Her Blood Is Gold: Celebrating the Power of Menstruation

by Lara Owen

We menstruate more now than at any time in human history. Girls are starting to menstruate earlier due to protein-rich diets and hormones in food; women are less likely to die young; we have fewer children and therefore spend less time not menstruating. Increased work and family stresses, in addition to more periods, mean that women are more physically and psychologically vulnerable to negative attitudes to menstruation. So it is more important than ever that we investigate ways to make our periods physically, emotionally, and spiritually healthy.

Genres: Health, Feminism, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Womens, Self Help, Psychology

187 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1993

About the author

Lara Owen has written both non-fiction and fiction, and is best known for 'Her Blood Is Gold'. She is currently writing a book on menstruation for Oxford University Press based on her doctoral research. For a longer bio please see https://laraowen.com/about

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where was this book when I was young?!

The information contained within this book is what every woman, young, old, in between needs to know.

Lara's writing style is easy and informative, without judgement and the information is delivered in a gentle and kind tone, making for a lovely enjoyable reading experience. Offering the reader experiential wisdom, not just facts, I highly recommend this to any and all women, to better understand ourselves and the cycles we move through.

I would also suggest this for men to read as well, to better understand and support the women in their lives and support society and the natural rhythms as a whole.

An excellent read!

[Jane Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've just finished reading Her Blood is Gold for the second time, the first being about 12 years ago. I was even more impressed the second time around and have been recommending it in the strongest terms to everyone, men and women, since. Her Blood is Gold is a seminal, thoughtful and enlightening book that explores this most deeply female experience and why it needs attention, gentle consideration and curiosity. Thank you to Lara Owen for her deep contemplation, her scholarship and her vision.

[Emma Killian · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The world needs our strength - but it needs the strength of Women, not the pseudo-strength of pseudo-men.”

Probably more of a 3.5 for me!

This book is worth a read if only for how it will challenge you to think about how a world that organizes itself around an artificially produced cycle instead of one that honors our naturally occurring rhythms is one that leaves very little room for wisdom and creativity. This made me think so hard about how women have been taught to hide so much of our femininity to make men comfortable and that!!! Makes me angry!!! And it makes me angrier!!! To think!!! That was in response to a matriarchal society!!!!!!! To drive us towards patriarchy!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway. This does get very 🍃🌸🌙🧙‍♀️🦄woo woo 🌳🌿🌱🐝🌸 in a way that I think probably takes away from what are really solid historical points, so it lost a bit of impact for me. That being said - I give major props to any book that makes me reevaluate my everyday assumptions!

[Java · Rating 4 out of 5]

Happy Women’s History Month (2025)

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you know me you know I drink the period kool-aid (see my review of flow lol). I haven’t been skeeved out by my period virtually ever.

I really liked the idea of using your menstruation time to do a letting go ritual. Even if it’s just the little hurts of the past month. I’m all for tuning in and celebrating your body.

I guess I’m fortunate that my period and I mostly get along. It’s not debilitating for me. So I’m not sure I totally agree with just kicking your feet up for the two days you’re bleeding heavily. It sounds nice!

Recommended to those who want to celebrate menstruation more (and those who want to support those who menstruate) and are debating about getting off hormonal birth control.

[Rachel Tuimaseve · Rating 4 out of 5]

❤️

[Rosa Ramôa · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Com a era industrial, muitas associações feitas com a lua desapareceram da vida quotidiana. Mas só precisamos voltar cem ou duzentos anos para encontrar evidências do relacionamento crucial entre as fases da lua, a agricultura e os costumes. Muitas culturas perceberam o relacionamento das fases da lua com o crescimento das plantas, e este conhecimento persiste até hoje. Em algumas regiões da índia e em várias regiões do Mundo, ainda é comum a prática da agricultura seguindo os ciclos lunares.
A importância da lua para os antigos sobrevive em várias tradições. Os bolos de aniversário modernos tem a sua origem no costume grego de homenagear todos os meses o dia do nascimento de Artémis, a deusa da lua, com bolos iluminados no formato de lua cheia. Na Gália,a lua crescente era um símbolo importante, e as pessoas faziam seus bolos de comunhão acompanhando seu formato. A França moderna ainda faz esses bolos,e os chamas de Croissants (crescentes), coloquialmente conhecidos como Moon-teeth( dentes da lua). A lua governa a noite,e por isso a escuridão - aquela que não pode ser imediatamente percebida. a lua possui beleza luminosa que nos impulsiona a um estado diferente de consciência. Enquanto o sol ilumina o dia para o trabalho e para a actividade da vida quotidiana, a lua ilumina para um aspecto diferente da experiência humana - a vida interior, a imaginação os domínios fluidos e difusos do inconsciente."

