“Dancing is an emotional outlet, so let yourself flow.”
-Snoopy Comic Strip

Women have been doing healing praise dances for centuries. They danced in the hills, the valley, in the desert, and by the ocean. They danced to demonstrate their oneness with nature. From what I can see, all forms of the dance of the feminine are healing to the body, mind and spirit.
Today, there is a very popular dance form that many women are exploring and that is belly dancing. Belly dancing is a birthing fertility dance that helps women to stay in shape, and is also very sensual.
In the Congo, there is another form of dance where a woman moves her body in almost the same way that a belly dancer does. The rhythmic movement is captivating to the spirit and could be seen as Trance or Ecstatic dancing. I have also seen similar moves in Senegalese and Nigerian dances as well.
In the days of our Ancestral Mothers, the Priestesses who tended the temples of the Goddess in all Her aspects were known as Temple Priestesses, and they danced with abandonment for the Spirit of Love. That is what I see dance as: a way to allow the Spirit of Love to take over and express itself through movement.
The Sacred Dancer connected herself to the entire universe. She was one with all things. The dance was not only a way of telling the story of life-it was a celebration of life itself. Uni-Verse. One Song. The Song of Love.
Women knew the magic and the healing power of the Sacred Dance. They knew that by dancing together and for one another that they were doing the work of the Great Mother Goddess. They enjoyed a direct connection to the Divine Femi9 Energy.
At some point in history, the Dance of Life became misinterpreted and seen as lewd. Patriarchy began to set the tone for the Sacred Dance. The Movement of Life was restrained and contained, and women began to lose their connection to the Great Mother and all of nature.
Women were told that only a “certain kind of woman” would move her body in such a manner. The Sacred Dance that kept the body strong, healthy and supple, was seen as “dancing with the devil.” Because of this mindset, women began to suffer from constricted womb diseases that are quite prevalent today. Of course, this is not the only reason that the womb suffers.