our bodies are directing this powerful passage into a new phase of life. Every "symptom" in our body points to doors we have closed long ago which now need to be opened. Every physical complaint lead us on a path of healing old wounds. If we accept the challenge, old skins are shed and we become lighter, clearer, wiser.

The change leads to a shift in focus. We move from being mothers to children and careers into a place of service. We leave behind our fear of speaking our truth to fully embrace the values we wish to live by. Now rather than trying to create a safe space for our own children, we turn to the larger task of creating a safe space for the children of our communities, country, and world. We have the wisdom gained from living in a society that does not value women and will use that knowledge to help create value for women and the feminine.

How would our lives have been different if there had been a place in every community where a woman could go to receive support from the Grandmothers, their elders? A woman could come there on her moon time to just be by herself in beautiful surroundings. She could come to the talking circle where community issues are discussed and her voice would be heard. It would be a place where she could be supported in rearing her children and her creative work. Each woman would be valued for her unique qualities and her spirit would be nurtured by other women. There would be singing and dancing, hugs and foot rubs. Ceremony would mark the transitions in her life.

We now understand the value of such things and, as we become the elders, the Grandmothers, we will work to create places for women to come into community with each other - safe places for women to nurture their spirits and speak their truth. We have been separate too long. It is through the understanding of our connection with each other and all things in the circle of life that we will become strong and powerful again. We have come to know the power within that connects us all.

Women everywhere are beginning to understand the spiritual initiation we call menopause. This knowledge was hidden from our mothers and grandmothers, but the mysteries of the wisdom women are resurfacing everywhere, bubbling up into our consciousness from pools of the deep feminine within Earth and our natures. The Wise Women are moving back into their rightful place within our communities. We have learned a lot, this generation of women, and we are now ready to dance with the power of love, nurturing, and wholeness. We see ourselves in the world and the world within ourselves—and have learned to be gentle with both. Finally, we are beginning to understand who we really are.

Who are we? For each of us there will be a different answer, yet each answer will carry a unique and beautiful song which our spirit longs to sing. Have you found your song? Will you find it? The world needs your song! When the Wise Women sing again, the vibration and beauty of their voices will transform the world.

Page last modified Feb.2, 2002 by RMC