India is a post-colonial haystack of contending and contrasting discourses and the discourse of menstruation does fall under its influence. Here, period rituals are often associated with isolation, alienation and impurity. In many parts of India, menstruators cannot enter a temple or offer worship while menstruating, because of an ill-founded notion that period blood is dirty or impure.
But at the same time, the Indian festival ofAmbubachi, observed mainly at the Kamakhya temple in Assam, is a celebration of Mother Earth, menstruating herself.
For 3 days devotees throng the temple and immerse in a celebration of mother earth in her menses. The main shrine is closed to devotees and Mother Earth is said to be bathed daily and given red silk clothes as a signifier of her menstruation.
Many devotees also plead to receive the Rakta Bastra, on which the Goddess sits for three days during her menstruation. This glorification and celebration of menstruation are in stark contrast with other rituals that we discussed at the beginning.
ADVERTISEMENT
Having given these two examples, I believe this dichotomy exists all over the world and while the rhetoric of impurity and the policing of women’s bodies is widespread all across and is also a very modern take on body politics, there are many rituals, especially among (but not constricted to) indigenous and tribal communities that problematize this exact notion. Not only do they celebrate woman-hood with pomp, but also suspend normative social norms and expectations for the time period that a woman is menstruating.
Here is a list of traditions around the world that celebrate menstruation:
1. Apache Sunrise Ceremony
The Apache Sunrise Ceremony is one of the most beautiful coming-of-age, menstrual ceremonies of the world. It is a ceremony in honour of the recurring religious figure called the ‘Changing Woman’, of the native Apache community who now reside in parts of Arizona and Mexico.
The four-day celebration marks the journey of young girls, into womanhood, right after their menarche. It is celebrated with a four day gala of dancing, eating, observing rituals like drinking from a straw, refraining from laughing and a symbolic healing ritual.
Here, the girl, clad in traditional attire “blesses the sick” because she is believed to channel the power of ‘Changing Woman’ through her followed by the running ritual where, upon sunrise the girl runs a formidable distance, chasing the sun rising in the east (The direction from where ‘Changing Woman’ emerged) and all cardinal directions, along with running in specified circles, marking the stages of life she will go through and a sunrise dance. This running ritual brings it to a close as the girl now follows the Goddess into woman-hood.
ADVERTISEMENT
2. Ojibwe Moon-Lodge Ceremony
The woman of the Ojibwe community hailing from American Midwest generally sequesters themselves from the community in a temporary abode, the Moon Lodge. It has nothing to do with impurity or isolation. Rather, the woman uses these four days to cleanse and reboot their energies, by reclaiming time, purely for themselves where they can be away from husbands, children and house chores.
Also read: How The Manusmriti, And Not The Vedas, Informs Us About Impurity Of Menstruation
Other women of the community visit and even prepare meals for the menstruating woman, which in turn strengthens bonds between women and the community in general. The Ojibwe community believes that the period blood is in fact the monthly sloughing of the accumulated stress and burdens of being a “woman”.
It is a perfect example of challenging the discourse of period isolation as a result of impurity, through a more meditative, community-building approach.
3. Ulithi Women’s Hut Ritual
When a woman in the Ulithi tribe of South Pacific gets her period, she shifts to a hut made for the purpose of staying there while menstruating. During her four days stay, the pregnant and breastfeeding women come and stay with her, along with their children. Feasts and songs and dances ensue, celebrating womanhood.
While the menstruating woman does isolate herself from the male population, she invites women into her hut, thus implying that the shared and lived experiences of women, in a community, and celebrating them, gives them enough reason to not feel isolated or impure or a subject of taboo.
4. Hupa Women’s Flower Dance
Hupa tribes are scattered across Northwestern California. The Hupa women observe a festival every time a young woman, goes through her menarche. They believe that the first period is extremely powerful and is essential to maintaining balance in the world. They celebrate it with Flower Dance, which lasts for several days.
The young menstruator is to wear a traditional face-covering made of blue-jay feathers while the women dance and sing around her. The end of the ritual is marked by a feast and a plethora of gifts for the young woman. While men elaborately take part in the celebration, it is the women who organize and plan it, almost as a representation of female strength in the community.
