Book review - Blood Rites by Jane Harwicke Collings
I recently read ‘Blood Rites’ by Jane Hardwicke-Collings, a book on the spiritual practice of menstruation. This book intrigued me as I’ve been on my own journey of accepting my cycle and including it in my personal practice. Jane is a very well-known author and teacher in the home and free birth circles having been a midwife herself, and I’ve seen many people recommend her works so when I saw this book come up in my Instagram feed I decided to grab a copy.
What I liked
Firstly, the good stuff, Jane has an innate understanding of the inner cycles that come with menstruation and there is some beautiful wisdom included in this book. I wholeheartedly agree that we need more rites of passage for the young people coming of age in our communities—if they are something available to, and inclusive of, all. Additionally, creating rituals around transformational times in our lives, such as pregnancy, birth, and menopause, can be deeply meaningful—they are something I would want for myself, while I recognize that they can be alienating for others. But the author makes it clear who they believe a “woman” is, and who they believe these rituals are for, through their words—and that is not something I can agree with.
Jane says that (Our relationship with) “the menstrual cycle needs healing and for that to happen [it] needs to be acknowledged, honoured and lived by, not drugged away or ignored”. Jane discusses the patriarchal and capitalist need to control and hide our cycles lest we be seen as lesser, and the increase in birth control as a means of menstrual suppression and how this is harming us in the long run. “Suck it up – or carry on regardless without drawing any attention to yourself or your cycle – is the most common message to women about how to handle their menstrual cycle”
I appreciate the perspective on the sacredness of the menstrual cycle and how natural it feels to flow with our blood cycles rather than constantly fighting against it. In using this wisdom in my own life I’ve noticed a dramatic reduction in my stress levels which has been marvellous.
This book also covers the anatomy and physiology of the menstrual cycle, moonblood magick, Goddess invocations, the differences in menstrual products (hint: reusable is best) and so much more. I feel more in tune with my cycle and more aware of the changes both physically, mentally and spiritually since reading this book.
What I disliked
As hinted above, I do not recommend this book particularly for non-cis women, and for those of us who are sensitive to problematic and exclusionary language. Jane includes a note on the contents page that reads; “NOTE – I have used the word woman throughout this book, if this term doesn’t suit you please replace it with the one that does.”
As someone who identifies as a Woman and uses She/Her pronouns, at first glance this seemed innocuous, but as I continued through the book it started to nag at me. I reached out to a close friend of mine, Mortellus, who menstruates and is non-binary to seek their view and this is what they had to say;
“I think it’s lazy. Since people who menstruate would’ve been assigned female at birth, using the word woman universally is like saying ‘I still believe you’re a woman. I’m going to call you a woman. If you don’t like it, just pretend it’s a different word.’ Which feels, implicitly, like they’re saying ‘I think the word you chose for yourself is pretending as well.’ It’s pretty hurtful actually when that happens. […] We include or we disclude, and saying I’ve chosen to refer to everyone who menstruates as woman tells us that that’s what they believe they are. ‘I know you got remarried, but I’m going to use your former name, generally. Just pretend I said something else.”
When I reached out to Jane to ask if the book is trans and non-binary inclusive she responded with “Yes, the info is relevant for everyone who menstruates” which isn’t wrong, as it is relevant but that didn’t really answer my question. From my interactions with her, I do believe she thinks her note in the beginning is inclusive, potentially not understanding the full influence of her words from the perspective of people who do not identify as women. The book is very heavy on the term woman and in my opinion may be quite triggering to those who don’t identify as such.
Lastly, there are a couple of other things that didn’t sit right with me that I want to address in this review.
One is the use of the term ‘Shaman’. It’s thrown around in this book, and Jane herself runs the “Shamanic School of Womancraft”. There is something about white women using the term shaman that feels so wrong to me. This particular sentiment is summed up succinctly here.
Next is the inclusion of “Herstory – a womanifesto” that is added to the appendix of the book. Trust me when I say this was tough to read. It’s technically a separate book that she’s included. The Midwitch even read it out on one of her podcast episodes if you want to take a listen, and it is talked about A LOT in womens/birthing circles. I was excited to read it, until I came across this line in reference to the witch hunts and burning times “The victims over those five and a half centuries were countless; some references go as high as nine million.” Yikes. She goes on to claim that Goddess worship and the triple moon goddess goes back 40,000 years! A very common Wiccan trope that has no basis in historical or anthropological accuracy.
These ideas are parroting the claims of Margaret Murray, a British folklorist from the early 1900s whose claims have been repeatedly denounced. This research article has much to say on this topic.
There are a LOT of claims in this tiny ‘Herstory’ many of which have no factual basis and begin to throw the rest of the book under tighter scrutiny. I get it that spirituality, magick and witchcraft cannot be factually proven however the claims being made here are historical and anthropological, they are there to promote an idea of a matriarchal society and womens power (which I can totally get behind) and that the world was founded on Goddess worship, but the skewed facts really put me off.
Do I recommend it?
The main reason I won’t be recommending this book is that one of the only other ‘experts’ that Jane quotes frequently in the book is Christiane Northrup. If you haven’t heard of her this is what Wikipedia has to say “Christiane Northrup is a former obstetrics and gynaecology physician and author who has embraced pseudoscientific alternative medicine and anti-vaccine conspiracy theories. She has a history of opposing vaccination and has embraced QAnon ideology during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Not great right? Make sure to actually read that Wiki page too as it gets into details about her pseudoscientific beliefs and covid denialism. But it gets worse, the Conspirituality Podcast have looked into Christiane Northrup and explored her current ‘offerings’. Here is a screen shot so you can better understand the content that Christiane Northrup promotes.
Scary right?
A quick google search will show you that Jane lists Christiane Northrup as a recommended resource in every podcast and interview that she does. When asked about this, she said “whilst I don’t necessarily agree with her current perspective, I still do value her valuable contributions to womens health”.
Personally, that still sounds like an endorsement of someone who is increasingly antisemitic and who shares dangerous health advice (such as refusing mammograms) and I just can’t get behind that. Since Northrup did not write this book, and is merely promoted in it, I haven’t judged the book too harshly but I do suggest you always look at who an author is referencing, promoting and quoting when deciding if a book is a good resource for you to take advice from.
Overall I give this book 2 out of 5 witches hats. There are some useful takeaways but if you read, please do so with discernment and your critical thinking hat firmly on your head.
My witches’ hats rating system:
0 - Problematic, this book should be burned.
1 - Did not like this book, do not read
2 - It was ok, wouldn’t recommend it though.
3 - I liked it but it might not be for everyone
4 - I really liked it and think most people will like it
5 - AMAZING, I loved it and everyone should read it
Meet Hana
Hana O’Neill, the Suburban Witch is a professional Tarot & Astrology reader, Intuitive Coach and the host of the Witch Talks podcast.
