Goddesses – Flora

Roman Goddess Flora from wytchymystique.com

Her Story:

Flora, the Roman goddess of spring, rules flowers, foliage, and springtime.  Her festivals are celebrated in April and early May.  Flora’s energies and influences include the protection of vegetation from disease, flowering plants and fruits, as well as menstruation– the flowering of young girls into budding womanhood.
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The Blood of the Moon (menstrual blood) is one of the most powerful magickal potions known.   Menstrual blood is used in a variety of spells for love, as well as hexing, and has been used traditionally as such since ancient times.  It is strongly connected to Flora through her very essence as a goddess of maturation, flowering, coming of age, the ascension to womanhood.

In biblical times, menstruating women were considered unclean and banished to The Red Tent.  Here they sat out there isolation from the rest of the community until their periods stopped and they had completed a rigorous “cleansing” ritual.  Only after that were they allowed to resume normal life among the general population.

Unclean?  Really?  I don’t think so.

I have a different theory for their reasons behind isolating menstruating women:  They were afraid of them.

In those very ancient times, still immersed closely with pagan roots and practices, the power of menstrual blood and a menstruating woman would have been very clear in their minds, very close to their hearts.  The people of this time were caught in a struggle, a struggle between the old ways, the old religion– goddess worship, natural earth based spirituality– and the new religions of Judaism and Christianity.  The true power of women would have still been common knowledge.

Embrace this aspect of your womanhood.  Understand the inspiration behind menstruation of creation, and magick, strength, mystery, and miracles.  Align your energies with the Blood of the Moon.  Celebrate the miracle you are.

Embracing the Goddess:

Flora’s most amazing magic, aside from a landscape full of beautiful blossoms, is the budding of young girls into maturity, the coming of age that brings with it the menstrual cycle, emphasizing the feminine connection to the moon and its power, fertility, and passage into womanhood.

Western civilization seems to keep the blossoming of female puberty shrouded in out-dated shame and secrecy.  When a girl gets her first period, it’s generally not something that is mentioned, much less celebrated, particularly in mixed company.  By contrast, in the Apache Native American tradition, the onset of menstruation is a time of open celebration for the entire community.  There are days of rigorous rituals involving a tribal celebration of young girls who are coming of age.  They celebrate the fertility insinuated by the beginning of menstruation.  They celebrate pride in feminine puberty and growth.  They celebrate the wonder of nature and the miracle that it truly is.

Call upon Flora to celebrate the coming of age for yourself, your daughter, your granddaughter, your nieces, or other young women in your life.  Emphasize how special this time is, how beautiful, and how fulfilling it will be.

Flora’s Correspondences:

Herbs: mugwort, oleander, tulip, barley, primrose
Animal: dove
Color: green, brown
Planet: Gaia (earth)
Day: all seven
Element: Earth
Feminine Face: Maiden
Symbol: spring flowers