HDxLiberation: A Human Design Podcast

Episode 15: Cosmos & Currents, June 2024 Edition

• Courtney Napier, Andrea Ward Berg • Season 1 • Episode 15

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In Episode 15 of the Human Design and Liberation podcast, Courtney and Andrea deliver another edition of Cosmos & Currents, our current events sub-series.

This episode delves into the intersection of motherhood and capitalism, shedding light on the complexities and challenges faced by birthing individuals in a society that commodifies motherhood. From discussions around matrescence to the impact of recent legislation on abortion rights, the hosts tackle important issues with depth and insight.

Key topics include exploring the concept of matrescence, recent judicial rulings on abortion rights in North Carolina, and the energy expenditure involved in carrying and birthing a child. The episode also touches on the importance of listening to the wisdom of one's body and challenging societal norms that undermine the autonomy and health of birthing individuals.

Key Takeaways:

  • Matrescence is a term that highlights the transformative journey of motherhood, akin to adolescence but tailored to birthing people.
  • Recent judicial rulings in North Carolina have challenged restrictive abortion laws, emphasizing the importance of bodily autonomy.
  • The energy expenditure of pregnancy underscores the significant impact on a birthing person's body, revealing the depth of experience and care required.
  • Human Design offers a pathway for birthing individuals to reconnect with their innate wisdom and make empowered decisions regarding their health and bodies.
  • Empowerment and liberation in motherhood involve affirming one's experiences, trusting body wisdom, and advocating for reproductive rights.

Notable Quotes:

  • "[American society] has treated motherhood as a commodity" - Courtney
  • "I think what's been most liberating for my clients who have had children is just how many answers are in their bodies. And as you start to make decisions based on your authority and the wisdom in your body, you feel so much more empowered and lovable because you're loving yourself." - Andrea

Resources:

Stay tuned for more thought-provoking discussions on human design, liberation, and the multifaceted experiences of the human journey in future episodes. Don't miss out on the full episode for profound insights and engaging conversations.

Contact and Support:

For more insights and to join the conversation, follow the HDxLiberation podcast on social media at @hdxliberation on Instagram, subscribe to their YouTube channel, and join the Liberation Lab on Substack for exclusive content and community benefits.

Hi, I'm Andrea. Hey y'all, this is Courtney and welcome to the Human Design and Liberation podcast. This is a space where we explore how human design and liberation theology intersect with the past, present, and future. With the intent of sharing the beauty and pain of the human experience to encourage you in your liberation journey.

Andrea:

Hello.

Courtney:

Hello. Oh my goodness. We're back from vacation.

Andrea:

Yay.

Courtney:

We got to be on vacation together.

Andrea:

We did. It was awesome.

Courtney:

It was wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Oh, so good. I can still see the color on your skin. Yeah, exactly. We took pictures on the very last day. Um, just

Andrea:

We took a lot of pictures of the kids, just no pictures of us, which we need to do better.

Courtney:

Yes, we do. We also could possibly not have kids around next time. That would probably make it easier.

Andrea:

That would. Yes. But also they're so cute together. I don't know.

Courtney:

They were so cute together. I would not trade that time. They were, it was amazing.

Andrea:

Adorable. Yes, it was. And I'm also glad to be back because we got some juicy stuff to talk about today.

Courtney:

We do. So much has happened. We are going to do our current event episode today. Um, today being June 5th.

Andrea:

Yeah. And I don't think we're even going to be able to cover like everything, but I think the things that, the things that are very present, um, yeah, they're juicy. So. Let's get into it.

Courtney:

Yes, let's do it. Um, so speaking of mommies and motherhood, um, first of all, we just, uh, experienced a Venus Cazimi and Gemini, which I feel like leads us in so beautifully into this conversation around motherhood and the relationship between the The institution or not institution, I don't think that's a great word, but the, but the reality of motherhood, um, the

Andrea:

motherhood in capitalist supremacy.

Courtney:

Yes, definitely that relationship.

