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Ties to the moon -

The word menstruation derives from Latin and Greek words meaning month (mensis) and moon (mene). The cycles of the moon and menstruation have long formed the basis of myths and traditions as a ritual ideal. The idea that menstruation is or should be in harmony with the cosmos is one of the most reoccurring ideas at the center of spiritual and traditional communities around the world.

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Cosmic synchrony -

French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss famously analyzed ancient mythology and concluded that the indigenous myths of North and South America, considered altogether, largely expressed men's worry that if women's periods weren't carefully monitored and synchronized the universe might descend into chaos.

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A lingering belief among spiritualists and scientists - Many indigenous tribes as well as even a 2021 study suspect that human menstrual cycles may have once indeed been synchronized with the lunar cycle, but that artificial light and modern lifestyles have disrupted that link. Meanwhile, though the moon's cycle is similar to that of the menstrual cycle, there is still no current evidence to demonstrate any significant "lunar phase-locking."

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Psychic powers -

In some historic cultures, as well as in New Age spiritual beliefs, a menstruating person is considered sacred and powerful, sometimes with increased psychic abilities. New Age beliefs link the cervix to a portal between unseen realms that opens only in childbirth, to let new life in, as well as monthly for menstruation.

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Healing powers -

In ancient Greece, physicians reportedly believed that since the moon and the monthly menstrual cycle were linked, menstruating women were spiritually and mentally powerful, even enough to heal the sick. In Greek mythology, the gods were dependent on the miraculous power of menstrual blood, often described with the euphemism of red wine.

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Power to destroy enemies -

According to the Cherokee indigenous peoples, menstrual blood is traditionally a source of feminine strength and has the power to destroy enemies. It stems from the legend of a cannibalistic monster named Stoneclad who was virtually invulnerable, except for his one weakness: looking at a menstruating woman. Instead of a warrior, it’s said he was taken down by seven menstruating virgins who stood in his path.

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A road to spiritual emancipation -

The Bauls, an ancient group of wandering mystic singers and dancers from Bengal, have religious beliefs influenced by Vaishnava, Sakta, Tantric Buddhism, Samkhya, and Sufi belief systems. They see the ritual practice of sexual intercourse during menstruation as a purely devotional act, and as a means to attain divine bliss and spiritual emancipation, The Print reports.

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A positive reason for isolation from men -

Some traditional societies around the world have long had protective menstrual rituals that encouraged women to isolate themselves in a space set apart from the male gaze, mundane tasks, and unwanted sexual or domestic pressures, as Thomas Buckley famously documented in his paper ‘Menstruation and the Power of Yurok Women’ in the American Ethnological Society. It’s “the time when [a woman] is at the height of her powers,” a Yurok woman told Buckley. “Thus, the time should not be wasted in mundane tasks and social distractions, nor should one’s concentration be broken by concerns with the opposite sex.”

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A positive reason for isolation from men -

The idea of the secluded menstruation hut, as seen particularly among women of the Native American Yurok Tribe, is a welcome space and time free of usual chores. According to a Yurok woman from Buckley’s article, if a woman from the tribe ever fell out of synchronization, she would have to “get back in by sitting in the moonlight and talking to the moon, asking it to balance [her].”

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A positive reason for isolation from men -

Anthropologist Wynne Maggi ('Gender and Ethnicity in the Hindukush') spent years living with the Kalash people of the Chitral District in northwestern Pakistan and described the communal bashali (menstrual house) as the village's "most holy place." It is respected by men, and long served as the women's organizing center for maintaining gender solidarity and power.

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A time to release excess emotional baggage -

“Women have great power during their moons,” Patty Smith of the Leech Lake Band of Minnesota Ojibwe told Rewire News Group. “As they bleed, they are sloughing off the accumulated experience and stress of being a woman. Some of those experiences are painful or may contain negative energy, so we want to be careful that we don’t interrupt that process.”

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A negative reason for isolation -

While seclusion of menstruating women can be a positive thing, it has also been a type of banishment, viewing the period as a kind of ritual impurity. “Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism have all made statements about menstruation and its negative effect on women, leading to prohibitions about physical intimacy, cooking, attending places of worship, and sometimes requiring women to live separately from men at this time,” writes Margaret S. Gibbs et al. in 'Menstrual Taboos Among Major Religions.'

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Danger to the environment -

The !Kung people of southern Africa reportedly believed that a girl’s first menstruation contains dangerously high “num,” or spiritual energy, and required her to isolate and keep her eyes downcast. The mythical fear was that if she looks at the sun it would become hotter and destroy Earth’s plants, if she looked at the clouds, they would give no more rain, and if she looked at hunting men, their power would be reduced, writes Lorna Marshall in her book 'Nyae Nyae !Kung Beliefs and Rites.'