[Sue Blanch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lara gives a fascinating description of different attitudes to menstruation in both the Western world and the more positive approaches present in other cultures. She explains archetypes that represent women and their menstrual cycles. She gives rituals to help you connect with your cycle and recommendations for dealing with and healing menstrual symptoms. She also describes the different phases within the bleed phase for you to connect with. A great choice if are interested in healing and spirituality.

[Caroline Sweeney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deconstructs and completely revisions the relationship humans in westernized cultures understand and value (more like devalue) menstruation. A compelling account and argument for reclaiming female power through the cyclicality of our bodies.

At times, can be a bit much with the fluffy language, and gets a bit ungrounded by being too earthy crunchy. Its most resonant points don't need explaining with fluffy language; the historical research and Owen's powerful personal accounts tell the tale well enough.

Absolute badass flower power queen bee vibes tho all around

[Sidney Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every woman who is searching and wanting to discover her true innerself should read this book often and then have it for reference material. They should read and own this book. This book inspired the Facebook group Blood Moon Sabbath Woman's Cave where the page administrator ofter puts up qoutes from this book.

[Heather Jacobsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent discussion on how women aren't fully accepting of themselves in this male-dominated world, but how we have access to immense power if we can accept that menstruation is not just the way nature made us, but is in tune with cycles of life and something to be celebrated. I believe every woman should read this book, and I will be gifting this to my daughter on her menarche.

[Austaras Andris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good points and insights that are well worth reading for every woman but the further I got in the book, the further I got from personally relevant points. It's a good book to use what works for you but don't stress about the things that don't.

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. Helped transform my relationship to menstruation, which, in turn helped transform my relationship to being a woman.

Very readable, this book is a combination of menstrual philosophy, memoir and suggestions and tips for finding our way into the sacred.

[Liaken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book to invite women to see their monthly blood as sacred and welcome rather than as a mess and bother.

[AshleyYvonne · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book hasn't aged well.

I appreciate it was the doorway for many, many women to learn about and honour their bodies, and so many of the sentiments are extremely relevant and applicable today.

My problem is that Lara Owen is not a scientist. She throws around anecdotal stories and passes it off as evidence - the "anthropology" in this book is nothing more than fanciful reimagining of history. I am your average feminist child of the goddess who is still young on her path in living her values - but I also have a voracious mind and I enjoy devouring well-written, well-researched texts accepted in the scientific community. I have zero patience for flowery language talking about prehistorical goddess worship, which, up until 5000 years ago, blah blah blah, flourished until some defunct rogue and patriarchal army from some vague part of the ancient world invaded and put a stop to all the gentle and benign feminist-centered practices that have now plunged the world into a toxic masculine wasteland.

It's bogus. I love the idea that everyone worshipped and respected women in prehistorical times, and all that changed with the advent of agriculture, but it's not borne out by science. It's an agenda pushed, unfortunately, to elevate a part of ourselves as a global society and as individual women that has traditionally been oppressed, ignored, and violently eradicated for thousands of years. This is no reason to invent a totally woo-woo spin-off of prehistory, and it really harms women's efforts in the long run because of the unreliability and lack of credibility in "facts" presented in many forms, such as archaeology, anthropology, ancient history, geology, etc - anything that writes our recent origins.

