In 2020, Charlotte J Ward began delving into the powerful realms of the Menstrual cycle. As she tuned into the wisdom that resides with her own body, she started to explore this fascinating phenomenon which occurs within most other human beings on this planet, each and every month. Working with self-portrait photography as her main medium, she uses her own body and blood as instruments to shed some light on a topic which has been shunned upon for far too long.
Honouring the cyclical nature of female bodies - human and Earth, Ward sees the menstrual cycle as a gate way to deeper connection with self and the world. She seeks to revive the ancient ways, a sense of reverence and deeper connection with the feminine powers that reside within each and every woman.
Ward creates this work as medicine, knowing that the way the patriarchal system has been treating and continues to treat women is reflected in the way it treats Earth, and vice versa. She believes it is only when we start to honour Women and Earth, that we can begin to heal our dying world. In this way her ongoing series Moon Blood and This Earth Body Is My Home are intrinsically intwined.
In September 2022, Ward graduated as a Menstruality Leader from the Red School, with the intention to continue spreading this knowledge far and wide in various ways. Red School was founded in the UK by experts in the field, Alexandra Pope and Sjanie Hugo Wurlitzer, authors of Wild Power and Wise Power, published by Hay House in 2017 and 2022.
MOON BLOOD MANIFESTO
There is a silent revolution growing within our wombs. And like the mycelium that grows beneath the skin of our Mother, it is unstoppable.
Slowly but surely we are attuning ourselves once more, to the wisdom which resides within the depths of our female bodies.
These beautifully intelligent cyclical bodies.
The wisdom is encoded within us and our wombs are the portals which directly connect us to the cosmos, to the divine, to Earth. This is the portal of life and death. This is the dark feminine. And she is rising, like a Phoenix from the ashes.
They burnt our ancestors because of how powerful they were. They burnt them because they were scared of their power. But what they didn’t know is that this force which resides within each and every womb that is born on this Earth, is invincible. It is unstoppable. And it is growing. Like the mycelium under the skin of our Mother, it is weaving a web so strong, that it has the power to heal, to shift, to transmute and alchemise.
It has the power to nourish and to create a new world.
A world where being is just as valued as doing. A world which honours women and the dark feminine powers we embody at all stages of life. A world which honours the cyclical nature of this Earth body. The same cyclical nature which resides within our own.
A woman shouldn’t have to suffer when she bleeds. The pain is a cry out to be heard. The moment we begin to listen, we will heal not only ourselves, but the Earth as well.
Let us honour our bleeds. Let us listen and receive the wisdom that resides there. She will guide the way. Surrender is the key.