Red Moon Cycle: What It Means To Get Your Period Around This Lunar Phase
When most people check the date of their next period, they reach for a calendar, not the Farmer's Almanac. However, understanding how your menstrual cycle relates to lunar phases can have a big impact on how you approach your periods. Every type of moon cycle is said to have a different effect on your menstrual experience, but the red moon cycle may be one of the most spiritually significant periods you can get.
Skeptics might be quick to dismiss the concept of moon cycles, but recent scientific research suggests that it's worth considering. A 2021 study published in Science Advances found that over multiple decades, people's menstrual cycles would regularly synchronize with both the moon's luminescence and gravity.
The researchers hypothesized that lunar synchronization was even more prevalent before the invention of artificial light. With that in mind, tracking your menstrual moon cycle might provide you with valuable insight into your body's natural rhythms.
This brings us to the red moon cycle, which is a unique form of a menstrual moon cycle and denotes a period that begins during the full moon. Many people believe that a red moon cycle has powerful implications for your spiritual energy and creative abilities.
What's a red moon cycle?
A red moon cycle is a menstrual cycle that begins during a full moon. The full red moon cycle would be menstruation during the full moon, the follicular phase during the waning moon, ovulating around the time of the new moon, and the luteal and premenstrual phase during the waxing moon.
Red moon cycles are unusual in that they are the inverse of how a lunar cycle is typically associated with fertility. Spiritually, the full moon is associated with fertility, or ovulation, while the new moon is said to represent the start of a new cycle — menstruation.
People with a red moon cycle have the opposite experience: they start their menstrual cycle at the full moon and are most fertile during a new moon. This unique energy rhythm makes red moon cycle periods particularly potent and meaningful.
You can find your moon cycle by comparing the dates of your period to the lunar phase during that time. If your period consistently falls during a full moon, you have a red moon cycle.
Keep in mind that a natural menstrual cycle may not line up precisely with the lunar cycle. A menstrual cycle can last from 21 to 35 days, whereas the lunar cycle takes 29.5 days. Depending on the average length of your menstruation, you might shift between multiple moon cycles.
Creativity and passion
The full moon embodies maximum life, fertility, and creative energy. After all, the full moon is the peak moment of the lunar cycle. For this reason, red moon cycles are incredibly powerful.
If you have a red moon cycle, your period is the most spiritually potent phase of your menstrual cycle. Menstruating during the full moon is associated with creativity, wisdom, and passion. The moon may be having its most fertile time, but your body's cycle is just getting started.
During this generative phase of your menstrual cycle, you can engage with the meaning of the full moon to find inner strength and inspiration. That discerning, self-reflective energy has great potential for spiritual healing and leadership.
In many ways, the red moon cycle has the most leadership-oriented qualities of all the moon cycles. The full moon represents clarity and the result of energy building up — the waxing phase — so people who menstruate during the full moon may be inclined to complete projects, innovate new ideas, and organize and empower their communities. If you have a red moon cycle, you may be focused on creativity, mentorship, growth, and self-actualization.
History of red moon cycles
Although the concept of a red moon cycle is relatively new, tracking menstruation with lunar phases has a long history across many cultures. Thousands of years ago, humans were already observing that menstrual cycles took place over a lunar month. In fact, the word menstruation is etymologically connected to the word moon.
A wide range of groups have practices related to moon cycles. For instance, as anthropologist Chris Knight described in his essay on the topic, the rainbow snake, a deity in Australian indigenous belief systems, is associated with menstrual synchrony.
In North America, the Ojibwe tribe of Minnesota refers to periods as moons and treats them as a powerful cleansing experience, explains Patty Smith of the Leech Lake Band of Minnesota Ojibwe to Rewire News Group.
The Ancient Greeks also believed that menstruation had a connection to the lunar cycle.
The contemporary interpretation of red moon cycles has been espoused by Alicia Meek, the founder of Wild Moon Sacred Cycles. Meek's system analyzes moon cycles based on the different lunar phases. For the red moon cycle, this mode of spirituality integrates cultural beliefs surrounding the power of menstruation with the mythic symbolism of the full moon.
Red moon cycles vs. other moon cycles
You can see how distinctive the power of the red moon is when you contrast it with the other common moon cycles. The white moon cycle, which is considered the most standard moon cycle, encapsulates the opposite symbolic experience.
In a white moon cycle, menstruation aligns with the new moon and evokes caretaking energy. Many people with white moon cycles enjoy connecting with their communities. White moon cycles are also associated with being a nurturer, as opposed to red moon cycles, which relate to personal growth.
The pink and purple moon cycles address menstruation that occurs during the waxing and waning moons. You have a pink moon cycle when you menstruate during a waxing moon. Based on the spirit of a growing moon, a pink moon period may occur during times of transition and growth. A purple moon cycle — menstruation during a waning moon — symbolizes a time of rest, reflection, and preparation for upcoming endeavors.
Of all the menstruation moon cycles, red moon menstruation is the only cycle that represents both inward reflection and outward energetic action. While you should embrace all the moon cycles you may experience, red moon cycles are a special chance to harness your most intense spiritual energy in ways that will benefit yourself and others.
Why your moon cycle matters
If astrology and spirituality are meaningful to you, then a red moon cycle can inform your spiritual practices during your period. On the other hand, those who aren't interested in this kind of spirituality still benefit from learning about moon cycles.
The stigmatization of menstruation is a serious problem in modern society. Some of these issues stem from how menstruating people think and speak about their bodies. Feminist theorists and social scientists sometimes call this menstrual moaning, the act of discussing one's menstruation in a solely negative tone (via The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies). Moon cycles are an excellent way to reframe the perspective around menstruation and embrace the body's natural systems.
While menstruation can be physically unpleasant and, to some people, a little gross, your menstrual cycle is a natural process that plays a big role in your life. The menstrual cycle is an example of an infradian rhythm, an internal cycle that extends past a 24-hour day (per Cleveland Clinic). However, most of society still operates on daily and weekly routines that don't accommodate a menstruating person's monthly fluctuations in mood, energy, and physical health.
Moon cycles offer an alternative timeline that encourages you to track your wellness based on your body's own terms. So regardless of whether a red moon cycle sparks your spiritual imagination, knowing you have one gives you a new opportunity to value and advocate for your unique needs.