Definition of Womanhood

Ruth Barrett's Definition of Womanhood

 A woman is a person who is a biological female and identifies and lives as female. Being a woman is to be free to be herself, and express herself as a full human being. This means living her life free from the internal or external limitations of binary gender stereotypes dictated by the dominant culture.

Women's Mysteries are at the center of Dianic practice. By "Mysteries" we mean the experiences of the female body from birth, girlhood, into womanhood, and elderhood. These Mysteries include our uterine blood mysteries  (menstruation, birthing, menopause), female sexuality and spirituality, and all the ways that our female bodies inform our diverse life experiences. Part of our work as a feminist spiritual tradition is to keep conscious of, and heal from the insidious ways that misogyny affects our lives. This includes our self-perception through the views of the dominant culture, religion, and cultural inheritance. The commonality girls and women share based on our biological sex transcends other differences in race, ability, ethnicity, and class. For us, the exploration and celebration of Women's Mysteries is an embodied experience that defies words, and can only be experienced by female individuals. Dianic tradition has centered on the embodied female mysteries for over 40 years. We affirm our ability to be whole-unto-ourselves and as free as the goddess Artemis. We affirm our right to gather as female individuals within our female-only circles to celebrate our rites.

We support male individuals in honoring their unique Mysteries of the male body from birth, boyhood, into manhood, and elderhood.

We encourage trans individuals to create their own rites of passage that address their significant life cycle events from birth into elderhood.

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