Native American / First American peoples have long recognized the importance of the womb beyond a physical female organ where offspring are conceived and in which they gestate before birth. They grokked the spiritual womb underlying the biological one as the place of origination and development of the spirit for birthing a fully evolved human being.  One that would embody the qualities of nature essential to the continuation of the people and harmony. To that end various Native tribes were moved to reenact the monthly menstrual cycle of women, so that men could know, as far as possible, the suffering and purification of the “period” through the dynamic experience of the Sweat Lodge. 

Native people recognized the

  importance of balance in the polarity of nature between male and female. They sought to bring the mind of men into “right mind,” whereby their drive for forceful action would be imbued with a nurturing impulse toward the good of the whole.

War and peace hang in the balance of these two polarities.

The use of natural energy, when to yield and when not, is the meeting ground for natural wisdom to reveal itself. If allowed to flow without obstruction, natural wisdom consciousness will designate the Course of action that benefits all of life.

The patriarchy is an imbalance of nature created by men in the absence of right mind, in the absence of the feminine. It cannot self-correct itself into what it is not. It only knows more of the same. The best laid plansof mice and men oft go astray.

Can’t be a middle path without the feminine bringing that “sweat spot” in the center. Otherwise, the status quo will continue and the “savior” will be just men.

“The Clan Mothers ran everything and had the last word. I think that’s the answer.” ~ Floyd Red Crow Westerman