Appreciating Your Menstruation Magic
- Meloney Hudson
- Jan 23
- 7 min read
Updated: Jan 24
In times, before recorded history, before science and organized religion, menstruation was considered magic. How amazing for the females to bleed for days and live. How curious that the red flow occurred at nearly the same time every month. Much like thunder and lightning, a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis, a flock of birds flying in formation – monthly bleeding was a natural, marvelous mystery.
Evidence gathered by archaeologists, historians, and anthropologists tells us that as early as the Paleolithic era of humanity over 30,000 years ago and up to today, menstrual blood has been associated with spirituality, creative life force, health, good fortune, and feminine power. It has been used for healing, protection, and spiritual connection. In early times, because of menstruation, women were respected and held in high esteem.
As patriarchal doctrine spread around the world, and declared menstruating women as dirty and untouchable and not allowed in temples or churches, menstruation became an item of disgust among men and shame for women.
How different today’s women might be if we had maintained our wonder and respect of our blood. Might we be more self-loving and prouder of our body? Would there be more equality in the world? Would we appreciate our menstrual magic, rather than abhor it?
In this article, we explore many ways in which menstrual blood has been used to enhance and heal our lives. Perhaps it will encourage you to view your menstrual blood as a gift with the capabilities to nourish, heal, support you. Perhaps it will help you appreciate your menstruation magic.
Blood as a symbol of Goddess
Menstruation is associated with Goddess herself. Paleolithic paintings of ochre-colored mineral have been found in caves located in Africa, France, Spain, and Australia, which may be symbolic of the blood of Goddess. Many red paintings are situated at cave entrances, as if to mark the entry of the womb of Goddess.
Today, many women paint pictures using their menstrual blood. For them, the action of painting provides a meditative experience that invites introspection and appreciation of the body. The blood delivers guidance and messages. The pictures are an expression of the artist’s feminine spirit and the goddess within her.
Menstruation in Nature
Because of its cyclic nature, menstruation was associated with the moon in nearly every area of the globe. Many cultures believed menstruation was linked to earth’s fertility cycles.
The nature-revering Celtic cultures of Ireland, Scotland and Wales viewed menstruation as a link to Earth's fertility and lunar cycles. Menstruation was believed to heighten a woman’s psychic and creative powers.
In the upper Paleolithic era (40,000 to 10,000 BCE), the phases of the moon were tracked and recorded as notches on bones and marks on cave walls. The paleolithic female figure, called the Venus of Laussel, features a horn with 12 to 13 notches. This suggests timekeeping, possibly of the moon or menstruation. This timekeeping system eventually evolved into lunar calendars, which appeared in Mesopotamia around 2.000 BCE. Basically, women invented calendars.
Around 10,000 BCE in the Fertile Crescent, women started farming. They knew their menstrual blood was full of nutrition, and we theorize they bled in the fields to fertilize the plants. Today, women continue to place their menstrual blood on plants and on the edges of a property for protection.
In Medieval Europe cults of courtly love, a woman’s menstrual blood was viewed at the fount of life that welled up and overflowed once a month. Per Gaston Paris, the French literary historian, courtly love was earthly, yet spiritual, and women were regarded as superior in the love affair.
Menstruation Magic and Protection
Menstrual blood was used to protect communities from sickness, enemies and other elements.
Egypt's devotees of Isis carried amulets call the Knot of Isis, or Tyet. Made from red cord or fabric, the Knot symbolized the Goddess’s life giving blood and regenerative powers. Shaped like an ankh, but with the arms down, some speculate it represents the uterus of the Goddess. Many believe the red fabric Knots represented a tampon used by the Goddess. The Tyet was carried for protection, fertility, and as an act of devotion to Isis. In some burial sites, Tyets made of red jasper, red glass or carnelian were found inside of the mummy wrappings, placed for protection of the deceased.
In ancient Egypt, menstrual blood was used as an ointment to protect newborn babies from demons.
Roman naturalist and historian, Pliny the Elder, reported his observation of ceremonies performed to protect newly-planted seeds from pests. In the ceremony, a menstruating girl would walk three times around a garden, trees and fields sending her protective to the plants.
Cherokee Native Americans believed moon blood was a source of destructive strength and protection. In battle, warriors channeled the vital force of menstrual blood to destroy their enemies. In a Cherokee myth, an evil entity named Stoneclad, a cannibalistic monster, was destroying the world. No warrior could stop him. Stoneclad had one weakness – he despised the sight of a menstruating woman. Enter seven naked, menstruating women with bloodied thighs, who stood in his path. As Stoneclad passed each woman one by one, he became weaker and weaker, until he crumpled into a heap on the ground.
