Exploring the Red Tent Tradition & Demystifying Our Sacred Moon Blood

Moon, Womb, & Earth

The womb is the portal into the third dimensional world, the Gateway of Creation. It is the container in which the greatest & most advanced form of alchemy is performed. The womb is connected to the Everything: to Source, to the collective, to the grid, to the Moon, to the Earth, & to all the planets, stars, & cosmic beings.    

The womb bridges spirit to matter: it literally brings souls from the spirit realm into the Earth plane. This also occurs energetically, every single cycle that a woman experiences. Our womb collects cosmic information from the collective consciousness, transmutes it through the fires of our alchemical belly container, & then releases our blood, the physical representation of Universal Life Force every 28 days.   Women are intrinsically connected to the Moon. Our wombs, bowls of water, transition with her cycles like the ocean tides.    

In ancient times, all women bled together, under the Dark Moon. The Dark Moon is the last 2-3 days of the lunar cycle, when the moon is not visible in the night cycle. This is a time a rest, rejuvenation, & inner-work, reflected in the energy of our menstrual time. If we bleed with the Dark Moon, then we ovulate with the Full Moon. This happened evolutionarily because during the Full Moon you have the most amount of light in the night sky to be able to find your partner & procreate. For this reason, many Sister Circles choose to meet under every Dark or New Moon, honoring the ways of our ancestors.   

Red Tent HerStory 

The Red Tent (traditionally called menstrual hut/tent) is a historic practice that has existed in every civilization known to humans & has recently had an incredible revival. In ancient times…All women bled together under the Dark Moon. At the time of least light in the night sky, we would gather in the Red Tent. We sat Yoni to Earth, bleeding straight into Gaia, divinating, weaving, holding ceremony while holding each other.    

It was known by all that our bloodtime was sacred time. The men honored our bloodtime by caring for the children & preparing food for us. They held a safe container for us, while we dove into our womb wisdom. It was believed that when women bled, we were more psychically attuned to the Universe & that we could receive downloads of potent information. During our shed, we spent extra time in meditation, ceremony, & creative expression in order to integrate the information coming through. We also spent extra time sleeping, resting, massaging each other, & practicing self-care.   

We were very intentional about the way our blood was returned to the Earth. It was believed that our bodily fluids were sacred & magickal elixirs that were to be treated with the deepest of respect. Our blood was revered as a holy medicine that was needed for the Earth’s nourishment. We felt honored to have a monthly opportunity to feed the Earth Mother, & we did so in ceremony. 

With our monthly cycles, we shed not just our blood, but also the pain, trauma, & karma of the collective & of ourselves. We had the heightened ability to access a state of shamanic trance, working with the subtle energetics to release blockages spanning lifetimes & bloodlines. We were grateful for our ability to shed the old & be born anew. We learned the potent medicine of death & darkness. We learned how to work with our emotions as allies & teachers. 

In the Red Tent we celebrated not just our bloodtime, but all transitions & initiations in life. We celebrated birth, coming of age, sex, marriage, & death as rites of passages & we honored each & every aspect of our human existence as sacred. The Red Tent was our Earthly representation of the Great Goddess’s womb—a space beyond understanding or depiction, the void in which we were all birthed. It was a safe & sacred space that we entered to honor our womanhood, our humanness, & our divinity. 

Circles Today  

Women were once honored as the “Keepers of Time” because their monthly cycles were indeed how their villages kept track of time. In a Modern World…Most people have moved out of this cyclical method of time keeping & have adopted a linear approach. As a society we are generally: more stressed, less connected to nature & the Moon, & using technology more frequently than ever before. For this & many other reasons, the sacredness of our blood, & the reverence of the Feminine was lost. 

With the rise of the patriarchy, women began to be shamed for the cycles & for all of their feminine qualities. The balance between God & Goddess was lost & a singular, male God rose across the world. This was the paradigm shift from the Goddess-worship culture to the patriarchy that society currently operates under. 

However, women across the globe are reawakening to the beauty of their moonblood, as the paradigm shifts once again. They are remembering the joy of gathering with sisters to celebrate the sacred rites of passage. Today…We unite under the Dark Moon like the wise women of our pasts—our ancestors, our past live avatars, our spirit guides. We join together in the Red Tent Sisterhood to once again tap into our womb wisdom & remember the power of returning our blood to the Mother. Much of this remembering was inspired by Anita Diamant’s Book, The Red Tent, published in 1997. This is the first time a menstrual tent was ever referred to as a “red tent” (that we know of). 

One of the amazing things about the Red Tent movement is…there is no wrong way to do it! Everyone holds Red Tent Circles differently, bringing their own unique experience & soul medicine. Some women gravitate to ceremony, with a more ritualized approach to their circles & a focus on the blood offering magick. Others choose to create a safe space for sharing & snuggling. Others might take an educational approach to their circle, helping women become empowered in their hormonal cycles.

Often when women start to learn about the Blood Mysteries, it resonates immediately & deeply. This is a remembering. Our DNA is remembering the importance of returning our blood to the Earth. This ancient practice feeds Gaia as she feeds us. It opens up a new window of transformation & growth in our lives, creating a constant line of direct communication between the Moon, our wombs, and the Earth. It ensures that Gaia & Luna are both constantly aware of our intentions, our manifestations, our goals, and the liberations we wish to release forever. Of course, they already know all of these things. However, reaffirming them in ritual connects us to the celestial bodies while also grounding us into our existence as humans in a vast Universe. Our blood is our connection to the Whole. So powerful that it can be transformed alchemically into human life or breastmilk, it is truly physical life force! 

To find a Sister Circle that meets near you, download the DF App or search: FindaWomensCircle.com

***Photos by: ClaireSashine.com at the Red Tent Priestess Activation Retreat this past June***

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