Metaformic Theory

We think the world needs fresh new approaches to questions of the origins of culture, why humans differ from animals, why we are the marvelous, amazing, terrible, peculiar, cruel, kind, dangerous, and occasionally constructive beings that we are. So in this Journal we introduce Metaformic Theory because it is a new approach, one of several in the a... rena of menstruation and culture, but the one calling for the broadest changes in the way we think of human origins and processes through which we, and our ancestors, have attained the culture that surrounds us. We want to engage in a dialogue with and about theorists of consciousness. In this first issue we feature six articles related to Metaformic Theory. Judy Grahns The Emergence of Metaformic Consciousness gives an academic overview of some of the ideas encompassed in the theory, while Luisah Teish offers a personal account of how she searched for positive menstrual stories in African traditions, with roots in New Orleans; she outlines a coming of age ritual for girls. Deborah Grenns thealogical perspective is engaged in Connecting with Deity Through a Feminist Metaformic Thealogy . Mary Beth Moser traveled to Italy and Sicily to make her connections between miracles, Black Madonnas, and menstruation in Blood Relics ; while biologist Tina Proctor has taken on the subject of Women, Orangutans and the Moon , and our fellow primates, the endangered orangutans. Judy Grahns impassioned Are Wars Metaformic? combines an entreaty for peaceful rites to replace warfare with the perception of a pattern of major national bloodshed every 28 years. And, in the section called Tidbits we begin a series of anecdotal contributions on the subject of menstruation and culture. We accept articles on menstruation and culture that range from the scholarly to the personal, from Literature to Orature, from field studies, ethnographies, theologies and philosophies to the anecdotes we remember from our own family lineage. Judy Grahns Metaformic Theory, and probably all theories of ...Read More