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Blood Magic (females)

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17:07 / 05.06.05

I'm looking information on blood magic, however the blood is linked with periods not cutting or piercing oneself. Also information working whilst menstrualating would be good, I know some deities won't work with a female who is on a period, I have one of them and have learnt it's true.
The problem is I can find information on the traditionish blood stuff but nothing much on periods at all.

Can anyone help? Even if it's a vague link I'll happily look at it.

17:36 / 05.06.05

For anthropological books try:

'Blood Magic, the anthropology of menstruation' edited by Thomas Buckley and Alma Gottleib
'Blood Relations, menstruation and the origins of culture' by Chris Knight

Tryphena Absent

17:40 / 05.06.05

Here are some links, a lot of them are based on culture rather than magic but I think they're quite interesting all the same and perhaps they'll be useful to you?

Blood from the Moon: Gender Ideology and the Rise of Ancient Maya Social Complexity

Body fluids in hoodoo

Blessed by the Moon

The Women's Lodge

Tryphena Absent

17:43 / 05.06.05

It might be worth considering the moon in connection to your periods as this is something that comes up again and again in reference (it's a connection that I also make as my periods have always naturally fallen in line with the full moon) and the relation of those deities reluctant to work with menstruating women with the moon.

17:55 / 05.06.05

My cycles have always been rather irregular, but when I begin bleeding on a full moon I always do ritual with my blood. It is at these times I've experienced some of my most vivid and intense astral projections while I've slept..

17:57 / 05.06.05

And for collecting blood for magic, or simply just to be ecological, try the menstrual cups: www.mooncup.co.uk www.keeper.com

07:53 / 06.06.05

It might be worth considering the moon in connection to your periods as this is something that comes up again and again in reference

Heaviest part of period is always when the moon is full or when it's dark, there is a difference to how the period is depending on full or dark as well. Something I'm trying to look at, although there are more than a few references when it comes to full moon and periods.
Thanks for the links and hints on where to look these will tie me up for a while. I found a few links on the web last night although most just said the same, still it was an educating few hours.

10:47 / 06.06.05

I'd suggest reading Peter Redgrove and Penelope Shuttle's book The Wise Wound. This is the first (?) lenghty study on the "cultural psychology" of menstruation and the taboos that surroun it. It was written back in the 70s following study in respond to authors problems with her cycle. They've also written another book more recently called Alchemy for Women but I don't know what that's like. From what I recall, they state that all women's periodic cycles are different and it's finding the way that you tick that is important. They also talk at length about our culture's inability to deal with these rhythms and attempts to surpress and denigrate it.

One thing they suggest is drawing a circle, dividing it into 28 segments and keeping a note of the moon phases as well as your cycle alongside a dream diary and records of moon phases, as well as noting major mood changes etc.I did this (I'm a bloke btw) and found my partners cycles crossing over into my dreams. From a male point of view I think it's a ueful practice to get closer to ones partner.

11:52 / 06.06.05

One thing they suggest is drawing a circle, dividing it into 28 segments and keeping a note of the moon phases as well as your cycle alongside a dream diary and records of moon phases, as well as noting major mood changes etc Not a bad idea, should be easy to do, I note down the dates of periods in a diary anyway so back dating will be easy to do, dreams have dates by them in my books as well.

The main thing that I am coming up with is the western attitude of it's a ickky time for the women and other cultures attitudes of it's wonderful etc.... For one reason or another I don't mind having one although I do find some things are easier on a period than not.

At the moment I am slightly on the broke side so a lot of reading will be internet based until payday. Thanks for all book ideas, I will get to them.

12:01 / 06.06.05

Again, IIRC (while since I read the book) - but I think they show that the "menstrual taboo" is a croos cultural thing, East, West, whereever.

12:12 / 06.06.05

"menstrual taboo" is a croos cultural thing, East, West, whereever. Sorry I didn't explain myself very well in the last part

, I will think and re-post once I've had a chance to read more thoroughly into this.

10:51 / 01.11.05

*blows dust off the thread*

As I sorting out bits and pieces following Halloween, I realsied I had some links for Chris Knight one of the above recommended authors. Not sure if anyone else is interested in this or not but this may help cut down the cost of some of the anthrology books which I'm finding a tad expensive.

One of his unpublished thesis

And the index for all the links on Chris Knight's website to do with this subject.

I have found the anthrology angle interesting reading and has given some insight into taboos regarding blood within culture and to an extent magic. Especially if you consider in some cultures the way in which women were kept away from the earth or sun as they 'could' steal the power of such things or the unclean issues according some to cultures. The whole sex strike thing also is interesting, which is the subject of the first link to some extent.

