Impact Of The Moon On Women’s Cycles

Photo: Talking Circle by Leah Dorian

Ever wonder where the wisdom of aligning our menstrual cycles with the new moon comes from?

Much of women’s wisdom is oral, not recorded.

In today’s world it is pretty hard to simulate the ‘natural’ conditions that would be needed to verify ancient woman’s wisdom (at least from a scientific perspective) since we live under such different conditions than our grandmothers did.

Yet, even with all the lights and concrete, it is interesting to note that a larger percentage of women still continue to bleed with the new moon compared to other times during the month.

So while we can’t really prove that it is more natural (or healthier) for women to bleed with the new moon and ovulate with the full moon - it can be self-evident once we become attuned to what our bodies are telling us.

The best way to test the theory is simply by exploring it for yourself!

As you pay closer attention and observe our own cycle, you might start to notice certain themes or patterns as you observe how it feels to bleed at different times in the lunar cycle.

For example, if your cycle starts near (or on) the full moon, you might notice that the high-intensity of the crazy full moon energy feels more depleting -compared to how you feel when your cycle is in sync with the still, calm energy of the new, or dark, moon.

You might also notice that you feel ‘in the mood’ when you bleed with the full moon - and less so when you ovulate closer to the new moon (neither of which is really conducive to unhindered sex or for making babies!).

Wanna turn that around?

If bleeding with the full moon feels out of sync for you, you might be interested in exploring more about how and why to sync your cycle with the new moon.

To help you do that, I have compiled a ton of resources (see below). Please leave a comment if you know about other great links I may have missed!

There is a lot of traditional wisdom and good logic that suggests that there is plenty of purpose and benefit in syncing your moontime (menstruation) with the new moon. Explore the links below to find out more!

Want to be reminded as we transition in and out of each of the moon’s cycles?

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Videos

Moon Inside You
Watch as filmmaker Diana Fabianova talks about her film, “Moon Inside You” and what she found out as she researched how to nurture our bodies during menstruation and why it’s become a dirty word.

Red Tent Revival

“Things We Don’t Talk About: Healing Narratives from the Red Tent”
(Official Trailer)

Operation Red Tent

RESOURCES

Books

Honoring Menstruation: A Time Of Self Renewal by Lara Owen
http://www.amazon.ca/Honoring-Menstruation-Self-Renewal-Lara-Owen/dp/0895949210

Lacey, Louise (1975). Lunaception: a feminine odyssey into fertility
and contraception. New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan. ISBN
0-698-10674-1.

Songs of Bleeding by Spider
http://www.herbalmedicinehealing.com/store/item_view.asp?estore_itemid=1000044

Articles:

Sex Strike and Menstrual Solidarity
http://jdeanicite.typepad.com/i_cite/2007/03/sex_strike_and_.html

Woman, Orangutans and the Moon
http://www.metaformia.org/articles/women-orangutans-moon/

Moonwatching: Reclaiming Your Feminine Power
http://www.susunweed.com/herbal_ezine/September05/childbearing.htm

Red is for Life: An Enquiry into the Taboos Surrounding Woman’s Cycle
http://www.asphodel-long.com/html/menstrual_taboos.html

By the Light of the Silvery Moon: Cycles of Living
http://www.yogachicago.com/jul08/paulakout.shtml

Jewish Women Reclaim Rituals of the Moon
http://www.moonsurfing.com/lodge-jewishnew.html

Female Mystique: The Three Phases of the Moon
http://www.mum.org/mystique.htm

Doctors writing about the moon’s connection to menstruation

Wisdom of the Menstrual Cycle by Dr. Christiane Northrup, MD
http://www.drnorthrup.com/womenshealth/healthcenter/topic_details.php?topic_id=138

Menstruation- The Menstrual Cycle by Marcelle Pick, OB/GYN NP
http://www.womentowomen.com/menstruation/menstrualcycle.aspx

