hinduwoman

How does different religions treat menstruation? In most religions it is seen as polluting . One possible reason is the eek factor involved: so much blood would be sticky and filthy and it is coming out of the same place as urine. Some communities in India and I presume among African and American-Indian tribes throw a feast to celebrate a girl’s first blood. But why do most religions think of it as bad?

HINDUISM: women are supposed to be secluded and not perform worship. But different reasons are given for the pollution:
i) The more ancient texts say that during menstruation a woman’s sins are washed away with the blood. After each monthly bleeding she becomes pure again.
ii) When Indra committed the sin of Brahminicide he went to women and asked them to divide the sin among them. In return women asked for greater sexual capacity and satisfaction. Therefore during this period women are burdened with the sin of Brahamanicide.
iii) In South India menstruation is seen as a part of innate magic energy possessed by women. But it is uncontrolled energy and so dangerous. In order to prevent the woman from throwing the world into chaos with her black magic, she must be kept under restraint.


BUDDHISM / JAINISM: impure.

ZOROASTRIANISM: it is a pollution and women are unclean because they menstruate. Only after menopause are they truly ready for Eternity and eligible to be priests.

Islam, Christianity and Judaism all say it is impure. Do they state this explicitly and are any reasons given for this?

Gunnaheave

I've been to a Kináalda, a woman's puberty ceremony. And I've been to healing ceremonies where menstruating women were not allowed to participate. The general theme out here at any rate is that menstruation is too powerful, and it may overcome the intended affects of the ceremony. Far from being opposed concepts the celrebration of the first menstruation and the principle of separating it from others are both expressions of a kind of resepect or awe. I doubt that an ick factor has too much to do with the rationale.

premjan

Well, to a man it is kind of weird, to bleed without being cut or injured. Without a clear understanding of the reproductive cycle, one would generally push away things that seem weird, hence the desire to seclude it.

Karalora

In Wicca, and in Neopaganism as a general rule, menstruation is considered to be a blessing. As the post-fertile phase of the monthly cycle, it parallels in miniature the Crone period of life, when the woman has achieved the great wisdom and power of elderhood.

Toto

In Judaism, menstruation confers a state of ritual impurity, but then any discharge does.

There is no ritual impurity in Christianity, and I don't think that Christianity has any explicit doctrines on menstruation, although I have read that some early Catholic doctrine insisted that couples should not have sex during the woman's menstrual period because any child born from that intercourse would be deformed.

Darth Dane

I have heard that Tibetans rever the menstruation blood and the same with sperm. If you absorb the blood you will gain regenerative effects, keeping you younger and more spunky

Anat

In Judaism (Orthodox) the prohibition against sexual relations during menstruation and the following 7 days is supposed to keep a 'healthy rythm' in the couple's life, or some such. It also increases the likelihood that the couple engages in sex during the woman's most fertile days (unless her cycles are rather short).

DMB

I'm not a xian, though part of that culture. AFAIK, there is no particular problem with menstruation in xianity (though I vaguely remember that some opponents of women priests thought it a bar to priesthood). There is, however, a ceremony in the CofE for women after childbirth. I don't know if it is much practised now, but it used to be known as "the churching of women". The more modern gloss on it was a thanksgiving for having survived childbirth, but I believe the earlier idea was that the woman after giving birth was unclean and could not attend regular church services until she had been purified by the special ceremony.

premjan

It appears that the much-maligned Christianity comes out smelling a little better from the menstruation debate (not surprising, Jesus never struck me as a very patriarchal figure, though parts of Gospel of Thomas are a little anti-woman). In fact, I bet the high popularity of Christianity among women may perhaps be attributed to this fact.

Of course mother-centric religions such as Wicca or Kali worship would come out on tops, but I bet they tend to produce henpecked (pussywhipped?) men...

Shven

Huh? Since when? The male principle is venerated in neo-pagan religions as well y'know. Couldn't really comment on Kali worship.