Do you ever yearn for a hamam? You know a place to go once a month? The red tent? The menstrual hut? As modern women, we have lost this tradition of honoring ourselves during our menses. No wonder so many suffer from premenstrual syndrome. Knowing you are going to face life severely challenged by your lack of hormones every month is enough to send you over the edge. What is tolerable on a daily basis—fussy children refusing to get ready for school, your spouse’s dirty clothes tossed on the floor instead of in the hamper, telemarketers calling when you're already running late—becomes absolutely intolerable. Futilely you try to entice the kids from their warm beds, then tripping over your husband’s dirty clothes, your voice rising as you gather his mess up to toss in the garbage, the phone rings and you hurry catching your bare toe on the edge of the door...down for the count.
You need a break from your life.

Well once upon a time women gave each other a respite by taking over for their “sisters” once a month. Our hormones mirror one another so women who live and work closely together start cycling as one, so what happened when all the women were in the hamam at once? The men floundered, the children found their grandmothers’ laps most inviting and the menstruating women were truly appreciated.
Absence does make the heart grow founder.

Years ago, I began wearing a red gypsy skirt during my cycle. Although not getting massaged by my “hamam sisters” while pouring my woes into sympathetic ears and feasting on sweets without a care, I got respect from my family. So much so that my pubescent daughter yearned for a “period skirt” and when that special time finally came, we celebrated heartily, dancing about in our beautiful skirts, eating chocolate, fixing each other’s hair and nails. Ecstatic to be like mom, my daughter appreciated being pampered a few days a month. And I loved reawakening the lost tradition of the hamam. Have a happy moon cycle :)