A Moon Basket is bestowed upon a someone when they reach menarche, their first moon. It is part of celebrating and honoring this rite of passage. It is full of beauty and perhaps lovely aromas. Its contents invite self-care, slowing down, expressiveness, ease and joy in one's cycling.

Sometimes parents and children will make the Moon Basket together. A delicious activity, and a beautiful time to share stories and wisdom.

Here is a guest post from JOYW Mentor Rebecca Woolley on creating a Moon Basket.

Moon Basket by Rebecca Woolley

A Moon Basket for my nieces, ages 10 and 12

Their Moon Baskets have lots of goodies:

beautiful journal
calendar
affirmation cards
agate stone pendant
flax & lavender womb warming pillow
sweet orange essential oil
homemade cloth maxi pads,
Hormoon chart
chocolate

I sat down with both my nieces, 12 & 11 (cousins) and gave them their baskets.

They were were wowed! The 12 year old loved it and showed her Mom the next day and asked her to show her Dad (my brother).

The 11 yr old was more giggles and blushes but was asking where I had put her basket later that evening. She wanted to make sure she had it.

My sister and sister-in-law felt very supported by my gift to their girls and loved that their girls had received something initiating them into this stage of life.

I'm glad I put in all the work and walked through my own feelings of vulnerability in making this for them. It went as well as I could have imagined. I know they will always remember it.

I hope they will feel the arms of support wrapping around them as they walk through any awkward or unfamiliar feelings. I think they wilI.

~ Rebecca Woolley

What else might one include in a moon basket?

necklace with a red ruby
cycle tracking bracelet
moon calendar
red candle
red crystal or any healing crystal
moonstone
art supplies
raspberry leaf tea
Cramp Bark tincture
a mirror that is only allowed to reflect kindness and pride in oneself

Please share your ideas!

Homemade cloth maxi pad by Rebecca Woolley

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Mentoring Girls Certificate Training

JOYW's Mentoring Girls Certificate Training is open for enrollment!

You'll enjoy new content, new resources and new collaborative opportunities in addition to an extensive interactive resource platform offering post-graduate support.

Under the light of the Full Moon, I am trembling to share my enormous gratitude to everyone I have ever circled with. It is thanks to my friends, students, colleagues, teachers and family that I stand here with the capacity to celebrate and share with you that there is a practical path toward toward the vision that every girl on the planet can be mentored in the lore of womanhood.

Fort Collins Coming of Age Ceremony Filmed

Most especially I wish to thank the women and girls of Maiden Discovery Circle, Fort Collins, Colorado, who invited Journey of Young Women and Warrior Films to their Coming of Age Ceremony for Girls last weekend. We captured some amazing video footage of ceremony under the open sky as well as interviews with moms, mentors, and the girls.

Coming of Age Ceremony, Fort Collins, CO, 11-21-15. Photo by Lillian Krueger

It took my breath away when this community agreed to open up their coming of age ceremony to be filmed - a courageous act of vulnerability in service to vision. These woman and girls are on fire to show the world what it looks, sounds and feels like to usher girls into womanhood with intentionality, joy and mentorship. To show moms what is possible for their daughters, and for themselves. To remind everyone that girls thirst for mentorship and for circling with women and girls....and that every woman has gifts to offer girls on their journey to womanhood.

Co-led by Gina Loughrige, a graduate of the JOYW Mentoring Girls Certificate Training, this Girls' Circle has been meeting every other week for two years. I cannot wait to share some of the video footage of this coming of age ceremony with you and to tell you more about their story.

Warrior Films

I am delighted and grateful beyond measure to be working in collaboration with Frederick Marx and Warrior Films whose pioneering work in mentorship and rites of passage is already shaking the world and on whose Board I am proud to serve.

Frederick will use the footage from this Coming of Age Ceremony as well as the interviews of participants to support his World Wisdom Library on the subject of youth rites of passage and mentorship. He may also use it in his long form film on the same subject.

Opening a Flow of Resources into Girls' Mentorship

What's next? How can we bring coming of age ceremonies, mentorship, and girls' circles to every girls on the planet? How can we make this happen NOW rather than in some hazy future?

We are going to gather the women. We are going to welcome all ages and all genders. We are going to work together collaboratively to spread the good news about rites of passage and mentorship for girls, and to empower women locally, globally and online to mentor girls, lead Girls' Circles, and offer Coming of Age to Girls.

We are going to open a flow of resources into Girls Mentorship!

A Collaborative Process

We'll create this together in collaborative process that is also online, global and local and that empowers and nourishes everyone as we move forward. Once the collaborative process begins, much practical inspiration and resources will emerge, which we'll translate into do-able actions steps in the real world and online. We are moving toward the truly possible future of impacting the lives of ten million girls over the next five years.

This process will be bigger than Journey of Young Women, and we'll be partnering with and supporting others to fulfill their own complementary visions. We will be giving away power and empowerment and resources as fast as we can.

Please stay tuned for news about how you can freely participate in the powerful process that is about to unfold. If you can't wait, simply contact me to let me know you want information about how you can participate, locally or online, as our project moves forward. We'll be in touch with you!

Full Moon Gratitude

So, community, now you know why I am trembling with gratitude. Look what is before us! One short video (and more to come) that tells the simple but powerful truth that women can work together to help girls step forward as strong leaders and wise women - and in so doing create massive beauty, deep healing and vibrant community. In these troubled times, we can change the world and we will.

That is something to celebrate. We can sing, dance and weep to sky and earth with joy and gratitude.

We are enough and we have enough to co-create this!

If you're not feeling it yet, stay tuned! This is going to happen.

Look for more news with the next New Moon.

Tag: coming of age

A Moon Basket!