Tribute

A teacher and student of the temple arts and a healer of sexual trauma, Olivia embodies her feminine in a truly nuanced and exciting way. We met for these photos amongst the energy vortexes of Sedona in the time of her bleed and I got to witness her communion with nature in this sensitive part of her cycle. In mainstream western culture menstruation is often regarded as an inconvenient bodily function that interrupts daily life . Many women feel vulnerable and hide away during these days. We, men, have certainly contributed to the stigmatization of this natural process. But Olivia treats her moon cycle as the manifestation of her power to create life and offers it to nature in a beautiful ritual that connects her to the source of all life, and empowers her. This one in particular turned out to be her last bleed as a maiden because she got pregnant a few weeks after these photos. It was a privilege to sit with her in ceremony as she offered this part of herself to the fire, and witness the dignity and pride with which she honors her womanhood and fertility through ritual.