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Bearing mythical guilt -

In many parts of India, women are often prohibited from participating in normal life (going to temple, cooking in the kitchen, etc.) while menstruating because it's considered to be dirty and impure. "The origin of this myth dates back to the Vedic times and is often linked to Indra's slaying of Vritras. For, it has been declared in the Veda that guilt, of killing a brahmana-murder, appears every month as menstrual flow as women had taken upon themselves a part of Indra's guilt,” writes Suneela Garg and Tanu Anand in 'Menstruation related myths in India.'

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Sinfulness and inferiority -

Among the monks of ancient monasteries, menstruation was reportedly viewed as "a symbol of the essential sinfulness and inferiority of woman, polluted alike and polluting,” according to Raymond Crawford in his article 'Of Superstitions Concerning Menstruation.'

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Punishment -

In Mayan mythology, the origin of menstruation is similarly explained as a punishment for violating the social rules governing marital alliance, according to H.E.M. Braakhuis's article ''Xbalanque's canoe: The origin of poison in Q'eqchi'-Mayan hummingbird myth.' The menstrual blood also turns into snakes and insects used in black sorcery, according to myth, before the Mayan moon goddess is reborn from it.

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Possessed by an evil spirit -

Many ancient beliefs also held that menstruation was actually possession by an evil spirit, and that the spirit resides in the period blood, which then also held sinister influence on the environment.

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Possessed by an evil spirit -

Similar to the Mayan myths, many believed the evil spirit also took shape as a lizard or serpent, and there's a strong folk association of these animals with menstruation, along with sin. In historic Portugal, it's said women would wear specific underwear to prevent the access of the spirited reptiles.

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Periods as a dangerous substance -

In Suriname, menstrual blood was reportedly traditionally believed to be dangerous, particularly in its ability to allow women to impose their will on men. In Hinduism, it was believed that if a menstruating person even just touches a cow, that cow would become infertile.

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The female equivalent of sperm -

In ancient Taoist thought, menstrual blood is called chilong, or Red Dragon, and is the source of female energy. Semen, meanwhile, is the source of male energy and is called White Tiger. Women supposedly lost their qi energy through menstruation as men lose it through semen. The term “beheading the red dragon” arose in alchemical gynecology for the techniques to reduce a woman’s menses so that they could maintain their energy.

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Menstruating affects farming abilities -

Raymond Crawford wrote in his 1915 article ‘Of Superstitions Concerning Menstruation’ of the belief of many farmers’ wives who were adamant that “milk handled by a menstruous woman cannot be churned to butter” and that “hams will not take salt at her hands.”

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Menstruating people can’t drink milk -

There is a common thread of menstruation and milk in many traditional communities. In some tribes of South Africa, for example, it's said that women were forbidden to drink milk during menstruation because the cows would die.

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Menstrual blood kills crops -

Ancient Roman physician Pliny the Elder had some wacky ideas on menstruation that became widely popularized and accepted. For example, he believed that contact with menstrual blood at a certain point in the cycle could wither fruit and crops, sour wine, dull mirrors, rust iron, blunt razors, kill bees, dry seeds, and even cause miscarriage in horses.

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Menstruation as pesticide -

And yet at another point of menstruation, Pliny said, “if women go round the cornfield naked, caterpillars, worms, beetles and other vermin fall to the ground."

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Menstrual blood as medicine and poison -

Pliny also recommended menstrual blood as remedies for illnesses such as gout and worms, according to Emil Novak in ‘Menstruation and Its Disorders.’ But, ever the contrarian, Pliny also described it as “noxious” and wrote that it could make dogs go insane. Having sex with a menstruating woman during a solar or lunar eclipse, he claimed, could lead to disease or death for the male partner.

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A cure for rabies -

Pliny coincidentally also wrote that it was “universally agreed” that a person who had been infected with rabies could also be cured by wearing a strip of cloth dipped in “this fluid.”

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Warding off and casting spells -

Pliny said that if menstrual blood is sprinkled on the doorposts, it will render all the spells of magicians powerless. In some parts of Africa, it's said menstrual blood has been used to create magic charms in order to both purify and destroy.

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Love potions -

Love potions are one of the more frequent uses for menstrual blood in folk mythology, as it has been reckoned to possess a powerful influence over the affections of men. Crawford even wrote that there was once a time in Germany when girls began putting drops of menstrual blood in their object of affections' coffee to retain their affections.

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The sacred vs the impure -

Scholars tend to believe that the idea of menstrual blood as sacred was a sign of times when women held their own power and formed powerful coalitions. Then, when the rise of cattle-ownership and the patriarchy came into play, religious patriarchs harnessed old beliefs and taboos to intensify women's oppression.

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Continue to dispel the myths -

New information including popular books like 'In the FLO' (2020) and documentaries like 'The Principles of Pleasure' (2022) are continuously working to dispel the myths about menstruation, from PMS to birth control, and we can all do our part by challenging the taboos. 

Sources: (Science Advances) (Healthline) (The Print) (Rewire News Group) (American Ethnological Society) (Section of the History of Medicine) (Medium) (Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care)

See also: Bizarre religious sex beliefs around the world

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