A Woman’s Moon by Jessica Edge, ND
http://hbmag.com/a-woman%E2%80%99s-moon/

Somewhere Between Heaven and Earth Jolene Albrecht DTCM R.Ac
http://tcm.health-info.org/Acupunture/treatment/endometriosis.htm

Melatonin, Menstruation and the Moon by Sari Cohen, ND
http://www.encognitive.com/files/%22Melatonin,%20Menstruation,%20and%20the%20Moon%22.pdf

Ayurveda

Ahimsa: A Woman’s Power to Heal
http://www.mypeacevow.org/womenpower.php

Preserving a Woman’s Power to Heal
http://mayatiwari.org/womenpower.php

A Woman and the Moon
http://mailerindia.com/hindu/veda/index.php?mwoman

By the Light of the Moon: Ayurveda, Yoga and Menstruation
http://thewomenwarriors.net/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?p=1513&sid=1488560675399c99c0d07504a1992092

Native American

Becoming a Herbalist by Susun S. Weed
http://www.susunweed.com/An_herbalist_10.htm

Moon Lodge Articles
http://www.susunweed.com/moonlodge.htm

moon lodges (mōōnˑ lˑ·jez),
n.pl in Native American culture, isolated locations for women to use
as sites for meditation and retreat during menstruation. This
tradition was instituted to enhance the mental, spiritual, and
physical health of women and the community or in some cases to isolate
women during what was considered a sacred or contaminated period.
Jonas: Mosby’s Dictionary of Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
(c) 2005, Elsevier.
http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/moon+lodges

Pagan

Pagan Sacred Time
http://www.patheos.com/Library/Pagan/Ritual-Worship-Devotion-Symbolism/Sacred-Time.html

“telo (loje) mun menses Nightlighting and the moon See also: Culture and menstruation.The word “menstruation” is etymologiacally related to “moon”. The terms “menstruation” and “menses” are derived from the Latin mensis (month), which in turn relates to the Greek mene (moon) and to the roots of the English words month and moon—reflecting the fact that the moon also takes close to 28 days to revolve around the Earth (actually 27.32 days). Some authors believe women in traditional societies without nightlighting ovulated with the full moon and menstruated with the new moon.[49]” http://en.tokipona.org/wiki/Talk:mun

Google Books

Blood Relations
http://books.google.ca/books?id=TECGMrey5UEC&pg=PA352&lpg=PA352&dq=menstruation+with+the+new+moon&source=bl&ots=qgFWVdfsq0&sig=YTdrTFuEiMGzWyOv-T86U0sSug8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=o-9aT4zzFoSNgwfk94GiCw&ved=0CGMQ6AEwCTgo#v=onepage&q=menstruation%20with%20the%20new%20moon&f=false

A World that Was
http://books.google.ca/books?id=gYhQnj6cWh8C&pg=PA156&lpg=PA156&dq=menstruation+with+the+new+moon&source=bl&ots=lL5jDZzrJO&sig=o-YMLIVK2fqbQNV1XPGs39k3_b0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=I_haT-35F8LEgQfazq2hCw&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAzhG#v=onepage&q=menstruation%20with%20the%20new%20moon&f=false

Journals and such:

Cohen, Sari (February–March 2005). “Melatonin, menstruation, and the
moon”. Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients. Retrieved 21
September 2008.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ISW/is_259-260/ai_n10299307/

The regulation of the menstrual cycle and it’s relationship to the moon
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3716780

Distribution of Menstrual Periods in 826 volunteers
http://scientopia.org/blogs/scicurious/files/2010/11/period-moon1.jpg

Knight, Chris; Camilla Power & Ian Watts (1995). “The Human Symbolic
Revolution: A Darwinian Account” (PDF). Cambridge Archaeological
Journal 5 (1): 75–114. doi:10.1017/S0959774300001190. Retrieved 13
December 2006.
http://www.radicalanthropologygroup.org/pub_knight_power_watts_big.pdf