the maiden in all of us
Springtime, aka the Season of the Maiden, is all about awakening & “springing” into action following Winter’s Season of hibernation, and dreaming, and tending to the needs of what’s depleted. It’s a time to….
to be curious, explore
to experiment & take risks
to attract attention & follow what attracts our attention
to get lost in what enchants
to make mistakes & learn from them
to celebrate fertility of all kinds
(If you haven’t yet read my introductory overview of the Maiden, you can get it here.)
A grand-opening—”re” or otherwise— is evidence of fertility, new beginnings, taking risks, and curiosity-following— all examples of MAIDENING IN ACTION.
Real Life Maidening is happening all our lives, made up of the times & seasons that include happenings such as:
Beginnings of all kinds, including menarche, new schools, new home/apartment, new job, new relationships, opening a new business, a wedding, a honeymoon phase, learning new-to-us technology, experiencing the deliciousness of “kickoff” energy, deciding to run for office, trying a new way of approaching something familiar
Births of all kinds, including people, pets, dreams
Shifting into a new way of living —going “organic” or buying a tiny house or adopting a new lifestyle follwing surgery, etc.
Entertaining, encouraging, & following your “antenna up” curiosity
Arousals of all kinds, including sexual, intellectual, emotional, physical (hair on the back of your neck standing up)
Risk-taking/pushing the envelope/moving toward the “edge”--bungee jumping, body piercing/tattooing, a radically different haircut, switching career paths, smashing through limiting beliefs & habits
Losing oneself/fusing with something or someone, like a book/Netflix series, Comicon/theme park world, becoming a frenzied fan of a band, movie star, sports team, etc.
Investing energy in attracting/acting on attractions of all kinds (experimentation with cosmetics, hairstyling, conversational starters/one-liners/pick-up lines, asking someone to dance, buying someone a drink, creating ambience)
Plans of all kinds, including travel plans, plans for getting a degree, planning/trying to get pregnant + the first few steps into a new journey or action (before the “newness” evolves into habit)
Experiencing Mama Nature as a Source of beauty, wonder, amazement; a place in which to enjoy getting lost, to ramble, to wander
“We are all pulling from/flowing with Maidening energy anytime we begin something NEW, anytime we engage in exploring and experimenting with the unfamiliar, and anytime WE GET LOST in what delights and attracts.”
Unique Seasoning Blends
At the time that I’m writing this blog post, I’m 58 years old—well into the Matriarch-Queen season of the Wheel of my Life. That’s really important for me to know and live into— because the life I’m creating for myself is the biggest creative act in which I’ll engage!! Right now, my deepest gut feelings & emotional responses & mental processing is all FLOWING from my identification as a Matriarch-Queen, and I’m (mostly—but not always—’cause of the whole human thing!) savoring it.
But, there’s so much more going on in my life at any given time and the day-to-day events that make up life. Right now, I’m still building this website—something very new and unfamiliar to me —so this business is a Maiden adventure for sure. At the same time, I’m in the middle of working long and hard to refresh every room of my house, drawing from Mothering energy to bring my “baby” (aka, my house) to adulthood (aka, completion). And just three weeks ago, we paused long enough to bury the ashes of our beloved pit bull/lab mix dog, Pepper—which is Crone work for sure.
All of these “seasonings” are lending their flavors and aromas through my smaller creative cycles in service of my Wheel of Life.
It’s a beautiful, messy, awkward, complex, nuanced blend of seasonings and it’s constantly evolving as my life unfolds, in the fullness of time, uniquely flavored by me and for me.
Maidening in Action
Whether or not we ourselves are in the Maiden season of our Wheel of Life, we are always always invited to practice Maiden Flow throughout our lives.
Each time we engage in a personal, creative cycle (writing a book, a home renovation, composing a song, throwing a party, creating a garden, etc.), we participate in Maidening as part of a full, creative cycle.
For example, I remember hosting my middle daughter’s wedding shower.
Before I got to the Maidening, I did some Croning—letting go of the ideas I implemented for my eldest daughter’s shower because every daughter needs her OWN theme, decorations, games, etc. right? (Just ask them; they’ll tell you! ) Other Croning included spending time on Pinterest, getting inspired and then dreaming up lots of possibilities for what this event could look like, taste like, sound like, feel like.
When I was ready, I began Maidening—experimenting with potential shower recipes and exploring/playing around with crafting invitations and potential party favors, etc. It was fun and playful and frustrating and gave me lots of information about what might work and what wouldn’t work at all. (Etsy decorations, but I’ll design the games & make most of the food ahead of time.)
This Maidening would be followed with some very real Mothering—gifting my time and energy and resources over the long haul to produce a finished product. Things like the actual work of sending out invitations, prepping food & games & decorations, cleaning & organizing the house, hosting the event, and cleaning up afterwards.
And the Mothering would be followed by some Matriarch-Queening: savoring the pictures and leftovers and memories, receiving my daughter’s thanks, and then letting go of the moment so it could stand on its own as a pleasant memory (or not) of all those involved, without my bringing it up non-stop for the next 6 months (Oh, didn’t you just love those party favors I made?) I’d also do some reflecting on what actually worked and/or didn’t work for me and/or my guests (Which foods were crowd favorites and should be considered for future events? How did I respond when the game flopped?).
Has my real-life example helped to flesh out how MAIDENING energy flows ? Are you understanding a bit more how the shift from one season to the next happens within each creative cycle? I sure hope so, but if not, stick around. Unpacking how all this works is the work of The Well-Seasoned Woman’s Studio.
And, if after reading this, you decide you’re ready to take a day-long deep dive into all the seasonings and how they create a Well-Seasoned Woman, then join my list, here, and you’ll be the first to know the when/where/how of my next scheduled workshop.
