Call to Action: Decenter Men

We come from a woman’s pelvis. Not a man’s rib, not his ballsack. we were grown and loved in a woman’s womb. A warm, wet, eternal place, hearing heartbeats and voices through amniotic fluid, her breasts and milk sustained us until we could chew. And then we eat food grown from our original mother. We were created in the great salty womb, decided to leave for land, grew little legs, and walked away.

On the most recent Artemis mission, where scientists orbited Luna and returned to Earth, Christina Koch said

The thing that changed for me, looking back at Earth, was that I found myself noticing not only the beauty of Earth, but how much blackness there was around it and how it just made it even more special. It truly emphasized how alike we are, how the same thing keeps every single person on planet Earth alive. We evolved on the same planet, and we have some shared things about how we love and live that are just universal. And the specialness and preciousness of that really is emphasized when you notice how much else there is around it.“

This planet is an ancestor we all have in common. Foods may vary across the world, peoples, creatures, but we are all born of and sustained by Earth. Her beautiful waters, ancient forests, ice caps, sweeping deserts. The biodiversity and variation is magickal, it seems alien and impossible, but we all bear witness to Her beauty. We stand as living, breathing pieces of everything she’s ever dreamed or created.

I can’t help but have hope. Tears swell as I witness another woman, beautiful and alive, share pieces of herself. Through strife and struggle, we learn. We remember, contain, transmute. We experience and in our processing, we inspire.

I have the most hope when I see sisters laughing, their youths and eyes shining, twinkling. There’s no one I love as much as my sister and knowing most every sister feels the same, I know we will be okay. That the grief and pain so many of us carry day-to-day will fade, persisting as dangling fruits and bright flowers. We will recognize them but they will no longer ache, instead they will sustain and nourish.

Behind every emotion is devotion. What do we follow? And love? Where does that lead us? How does that influence our day to day actions, expressions of our emotions? Where does that pulling begin? How far back can I follow these urges?

In astrology, Moon represents our inner world, from our mother to emotions to foundational desires. She is always changing, different phases and orientations, eclipsing and glowing, but always the same. Women (our menstrual cycles) and the moon are deeply connected. We have an innate understanding of natural rhythms; preparing, shedding, basking.

We live on an almost monthly cycle, compared to men and their daily cycles. Progesterone and estrogen fluctuate according to the phase we’re in. The awareness of where our bodies are at gives us guidance on emotions we’re feeling, what to eat, what movements we may need, etc. Every month, an egg travels down fallopian tubes, waiting to be fertilized and, if it is not, the endometrium (uterine lining) sheds.

???? And we are so casual about it?? We go to work while bleeding, carry on with our lives like nothing is happening. It’s so strange. We use tampons to make days easier, plastic pads that we dispose of. The beauty of creation becomes one of pain, inconvenience, and waste. We are demeaned, desecrated, stripped of our power and told it is disgusting and ugly.

As a people and planet, we are severely lacking and deprived. Many people are depressed, anxious, out of shape, and generally unhealthy. Our mitochondrial genes are inherited from our mother. Our vitality, energy, and lifeforce are our mother’s and her mother’s and her mother’s and on and on and on. Women, particularly over the last 600 years, have been brainwashed to believe in their inferiority, silence, and repression. Systemically silenced by violence and miseducation, we are undergoing a collective remembrance.

Where do we come from? A woman. Often, who makes a home and tends to it? Women. While we all are conditioned to people please, women swallow themselves the most, their desires, emotions, intuition. And while each person is responsible for their healing and reclaiming sovereignty, I’d be remiss to mention the support, spacetime, and consistent effort that requires. We cannot heal alone, we desperately need each other.

And here we are. Decenter men. The thought you put towards them? Put it into yourself, the beautiful women around you, the land we walk upon. There is so much more to think about than dick or validation. Your emotional security and safety are just as important as another person’s, and directly linked to the well-being of those around you.

It’s difficult given fathers, brothers, partners, best friends, but is a necessary step for reclaiming our womanhood and remembering the world we are building. Stop carrying extra weight of their emotions, responsibilities they should maintain for themselves. Let them have the honor of learning and figuring it out themselves. It builds confidence, self sufficiency, and allows them to explore and learn!

We have other priorities. We have skills to learn, hair to braid, hands to hold, entire worlds to build. This is on us, molded by our soft hands and carried on strong backs. We must show up everyday, otherwise the future remains a thought. We plant seeds, tend them, and one day hope they bear fruits. But the lesson is in the tending, the initiative of planting. We never know what a small action may incite.

As I spend more time with various kinds of people, I see the way strong women shape and hold those around them. Who are you without your mother? Older sister? Best friend? What has she carried that you can ease? What is a dream of hers you can help fulfill? What is one of her favorite meals (could you cook it for her and deliver it?)

Happy new moon in Aries. may the revolution spark and ignite even further. may we come closer each day to liberation for all. say thank you to the beautiful, intelligent, kind women in your life. give them a big hug and kiss. ease their burdens. help create support systems that uplift everybody. ❤ have a great night thank you for reading