The Great Change

I think we humans constantly underestimate how much we are creatures of biology.  Some hate the thought that our rationality can be controlled by such things as hormones or brain chemistry. But viewing the human body as a microcosmic mirror of the universe, it makes perfect sense that the world, or Gaea, is affected by the processes that run within it. We are the “biology” of the World. It never struck me before now the implications of this as far as the environment is concerned.

In patriarchal religions we are told that we are islands unto ourselves and that we are rational creatures who have control over our bodies. We can shape things as we wish if we are rational enough. We are told to fight the base impulses that drive us and to pay them no mind when our bodies tell us things. This explains also why there is a cultural trend in patriarchal religions to deny climate change. If the universe is divided into two parts; a God and the World He runs (sic), then this God (the mind) has ultimate control over that World (the body). The world does not control the god in this view, so if the world seems wrong or out of sorts, there’s nothing to fear. God is in control. Nothing we do will change that. In this view, the world can be ignored when it protests abuse or if processes change.

Now take that to the personal level. Some would argue that our minds do control our bodies and in some respects (neurologically) they do. However, there are little creatures called hormones that wreak havoc with our rational minds and spur us to do “irrational” things; say like puberty or male and female menopause. How many times have you been blamed for moods or hormonal changes as if you were responsible for controlling your body’s way of evolving? Too many times, especially as women.  We would like to think we are in control of such processes, but indeed we aren’t.  In fact, it is the way of human habit to blame a person for such chemical reactions or hormonal processes; maybe even attribute motives to them where none exist.  After so much evolution and understanding about how the human brain and body works, we still imagine ourselves in complete control of them. Amazing.

This morning I opened up the book Menopausal Years: The Wise Woman Way by Susun Weed. This is the first page I turned to and the first paragraphs of the chapter “Crone’s Time Away:”

The first stage of self initiation as Crone is isolation. Just as the menstruating woman chooses isolation or has isolation thrust upon her in the form of painful periods, the menopausal woman may choose isolation or may ‘become’ the victim…as her children grow up and … her erratic moods alienate her former friends. Chosen or not, manifested subtly as depression or dramatically as hysteria, isolation stalks the menopausal woman and carries her into her Crone’s time away.

As menopausal changes increase, our physical processes lead us into isolation. We want to sleep alone so the constant wakings and covers tossings can be guilt-free. We want to be alone so we can undress and dress as flushes and flashes and sweats of heated energy flow through our bodies. We want to be alone to face our Change; to embrace the chaos and our own darkness.

In isolation we hear; perhaps for the first time, the voice of our own needs, our own desires. In isolation we have the time, perhaps never before available, to tend to our own needs and our own wants (page 50).

This is precisely the issue of the Groundhog post.  While some try to deny their body’s processes and cling to the belief that it is controllable and manageable by reason, others will understand that it’s merely time to pay more attention to the changes and cycles of life. We are indeed affected by the earth’s seasons and by our body’s seasons. Our families may take it personally and imagine we are trying to “punish” them in some way by our moods and depressions, as if we control at all those hidden biological means of cleansing and purging and growing older.  But the wise woman recognizes her own body’s needs and acts to protect it and nurture it at those times.

On a macro-cosmic level, I think I understand for the first time that the Earth is telling us the same thing about her body and its processes; that we cannot keep abusing this body and expect it to live a long productive and healthy life.  Shedding patriarchal views of the Earth as a body to be controlled is very hard. This view appeals to our reason after all.  It appeals to our pride and sense of control.  Admitting that we are not in control is a scary proposition. But we can only do what we can do and not worry about the rest. However, denial is not an option.

So, I think I will begin taking these Crone ways to heart and give myself a break for having emotions, depressions, and sleepless nights. I’m going to stop apologizing to others for not being the “life of the party” when all my body wants to do is sleep. I think I might just sit in front of my computer and cry at work rather than run to the women’s room and hide.  If it makes others uncomfortable, then so be it.  I think I will just do what is natural for me and let others waste their energy trying to figure me out or second guess my motives. Obviously, they have more time on their hands than I do.

Blessings!