• Among the Ashanti, girl children are more prized than boys because a girl is the carrier of the blood.
• Chinese sages called menstrual blood the essence of Mother Earth, the yin principle giving life to all things.
• Some African tribes believed that menstrual blood kept in a covered pot for nine months had the power to turn itself into a baby.
• Easter eggs, classic womb-symbols, were dyed red and laid on graves to strengthen the dead.
• A born-again ceremony from Australia showed the Aborigines linked rebirth with blood of the womb.
• Post-menopausal women were often the wisest because they retained their "wise blood." In the 17th century these old women were constantly persecuted for witch craft because their menstrual blood remained in their veins.
Menstrual myths
• Every woman's cycle is or should be 28 days long.• Every woman will or should bleed every month.
• Every woman will or should ovulate every cycle.
• If a woman bleeds, she is not pregnant.
• A woman cannot ovulate or get pregnant while she is menstruating.
The above statements are myths. Every woman is different.
Did You Know?
• Women lose between 20 and 80 cc's (1-2 ounces) of blood during a normal period.• One in six fertilized eggs naturally results in miscarriage, some of which are reabsorbed by the body and the woman is not aware she's been pregnant.
• The length of a woman's menstrual cycle (the number of days from the first day of one period to the first day of the next) is determined by the number of days it takes her ovary to release an egg. Once an egg is released, it is about 14 days until menstruation, for nearly all women.
(published with permission in writing from:http://www.mabels.org.uk/)