The "research" is nothing more than a collection of buzz words that are backed by similarly airy-fairy name drops from endorsing "academics" who don't have a background beyond PhD's in other unrelated disciplines.

Skip this one (I'm giving mine away - I gave up early on). We've come so far in learning about menstruation - and accepting its wild and worldly applications in our luscious bodies - in the last 30 years, and there are better books out there that are presented without the insecure language and backed by the marrying of scientific research and holistic traditions alike.

Being woo-woo doesn't mean having your head in the clouds.

[Miekje1402 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting and readable book about menstruation. Recommended for everyone who wants to know more about the process in connection with spirituality. It gives you wonderful tips on how to incorporate ritual around your menstruation and shares insights and stories about the relationship women have with their life and body. I really enjoyed reading it.

One thing to keep in mind: on page 149 the writer recommends 'borrowing' moontime rituals from Native Americans, because 'they have a strong understanding of ritual and a respect for menstruation'. Be aware of cultural appropriation here. The book was written in 1993 where there wasn't a lot of awareness around cultural appropriation, yet.

[Ireland · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Her Blood is Gold' serves as a great introduction for someone newer to exploring their menstrual cycle. I enjoyed the topics that Laura Owen decided to touch on with each chapter, especially the chapter dedicated to Rituals.

Much of the information in this book was not new to me personally, but I still enjoyed reading more about it and found it quite inspiring, especially since I read the whole book while I was menstruating. I am now excited to dive even deeper into this topic with more books on the menstrual cycle.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book following my read of The Fifth Vital sign. Owen offers great ways to reframe menstruation in a culture that has made the natural cycles of a uterus inconvenient annoyances to be gotten rid of at all cost. It’s not for everyone - but if you are curious about/interested in knowing the history and mechanic of a menstrual cycle this is a short read that is worth your time.

[Fleeting Bird · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5 I took some useful things from this book but there was too much otherworldly stuff. I prefer more realistic books. The part talking about painting your body with menstrual blood as a ritual was a complete no no. If someone has any recommendations of more worldly books on menstruation, I'll welcome them.

[Agata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Livro MARAVILHOSO. É uma abordagem de menstruação sem tanta firula de sagrado feminino (eu até gosto, mas em doses bem homeopáticas) e com cinco páginas de referências científicas no final. Li a nova tradução brasileira da Editora Lótus 22 ("Seu sangue é ouro") que está bem feita pra caramba.

[Ava · Rating 4 out of 5]

My curiosity about my own body has finally gotten the better of me, and I’m excited that one of the first steps in this journey led me to this book. The content itself isn’t mindblowingly novel, but I profoundly appreciated the sense of togetherness and community it brought me.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resources and powerful info on connecting with your menstruation!

[Serine Goodmond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book!

[Josie Eke]

Beautiful.

[McKayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is really eye-opening. It encourages us to celebrate our bodies and it's really empowering!

[Sohini M · Rating 4 out of 5]

we all need to think about menstruation & its current multitude of risks/complications from a trauma-informed approach

[Antonia Lyons · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must have for the ladies looking to expand their Menstrual Conscious Awareness. I felt very supported and acknowledged whilst reading this very informative yet empowering book and inspired to make the changes needed to connect to my own femininity in a deeper way.

[Cathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I skimmed this book and found it pretty dull and mostly a rant about how women should be more respected. I understand and appreciate the idea that we could change our thoughts/actions to revere our cycles more instead of trying to make our bodies fit in to the rest of our lives. I also value the concept of women's bodies being in touch with the moon cycles and nature in general. But overall, the author seemed to have a chip on her shoulder and I didn't like the book.

[Kathleen Everett · Rating 5 out of 5]

there are just a few books that i can say definitely changed my life. this is at the top of the list. can be hard to find, but is well worth the effort. a historical and philosophical discussion of menstruation

[Maia-Michele · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book and 25% of it I did, but about 40% I didn't like at all. I enjoyed reading about historic cultural traditions around menstruating and how we shifted to where we're at now as a society. However, I didn't find most of her most of her suggestions relatable or feasible.