Andrea:

It's very different than like motherhood in a, you know, regenerative, like community led beloved community environment. Night and day.

Courtney:

Exactly. Yes. Exactly. Exactly. That we have, because we are a capitalist, imperialist, you know, white supremacist, patriarchal society, um, we have, um, treated motherhood as a, um, commodity. I think that's probably the best way of putting it. Meaning we. Treat mothers and Children as commodities, stripping them of their humanity and not considering them on so many levels. And interestingly enough, during this Gemini season, um, And Venus being in Gemini, it's been really interesting over the past little bit to see articles popping up around motherhood and, um, reproduction. We have several stories all aligned with that. Um, and we're going to put the links to the articles in the show notes. We might not be able to get to everything, but I'm just going to list this off and then we can start where we start. But yeah, Um,"Matrescence and the transformations of motherhood" was an incredible article from a New Yorker, um, written by Anna Russell that came out May 30th.

Andrea:

It's so wild because, um, a dear friend of mine, who's a Mani, she has been talking about matrescence for a while now and wanting to like form a group around it. And I was like, sister. Nobody says that word. Like, I don't know what you're talking about. Like, you know, I'm interested. It's like adolescence, but for moms. And I was like, I mean, I know what it's trying to say, like, don't get me wrong, but like, she was trying to like, um, craft an offering and wanted it to be like something matrescence. And I was like, don't use that word. Like, no, he's going to know what you're talking about. And then of course she's a Mani. So she's like bringing this newness into the world. And I'm like, For sure. Introduce people. To, um, to the concept, like for sure educate people, but like, don't lead with that term because nobody's gonna know what you're talking about. And sure enough, like a couple of weeks later, this article comes out. So I just find that timing to be, I mean, she's been thinking about this for months. Like this is, yeah,

Courtney:

this feels so, this is some serious Manifestor energy. And it's also very Gemini because in Gemini, um, And especially Mercury also being in Gemini, we have like eight planets in Gemini right now, which I think we only have a planet,

Andrea:

We do! And I'm a Gemini rising which is like fun and wild for me. Um, but yes, I'm here for it. I'm here for the energy.

Courtney:

Yes, a lot of energy. And one of those things is around communication. It's so funny that you said that matrescence because I was listening to the astrology podcast with Chris Brennan and I can't remember the other host, but, um, one of the things I said about mercury and Gemini was around, um, finding the right words to describe whatever subject you're trying to talk about. And very, very much. That like, it's not about just any words, it's the right words. And so to have a, a word like matrescence and it's kind of re enter the collective in this way, first of all, it's very Mani to clock that, right? Especially. So, wow. Good job.

Andrea:

Kayta, if your listening, Shout out!.

Courtney:

Yeah. Shout out to you. Um, but also, um, what It encompasses, now we can define it, matrescence, like you said, it's very much like adolescence, it's the way that child bearing impacts the human body of the carrier, of the birthing person, and so it's about maternalism, not necessarily again, binaries. We don't, you know, fuck the binaries. So anybody can birth a baby, but it's about the change in your body that happens before and after and how, um, it's something that is not studied and has not been studied. Um, closely until very, very recently, this article says that changes in the brain for a birthing person has not been studied until the like 2010s. So we're talking about 10 years ago that they really started like scientists started studying this, maybe others, but scientists in particular.

Andrea:

