Honouring Her Honours you.

Despite the title, (and I encourage suggestions for a better one), the message of this is not about “doing” with an attachment to receiving. Rather it is about being in an honest form of a partner in a chosen relationship that two individuals have agreed to be in with one another. Here’s the twist. For those who understand and follow the traditional Indigenous understanding of a woman’s “Moon Time” this may come as nothing new. However for those that do not and even those that do but still lack understanding of the depth of that Ceremony this is simply some words of guidance to bring into your psyche.

Ceremony

I am going to try to put this in a simple way of understanding but also portray the immaculate significance of the Moon Time from a males understanding. The Moon Time for a woman is a Ceremony that occurs on a monthly basis. This is not news however to the general population it is not understood as a Ceremony that their bodies are going through each and every time. It is a cleansing that men in general lack the knowledge of understanding and subsequently also lack the ability and tools to navigate through with respect to what is truly occurring. As is the rule of the patriarchy what we don’t understand we look upon with contempt and follow with facetiousness to try to elevate our lack of spiritual connection to the Ceremony. Through the lack of spiritual connection we then forget that what this Ceremony is is the very power of the universe, in that it is creation itself becoming and ending itself with the creation of itself in the possibility of itself to be created once again within the aforementioned time frame.

Partnership agreement

When we enter into relationships we so often get lost in the “thrill of it all” and throw caution to the wind. We soar on those warm updrafts and see the rose colours that lie before us and then without warning we experience the thorns of reality. Having expressed that, we need to remember that thorns are not a bad thing but rather something that we have to make an honest effort to navigate through so that the experience of the rose can always be. We as men/partners have to step up and be what we so often vehemently like to portray ourselves as and that is to take care of our families at what ever that takes or means.

Warrior up

Well drop the illusions of Hollywood and the white knight saviour syndrome because the reality is to simply be what she/they need us to be, and as is common, it is simple. To return to the Indigenous way of understanding at this point the responsibility of the male/partner is quite simple….be for her in this time what she is for the family during all the other time. Take care of her needs, listen to her words without bias or need to respond, be the “rock” that you have the blessing to come home to throughout the days that the Ceremony is not in play. For many Indigenous men it is common to understand that during this time she cannot braid your hair, cook your food or sleep in your bed but your responsibilities go beyond these. Not only are these part of this Ceremony but also it is now time for you to cook for her, take care of the children, take care of the home. Will you be able to do these things as well as she does probably not but do your best and show her that you respect the Ceremony. In doing so she will see you as the Warrior that you wish her to see you as and her gratitude will be revealed in the process of the Ceremony.

Honouring

At this point I will offer Tobacco and ask for Creator and the Ancestors to guide these words…. When I sit back and truly observe without judgement the gift of what Woman Spirit has bestowed upon me through the being of my Wife and Mother of my children I truly sit in awe. As the prophecies have foretold the resurgence of the Indigenous peoples will come from the strength of the Women. My wife is not Indigenous by lineage or by adoption but she is truly Indigenous through the acts of her Spirit and her dedication to the ways of Indigenous world views and the truth of Indigenous ways of being, often times beyond my own. As a husband and partner I feel it is my responsibility to live up to the traditions of my Indigenous lineage in being what she needs me to be for her. These are not new age ways of thinking but rather traditions of understanding that predate any known spiritual practice currently known on Mother Earth. Through practice, learning and subsequent growth of gender equality we as a human family can begin to reach beyond the limitations of our current unbalanced patriarchy understandings. As a male representative I cannot stress enough the importance of our responsibility to uphold, learn, understand and revere the gift of creation through the embodiment of Women.