The nature of puberty physically created by the Life Force, expanding toward maturity and assisted by zooming hormones, results in the amazing body changes we all can plainly see in a young woman. These same forces open a girl to new concepts, new ways of thinking and perceiving. Puberty is a time when many beliefs are formed or hardened. Therefore, this time in a girl's life provides the perfect opportunity to infuse positive thoughts and images into her awakening mature body/mind system, rather than our societys all-too-commonly negating and stifling messages about what it means to be female. We must support girls and young women to see themselves for what they truly are beings possessing unlimited creative potential.

Consider what would happen if we positively prepared girls for womanhood and practiced ceremony around the time of menarche First Blood. What if a girl were acknowledged, even celebrated in some small way, each time she had her Bleeding Time? What if she were treated with respect and special kindness during her period, and shown that she is extraordinary? Over 300 women I interviewed for my doctoral research all said they felt that being celebrated would have changed their whole life for the better. Among these women, those who were given positive messages, or at least were given benign messages about menstruation, reported that they felt better about their bodies and their sexuality than those women who were given negative messages about their periods.

Girls who are free thinking and deeply connected to their own inner being become women who have powerful, positive, healthy impacts on the world. But - It is difficult to be a girl or a woman in the United States today, and girls need help to grow into strong women. One reason it is difficult to be a strong, powerful girl today is that there is a powerful movement in the United States which supports fundamentalist beliefs that if women are good, love god, and follow gods rules (as interpreted by the male dominated church) they must have a particular role in society. (Since these teachings and beliefs about god are fear- based and therefore distorted, I use the small g in the word god. I believe that God, big G, is all loving and does not judge, punish nor favor one religion [or gender] over another.)

In this current upsurge of a very vocal, though minority, fundamentalist religious ideology, a woman is taught her role is to work in a religious church-related context for example, to marry a minister or choir director, teach in a Christian school or college, and do missionary work based on converting as many people to the fundamentalist way of thinking as possible.

It seems to me that this thinking is profoundly influencing our society in general. We can observe it spilling over into our government, threatening the very fiber of our constitutionally guaranteed rights. Women and girls are especially threatened, as they are taught by this system to live in a way that does not support their being in touch with their true deep selves; nor does it teach them how to search inside themselves to find, and then to serve, their own highest good.

Most current organized religion appears to subscribe to a paternalistic view of god. This conjures up the image of a white man with a beard who lives somewhere in a heaven that is - up there. This god is often perceived to watch over everything we do and judge us as either good or bad. The apparent teaching is that if we do not adhere to certain strict rules, this god will judge and then punish us. These religious teachings also tell us that god is jealous of our loyalties, and to be feared. The more rigid sects teach girls that only men can be ministers. Does this tell girls that only men can talk to god? Or only men can interpret gods word? Does it teach that boys are smarter, more worthy? Does it tell girls that god likes boys better than girls? I think it certainly does do all of the above.

In the alternative viewpoint that I subscribe to, the highest good is to become as conscious and expansive in thinking/being as possible. I tell women (and men), God wants you to be the best you possible! I use their nameGod wants you to be the best Susan possible, the best uniquely you on the face of this earth and beyond! I believe that Gods job is to create and keep creating, and thats why we call God The Creator. I believe that God is everywhere, in everyone and everything; therefore God must rejoice in our differences. God has created everyone uniquely; therefore you honor Spirit by being you. Conversely, you do not honor Life by being your pretend self, your false self, your mask self, the false image of what you hope people will think you are. You honor Life by being your deepest real, undefended, most transparent self.

When you earnestly search inside, over a period of time, to find and live through your deepest self, you become enlightened. Miriam Websters Dictionary tells us that to be enlightened means to be full of light, illuminated; full of knowledge and spiritual insight; full of the truth; having a clear conscience. I add that being enlightened means being full of love because light and love are synonymous. When we fill up with enough light/love, we then have enough love to share with others.

In my opinion, people who are taught and believe rigid rules, follow them out of fear. They cannot be enlightened because the nature of fear is that it distorts truth. The minority (but strong) faction of the above fundamentalist teaching indicates that god is a loving god, but also a god who must be feared. The perception that god both loves us and is fearsome has far reaching psycho-social effects. If we described a human father as having the qualities of a severely judging, punishing god (what is more severe than spending eternity in hell just because you were born into a religion other than the one the father wants you to be or punishes you because you want to be an artist instead of the lawyer your father wants you to be?), who teaches that his is the only way to think and behave, who sends scourges and pestilence to his enemies, and does this because he says he loves his child, most of us would say that this parent was dysfunctional at best. And we would (rightfully) be concerned for the emotional well-being of his children.

When unenlightened men interpret the bible, what they preach is fear-based: punishing, jealous, judgmental, rigid and frightening. What then happens in world politics is another story, but you can imagine that it is not about actions that are full of love and light. To read more of this article, go to http://www.passagesintowomanhood.com/articles.htm