Well, and also I think like, we have to take that with a grain of salt because what that says is that. Quote unquote, and I'm using heavy quotes, modern medicine, right? Exactly. Whatever that means. Exactly. Because this was a lot of what they started studying in the last 15 years was knowledge that our ancestors had from witnessing the transformation that we underwent. And so when you look at. Like the practices in parts of the world where indigenous practices are still impeccably held like, um, there's an author who wrote. Oh gosh, am I going to remember the title. Um, it's a book about postpartum depletion. And it's basically curing it. The title is like curing postpartum depletion. And he credit to him, white man in Australia went to, I think Nepal and parts of sub Saharan Africa and like different regions of the world where indigenous practices were still in place to understand how women were taken care of post birth. And like, this is, this is the moment we're talking about, like, obviously pregnancy, the changes already start, but post birth is when the depletion starts. And, um, I just think that if we were to go to those societies and have a conversation about matrescence, like they'd be able to read you the book without having read any of the studies. Right. Um, because this is, knowledge that we have about the human experience. Um, but we have willfully been part, uh, expunged is the best way to describe it, right? Like it was, especially in Europe during, you know, um, the middle ages and even a little bit before definitely in Rome during its heyday, like anything that had to do with, um, The female experience or the, you know, being born with a uterus experience, um, was considered dirty, was considered, um, weakness was considered unholy. Like all of these things that are obviously not true. And all you have to do is like rewind, you know, a couple hundred years before that and see like how. maternal, the maternal experience was central to the spiritual experience in these places, right? Like in the continent of Africa, right? Because you have so many different religious expressions, but from Egypt all the way down to South Africa. Um, when you look at like, Gaul and, um, you know, the British Isles, like the, the Celt experience, like it was revered, even in Judaism, even in Judaism for many, many hundreds of years, um, prior to the Romans, there, there was, The Sequana, uh, which is like the female goddess and there was a whole lineage of like female teachers and right. And so, um, yeah, it's been, it's been expunged intentionally.

Courtney:

I, I really appreciate you saying that because the whole, one of the things that really kicked this up for me again is something that I was really thinking about during, during the throes of the, um, of quarantine and pandemic. Um, particularly around care work. Um, but also what kicked it up for me again was our last episode we, um, recorded when you mentioned about matricide and, and, um, the, the genocide of women that happened before the, before the, the, Great plagues and um, how there was something that we said around like the, about women and weakness and what we realized was like, it's not so much that women are weaker or were weaker or like in our bodies. It's just that our bodies at the time were for something else entirely. We were seen as beings who Brought life. And instead of that being what we now kind of treat as either an illness or a commodity, both of which are commodities, kind of the two sides of the same coin.

Andrea:

Objectification.

Courtney:

Yeah. Right now, like what I feel like these articles are doing is in a way kind of returning to this place of reverence, um, of, of like a greater societal impact. And, um, It's like multiplicity. Yeah, a respect that it's more than just, it's more than just like a, you know, another type of assembly line. Right. The act of bringing life in its own, You know, autonomy as a, as an act in humanity is incredibly multifaceted, important, deeply spiritual, um, deeply physical, as we'll connect to another article that we're going to reference and should be done with a sense of agency and autonomy by the person giving birth because, um, this is such a deeply spiritual act.

Andrea:

It also just has such a massive impact on your, your life experience, right? Like you go through so many physical changes, it alters what you can do in your life. And so that, that needs to be a conscious choice. It has to be a conscious choice. Yeah. Which brings me to like the, um, ruling that just came down in North Carolina around, um, The abortion bill. So tell us about that.

Courtney:

Yes. So in North Carolina, an incredible judge and Obama appointee, thank you God that they still exist. Um, this incredible judge, uh, actually basically gutted a major portion of an anti abortion bill that was passed through our super majority GOP legislature. I believe it was last year. Um, thank you to the people who challenged that bill all the way up fighting for birthing people. But this judge ruled that it was unconstitutional to make it so that only, um, the general practitioner of a person seeking the pill is the only one who can prescribe it. So now just like Most other drugs, there are some control controlled substances, but most other, um, prescription drugs can be prescribed by anyone who can prescribe drugs. So a pharmacist, um, any other doctors that you may interact with. Um, but in North Carolina,

Andrea:

physicians, physicians, assistants can prescribe drugs, right?

