Mark: In the United States, over half a million hysterectomies are performed each year. But here's the shocker: data shows that around 90% of them are for benign, non-cancerous conditions. Michelle: Wow. That's a staggering number. It makes you stop and think. Mark: It really does. And it raises a wild question: are we just surgically removing a problem, or are we removing a source of power we don't even understand? Michelle: That is a heavy question. And a perfect entry point for the book we're talking about today. Mark: That very question is at the heart of the book we're diving into: Sacred Woman: A Guide to Healing the Feminine Body, Mind, and Spirit by Queen Afua. Michelle: And Queen Afua isn't just an author; she's a world-renowned herbalist and natural health expert. She founded her 'Sacred Woman' program back in the 90s, and this book has become a foundational text in holistic women's health, especially for women of color reclaiming ancestral traditions. It's highly rated but also polarizing for some readers. Mark: Exactly. It's been called a form of 'spiritual activism,' which is a perfect way to frame its core message. The book opens with this flood of calls Queen Afua receives at her wellness center. One story that just sticks with you is a 29-year-old woman, completely distraught. Her doctor told her that her ovaries were 'dead' and she was essentially going through menopause before she was 30. Michelle: Oh my gosh, at 29? I can't even imagine the fear and confusion. She must have felt like her body was betraying her. Mark: Completely. And her call is followed by another, a 30-year-old facing a hysterectomy for fibroids, and another woman suffering from such heavy bleeding and PMS that her life is falling apart. The book paints this picture of a silent epidemic. Michelle: It’s a crisis hidden in plain sight. And it sets the stage for the book's central, and I think most provocative, argument. Mark: It absolutely does. The book posits that these are not just isolated medical issues. They are symptoms of a much deeper disconnection. Queen Afua’s core thesis is that the state of a woman's womb reflects the state of her entire life—her mind, her spirit, her relationships.

Michelle: Okay, let's unpack that because it's a huge idea. When she says 'the state of the womb reflects the state of her life,' what does that look like in practice? It sounds profound, but also a bit abstract. Mark: It's a radical reframing. We're taught to see the womb as a baby-making machine, right? It's either for reproduction or it's just... there. The book argues it's a spiritual gateway, a second brain, a storehouse of emotion and creative energy. The book has this powerful quote: "When the womb is honored and respected, she becomes a channel of power, creativity, and beauty... When her voice goes unheard, unanswered, denied, the womb becomes a vessel of disease." Michelle: A vessel of disease. That's intense. So fibroids, cysts, heavy bleeding—the book is saying these are physical manifestations of unheard emotional or spiritual pain? Mark: Precisely. It's the body physically screaming what the spirit has been whispering. There's a deeply moving piece in the book, a poem or a confession from a Sacred Woman Initiate named Nekhena Evans. It's titled "And I Call Myself a Wombman." She reflects on her life and realizes she's treated her womb with such disregard. Michelle: What does she say? Mark: It's heartbreakingly honest. She writes about exposing it to countless partners, creating and destroying life within it, feeding it poisons, and essentially using it without ever truly connecting to it. She says she made her womb a "victim" and a "consequence." The piece is this powerful apology to her own body, a vow to finally listen, to cleanse, and to take responsibility. Michelle: Wow. That's a level of self-awareness that is both painful and incredibly powerful. It takes the conversation out of the purely medical and into the deeply personal and spiritual. Mark: It does. It frames healing not as something a doctor does to you, but as a journey you undertake with yourself. It’s about restoring a relationship with a part of yourself you’ve been taught to ignore. Michelle: That's a beautiful concept. But I have to ask the question that I know many listeners are thinking. What about women who have had a hysterectomy? Or women who were born without a womb, or trans women? If the womb is this central gateway, does the book exclude them from this path of healing? Mark: That is such an important question, and the book does address it. Queen Afua makes it clear that she's talking about both the physical womb and the spiritual womb. She has this beautiful passage where she says, "Bless the spirit of your womb, for that spirit is eternal and never dies." The energy center, the creative potential, exists regardless of the physical organ. The work is about connecting to that sacred energetic space within, which every woman possesses. Michelle: Okay, that's a crucial clarification. So it's less about the physical anatomy and more about a center of feminine creative and spiritual energy. Mark: Exactly. It's about an energy center that our modern world has largely forgotten how to honor. The book argues that this collective forgetting is why we see so much disharmony, not just in women's bodies, but in the world. As Queen Afua writes, "As we women heal and transform our wombs, we will change our destiny and the destiny of our planet." Michelle: That is a bold, massive claim. Changing the destiny of the planet. So if the goal is to heal this spiritual center, what's the actual 'how'? It can't just be about thinking nice thoughts about your womb. Mark: You're right, it's not. And this is where the book gets really unique and, for some, even more controversial. The 'how' is a complete philosophical and practical system drawn from a very ancient source.

