The Moon Part 1: Benign astral body, or the shaman of your womb?
Plus, some scandalous menstrual beliefs
Welcome back. A couple of weeks ago I started reading about the moon and there are just too many mysteries around it, so I decided that I will start a series of articles to cover the main questions humanity has not been able to answer about Earth’s OG companion.
It is not difficult to imagine that hundreds of years ago women thought that their period, and hence, fertility, were related to the moon. I mean, what were the chances that both lasted about the same time? For my male readers out there, the moon cycle refers to the recurrence of how the shape of the moon is viewed from Earth, which circles back to the beginning every ~29 days, roughly the same length as the menstrual cycle.
I don’t think it was crazy to make this assumption. Even today, with all of the knowledge we have about celestial bodies and biology, if you told me that the time it takes for a black hole to die matched the time my boyfriend stays in the bathroom, I would 100% believe they are related somehow, and that there is an undeniable physics governing all types of dark holes in this universe.
There are contradictory studies about the influence of the moon on periods. One of them claims that many years ago our cycles were more in sync with the Moon, and that the increase of exposition to artificial light at night has caused a shift in rhythms. On a related subject, other studies try to explain how our sleep patterns depend on the moon cycle. Since humans could more easily undertake nighttime activities when there was moonlight to shine on dark and unrevealed paths, they spent more of these days outside their shelters and slept less. Therefore, according to the theory, ovulation was synched to happen on the new moon, since more light meant more outside time and less light meant people were more motivated to stay in their homes and make sweet…babies.
However, look at this study from the period tracking app Clue:
Based on 1.5 million users recording 7.5 million period start dates, we see no real dates during which a higher proportion of periods start. Therefore, there is no evidence of a sync with the moon cycle. That settles it then! Thanks for coming.
Moving on, I went through a rabbit hole in the Clue #NotAnAd website and I found the funniest myths about periods from all over the world:
Used pads or tampons need to be washed before disposal otherwise ghosts will haunt you.
How can we determine what is the reason a ghost is haunting you? Is it because you are living in a place in which a terrible crime was committed, or because you forgot to wash your tampon before throwing it away?
After your first period, you should wash your face with the menstrual blood in order to have clear healthy skin for life.
😐 Hardcore.
Having sex while on your period can kill your partner.
Seems to be a more effective reason not to have sex than the more common “I have a headache.” Respect.
You can’t enter a kitchen or cook food for anyone else while on your period.
Since most of the food preparation activities in a family rely on women, I see this as a great way to balance the scale. I will try this soon and report back.
You must not touch flowers as they will immediately die.
THIS is how you write an origin story for a Disney villainess.
You can't prepare mayonnaise because it sours.
A rumor initiated by Hellmann’s so they could maintain their monopoly of the mayonnaise production business.
Swimming on your period could result in a shark attack.
This one comes from Australia, and to be fair, anything can cause a shark attack there.
Old menstrual cloths must be buried otherwise they could attract evil spirits.
Evil spirits also want clear healthy skin in the afterlife. 💅
There is something magical in associating the moon with such an essential part of womanhood and feeling that this journey makes us part of something bigger than ourselves. I totally get it. I hope after reading this, you embrace this belief and that every time you have cramps 🥺 or sneeze during your period 🌊, you remember the moon is there for you 🙃.
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