Courtney:

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. So, which also talks about the economic ramifications of, what bill was, but in North Carolina before this, it was such that only a GP could, um, not only prescribe the drug, but administer it. So a birthing person had to go into their GP every time they needed to take a pill or anytime, you know, I don't know exactly the how that works because I've never experienced this firsthand, but it had to be done in the presence of a GP. And then they had to be a follow up appointment afterwards with the GP. Which again, if, when we live in a society where there is no free healthcare for everyone, right. And it's just compounded economic barrier. The economic barriers are massive. The labor barriers of people not being able to get leave all of these things that become a barrier to someone being able to choose such a massive impact. I almost liken it to the way you're describing it before forced pregnancy feels very much like the military draft in a sense that like, it's, it's someone saying this is what you're going to do with your body now. And what you're going to do with your body is put it in a situation where it's one, it's in service to empire.

Andrea:

I was going to say, I mean, it very much is aligned with it. I just finished The Women, which, Oh my God, so good. Oh, good. So good. It's so good. Um, it's a book by Kristen Hannah, um, about the Vietnam war. Hard. Oh, wow. But so good. Um, and you know, we, one of the things that we don't talk about enough is the violence of our system and these rules and, um, the violence on women's bodies of forced pregnancy is Indisputable. And, you know, the risk of death and especially for Black and brown women, it's four times the risk of death for white women, which is still high. Like maternal mortality is still high and

Courtney:

unreasonably high in a place like the United States.

Andrea:

Yeah. It's the, it's, it's the highest of all of the other developed countries combined. Wow. Literally. It's higher than the rates of all the other countries combined. Um, and so likening that, I mean, obviously the death rates in war are higher, um, but of course it's still, it's the same risk. It's the same, it's, it's putting your, your life on the line to, but when you look at the motivation behind these bills, it's. Very much to limit women, limit their abilities, limit what they're, what they're available for. When Roe versus Wade passed, the number of women in the workforce soared, um, because of that physical demand that having children has on your body and being able to choose when you're going to show up for that demand, if you're going to show up for it. Right. Right. And, um. Yeah. Then when you look at like the motivations behind bringing these abortion bans front and center, it's, it's all centered around labor and having free labor, cheap labor, right? Like young people are objectified and considered free, cheap labor. And so that was a big economic driver in the development of our country. And especially if you were poor. Then the more kids you had, the more, the more bodies you had to till the earth and plant seeds. And it's this whole thing with the Republican party and like, you know, birthing babies, like those, their wives and daughters are having abortions. Okay. They're voting against abortion while they're having abortions. Okay. So then the question is why Why are they trying to ban abortions for the general public? And it's because they want the labor of those children.

Courtney:

Absolutely. Especially when it's happening coinciding with the weakening of child labor laws.

Andrea:

Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. It's, it's sick. Honestly. It's sick. Yeah. And anyone who thinks that it's a moral calling is just deluded. Okay. It's just, it's not. Their morality has been out the window since the moment they started fundraising for whatever position they're in. Okay, exactly.

Courtney:

Please tell it. Yes, absolutely. And I think another point in all of this is that Again, just because a law is a certain way doesn't really have any ramifications on one's morality. I think that in and of itself is a farce for someone to, to get on their soapbox and claim, well, you know, I'm a fill in the blank because it's not just Christians, even though in this country it overwhelmingly is evangelical Christians, but I'm a fill in the blank religion and I believe that abortion is wrong. Okay. You can still believe that you don't have to participate. You can even teach your family, your children, the people giving birth in your family, not to do something, but to then claim that a government, an outer authority has to step in and force us all to conform to this singular idea that you have, or this singular, you know, commitment that you've made as an individual is, you know, a little unhinged.

Andrea:

And for them to then decide, like whose health is worth saving and whose health is not worth saving and nope. That's a very slippery slope that none of us. Should be on, nor do we want to be on,

Courtney:

right absolutely. And I also wanted to mention, and we don't have to go into it, but there was another article that we read, um, about the, the energy expenditure of being a person carrying a child. And, and it was found that, um, it takes approximately 50, 000 dietary calories, the caloric demand of On the body and that 96 percent of that energy expended comes from the women's body or the birthing person's body while four of it comes from 4 percent comes from the developing baby's tissues. Um, and what's really interesting about this to me, um, is one that. Anybody, there's just a world that we lived in where we thought that it was like NBD to carry a baby. First of all, anyone who's actually done that, um, you've experienced someone, you know, especially a doctor, especially a male doctor or someone even administering, because when I sat in a WIC office, it was the same type of conversation. Oh, you weigh too much. You need to be out working out, you know, trying to get this baby weight off or trying to. Exercise while you have the baby as if my body was not expending enough energy working

