A place and time when a woman's menstrual cycle was equated with power

[theHandpuppet]

6. You're very welcome

Traditional medicine as practiced by women was so suppressed by the early, patriarchal Christian churches that it became synonymous with witchcraft. Knowledge and power in the hands of women was considered a fearsome thing to be stamped out. Thankfully it could not be completely eradicated and survived to some extent in the Appalachians, where the old knowledge became blended with that of black and Native American (primarily Cherokee) traditions, as kickitup pointed out in her post. These kinds of subjects fascinate me because more and more, women are rediscovering the heritage so many tried to erase.