Em hotep Tai'a!

It certainly is not necessary for everyone to adhere to State Rite purity standards for themselves, but if you do, that is your choice, and I applaud that.

It isn't always easy is it?

Senebty!

M Htp.

Wow... just ... wow. First off I have to say thanks for all the thought-provoking conversation!

As a woman, a w'abt, and as one who does not really get her menses (I mean, they do not really occur for me... I do understand them just fine, heh.) I find this whole conversation absolutely fascinating.

As an aside - no, there's nothing wrong with me physically. No, I'm not pregnant. No, it's not a health issue. Yes, I had my menses before. This is a result of being on a particular type of BCP for many years and it's a mild side effect (one I don't particularly mind). Yes, my doctor is completely aware and he's given me a clean bill of health (he's even more paranoid about my health than I am... LOL). Yes, I was and am aware of the risks of this medicine. No, I don't intend to go off it until I am "explicitly ready to have children".

Ok, with that out of the way....

I still experience the mental impurity that can come with the hormonal change (and I still experience the hormonal shift - just not as phenomenally and powerfully as many other women do)and when I am in that style of state (mental or just feeling yucky) even without bleeding I do not do ritual. I just don't. I don't do senut... I don't go near my State shrine *shudders at the thought* and I don't handle any implements (KO or otherwise!) that I would use in ritual because of what Pheonix said so eloquently. I don't want to attract THAT kind of attention (and the whole thing about being a w'ab... )

Now my impure states can range from a couple of hours to a day or so.... but rarely even that. *shrugs* So, there ya go.

Em hotep, all!

Given that I'm very, very new to KO, all of this makes for fascinating reading. My background is in anthropology, so I've seen/read/heard pretty much all of the views out there on menstruation, starting with Margaret Mead's Purity and Danger, and going on from there (and some of it is truly jaw-dropping, and not for the faint of heart). Personally, the only problem I have with the whole menstruation/ritual issue is that I'm usually too busy curling up around my belly and gritting my teeth to be in any fit state to deal with my fellow humans, let alone address netjer. Generally, the feeling I get back is one of tolerance - "Take your time; We'll still be here". And I really don't feel like bringing this much discomfort into ritual time/space; I can't concentrate at all, and that seems like the height of disrespect. So I generally beg Everyone's pardon and at least try to meditate, which helps the muscles relax a bit.

Random thoughts from a noob....

Senebty!

I Just wanted to say that those are precisely my views on it too. I'm hurting, uncomfortable, and the thought of bringing waste products into a purified shrine just doesn't sit well with me (or a few of the Names in my shrine) at all.

As a noob myself, this is interesting as well as informative for me. I'm going through menopause at the moment, so my hormones are all over the place. I'm usually a wreck, physically and emotionally when my period arives, so will leave any rituals and the Names well alone at that time.

*shrugs*

If I'm not feeling icky from my period (or in general) I feel that my energy is still MY energy whether menstrual or otherwise and I'm not all that concerned with getting it on my tools, or in my shrine....

If a time comes when my Mother demands otherwise from me, I will be delighted to do what She asks of me.

And of course, if I decide to go Wab....well, natsh I would be happy to follow the rules.

Quoted to add my agreement! Even commercials make me cry when I've got my period (although, to be fair, Save the Children commercials have always made me cry). Even if I had the kind of Herculean spiritual constitution required to protect myself from negative influence during that time, I can't imagine I'd ever be in the right mind frame for formal ritual.

Tai'a, that was awesome!

"Going Wa'ab"... I love that.

Well, Sis, you might want to look at it in another perspective....it is not really *your* shrine or *your* tools at all is it? However, I do believe that your Mother (especially Aset) will be making that abundantly clear to you if not sooner, and most certainly long before the time you are ready consider "going Wab", as you put it!

Senebty!