“Feminine Flow” is a cyanotype collage that explores the relationship between the moon and the female body. Did you know that “month” comes from the word “mensis” which is Latin for moon? “Menstruation” comes from that root as well. Up until the early 1800’s, English speakers used “moon” instead of “period”.

For most of human history, our understanding of time was based on the moon cycle and its link to the female reproductive cycle. When we lived without artificial light, all the women bled at the same time. The full moon corresponded with ovulation- when a new egg is released into the uterus. How incredible is that! An egg, a full white circle just like the full moon. And the new moon arrived when/if that unfertilized egg was shed, along with the lining of the uterus. This is what a “period” is. Not an end, but a beginning of a new cycle.

Language is powerful. It has been purposely changed to erase our ties to the natural world and to each other. This is just one tiny example, but I hope it illuminates how powerful women are. Literally cosmic!