Vol. 22 No. 2, June 2003

In God's Image is an Asian Christian women's effort to provide a forum for expressing our reality, our struggles, our faith reflections and aspirations for change.

Editorial

Amazing that as women share stories, experiences and reflections on "health and wholeness", we cannot help but be in touch with our own bodies and our spirituality. This was what happened as we prepared for this issue of In God's Image. Amazing, too, that a call for papers on the topic could be passed around so quickly, bringing enthusiastic responses from women in various parts of the world. Amazing how women can quickly connect with each other - to share the call, to encourage each other to share stories, even very personal stories, and even if it means making ourselves vulnerable to others.

In this issue, Asian women share on a wide range of topics under the theme "Health and Wholeness."

Consciousness of our being bodies has led to an affirmation of a more embodied spirituality for women - especially in light of the stressful realities and multiple burdens that Asian women have to bear. The relationship between embodiment and spirituality is further highlighted by reflections on women's experiences of menstruation and menopause. Critical awareness of social conditioning that puts women in a certain mold is also affirmed as a necessary step towards wholeness.

A critical reflection on the Catholic Church's position on family planning raises many theological and ethical questions surrounding female sexuality, sexual dynamics in marriage, and traditional church teachings. That women can will themselves to healing and wholeness is the emphasis of a Bible study on the hemorrhaging woman which also highlights the issue of women's bleeding.

Asian women are also affected by the spread of HIV/AIDS, wars and the bellicosity of government leaders, and the epidemic called severe acute respiratory syndrome that is now plaguing China, Hong Kong and other parts of Asia and the world. Moreover, as many Asian women become brainwashed by commercialized concepts of beauty, a paper on the truth of cosmetic surgery provides revealing information and solid theological reflection.

We also feature in this issue a set of poems by a woman who willed herself to wholeness from an abusive marital partner and is now helping other women to deal with issues of human rights violations in marital life. Amazing indeed how women can rise above a dehumanizing situation and now be equipped to empower other women to do the same.

Many Asian women have always found their connections with nature, creation, environment, and land. Hence, as an article so aptly points out, the healing of the land is integral to the healing of ourselves.

Another amazing experience during the preparation of this issue is how we can also be connected with other women who are dealing with women's issues in their own unique ways. In my search for graphics and illustrations, I came across an interesting website by Vanessa Tiegs [www.vanessatiegs.com] who has an exhibit of 28 works from her menstrual journal of over 80 menstrual paintings. With a Master's Degree in Women's Spirituality from New College of California, she has taught women's workshops in Amsterdam, Malta, Crete and the California Bay Area about Blood Mysteries. She created a lunar-menstrual system for tracking the female cycle called Spiraling Moon. My initial contact with Vanessa was to ask for copyright permission to use two of her menstrual paintings (now on pages 8 & 11). She has kindly given In God's Image that permission. In order to appreciate her work, we need to know what she does and why, which is quite relevant for our theme this issue. Let me quote her statement:

My intention in making paintings with my menstrual blood is to create beautiful images about menstruation. The blood is cyclical, natural and a defining factor of being a woman. These works express my relationship to my menstrual cycles and my feelings while I am bleeding. I do not wish to offend, disgust, or enrage viewers. Nor do I wish to get attention as a shock artist. My motivation rises from my desire to befriend my cycles.

My reason for sharing these images from my menstrual journal is to break the taboo surrounding menstruation and elevate this part of female sexuality that is largely disrespected. Evidence of the taboo can be read in the jokes made about me as the creator of the works.

To those who ask, "why not use paint?" -- the use of paint is not an option. These are not works of art that happen to be made with menstrual blood; these are works about cyclical blood that happen to be seen as art. I have been painting in this way since September 2000, experimenting with the addition of acrylic media. I also enjoy photography, calligraphy, graphic design, dance, and writing.

Over email exchange, I came to know of Vanessa's webpage on Spiralingmoon.com where she explains the five blood mysteries of womanhood, each mystery marking a transformational stage or rite of passage in a woman's life. Here is how she describes the five blood mysteries: 

Menarche is a girl's initiation into womanhood. The word literally means first moon: mene meaning moon and arche meaning beginning. Cultures that have kept old traditions, like Kerala in South India, regard a girl's menarche as so highly powerful that they celebrate it as a divinitory event for the entire village.

Defloration is the blood of the sacred veil of woman, the hymen. This rite of passage brings a woman into her own sexuality. Virginia Bean Rutter says, "she is forever changed physically and psychologically. Part of that change is accepting separation not severance from her mother, becoming queen in her own right."

Menstruation is a woman's biorhythmic connection to the cosmos: the earth, the moon and the sun. This blood mystery is a woman's cyclical rite of passage marking her progressive renewal and vast creative potential as she matures through her life experiences with each moon cycle in connection to her menstrual cycles.

Mother's blood at birth is an early memory we all hold somewhere within us. A woman's experience of giving birth is an opportunity for her to get in touch with her true power. Childbirth has enormous potential to transform the way a woman esteems herself.

Menopause, as woman's passage to power, energy and freedom is, as Leslie Kenton says, "a time of celebration when a woman's creativity is set free for use in whatever way the whispers of her soul dictate." Passage to Power: Natural Menopause Revolution.

There are many things that we still need to know and understand, affirm and respect, about ourselves as embodied female beings. The ability to know and understand them better is a vital key towards living our lives in health and wholeness.

I thank all the contributors of this issue for helping us in our understanding of the many issues affecting women's bodies, sexuality, and spirituality. Through your stories, you have taken the risk of becoming vulnerable. But I am deeply convinced that through your vulnerability you are empowering all other women to will their own health and wholeness.

Many thanks also go to Hanna Varghese of Malaysia who made the cover design specifically for this issue of In God's Image.

Publications Secretary

If articles listed in the table of contents interests you, and you would like to have a copy of this journal, please write to igi@awrc4ct.org.