In Indonesia, menstrual blood is considered sacred, in general. Diamond mine workers, specifically, believe it brings luck to the mines, and that the first menstruation blood of an orphaned girl child attracts diamonds. Workers pay orphan girls for the pads that collected their first blood and take them into the mines.
In Rawanda, menstrual blood is considered powerful and is used in charms to harm the enemies.
Our blood is Healing
Pliny the Elder, the Roman naturalist and historian who lived 23 CE to 79 CE, described menstruation as a miraculum, a positive term related to “wonder” and “curiosity.” He reported menstrual blood as a “powerful body fluid that can clear up many diseases." It was a key ingredient of medicines to cure abscesses, tumors, fevers, and ulcers. It could even relieve headaches when applied to the forehead.
The medieval German Benedictine mystic and healer, Hildegard von Bingen wrote that blood is a cleansing agent for a person suffering from leprosy; a patient could be cured by taking a bath infused with as much menstrual blood as they could acquire.
In Egypt, menstrual blood was added to medicinal ointments and salves. As a treatment for sagging breasts, a woman was instructed cover her breasts and belly with menstrual blood.
Today’s scientific stem cell researchers are finding that menstrual blood is rich in diverse cell types and biomolecules, and showing promising results in the treatment of infertility, intrauterine adhesions, liver illnesses, skin injuries, and neurological diseases. The blood’s properties may also boost immunity, reduce inflammation, and promote tissue repair.
Menstruation is the source of our Feminine Power
We may not feel so energetic while bleeding, but during our periods, our feminine essence is at its highest. Our blood is the strongest representation of our presence on the planet and a sign of our spirit.
In ancient Rome, historian Pliny the Elder wrote that “There is no limit to a woman’s power,” and reported that menstrual blood could drive away hailstorms, whirlwinds, and stormy weather.
Hindu practitioners believe that a Tantric priestess’s vital energies are at their peak during menstruation. It was during this time that their initiations with male yogis were most effective, because they are the “power holders,” overflowing with feminine essence. (Philip Rawson, The Art of Tantra)
Cherokee Native Americans traditionally view menstrual blood as a source of immense feminine strength, with the power to destroy enemies and protect the community. A girl’s coming of age is regarded as a sacred time and is celebrated in community ceremony.
Our Blood is Sacred
During our moon time, our intuition sharpens, our senses become more acute. Our connection with the Divine world becomes stronger. Rituals and spiritual ceremonies become more potent.
For shaman and priestesses who used dream interpretation as part of their quest for signs, predictions and healing, their visions were sharper during their menstruation.
In fact, science proves dream intensity and recall increased during this phase of our menstrual cycle because of changes in our hormones and body temperature.
In some secret esoteric Tibetan Buddhist sects, menstrual blood is used in their rituals to goddess Tara, the female Buddha, to symbolize the Goddess’s life force and purifying energy. At times, menstrual blood was baked into the torma ritual cakes. Blood was also placed on a yantra, or sacred geometric pattern that represents the deity.
In some secret Hindu Tantric sects, devotees of Matangi, Goddess of speech, art, and associated with outsiders and outcasts, placed their bloodied menstrual cloth on the ritual altar as a sign of devotion.
In ancient Greece, grapes were associated with menstrual blood because of the bright red juice they dripped when ripe. The juice was called “the blood of the grape.” Claret wine, deep red and full-bodied, represented lunar blood, and was consumed by kings to gain enlightenment.
In ancient India, wine consumed during ritual was symbolic with woman’s life-giving menstrual blood. (Shakti woman) The sacred text Mahanirvana Tantra says: “Wine is Goddess Tara herself in liquid form, the savior of being, the mother of enjoyment and liberation.” Through time and around the world, red wine continues to symbolize blood and is consumed in sacred rites.
Close
Upon your next period, lean into the mysterious and marvelous aspects of your body and blood. View your body as a divine container and your blood as a substance filled with miracles. Tap into your own menstruation magic. Loving and appreciating your feminine body and all its functions will increase your self-love and personal power. And this is magical.
Resources:
Shakti Woman: Feeling Our Fire, Healing Our World, by Vicki Noble
Blood, Bread and Roses: How Menstruation Created the World, Judy Grahan
The Woman's Dictionary of Symbols & Sacred Objects, by Barbara G. Walker
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