Magic-wise, I'm still thinking on it. Yes there are a fair few uses for it and with some science explainations to them as well.

18:22 / 03.11.05

Once upon a time I used to like doing oral sex on girls during their period to absorb their energy. I would like to know, does that even work? Is this good energy or bad energy I was taking in (since the blood was being naturally expelled, maybe it is "used up"). Am I evil? Anyway, I haven't done that in a long time

19:37 / 04.11.05

Once upon a time I used to like doing oral sex on girls during their period to absorb their energy. I would like to know, does that even work? Is this good energy or bad energy I was taking in (since the blood was being naturally expelled, maybe it is "used up"). Am I evil? Anyway, I haven't done that in a long time

Assuming you are serious, what was your thoughts on it at the time did it work for you? Did it match up to your measuring stick for this type of thing?

In my own opinion (which is up for debate

), I don't believe the blood is "used up" because of the amount of things which magic users can use this blood for, also the blood is being expelled because the woman is not pregnant which means it's not been used for the purpose it's been created for hence not used up, it's just the body cleans itself up and gets a new lot of bedding in just in case an egg is fertilised.

As for whether you're evil or not.....well, I don't know you well enough really.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

20:47 / 04.11.05

does that even work?

Look, mate, you're the one who's got his red wings. Why don't you tell us if it worked?

Am I evil?

Right now my money's on "a bit sad" rather than "evil".

04:39 / 05.11.05

Not to burst any bloodlovers bubbles -- god, I used to adore getting fucked while bleeding, great cramp-reducer and fun fingerpainting! -- you have got to remember that enlightenment just ain't worth a blood-borne STI (see Scarleteen has the best safer sex ed I've ever found online, bar none -- Saran wrap it, please.) Fluid-bonded magicians, however -- game on!

(What's that Templar sex magic practice around the Eucharist and eating bloody pussy? Was that in a RAW book? Can't recall.)

Menstrual blood has become a novelty in my practice. I'm not super fertility-minded, and I can't seem to unlink it from that -- despite the fact that the blood itself is evidence of my not being particularly fertile at that moment. I've loved painting on my belly with it, using at as anointing potion of sorts, smearing the bases of candles with it for later spellwork, feeding some to my chalice (which, when not filled with water, contains the remnants of blood past and also earth from all over -- a Feri practice, using actual earth and not salt).

For some reason, the Witches I went to college with were fond of feeding their dormitory houseplants their blood. I'm not a fertility-minded one, again, so I can't comment, but it was powerful for them.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

09:23 / 05.11.05

The feeding-blood-to-plants thing actually has some basis in reality. As I understand it, menstrual blood is pretty nourishing for plants. I've heard that before the advent of the sanitary towel, rag-and-bone men used to make a fair bit of their income from selling blood-rags as fertilizer.

19:11 / 05.11.05

It did got me a rush, but I was way to indisclipined at the time to put it to any use. What I should have asked is, is there any record of that being a regular practice? Anyway, as I said, I've stopped doing it a while ago, so I hope I moved on from the "bit sad" part of my late adolescence.

19:20 / 05.11.05

"Anyway, as I said, I've stopped doing it a while ago, so I hope I moved on from the "bit sad" part of my late adolescence."

Why is eating bloody cunt a bit sad in the slightest? Maybe I'm just not getting your inflection.

As with most sex magic, in my ridiculously promiscuous opinion, telling yourelf that it wasn't effective just because you didn't have a sigil to smear it on or some proper chant or yantra on the brain doesn't mean it didn't work. (Obviously, here we are talking about it.)

Blood can be an initiation; likewise, sex. I'm biased towards sex magic that is patently non-reproductive as it tends to take the focus off of "conventional sex" and shifts the focus to ecstatic generation rather than fertility.

I'm curious -- how did your partner react when it came to your devotional approach to her cunt? Even if she wasn't aware that it was "for magic!" usually orgasms don't lie.

And I swear there was a cutesy Templar/CM secret name for this practice, imported from Tantra, and I can't recall it for the life of me...

Less searchable M0rd4nt

19:59 / 05.11.05

I was probably a bit harsh upthread. Obviously a healthy attitude to the natural goings-on of one's partener's body isn't pathetic, it's laudable, especially in a younger person. I just found the whole absorbing the woman's energy from her menses thing a bit, you know, "I am teh Darque SEX VAMPYRE!!!"-ish

Less searchable M0rd4nt

20:05 / 05.11.05

Aaaanyway, I really came back to this thread to ask a stupid question, to wit: Is there a magical significance attributed to double periods? I had a fairly intense experience during trancework a while back, which involved having my abdomen opened and my innards removed. The next day I had appalling cramps and light bleeding. Since then, I've been having a sort of mini-period mid-month. Should I be using the blood for something, perhaps? (Obviously I'm taking medical advice, ect.)

