The “Movement of the Red Tent” appeared after the publication of the book of the same name by Anita Diamond in 1997. A novel based on the historical records of Isaac's family, from the perspective of a woman. Since then, through small meetings in their homes or elsewhere, visionary women have been driving this movement that has now become global.
The red tent is named after the woman's menstrual cycle, also called the lunar cycle. In modern society this lunar cycle hasn’t been recognized and many women today suffer from physical and mental exhaustion for not observing their bodies and being focused on producing and doing when it should be a time to look inside and take care of themselves. We need to honor this periodicity again, this need to rest, to internalize, accepting the feminine fragility as a blessing that is present during this period.
Our metabolism is delicate when we are menstruating but from a psychological and spiritual point of view we are more open. Living the menstruation period correctly can bring us more clarity and sensitivity to face our lives. We must take advantage of the lightness of the feminine energy that the moon represents. When we understand or remember that life is cyclical, delicate and divine, it presents us with its vital force. There is always time for everything: to move forward, to step back, to observe the flowers, to create, to love and be loved ... Our lives have their own cadence and when we respect that it embraces us as a loving and charming mother. Don’t force or speed up your life cycles, live them.
All women in the world are subject to this periodicity and we should all be proud of it. Women who no longer menstruate can be our guiding star, a woman who has spent her fertile period of generating another life and now enters one of the most fertile periods of ideas and intellect in her entire existence. This movement of the Red Tent implies that women put their BioSacred selves first, instead of putting their husbands, children, parents, jobs etc. In the times when we live this patriarchal heritage, taking care of yourself is already a radical change in the consciousness and subconsciousness of our society.
We women, when confused and divided, are much easier to be manipulated or “convinced”. When united and integrated we are the greatest strength of this planet. For many people and even religions (who consider women to be impure when they are menstruating), menstrual periods are seen as an inconvenience, something dirty: we were programmed to think so. Many women don't see menstrual blood as the elixir from which life grows, the purest and most precious nectar that exists. It is up to us women today to neutralize and transmute all the negativity that has accumulated over generations and millennia. It is vital for our female consciousness to create a positive image of menstruation and femininity. Still in society it is expected that when we’re menstruating that we act as “normal”. We bleed but we have to present physical, energetic and mental bodies as if nothing is happening. Many of us go about our periods not realizing that one of our organs is undergoing a renewal process and needs loving attention and energy. It is essential to prepare young women in an empowered way for the day when their period will arrive. Don’t make sexuality a secret, a taboo. After menstruating, girls can participate in Red Tent meetings and learn from other women. These meetings offer many opportunities to learn, share, care, and have questions answered.
Each group chooses the activities of their meetings such as meditating, dancing, praying, lecturing, listening, tarot, writing, drawing. In the last meetings we had here in South Florida, in addition to talking and sharing, we did the spiritual tea ceremony. The Red Tent is a safe and cozy space for women to open up and share their secrets. During these meetings some experiences, traumas, fears that affect even future generations come to the surface. It is liberating to realize that many of us go through the same. Taboos are broken, illusions are dissolved. There is no hierarchy, we sit in a circle and anyone can propose a theme or express themselves. The meeting depends on what each member of the group is willing to offer. The Red Tent has other names like Moon Lodge or Temple of the Moon.
The impact of these meetings is still difficult to predict because we are at an early stage, but it is a matter of little time for this transformation to spread to families. When the woman changes the family changes. My personal, professional and active goal participating in the Red Tent is to encourage women to assume greater power and responsibility over their bodies, minds, environment, society. The rescue of the feminine is so powerful that, in due time, it will bring changes in laws and governments. Both genders will benefit. Relationships will increasingly be about partnership, love and respect. With that, the base of society changes.
We are much more than mothers, wives, daughters but individuals who can change the course of our human history. On the other hand, many women still have the illusion they’re responsible for all others wearing themselves out. This is an acquired belief that no longer serves us. We think we’re essential, but we have to give up this false sense of control and do it without guilt. This belief is a prison and a very big burden. We have given men the possibility that they will also assume their feminine aspect that has been denied to them. Today these changes still seem radical, but they will alter human conscience and give more balance to our society.
We’re in the transition to the Age of Aquarius in which there is a completely different conscience promoting a review of the models of society and to be healthy in body and soul we need to flow with the change. Everything is in transition: the role of each gender, the education of children, etc. The way we adapt to changes in life is the way in which we find our happiness, we’re the agents and protagonists of this transformation.
How the Red Tent works: It is a confidential meeting, what is shared there isn’t disclosed. We sit in a circle and pass a stone or rose as an indication that it is our turn to speak. Each has the right to speak and listen. What goes on in the Tent is secret and sacred. We’re quite vulnerable when in the tent and respect this space of being. Much healing is experienced through storytelling. These are sacred and healing moments in which traumas, blocks, fears and great friendships are created. It is a sacred, feminine space, open to all girls, women and elders.
We’re cyclical beings and the time has come for us to synchronize our life cycles. The time has come to feel like the moon and act like the sun balancing our male and female energies. Each woman who sits in a Circle in a Red Tent is invited to wear skirts or dresses, to wear at least one piece of red clothing in honor of our life blood.
The Red Tent belongs to the world and is a beautiful and powerful work that connects us to the sacred feminine that inhabits us and that generates life on Earth.
Women generate life, ideas, love ...
Take care of yourself, be perfect in your imperfections.
Be Unapologetic BioSacred!
With love, AC
Namaste.
Ana Cristina de Sá
Mindset Intuitive Coach and Space Harmonizer.
Instagram: @biosacred
This article was originally posted here: Red Up, Stand Up, and has been republished with permission from the Author.
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