Introduction

When I was a little girl, I loved hanging out with my five older sisters. My perfect afternoon was spent sitting on their bedroom floor, a pile of their makeup spread out before me to play with, listening to them talk for hours about all the details of their lives: their friends, their boyfriends, their teachers, and their favorite music. I liked to be around them as they talked and played with one another, studied, prepared food, and got ready to go out on dates. It didn't really matter what they were doing; the fact was, they were teenage girls and I was totally fascinated with everything about them. I thought they were the coolest people ever. I liked to hear them talk about their bodies, about boys, and about their dreams. I loved the way they got ready to go out together, how they helped one another with their makeup and clothes, and I remember loving it when they let me braid their long hair. There was always music in the background, singing and dancing in front of the long mirror, and a lot of commotion as they prepared for a big night out. The ritual of getting ready was so fun that it felt like a celebration.

So much of my sisters' lives fascinated me. One of the most fascinating things was the care and comfort they offered one another during a few days of each month, and how they all seemed to feel pretty much the same way at the same time each month. I was curious about the mysterious boxes of pads and tampons I would find tucked away in the bathroom linen closet. I was also very aware that my mother expressed an understanding that I certainly did not have. When my sisters had cramps, she would give them medicine and speak to them in a quiet and concerned voice. Though I didn't understand these things, I was acutely aware of the unspoken connection that they shared. They all shared things that were still mysteries to me -- a changing body and a "period," or as I like to call it, "moon" or "moontime." I was too young to menstruate, but I felt somehow connected, knowing that I too would one day have a period. And somewhere inside, I felt very proud of that.

The day I got my first moon wasn't such a big deal on the outside. The truth is, I had been so eager to be part of that mysterious womanly thing that I had lied to my friends and family, telling them I had started my period a year earlier. So, when I discovered a bit of blood on my uniform skirt on my way home from school at age thirteen, I was quietly elated. But I also felt a loss: I was unable to openly share this new experience in my life and to celebrate with my mom and sisters. I wished that I could go home and tell my sisters that I was now officially "one of them." I soon realized, however, that none of my friends were celebrating the arrival of their periods either.

Years later, in college, I studied women's history and women in many cultures. I learned some really cool things. Did you know that since the beginning of civilization, many cultures around the world have celebrated a young woman's first moon with dancing, gifts, and festivities?

For a Native American girl from California coastal tribes, menarche (another word for the first moon or period) was an occasion for in-tense attention from her family and her village. In the fall, a special dance to honor several girls' menarches brought groups of neighboring villagers, who arrived with gifts, food, and singing. The festivities lasted five days. In Brazil, a young woman's first period is celebrated with a parade of flowers. When I learned this, I thought, that's the way to enter your womanhood!

I have come to believe that celebrating your changing body and celebrating yourself are key to happiness, fun, and creativity in life. Celebrating with friends and family and sharing stories and traditions are part of what makes being a girl and becoming a woman so rich, full, and magical.

So, this book is all about celebrating this incredible time in your life -- a time when you are growing from the beautiful girl you are now into the amazing woman you were born to be. It is also about making sure you have the tools you need to create a life full of happiness, wisdom, magic, and celebration for yourself. I hope that this book helps to ensure that you have everything you need to discover yourself and to become all you dream of being. Women are magical. You are the magic. Celebrate yourself on the special day when you have your first moon. You are a magical, magnificent woman!

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Excerpted from Your Moontime Magic: A Girl's Guide to Getting Your Period and Loving Your Body by Maureen Theresa Smith
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