05:27 / 07.11.05

Is there a magical significance attributed to double periods?

Haven't come across one in my research, although as it was (aside from the med advice possibly saying differently) the result from the trancework perhaps it *could* be seen as sacred. If you use blood in any of your working perhaps it could be used instead? Although personally I feel blood should be used fresh and not stored.

17:40 / 07.11.05

Answering beatifultoxin: There was not one female partner with wwhom I did this. I used to do (and still do) oral sex in every woman I'm with, I really like doind that, not only because I'm good at it (I don't mean to brag, but I really am, seriously. Once a "friend with benefits" of mine said I "go down on a girl as well as any lesbian"). I started doing that when one lady had her period unexpectedly while I was, as I like to put it, "talking reaaly closely to her". It took me a while to notice that strange iron taste in my tongue was actually her blood. I was only seventeen at the time, and it made me feel weird. i only have, like, half a dozen other oportunities since, But considering I'm a "serial bachelor", I didn't have the chance to do it in quite a few years. I never told any girl what I was doign, but they all seem to appreciate my efforts in pleasing them

Answering Mordant Carnival, it did make me feel a bit odd, vampiric if you will, doing that. But I never was the goth type, I profoundly despise the vampyre archetype, to me sex is life, sun and fun, it is about sharing more than giving or taking energy, and that blood thing made me go "What the fuck am I doing?". And, like all teenager, I had my anguishes, sooo it all got connected somehow in my mind. But I never tried to steal energy from people, I've met a few psychic vampires, and I don't want to have anything to do with the likes of such crowd. I just asked "am I evil?" to make it clear I never meant anyone any harm, much on the contrary...

By the way, am I the only male in this thread?

17:47 / 07.11.05

i accidently erased part o the text in a sentence in the previous post. The complete sentence is as follows:

I really like doind that, not only because I'm good at it (I don't mean to brag, but I really am, seriously. Once a "friend with benefits" of mine said I "go down on a girl as well as any lesbian"), but also because it gave-me a sense of connection to my partner I don't have with regular intercourse (probably because I'm a child of the Rubber-sex Generation, i.e., I always use condoms), and it allows me to "read" her reaction and direct her orgasm, to a point...

the rest of the previous post is ok

sorry

19:10 / 07.11.05

" it gave-me a sense of connection to my partner I don't have with regular intercourse (probably because I'm a child of the Rubber-sex Generation, i.e., I always use condoms), and it allows me to "read" her reaction and direct her orgasm, to a point..."

That's hip to hear, but let me repeat myself -- it can also give you, besides a "Sense of connection," a sense of HIV, herpes, and HPV. Blood's romantic and all, but I'm not kidding -- be safe. There's more to rubber-sex than condoms. You know that red-colored Saran Wrap? (Or go Black & Orange stylee and scoop up the stuff printed with spooks and pumpkins...!) Esp. in the "Friends With Benefits" style sexxxing, where you're likely not talking detailed sex history and STI testing avant-lick.

Re: double periods, that's almost like a "Blue Moon" period. Just an image that came to mind. Twice full in one month... of course, that's calendar, not lunar, but...

19:24 / 07.11.05

Yeah, I know. Spontaneous love-making is always dangerous nowadays

06:47 / 09.11.05

Oh, Dead. You should see what can be done quickly with a latex glove...

**

Ok, back from rotting this thread. I'm reading LaSara FireFox's "Sexy Witch" and she's got a whole damn chapter on blood magic. Key points: don't overfetishize the blood. Some trads freak out about blood; examine your prejudices & see what actually works for you.

Suggested activities:

Take a bath while menstruating and use this as an opportunity to commune with your blood. (A good one for women who may be a bit icked by their blood.)

Journal around your blood.

Use blood to charge ritual objects, talismans.

Burn blood over incense as an offering.

(She's got also got the first version of the LBRP I've ever wanted to try in there...)

Less searchable M0rd4nt

07:40 / 09.11.05

Already do most of that stuff with 'ordinary' blood, eg. from fingers; runework requires it, and some of my Gods like a dab or two of red stuff on the items on their harrows now and again. Sympathetic link, strengthens the connection. I've never been tapped for my monthly blood as an offering however, and somehow it's never really felt right in the context of my less-God-related magical practice.

10:10 / 09.11.05

Take a bath while menstruating and use this as an opportunity to commune with your blood. (A good one for women who may be a bit icked by their blood.)
A bit of a daft question but what does she mean by commune?

Also there was something in one of the sites I have read about using your blood to paint with, drawing you in closer to your period and body functions. If you google Blood_Art you should find a few sites about this.