Andrea:

hard enough. Yeah. Yeah,

Courtney:

you can't see my face and you got to watch the YouTube to see my face because it's just like cracked thinking about the things that people told me while I was pregnant. Um, but that this again. It's funny because these are ancestral knowings, right? Like I come from people who, when, when, when a, when a woman, when a person is carrying a baby, you are feeding that person nonstop. That person isn't expected to do anything besides You know, watch their bellies expand.

Andrea:

Yeah. Make the baby.

Courtney:

Literally. Right. Just make baby.

Andrea:

I had a, I had a physician's assistant tell me when I was like maybe five weeks, six weeks pregnant with Everett that, um, she only wanted to see me gain 12 pounds in that pregnancy. And I was like, excuse me. And I just looked at her and I was like. I don't think that's any of your business. And she was like, well, just for your health. And I was like, I'll take care of my health. Thanks. Yeah. Thank you very much to say, I mean, I already knew we were moving and they weren't going to be my provider. So I had probably more courage than I might've had if I thought that was going to have to be my provider. But I mean, the type of, the type of craziness that we are subjected to, and this was a young, you know, she was. You know, who knows if she had kids or not, but you know, it's just like this, um, hubris that you might know what is healthy or not healthy based on anti Black principles that you've been indoctrinated in for your entire career. Like I'm sorry, not going to fly. Not gonna fly. It's, it's truly wild. And so the fact that this is all coming out, this is all being exposed during this time, I think is, is a really big deal. Um, and that it's happening in conjunction with the, the court cases, the way the government has been moving and so forth. It really is a very dynamic time when we're talking about, um, one of the basic, you know, building blocks of human relationship, which is, which is sex and reproduction. Um, and, and parenthood, you know? So all of those things, I think is just really, really incredible to look at right now. Yeah. And I want to, I think we're going to have to do a part two for the other topics that we were wanting to do. Um, so maybe we can have that for next week. Um, because they're still very relevant and alive.

Courtney:

They are relevant. Yes. I love a part. You know, I love a series.

Andrea:

I know, I know me too. Um, but one of the things that I see with My clients, you know, we were chatting before this, and I was sharing with you the large percentage of my clients that are our mothers, um, it's definitely at least 75%. And when we look at the ways the not self is showing up and the deconditioning that is required, there is, um, there is. Like depth of conditioning that comes with having a uterus that we don't necessarily acknowledge enough. Um, and maybe it's because Ra didn't have a uterus. And so he couldn't really speak to that experience. Um, he was very reverent and he was very vocal about the harm done, um, based on, you know, your intersections, whether it's, um,

Your, you know, sexual identity or your gender or whatever, um, yeah,

Courtney:

location in the world, all of that.

Andrea:

Yeah, he didn't have a lot of the language that we have now, obviously, because we haven't had it that long. Um, but what has been, I think, most liberating for My clients who have had children is just how many answers are in their bodies. And as they start to disrupt these ideas that have been propagated through the medical system and all the tentacles that this society has, um, honoring that knowing and taking whatever that step is, whether it's finding a provider, that's not fatphobic. Or, um, finding a provider that doesn't use BMI or, um, just really like listening to your authority and the wisdom in your body. And as you start to make decisions based on that feeling so much more empowered and lovable because you're loving yourself, right? Like these are the subtle shifts I think that, um, human design can offer and just being in this. Awareness. And then we have like the reflection back to us of the scientific studies and all the things that, you know, follow, but all of those things are just a reflection of the work that we're doing internally to see that and remember that in ourselves. And then, of course, all of a sudden it's. hugely apparent in the science, right?