Michelle: An ancient source? Where are we going? Mark: We're going to ancient Khamit. What most of us know as ancient Egypt. Michelle: Okay, I did not see that coming. I think most people, when they hear 'ancient Egypt,' they think pyramids, pharaohs, maybe King Tut's tomb. Not... holistic health. Mark: And that's exactly the misconception the book aims to shatter. Queen Afua argues that what the Greeks later called "philosophy" was actually the ancient Khamitic way of life. She positions this tradition not as a dead civilization, but as a living, breathing source of wisdom that holds the keys to modern healing. She even shares her own personal story of feeling like a "visitor" in other spiritual traditions for twenty years, searching for a home, until she was initiated into the Khamitic legacy. For her, it was a homecoming. Michelle: So what are the core principles of this Khamitic philosophy? How does it translate into a healing practice? You mentioned Maat earlier. Mark: Yes, Maat is the central concept. It's a word that encompasses harmony, balance, truth, law, righteousness, and reciprocity. It’s the cosmic order. Living in Maat is about aligning your life with this divine harmony. The book presents the Forty-Two Laws of Maat as a moral guide. Michelle: How do those differ from, say, the Ten Commandments? Mark: The difference is profound. The Ten Commandments are mostly "Thou shalt nots" delivered from an external God. The Forty-Two Laws of Maat are recited as personal affirmations, a daily moral inventory. In the morning, you might say, "I will not cause pain," and in the evening, "I have not caused pain." The book emphasizes that in this philosophy, every day is Judgment Day. There's no waiting for an afterlife; you are accountable to your own indwelling divinity, right here, right now. Michelle: That's a huge shift in responsibility. It's not about fearing punishment from an outside force, but about cultivating your own inner integrity. Mark: Precisely. And this philosophy extends to everything. The Khamitic view of the Divine, or NTR, is a balanced Mother/Father Creator. The divine attributes, the NTRU, are also balanced male and female pairs: Ptah and Sekhmet, Ast and Asar. This creates a worldview where the feminine isn't subordinate; it's an essential, equally powerful half of creation. Michelle: I can see how that would be incredibly empowering, especially for women reading this. It provides a spiritual foundation that validates their own divine nature. But again, I have to bring it back to the practical. This sounds fascinating historically, but how does someone living in a tiny city apartment, working a chaotic job, actually apply the 42 Laws of Maat without it feeling like an academic exercise? Mark: That's the bridge the book builds with the "Gateways." The philosophy is the 'why,' and the Gateways are the 'how.' The entire journey starts with "Gateway 0: The Sacred Womb," which is all about laying the foundation. This is where you do the practical work of creating a sacred space, an altar, in your home. It doesn't have to be elaborate. It's a dedicated spot for prayer, meditation, and communion. Michelle: So it’s about physically carving out a space that reflects the inner sacred space you're trying to cultivate. Mark: Exactly. And from there, you move through the other gateways. Gateway 1 is "Sacred Words." This is where you actively practice the Laws of Maat in your speech. You eliminate gossip, negative self-talk, and destructive language. You learn to speak words of power and affirmation. The book connects this directly to physical health, suggesting that issues like thyroid problems or laryngitis are linked to blockages in this throat center, this gateway of expression. Michelle: So the ancient philosophy becomes a daily, moment-to-moment practice. It’s not just about believing in Maat; it's about speaking Maat, eating Maat, moving in Maat. Mark: You've got it. The book is a "doing book," as many readers have noted. It's a manual for transformation. It guides you through Sacred Foods, Sacred Movement, Sacred Beauty, Sacred Relationships—each gateway is a new layer of aligning your life with this ancient, holistic harmony. It's a path to becoming what the book calls a "Sacred Woman."

Michelle: You know, as we talk through this, it seems the book is making a really radical argument. It's saying that so many of our modern problems—physical, emotional, relational—stem from a profound cultural and spiritual disconnection. And the solution isn't a new pill or a new productivity app, but a very, very old path. Mark: Precisely. It's a path of reclamation. First, reclaiming the body, especially the womb, as a sacred source of wisdom and power, not just a collection of biological parts. And second, reclaiming an ancestral heritage that, as the book argues, was the origin of so much of what we consider Western philosophy and spirituality. Michelle: It completely reframes the idea of healing. It’s not about fixing something that's broken. It's about remembering something powerful that was forgotten or, in many cases, systematically erased. Mark: That's the core of it. The book is a call to remember. To remember the wisdom stored in the body, the wisdom of the earth, and the wisdom of ancestors. It suggests that by doing so, we don't just heal ourselves; we begin to heal the world. It’s a bold and beautiful vision. Michelle: It really is. And it leaves you with a powerful question, one that I think everyone can ask themselves, regardless of their background. Mark: What's that? Michelle: What wisdom have we been taught to ignore, both in our own bodies and in our collective history? Mark: A perfect question to end on. Michelle: If you're intrigued by this, we encourage you to pick up a copy of Sacred Woman. And we’d love to hear your thoughts. Does this resonate with you? Does it challenge you? Find us on our social channels and join the conversation. Mark: This is Aibrary, signing off.