Celebrating our sensuality

Once upon a time, women were divine, and so were their juices. Whether it was our milk or our blood or that beautiful liquid known as ‘nectar of the gods’; we flowed freely and without shame, our feminine powers lourishing. Now is the perfect moment to reclaim those powers. Let’s become forces of nature again! Are you ready to tame the shame and join the juicy revolution?

Have you heard of ‘vabbing’? Singer Erykah Badu is a fan, and sexpert Shan Boodram says it makes her feel ‘like an enchanted goddess with a delicious secret’. It’s quite a simple ritual – you dab vaginal juice as perfume – but becoming familiar with your body’s scent at different stages of your hormonal cycle is incredibly empowering. (If only to detect a possible imbalance in your system). A fun modern–day ritual to unlock our sensual feminine powers that had been buried for way too long. “The suppression of women’s rights began with the suppression of women’s rites,” Merlin Stone wrote in ‘When god was a woman’. In this archaeologically documented book, the feminist scholar describes women–centered Stone Age societies in Europe and the Middle East where goddesses were worshipped as divine creators. Women were considered sacred as well, having the miraculous ability to manifest the sacred powers of life and death through our bodies.

During special rites, queen–priestesses would honor the fluids we release during our cycles and sex as precious juices of life. According to anthropologist Marija Gimbutas, historically women bled without shame, in synchrony with the moon and within communities of women. Not surprisingly, when patriarchal tribes invaded these peaceful societies 6000 years ago, they immediately installed their warrior gods instead of the life–giving Goddess, reimagining her as a sinful figure. In other words, a slut. I think we all know where this hate campaign reached its climax – in the story of Adam and fallen Eve, followed by millennia of silence and shame for women. Although dethroned, the Goddess was still there, flowing through each woman’s body, expressing herself in our juices whenever we cried, bled, made love, gave birth or nursed a baby. But instead of joyful, we would often feel ‘dirty’ or even ‘depraved’; struggling to shake off the collective shame. Just think about it; have you ever hidden your tampon in your pocket when you walked to the bathroom or held back during sex for fear of wetting the bed? Terms like ‘sanitary pads’ aren’t very helpful either, suggesting that period blood is unhygienic. And how about women being told to cover up while breastfeeding in public? Thank goodness – or rather, Goddess – that we find ourselves in the middle of a juicy revolution right now…

“Damn! I’m running and bleeding,” Kiran Gandhi said to herself as she ran the 2015 London Marathon, tampon-free, with blood trickling down her leg. ‘Totally empowering’ is how she described the experience; ‘disgusting’, ‘unladylike’ and ‘unsanitary’ is how it was labeled in the press. Still, it was a taboo–smashing breakthrough; the first of many. We still have a long way to go, but between women proudly sharing pictures of their period–blood facemasks and scientists raving about menstrual blood’s stem cell–providing properties, our monthly blood is slowly starting to get the worshipping it deserves. The same goes for breast milk, with macho bodybuilders drinking ‘the liquid gold’ to build muscle, and female ejaculation fluid, once dismissed as ‘just pee’, now seen as the crowning glory of a woman’s sexual experience. Yes, this revolution starts – quite literally – from within and emphasizes self–empowerment. But imagine the collective transformative power of legions of strong, juicy, self–confident women taking on the patriarchy and putting the Goddess back on her throne! It will be like watching the earth burst into bloom. So, next time you bleed, lactate or orgasm, think about all the women who experienced these same things before you. From the women living in caves 50.000 years ago to the female Pharaohs and Viking shield–maidens; we are all connected through these divine juices. We are all goddesses.