Written by Maria Cohut Ph.D. on February 12, 2021 — Fact checked by Mary Cooke, Ph.D.
For centuries, scholars and writers have speculated about the possibility of a link between lunar cycles and menses. And in 2021, it seems that the potential synchronicity between the two continues to fascinate.
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Menstruation is a cyclical process, as are the phases of the Moon — from new moon to waning crescent. Little wonder, then, that poets, philosophers, and scholars have, over the centuries, drawn parallels between the two, suggesting that they might be connected.
The mystique of the Moon and that of female bodies — at a time when medicine was in its infancy — led Greek philosopher Aristotle to claim, in the 4th century before the common era, that: