Giving Your Blood Back to the Earth

Remembering an Ancient Practice

For thousands of years, women bled directly into the earth. Our blood was never seen as something dirty or shameful, but as a sacred offering, a life-giving force returned to the soil that sustains us. Free bleeding and blood rituals were part of cyclical living: acknowledging that what leaves us nourishes the earth, just as the earth nourishes us.

Today, we live in a culture that hides menstruation, teaching us to even feel shame about it. But giving your blood back to the earth is a way of reclaiming this lost ritual and reconnecting with the beauty of our cycles.

Before menstrual shame was woven into our stories, blood was seen as sacred. Indigenous traditions across the world, from Native American to Celtic, honoured bleeding women as keepers of wisdom. Menstrual blood was offered to the earth, to rivers or even used to bless crops and seeds. It was understood as a natural exchange: the earth feeds us and in return, we feed the earth.

Why Give Your Blood Back?

Menstrual blood is rich in stem cells and nutrients. It acts like a natural fertiliser, nourishing plants, soil and life itself. On a spiritual level, it becomes a ritual of remembrance: honouring the cycle of creation, destruction and renewal. This act also shifts how we see ourselves. No longer just consumers of products, hiding away what is natural, but women in sacred exchange with the earth. A reminder that our bodies are not separate from nature, they are nature.

Practical ways

Some women prefer to bleed directly into the earth while sitting outside on the grass, in the sea, or in a special spot in their garden. Others collect their blood with cloth pads or period underwear, let them soak and then offer the blood water back to the soil. Each month I turn this practice into a little ritual, as a thank-you, as a release and as a reminder of the rhythm I am part of.

Living Cyclically with the Moon

The menstrual cycle and the lunar cycle both follow a rhythm of about 29 days. This natural mirroring has always linked women to the moon, weaving our inner cycles with the cycles of the sky. Many women find themselves bleeding with the new moon: a phase of rest, renewal, and going inward. While others bleed with the full moon: a time of illumination and release.

Closing Thought

Bleeding into the earth is an act of reclamation. It transforms menstruation from something hidden into something sacred. A gift. A ritual. A remembering of who we are as cyclical beings. If you want to explore more ways to live aligned with the moon and your cycle, my Lunar Living e-guide is a beautiful place to start.

Lunar Living

$31.00

Buy Now