10:42 / 09.11.05

arch, she actually linked (well, typed) Blood_art in that section of the book.

By commune? Anything from sedate to more "Midnight in the Garden..." type stuff, by my reading. Want to cautiously watch how your blood mingles with the bathwater? Want to dip a finger down into the folds of your cunt and see what the diluted blood looks like, feels like, smells like? Want to lap it up and smear it on your belly? It's all good, and it all washes off.

(As long as, I suppose, "down the drain" has the connotation of positive, "going back to the earth," and not aimless disposal. When I moved to the third floor, the bathtub drain, carrying blood and rosepetals and such became my usual way to "return offerings to the earth" and with all due respect, as well.)

12:30 / 09.11.05

By commune? Anything from sedate to more "Midnight in the Garden..." type stuff, by my reading. Want to cautiously watch how your blood mingles with the bathwater? Want to dip a finger down into the folds of your cunt and see what the diluted blood looks like, feels like, smells like? Want to lap it up and smear it on your belly? It's all good, and it all washes off.

Ah ok, got it now.

As one who has rather heavy periods I have lost all icky thoughts or feelings towards it anyway, and the whole mingling of blood in the bathwater happens everytime I have a bath on a period, showers are just the same.

What's the rest of the book like? I may have to get a copy.

07:27 / 10.11.05

It's good -- a little beginner both on the magical and sex-positive self-acceptance end of things. It fits well with Annie Sprinkle's new book -- aimed at a more 'conventional' audience hungry to tackle sex and spirit, without dumbing anything down, just generalizing a bit when it comes to theory and offering simple but still profound exercises.

Also, I'm crampy right now as I write this. Has this thread now become the equivalent of living with too many women and all getting on the same cycle?

09:53 / 10.11.05

I just thought of an issue: Couple years back, I was watching the news aand there was this m.d. guy who were adovacting the use of subcutaneously implanted contraceptive medicine for womens. Little rods inserted in the forearm thart slowly secreted the medicine over a lengthy period of time (years). And he was saying, with an annoyling smirk, that women didn't have to mentruate, that hte menstrual cycle and mentruation were a mistake of nature (my instant thought at the time was: "Nature does not make mistakes, arrogant doctors make mistakes), and that no woman in his family would go through it. The guy had a sly look on him, and sounded like an asshole.
Any opinions?

Less searchable M0rd4nt

10:09 / 10.11.05

He's sort of got a point. Menstruation exists to get rid of all the tissue and stuff (extra-thick womb liniung and so forth) that's built up in the body in readiness for pregnancy. If you've interrupted the cycle by kidding the body it's already pregnant, you don't have those by-products building up and needing to be shed; hence, no periods. When you're on the pill, you're supposed to take a week's break a month in order to allow menstruation to occur, but apparently there's no real medical reason for this. I used to skip periods now and again when I was on the pill, by going straight onto my next pack without a break, but you're not encouraged to make a habit of this.

I've heard horror stories about contraceptive implants, but then again many women use them quite happily and have no problems.

13:37 / 10.11.05

There is a new pill out that is specifically designed to be taken for three months at a time, so you only menstruate four times a year. I had heard previously that this could be done with regular pills as well, but that three months is about as long as you should go; this is the first time I've actually heard of a pill being marketed specifically for that purpose.

I've been lurking on this thread, and I'm not sure why.

I use menstrual blood for magical purposes pretty often. This is largely because - and I hate to admit this - I use blood offerings in my practice, but I'm a bit of a wuss about poking myself for them. Accidental injuries don't bug me at all, and I have a fairly hight pain threshhold, and I know that a little pinprick isn't really going to hurt much... but there's something about deliberately stabbing something sharp into my own skin that is, well, very difficult. I generally can't quite bring myself to do it.

So generally I use blood from accidental injuries, or menstrual blood, which flows freely and abundantly, and is easy to collect. I've burned tissues and paper soaked in menstrual blood as offerings, and I've dressed candles with it. The melting wax turns pink when the blood melts into it, interesting to watch.

One thing that I find very intriguing is that menstrual blood seems to have a different quality to it than fresh blood. I mean, beyond the physical differences like color, scent and texture, there's something indefinably different about it. There's a distinct vibe in handling it, and in the feeling of the offerings. The closest I can come to describing it is that menstrual blood seems to be more... earthy, while fresh blood feels more firey, perhaps? It's darker, slower, softer, more secretive. More womblike, which is appropriate. Anyone can offer lifeblood, but only women can offer their flow, so it's very distinctly feminine. Not in a kittens and flowers way, but in a Mystery Of Woman way. Very Binah.

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