It's not so big a mystery. Women bleed, the lining of the womb builds up over the course of a few weeks then when it's clear that the woman isn't preganat it sloughs away in a week long flurry of mess and discomfort. Granted, it's icky, but nothing really to get so worked up about. But over the centuries quite a bit of fuss has been made over womens tendancy to bleed for five days without dying.

Definitions.

The word menstruation comes from the Greek menus meaning both moon and power, and men meaning month. Clearly powerful stuff then, even the origins of the words describing the process are steeped in mysticism. Menstruation has generated a few words as well. For example, rather ominously, the word 'ritual' comes from 'rtu' which is Sanskrit for menses.

These aspects of ritual and power which have been so closely connected to menstruation have led people (well men really, but bless them they couldn't help it,) to get some rather funny ideas about what those bleeding women could do.

Bad things are gonna happen.

Women have been believed to be responsible for all manner of ills at that time of the month. These include: death, poisoning, weakness and failure in the hunt, divine wrath, poltergeist activity, discordant string instruments, sour milk, thin mayonnaise and livestock aborting. It is also a widely held belief, even today, that offspring who are concieved while the woman is on her period may be deformed or have a range of illnesses.

Lets take a look at the ancient Greeks, who so obligingly wrote about their beliefs at length. In Greece belief in the evil power of menstrual blood and the evil influence of menstruating women was rather widespread. Just see what this Greek had to say on the subject...

Pliny the Elder

But to come againe to women, hardly can there be found a thing more monstrous than is that fluxe and course of theirs. For if during the time of this their sicknesse they happen to approch or goe over a vessel of wine, bee it never so new, it will presently soure: if they touch any standing corne in the field, it will wither and come to no good. Also, let them in this estate handle any grasses, they will die upon it: the hearbes and young buds in a garden if they doe but passe by, will catch a blast, and burne away to nothing. Sit they upon or under trees whiles they are in this case, the fruit which hangeth upon them will fall. Doe they but see themselves in a looking glasse, the cleare brightnesse therof turneth into dimnesse, upon their very sight. Look they upon a sword, knife, or any edged toole, be it never so bright, it waxeth duskish, so doth also the lively hue of yvorie. The very bees in the hive die. Yron and steele presently take rust, yea, and brasse likewise, with a filthie, strong, and poysoned stinke, if they lay but hand thereupon. If dogs chance to tast of womens fleures, they runne mad therewith: and if they bite any thing afterwards, they leave behind them such a venome, that the wounds are incurable [...] This maladie, so venomous and hurtfull as it is, followeth a woman still every thirtie daies. And as there be some women that have it oftener than once a month, so there are others againe that never see ought of it. But such lightly are barren, and never bring children. For in very deed, it is the materiall substance of generation: and the mans seed serveth in steed of a runnet to gather it round into a curd: which afterwards in processe of time quickeneth and groweth to the forme of a bodie: which is the cause that if women with child have this fluxe of the moneths, their children are not long lived, or else proove feeble, sickly, and full of filthie humors, as Nigidius writeth.

Purification and protection.

Women who were on the blob were clearly dangerous, so ancient man devised ways to protect himself from her evil influence. Here are some of the ways this was achieved.

Seclusion - always the most obvious solution to the age old problem of what to do when your woman is surfing the crimson wave. The methods of seclusion were varied and sometimes bizarre. Often these practices were mild and relatively innocent, as with the Bhinyan of South Mirzapur, who constructed a special door in each house to be used only by menstruation women. Sometimes though they were more drastic. There are a large number of worldwide traditions of rigid ostracism, in Egypt women were confined to a particualr part of the house, in persia menstruating women had to spend those five days in a house which was purpose built to keep them out of the way, and likewise the south sea islanders constructed a special hut, apart from the rest, where the offending women had to stay. In some tribal communities the woman would even be suspended in a cage away from the village. But, to top them all, in parts of Brazil and Bolivia pubescent girls were sewn into hammocks suspended from the roof, so that they cannot contaminate anything, and periodically beaten to drive out evil. What fun.

Clenliness - another favourite. In Ancient egypt, (remember, special part of the house,) women had to wash themselves three times a day with soda water. And similarly thrice daily wettings were mandatory for menstruating women in Turkey.

There were, and in many places still are, a wide range of other preventative measures that could be used. In Austrailia women who were on their period were kept away from open water so that they could not spoil the luck of the fishermen. And in the Lower Congo they were not allowed to cook for men and, rather oddly, the menstruating woman had to keep a pipe in her mouth when being spoken to by a man. There are, besides the cultural prohibitions and limitations, a range of restrictions common to most religions which include being forbidden from touching food, participating in religious ceremonies or having intercourse.

Not All Bad.

Thankfully not all of the traditions surrounding menstruation are so negative. In matrilinar societies in particular the onset of menstruation was celebrated lavishly by the whole community. And, charmingly, the East African Warundi have a tradition whereby the newly menstruating girl is led around the house by her grandmother or any suitably venerable older woman, touching things to impart newly fertile life essance.

Medicinal and magical uses of menstrual blood.

With all those suspicions of mystical power it was bound to occur to a few people that this 'dangerous' stuff might have a few useful properties as well. And so, along with all the superstitions of blight and terror there arose a few examples of beliefs in the healing properties of menstrual blood.

In Bavaria it was thought to be good for a range of things, helping wounds to heal, putting out fires and even curing pimples. In the middle ages it was thought to be a curative for leprosy and plague, and in Germany it was considered enhancing to put a few drops in your lover's coffee! It wasn't just physical wellbeing that menstrual blood was supposed to be good for, many rituals, including those of Taoists and Ancient Egyptians, involved mixing the blood with red wine, which will, apparently, enhance spiritual power. Dispite their paranoia there was even a practice in some parts of ancient Greece of mixing menstrual blood with corn and spreading it on the earth during the spring festivals to increase fertility.