The word “menstruation” is derived from Latin and Greek words for the moon called mene. Menstruation cycles are roughly the same length as lunar cycles. This stunning correlation has had everyone in shambles over the years, questioning- is there any scientific correlation between the two?
It is a fascinating concept that has raised curiosity in the world of science for a long time, causing people to refer to periods as “moon days” at times. It is a known phenomenon that tidal waves are influenced by the phases of the moon through the year, therefore it affecting the cycle of women’s menstruation wouldn’t be too far-fetched of a concept.
The first person to ever hypothesize this link between moon cycle and menstruation was none other than the well-known scientist Charles Darwin, who is known for his “survival of the fittest” theory.
A lunar cycle lasts for an average of 29 days. Women whose menstrual cycle lasts for the same time frame as a moon cycle are known to show higher pregnancy rates. It has been statistically suggested that this group of women tend to begin their cycles at the full moon, beginning the ovulation phase of the menstrual cycle as a bright, ornate moon circles the sky.
A popular 1986 study showed that there is such an existing link when 826 women were tested, and researchers concluded that around 28 per cent of women began their period around the new moon phase.
Another similar recent study was conducted analyzing the records of 176 women, with an age range of 2 to 37 years. Most women belonged to Italy and Germany, with a few from Israel and North America. It was statistically obtained that most of these women went through menarche, the scientific term for a woman’s very first menstrual cycle, before the age of 30.
The findings showed that cycles lasting from 26 to 36 days were more likely to align with the synodic cycle (the new-to-full moon cycle). This fact held even for women older than 35 years of age. Cycles that were too short or too long showed “relative coordination”, which is a weaker synchronization where cycles rarely aligned with lunar cycles and instead ran according to their own flow.
A bimodal pattern was shown by menstrual onset, with peaks two days before full and new moon in Italian women. In comparison, the same was observed before 1.5 days in Germany. A hypothesis was drawn that this could be due to higher light pollution observed in Italy.
Such observations drew a slight inference that menstrual cycles are influenced by the cosmic events that are lunar phases with partial phase alignments. It has also been concluded that this connection that women’s menstrual cycles have with phases of the moon was much stronger in ancient periods but has weakened in modern eras, and the major recorded cause of the same is the artificial light pollution that weakens the strength of the moon’s effect.
While there still exists doubts in the scientific community regarding the authenticity of this fact, spiritual connections are believed to be true in various traditional and cultural practices. In Ayurveda and Hindu culture, medieval texts have theorized that women are lunar creatures while men are solar. Thus, ancient Hindu texts also led to the belief that menstrual cycles are affected by the workings of the moon.
The wonders of the female body and the intricacies of the secrets it holds are the most beautiful concepts to study under human biology. There has been a matter of extreme negligence towards healthcare and methods to preserve the female body. For such a marvel of nature to be treated as such is a pity. A body that bears the power of creating life from scratch ought to be treated with respect and dealt with utmost care, but in reality, it is anything but that.
A woman’s intuition about her own body and its workings is rarely incorrect. Yet there are still several cases the daily when a patient’s complaints are disregarded and the ailments they feel slowly creeping up into their bodies and harming the wellness they deserve to feel. It takes no time for a disease that is seemingly invisible to a gynecologist to take away their rights to a safe and comfortable body.
The ever-present diseases that terminally cause reproductive issues in women aren’t backed up with enough scientific or medical discoveries to be of use when urgently required. It is instead the existence of spirituality and natural methods that relate to what females as a species experience and have been this way for centuries.
This magical mystery of the spiritual and possibly scientific connection between the moon and menstruation is another special way that the earth ties us back to nature and proves that no matter what progress human beings make that is considered “artificial” or “man-made”, we are natural creatures at our very core. Our connection to nature might get severed with just how far we’ve tried to run from it, but the truth is that its existence is as pure and priceless as it could ever be.