Courtney:

Exactly, exactly. And I think as science becomes, like everything else, becomes more and more and more, um, diverse, and we're experiencing the uniqueness of all these different types of people and their intersections with the work. We, it's more is revealed to us. And I do want to give a very, a very quick special shout out to, um, I think Vanessa Henry is an incredible human design practitioner. And, um, And her work, um, regarding cognition.'cause that's what kind of lit up for me is, um, cognition. We won't go into detail about what that is, even though we'll link her work about it.'cause she's excellent. Yeah. She's, but cognition essentially is like how we, um, understand, uh, our environment through our bodies. Well, it's in some ways, right? It's how Yeah.

It's how we digest. It's how we digest our environment. Digest, yes. And information and food and. Yes, it's very much like how the body takes in and assimilates and orients to the food, the information, the, um, everything that you take in.

Courtney:

Right. Right. And we have that. We all have that. And I think the, the, um, experience of childbirth. And it's one of those things that can heighten that so much. And when we are inside of a system that, uh, tries to condition us out of trusting that you can feel very, very gaslit. And so to find human design, I'm sure your clients are just like, thank you for showing me that my body knew what it was talking about.

Andrea:

Yeah. It's very confirming. Yeah. And, and, um, Yeah. Yeah. Lord knows we need the affirmation.

Courtney:

Oh my gosh. Yes.

Andrea:

We need our experiences affirmed, for sure.

Courtney:

If there's one takeaway from this whole episode. It is, you need your experiences affirmed. Absolutely. Especially if you're a child caring person, if you're a parent

Andrea:

or in relationship with one.

Courtney:

Yeah, for sure. Yes. 100%.

Andrea:

Oh, this is so good. Yeah. This was fun. For part two, we have some more juicy topics for part two, um, including the Atlanta water crisis, which we are currently still in. Um, but we'll talk about that then.

Courtney:

Yes. And some six line, fun conversations about Kendrick Lamar and Macklemore, if any rap fans are out there, which we are both major hip hop fans, um, watching these two men Express their six lines recently has been a treat.

Andrea:

Yes, for me, personally, to it for me to very much for me. Um, yeah, that'll be good. Um, and in the meantime, just thank you for being here to everybody listening. And thank you, Courtney, for being here.

Courtney:

Oh, thank you. Andrea

Andrea:

Excited about these explorations. We have some fun announcements coming. So, um, if you're not in the Patreon, you do not have to pay to be in the Patreon, but, um, paid members are getting additional benefits like show notes and summaries and, you know, Discussion. They're able to ask us questions and influence what we talk about on the show. So lots of fun perks for paid members, but even if you, if that's not available or you're not interested in being a paid member, just connect with us there because we have some fun things coming. Um, we have a really exciting exploration of freedom that we're going to be doing between. June 19th, Juneteenth, and July 4th, um, that I can't wait to explore with. All of you and we just have so much

Courtney:

It's gonna be G-O-O-D! All caps!

Andrea:

All caps. It's going to be so good. Um, yeah. So, uh, the patron is going to find out about that first and, um, info will be coming out about that shortly. So yay. Like early next week.

Courtney:

So that's exciting. Yes. All right, boo. And all the boos out there.

Andrea:

All the boos. We love you.

Courtney:

We love you. Have a great week. Yes. And we'll be in your ears again soon

Courtney Napier:

Thank you so much for tuning into HD and Liberation podcast. We hope you've gained valuable insights into human design and its role in building a life of peace, success, satisfaction, and wonder. If you've enjoyed this episode, please show your support by liking, following, and sharing our podcast. on YouTube, or your favorite podcast platform. Your engagement helps us reach more people who can benefit from this wisdom. For exclusive content and to join our thriving community, consider becoming a Patreon member. Your support allows us to continue exploring the depths of human design and its potential for life and community transformation. Stay tuned for more fun, thoughtful, and impacting discussions. Together, we're unlocking the path to a more liberated and authentic life. Thank you for being a part of HD and Liberation Podcast.

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Andrea Ward Berg

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Courtney Napier

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